Elements of the Undead: Fire (Book One) by William Esmont Read Free Book Online

placed his cell phone on the console, and climbed out of the pilot’s chair. He approached the peephole cautiously, keeping one eye on Marty.
    Mike’s brain refused to process the sight on the other side of the door. He froze, unable to comprehend the atrocity playing out feet from where he stood.
    A man was lying on the floor with Chad hunched over him ripping and tearing at the man’s throat like a starving lion on the Serengeti. Greasy bits of flesh and gristle dangled from Chad’s teeth. Splatters of blood coated the cabin, staining the walls a dark red, congealing on the floor in viscous puddles of liquid gore.
    A knot of passengers huddled farther back in the center aisle. As Mike prepared to turn away, a ruined face popped up inches from his own on the other side of the door. It mashed against the peephole, blocking his view. Mike held his breath and forced himself to remain still. The figure moved away from the peephole, leaving Mike with a view of the cabin blurred by some unidentifiable bodily fluid. A moment later, the figure charged the door, the force of the impact bending the door in its frame, showing cracks of light from the cabin around the edges.
    Mike flailed away from the door.
    “What the hell was that?” Marty asked.
    “He knows we’re here,” Mike replied, shaking uncontrollably. He sank into his seat and buckled in the safety harness. He had to think, had to land the plane.
    “Mike?” Marty asked again.
    “I don’t know what’s going on,” Mike snapped. “But we need to get on the ground now.”Pulling on his headset, he began skipping through the radio frequencies, frantically searching for someone, anyone, to guide them in.

Ten
     
     
    A warm wind pressed at Cesar’s back; sand tickled his back where his shirt had ridden up.
    Someone coughed. “ Senõr ,” a woman hissed. “They’re gone.”
    Cesar opened his eyes and stole a glance over his shoulder, bracing himself for the shot that was sure would come. They were gone. “What…?”
    She shook her head as if to say she had no idea. “Look!” She frowned and pointed in the opposite direction. Cesar’s eyes followed her outstretched hand. Ten or twenty meters away, on the far side of a narrow arroyo, a lone figure stumbled through the desert.
    Cesar struggled to his feet, his knees popping in protest. He scanned his surroundings to  be sure the gunmen were truly gone. When he saw no traces of them, he relaxed and turned his attention to the newcomer, whom he now saw was a man.
    Something bothered him about the way the man moved. He looked stiff ; his steps were forced, as if he wasn’t in control of his own muscles. Maybe he’s delirious? Out of water?
    Cesar cringed as the man plowed into a monstrous cholla cactus at full speed, inch-long needles plunging into his body, impaling him a thousand times over. The stranger began a silent struggle with his thorny adversary, twisting and jerking, trying to pull himself loose. Finally, he pulled free and resumed his solitary march, ropy cholla segments trailing in his wake.
    “ Madre de dios ,” Cesar said. “Did you see that?” He waved at the man. “ Hola ! Sen õ r!”
    Like a fast-moving school of fish, the stranger shifted course, vectoring toward the sound of Cesar’s voice.
    “Watch out!” Cesar yelled as the man approached the edge of the arroyo. He cursed. Is he blind? Without a word, the man stepped over the brink and tumbled out of sight.
    “We need to help him,” Cesar said, taking off at a run. The others followed.
    The soil at the edge was loose and crumbly, shot through with deep furrows from recent rains. There was no sign of the stranger.
    “Where did he go?” one of the women asked. “I don’t see him…”
    “Down there!” a man to Cesar’s right shouted, pointing at a sharp bend where the creek jogged south. “I think he went that way.”
    Cesar squinted. “Wait. What’s that?” There was a something wedged in the rocks at the base of the