Hunger (The Hunger Series Book 1) by Jeremiah Knight Read Free Book Online

heavy,” the newcomer said. It was the woman. Her face was hidden, partly by the hood, partly by the smear of dried mud caked over her skin. She was gripping the bag like it contained something precious.
    Peter’s gaze moved between the woman and the bag. He spotted blood stains. Some of it long since dried. Some of it fresh. Still tacky. The sight of it raised his guard.
    “Who are you?” Peter asked.
    “I think she’s hurt,” Jakob said.
    “Why are you here? Why did you walk around the house?”
    “I wanted to be sure it was you,” she said.
    Me?
    “That it was you living here. The house was dark. I...didn’t think...” The woman stumbled forward, her knees grinding against the concrete floor. She somehow kept the bag from striking the ground and placed it down beside her. Then she wept.
    Jakob stepped toward the woman, but Peter held him back. “Unearned trust is a weakness. It can get you killed.”
    “She needs help,” Jakob said. “I think she knows you.”
    Peter agreed on both counts, but he meant what he’d said about trust, and this woman, whoever she was, hadn’t earned it yet.
    “Who are you?” Peter asked. “It’s the last time I’ll ask.”
    The woman’s head sagged. “You really don’t recognize me, Peter?”
    When his name, spoken by the woman, reached his ear, the familiarity of it unleashed a torrent of memories and emotions that had been locked away for more than a decade. “E-Ella?”
    The shotgun lowered.
    The figure nodded.
    “Who’s Ella?” Jakob asked.
    Peter didn’t hear him. Didn’t hear anything. Didn’t smell anything. The hunched-over figured concealed beneath a mass of cloth and old vegetation, remained his sole focus. He tried to see the woman he knew underneath it all, but failed. Her voice, though, was undeniable.
    This was Ella Masse, the woman who had destroyed the world, and nearly destroyed his marriage.
    He almost rushed forward without thought, but stopped. He hadn’t survived this long by being stupid. “How did you get here?”
    “Walked.”
    “From California?”
    A nod.
    The more important question came next. “What did you eat?”
    “There are still things in this world that grow without RC-714, and creatures who specialize in eating only those plants. There is edible food in the world, if you know where to look...and have a mental list of the more than two hundred plant species you shouldn’t eat.”
    That last bit of knowledge confirmed that this was Ella Masse. Few people knew the ID number of the gene that had transformed the world.
    “If you’re wondering how I got here alive... I’m not sure I did.” She lifted her cloak, revealing a white shirt beneath. There were four long tears, claw marks, framed by bright red, still-fresh blood. With this final revelation, Ella fell forward and collapsed to the concrete.
    “Take this,” Peter said, handing the shotgun to Jakob. He hurried to Ella’s side and rolled her over. He peeled the cloak apart, revealing the torn shirt. He then slipped his fingers between the shirt’s buttons and yanked. The buttons popped, revealing her belly and four gouges. He probed the flesh with his fingers, looking for signs of exposed muscle or organs, but found none. Still, she’d been a half inch from being eviscerated.
    “Will she die?” Jakob asked.
    “She’s lost a lot of blood.” Peter got his hands under Ella’s back and knees. He paused before lifting. The duffle bag would weigh them down. But he suspected, by the way she’d clutched the bundle, that it contained something important. “Take the bag.”
    Jakob worked the long strap over Ella’s arm and head. He lifted it with obvious strain. When he hefted it over his back, the bag moaned. Or rather, what was inside the bag moaned. Startled, Jakob dropped the bag and jumped away. He started to raise his pistol, too, but then the bag started crying.
    “What the hell?” Jakob said.
    Peter was frozen in place. “Open