The Hibernia Strain by Albert Peterson Read Free Book Online Page A

the virus itself dying out. So death for the host is probably inevitable after becoming infected. But how long? A day? Two? A week? There’s no way for to know.
    B y the look of Toma’s physical decline, I’d wager that she’s not far from deaths door. But I could be wrong. Also, judging from the taxi drivers’ quick transformation the initial effects seem to be fast acting.
    So in this case the virus seems to be intelligent enough to be able to control the infected person and make them pass it on to the next unlucky sod , ensuring its survival. But for how long? Until there are no more people left in the country to infect? Now that’s a scary thought!
       If that’s the case, and these zombies are running loose around the city attacking people, then is locking yourself up at home really going to make you any safer?
    We arrive at the car park belonging to Emma’s apartment complex. Shawn pulls up as close to her door as the jeep can go and leaves the engine running. There’s no sign of anyone life around.
    “Are you sure about this?” I ask in the hope that she’ll change her mind.
    “I ’ll be fine,” she insists.
    “Okay I ’ll see you in then,” I offer.
    Pleased by this, she looks over at Shawn and thanks him sincerely for having saved our skins earlier. The signs of anger towards him appear to have waned slightly. Maybe the scale of the situation has finally sunk in.
    He accepts the gratitude and wishes her the best of luck, but I know him well enough to be able to tell he doesn’t really give a rat’s ass.
    Emma gets her key ready as I take the sword from the back seat and remove it from its sheath.
    We hop out of the jeep and dart for her doorway. When we make it she quickly inserts the key.
    “ That’s funny,” she spouts, “It’s not locked. I thought for sure I had locked it.”
    I clearly remember she did lock it as she checked it twice to make sure.
    “You did , and you double checked it,” I reply.
    This whole scenario just got real dodgy.
    “I probably just had a blonde moment ,” she insists as she turns the handle and walks in. I follow close behind with a tight grip on the sword’s hilt.
    The place is the same as we left it, but I still find it awfully strange that the door was unlocked. I slowly skulk my way from room to room, gradually and carefully opening doors and checking if there are any unwanted intruders. I puff out sighs of relief with each unoccupied one I find.
    I come to the last room which is Emma’s bedroom. Opening the door I find a young man standing there, staring me down. A glowering look on his face. He’s handsome, blond haired, and I’d judge him to be in his early twenties. I raise the sword in front of me and assume an aggressive stance.  
    “Who the hell are you?” I yell.
    “I’m Emma’s boyfriend. So I guess the question is WHO THE FUCK are you?” is his stern reply.
    This unexpected response throws me. I’m filled with a mixture of hurt and relief.  Hurt because of the betrayal of Emma’s lies about being single. Relief because it’s immediately apparent from the way he talks and holds himself that he’s not another one of the infected; instead he’s just a pompous dickhead. 
    I lower the sword to my side unsure how to answer. Before I can think of anything to say, Emma enters the room and barks, “Why the fuck are you in my room Jason?”
    He answers with a sleazy sounding, “Don’t be like that babe. I was worried about you and came over to see if you were okay.”
    “I don ’t need you to check on me you cheating scumbag. How dare you come onto my property when were broken up. What gives you the right?! How do you even have a spare key you creep? Leave the key and get the fuck out.”
    Broken up? So this guy is an ex boyfriend. My heart and spirit feel revitalized on hearing these words.
    “ But babe you know I love you.”
    His voice really irritates me. Now is a chance for me to show Emma that I can stand up for myself and