Omega Pathogen: Mayhem by J.G. Hicks Jr Read Free Book Online

forward by the force of impacting those running on the road, Jim immediately recognizes the feel of an AR-15. Opening the bag, Jim finds his tactile senses were correct; he finds a Colt semi-automatic AR-15, along with eight full magazines. He removes the duffle and places the four pistols inside. Jim then removes two magazines from each of the four fallen officers’ duty belts, and also removes the stainless steel handcuffs from each of the four belts and places them in the duffle.
    Rising from his position, Jim pauses for another look and listen at his surroundings. Looking further into the distance, he notices the nearby hospital. The front, or south side, and the east side are visible. From this distance of about a mile, Jim can make out several civilian and emergency services vehicles in and around the parking lot. It’s packed. It makes sense, of course, where else would people go or take loved ones if they’ve been bitten or attacked by the infected?
    Jim notices one of the vehicles seems like a shape he’s seen before; he’s only seen them the color of desert tan, but the shape from this distance looks like an . . . No way in hell, an Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle ? Jim hadn’t seen an MRAP in person since leaving Iraq. Aware the U.S. Government had been issuing surplus to law enforcement agencies. Jim hadn’t thought of finding one to use now.
    Shaking off the thought, he goes back to the grim but necessary task of scavenging from the dead emergency responders.
    Jim finds three more AR-15s, along with eight magazines for each one. He also finds four twelve-gauge shotguns, with eighteen rounds each, from buckshot to slugs. Jim collects flashlights, medical equipment from the advanced life-support ambulance, and two Halligan bars and pick-head fire axes from the fire engine.
    Finally, after collecting everything he can think may be of value for survival, he realizes he hasn’t tried the radios in the vehicles. Jim tries the four police cruisers, the ambulance, and then breaks into the fire engine without a response on the radio from any.
     
    Chapter 7
    Present
     
    Jim thinks about taking the hand-held radios with him but, without also taking the repeater equipment in the vehicle, the radios will be much the same as any he can grab at most sporting goods stores, plus the emergency responder’s radios require a specific charging station.
    Although his investigation and scavenging hasn’t taken a lot of time, he feels he’s been exposed for too long. Jim makes a quick U-turn and retraces his path back to the on-ramp. Entering the 99 from the on-ramp to I-10, he takes a left turn to the south. The route takes him past the hospital on his right.
    Slowing the Pathfinder, Jim looks closely at the parking lot of the hospital, concentrating on looking for movement, and to confirm if his eyes were deceiving him. He notices no movement; that’s good. He then sees what he still can’t believe, a black MRAP with ‘Police’ and ‘SWAT’ in white lettering on the side. This could be a fucking great thing!
    Jim stops his vehicle and looks around to see if he’s drawn unwanted attention. Still no movement. He examines the parking area and the doorways to the hospital, stepping out and digging through his backpack. Locating his binoculars, he glasses the area.
    His excitement at getting his hands on the MRAP is dampened by his concern over the lack of the infected. Jim makes up his mind. If the armored vehicle is operational, he’s got to try to get the MRAP. It’s thousands of times tougher than what they have; they can get more supplies we need and more room inside. Yeah, I’ve got to try .
    Slowly, Jim drives off the feeder road through grass on the shoulder and towards the parking lot in front of the hospital. Being careful not to get stuck in a few muddy patches and holes, he comes to a stop just on the parking lot pavement.
    Still not seeing threats, Jim begins to get concerned. It just seems too