Necropolis by S. A. Lusher Read Free Book Online Page B

first, he wasn't quite sure what it is, more caught up in the story than the storyteller.
    “You managed to track them here, despite the fact they were in a vehicle and you were wounded?” Kyra frowned.
    “ I'm very good at what I do.”
    “ And what is that?” Greg’s curiosity and the odd feeling he got from Cage made him ask.
    “ I'm a scout first, sniper second.”
    “ Must be a close second,” Kyra muttered.
    “ Indeed. If you'll have me, I’ll stay here and assist.”
    Greg glanced at Kyra. Finally, he shrugged. Why not? Kyra seemed to be thinking harder about it, almost looking for a reason to turn him away. In the end, a small sigh escaped her lips.
    “ Sure, we'd like to have you. For the moment, you should rest. There’re spare beds in the dorms building, most of them clean.”
    Cage gave them a curt nod. He sat up with another slight twitch of his eye registering the pain, and rose to his feet. With new blood now in his system, he pulled the needle from his arm and bandaged it.
    “Are there any radios around? Earpieces?” He glanced at Greg.
    Kyra hesitated. “Um...there's probably some in the comms room. Why?”
    “If we're going to be apart, we should have a way of keeping in contact and a system for checking in.”
    “ That's a good idea...alright, come on.” Kyra led them out of the infirmary and back into the misty rain. Greg took stock of their latest addition in the gray light, frowning at what he saw. No question that the man was a competent sniper. That much had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt when he'd saved their asses. Everything from the paleness of his skin to the sunken in quality of his eyes to the gaunt, drawn nature of his face spoke of a deep exhaustion. Abruptly, Greg realized what had been bothering him earlier.
    The way Cage spoke. There was little emotion in his words. He spoke each line as if he were delivering an aftermath report to a commanding officer. Greg decided to let it go, for now. The guy was just exhausted, mentally and physically. He just needed a break. Or maybe he was just a stone-cold hard ass.
    What did it matter? Provided he didn't flip out on them, he'd be a great asset to their survival. They came into the comms room and Kyra hunted around for a few moments before producing a trio of small, wraparound earpiece comms units. Each of them slipped one in and ran them through a brief series of tests.
    “ Okay, they work.” Kyra stepped out of the comms room.
    “ I'll be awake in eight hours. That's how long it should take for the healing agents you injected me with to bring me to an appropriate level of pain.”
    “ Will you be okay to sleep on your own?” Greg asked.
    “ I'll be fine. I'm a light sleeper.” With that, Cage turned and walked out of the room, down the hall, and out into the rain. Greg and Kyra gathered at the door to watch him. He first collected his sniper rifle from where it lay in the mud, then made a slow trek toward the dorms building and disappeared inside.
    Kyra stirred. “What about you? You should be resting, too.”
    “No...I think I slept enough last night. I don't think I could sleep right now, anyway.”
    “ Yeah, I know what you mean. Even though I only got four hours last night, I feel like...” She opened and closed her hands, looking anxious. “I need to do something, you know? I think if we're going to be rest and recuperate here for a while, we should clean the place up. We still have no idea how the infection is spread, but I'm willing to bet that it's blood-borne. The sooner we get all this blood off the walls, and all the bodies somewhere else, the better.”
    With that, Kyra headed for the infirmary.
    Greg followed.
     
    * * * * *
     
    Right away, Greg knew that he had spent a lot of time scrubbing the deck. Unfortunately, he had no emotional compass to guide him. He didn't know if he loved or hated it. Initially the intimate familiarity bothered him, but he soon drifted into a rhythmic routine of simple