Outbreak (Book 1): Emerald City by Jay K. Anthony Read Free Book Online

thin blanket. “So it seems,” he said as he started making a mental list of what he would need to take with him to the mainland.
    “Do you know what it is all about?” she asked.
    “No idea,” he said. He grabbed a large duffel bag and reluctantly began to pack. He had no idea how long he would be gone or what all he would need, so he started packing everything he could think of.
    “I need to get going,” she said and sat up. “I have a shift today down in ER.” She reached for her clothes and Clark thought about telling her he enjoyed last night and would miss her while he was gone.
    “Listen,” he said.
    “Don’t,” she interrupted. “I will make this really easy for you. We both know you have no idea how long you will be gone. We also both know that given the state of the world, you may not even come back.”
    Clark frowned at the last part. He wanted to come back. Really, really badly. What does she think is going to happen to me? he wondered. Her expression changed to one of compassion when she saw his dismayed look. She stood up, naked in front of him, and touched his cheek. “If you do make it back, I’ll be here,” she said and kissed him. Clark returned her embrace and kissed her back.
    “I really want to stay,” he said.
    “I know,” she replied. “But we both have work to do.”
    Clark did not like it, but he knew she was right, and let her go. She got dressed as he finished packing and five minutes later, Clark opened the door to his room for Nagashima and followed her out into the hall. She gave him a wink and walked off in the direction of the emergency room. Clark missed her immediately. He closed the door behind him and looked at the sailor waiting in the hall. “Let’s go,” Clark said and the sailor turned and led Clark through a series of steel corridors and up multiple flights of stairs to the main deck.
    Out in the open, the wind was blowing with a light rain and a large helicopter waited for him on the deck. The rotors were already spinning, so Clark held his duffel bag to his chest and ran for the chopper. Another soldier greeted him and helped him aboard. In seconds they were airborne and heading for the mainland.
    Clark did not care for flying and it was his first time on a helicopter. The noise and wind were incredible. “Can’t you close the doors?” he yelled at the soldier who had helped him aboard.
    “What?” the soldier yelled back.
    “The doors!” Clark screamed. “Can’t you close the doors?”
    “No doors!” the soldier yelled. “They just get in the way!”
    Clark had no answer for that so he did his best to stare at the floor and try not to throw up. The vibration inside the helicopter was nearly unbearable. He clamped his teeth together to keep them from rattling out of his head. Clark closed his eyes, but that only made his nausea worse, so he tried looking outside. He saw they were already over the mainland and high over the city. It was the first time he had actually seen Seattle. He had come up from California on a cargo plane at night. He remembered it was dark and raining like a son-of-a-bitch. All he had wanted was a safe landing, not to take in the view.
    The helicopter suddenly dropped in altitude and Clark’s stomach flip-flopped. He looked out at the city to make sure they were not going to crash into anything and was surprised to see they were well above the buildings. Seattle was holding up better than he had expected. From the stories, he had thought maybe the city would be a bunch of ruins like the pictures he had seen of Iraq and Afghanistan. Places where entire countries had been bombed back to the Stone Age. Seattle showed none of this. Most all of the buildings were still standing and there were cars sitting empty and idle everywhere. He did notice there were no lights. Interesting , he thought.
    Just as Clark felt like his stomach begin to settle, the pilot banked the chopper hard to the left and began to bring the aircraft around