The Beginning of the End (Book 1): Toward the Brink by Craig A. McDonough Read Free Book Online Page A

bite mark just below her neck,” Tibbuts added.
    “Where are we going to find a doctor when the medical center has been overrun by protesters and God only knows what else?” Mulhaven said.
    “The clinic a few blocks from here. I could take her. They have good doctors there.”
    Mulhaven looked at Tibbuts for a long moment as he took his offer under consideration.
    “All right. You take her to the clinic, but come back ASAP!”
    “Yes sir—err, Sarge. I’ll be back before you know it.” Tibbuts turned to Elliot. “Give me a hand, will you, Elliot?”
    Elliot and Cindy helped Tibbuts lift the young nurse onto the back seat of the black and white SUV. Mulhaven stood back and kept a watchful eye on the open door to the ER.
    Tibbuts raced off to the clinic as soon as the doors were closed.
    “What’s the plan then, Sergeant?” Elliot asked.
    Mulhaven didn’t have any plans to speak of, but the sirens in the distance were pleasing to his ears.
    “Sounds like we got extra manpower on the way. I think we might block all the exits and call them out. If they don’t … we’ll use tear gas.”
    Elliot considered the sergeant for a moment, then the medical center. He felt uncomfortable with what he was about to say to the experienced police officer, but it had to be said.
    “I don’t think that would be a great idea, sir.”
    “I suppose you have a better idea then?”
    Mulhaven was never a headstrong type who went about life believing that the only two choices were his way or none. He was a tough, when he had to be, former Army sergeant who’d served in Operation Desert Shield. It was because of that war that he became a cop. He detested what he’d seen on the battlefield from all sides and promised that if he got out of there alive, he would do what he could to help those in need and not kill them. He moved back to his home town of Twin Falls, Idaho as soon as he was discharged and joined the Twin Falls police soon after. He had always been and still was open to the ideas of others, even if his manner was a little on the gruff side.
    Whatever Elliot’s idea was, no one ever got to hear it. A volley of pistol and shotgun fire erupted from the entrance of the main building.

Seven
    Sergeant Mulhaven rushed toward the sound of the gunfire with Elliot Goodwin close behind, securely holding Cindy’s hand.
    “Be careful going ‘round that corner, Sarge!”
    People were running in all directions, some calling for help while others just screamed. Elliot and Mulhaven assumed the officers had opened fire on the protesters. Their assumption was incorrect.
    “What the fuck is going on?” Mulhaven yelled.
    Police officers were taking cover behind one of the Army Hummers and a Twin Falls police car and were firing at what appeared to be the members of the demonstration, but when Elliot looked closer, the pallid color of their skin and the revealing green foam on their faces and clothes told a different story. An officer blasted a “protester” in the chest with his twelve-gauge riot gun from point-blank range, sending him cartwheeling backward.
    “Oh my God, he shot him! He just shot him!” Cindy cried.
    Elliot and Mulhaven both witnessed the shooting but weren’t as shocked as Cindy; nearly a dozen police officers armed with semi-automatic 9mm pistols and pump-action shotguns were taking cover from what were, to all appearances, unarmed civilians. Something was clearly wrong with this picture.
    “Jesus Christ! He’s getting up. Is he wearing a vest?”
    “Even if he was, you don’t get up from a blast like that, boy.”
    “Sarge, we need to pull everyone back and get a better picture of what we’re up against. And one more thing: Don’t call me boy.”
    Mulhaven nodded; his respect for this young man grew and grew. He grabbed his two-way mouthpiece and held it closer.
    “All cars inbound to the medical center, re-group at …” Mulhaven looked to Elliot for guidance.
    “Locust! We’ve got to clear those