The Hibernia Strain by Albert Peterson Read Free Book Online

pack of animals now.”
    Yea that’s a valid point. I shouldn’t feel guilty. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that they wanted to cause us harm on the bus. Of course, I don’t want people to die, but if it’s them or us then I’ll always pick us.
    With dismay in her voi ce, Emma shouts at him, “Maybe they did have bad intentions but they’re still people. They’re just sick is all.”
    “ Okay okay, Jesus I’m sorry,” Shawn apologises half heartedly. “Anyhow, I don’t know why you’re feeling so bad seeing as I’m the one who actually ran them down sweetheart.”
    “Nice friends you keep Matt ,” Emma utters as she throws her hands in the air in a frustrated gesture.
    “Shawn apologise ,” I order in an ushering tone.
    “Matt I ’m not going to apologise for speaking the truth, just because you want to get in her knickers.”
    I hear Emma let out a disgusted, “Ugh” beside me.
    “Shawn ,” I exclaim, this time in a more assertive tone. He looks at me, and I raise my eyebrows insistently. He silently mouths to me the words, “Okay fine,” as he throws his eyes up to heaven.
    “ I’m sorry if I offended you Emma. Sincerely I am.” Shawn’s declaration seems genuine enough for Emma to accept reluctantly. Jesus these two are as stubborn as each other.
    The cab of the jeep falls quiet again.
    “ Well if everyone is finished making friends then maybe someone has some useful suggestions what to do next?” I say breaking the hushed atmosphere.
    “Well , leaving me home would be a start,” asserts Emma with a scowl on her face.
    Oh she ’s pissed off .
    “Fine if that ’s what you want then there’s no problem there,” Shawn says almost joyfully.  He changes course and directs the jeep back towards the vicinity of Emma’s apartment before even finishing the sentence.
    I try to lighten th e mood a little and ask Shawn how he obtained his new set of flashy wheels.
    He starts by telling us how he had left his place to come and pick us up. He was walking to his car, a beat up old Volkswagen Bora, when he noticed a big deal of commotion happening out on the street. Much the same as what Emma and I had witnessed outside the takeaway.
    There were people running for their lives’ from a horde of menacing figures. Others who were not fast enough to escape were been assaulted both sexually and physically.
    The route to his car was blocked , so he doubled back to his place and looked for something to defend himself. The obvious choice being a short bladed samurai sword he acquired on a holiday to Japan some years back. He points to the back seat, and sure enough to support his story there’s the sword lying in its sheath.
    He brought me one back from that trip too. It ’s currently is in my house, but that’s no good to me now. They’re lethally sharp but obviously only used as display objects. Also, to my own knowledge, it’s illegal to own them in Ireland. Not that it’s an issue right now.
    From there , he sneaked out the back to avoid an encounter with the ‘Virus Squad’ as he calls them. By that stage, it was obvious to him that the shit had hit the proverbial fan, and the city was in full riot mode. And what do people do during riots? They loot and rob.
    So Shawn decided to pay his local motor dealer a visit at three AM and helped himself to a new ride. He also tried ringing me several times but couldn’t get any coverage.
    From his description, I learn three things. Firstly, his network must have gone down shortly after I rang him the first time. Emma’s phone is obviously on a different network, so it didn’t go down at the same time.
    Well the second thing I already know, Shawn is an egotistical maniac, and three, it sounds like the aim of those infected is to try and pass the virus on to those who are uninfected, not actually kill anyone.
    It’s fair to assume that like most viruses they use up the resources at their disposal until they are depleted thus resulting in