The Last Hero (Book 1): Ultra by Matt Blake Read Free Book Online Page A

Pulled me up. Smiled and laughed. “Sorry,” she said, grinning after the knock to the mouth.
    I found myself looking back at her as she kept her hand on my arm.
    I found myself looking into her eyes and smiling.
    I wanted to tell her. I wanted to tell her right then that I was going to the party. Because I could feel it. I could feel the warmth in my chest. I could feel that sensation that they always tell you about in movies. The sensation where you just know someone is interested.
    I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t think I’d ever been as happy as I was at this moment right now.
    And then I heard a few blasts, a few screams, and saw a man with a rifle firing into the crowd.
    Just meters away.

8
    I looked into the eyes of the gunman and tried not to real-shit myself right there and then.
    People threw themselves past me, hurtled away from the sounds of the blasts. The screams were getting louder inside the stadium as word of the attack spread like wildfire. On the field, I noticed the players had stopped playing, and were running away too.
    Everyone was trapped. Trapped under the grips of the attack.
    A gunman attack, right here at the soccer game I just so happened to be at.
    I felt arms punch into me. Heard the screams getting louder. The gunman, who had a weird plastic black mask over his face, didn’t seem to be targeting anyone in particular—just pointing his gun at whoever he could, shooting them down. I could smell the smoke from the gun, feel the heat from the bullets. My throat was filled with the taste of vomit.
    I wanted to do something. More than anything, I wanted to help. No doubt everyone in this stadium wanted to help.
    But I knew that I wanted something more than to help.
    I wanted to disappear.
    To get the hell out of this place.
    “Kyle, quick!”
    I heard Damon’s voice. It was muffled, mixed in with all the shouts and screams. I turned around, saw him and Ellicia were now the other side of me. They were making their way down the row towards the exit. But so many people were trying to get through that exit that it looked compressed as though they were being crushed into a can like sardines.
    “Come on!” Damon shouted.
    I couldn’t move. My knees were locked. I felt myself shaking all over. The memories came flying back. Memories of my past. Memories of the day of The Great Blast. The sound of the explosion ripping across Staten Island. Then the sounds of the screams—the screams of those who’d lost, the screams of my mom and dad as they found my sister.
    I looked back over my shoulder.
    The gunman was looking right into my eyes. Rifle raised.
    I wanted to stay put. I wanted to disappear into a hole in the ground.
    But I couldn’t.
    I had to run.
    I ran as quickly as I could down the row and after Damon, Ellicia and her friends. I heard the gun fire another few times, but I didn’t feel anything smack into my back so figured the gunman must’ve shot at someone else.
    I got to the end of the row. Reached the mass of people trying to squeeze their way into the gate and get out of this place. It was chaos in the middle of these people. I could hear crying. The mass of people was so thick, everyone crushing against each other. I tried to take a deep breath but couldn’t; I was stuck with the crowd, being dragged down those steps and into the turnstiles. I tried to move, but again, I couldn’t. We were flowing. Flowing, like water.
    Flowing, unable to breathe.
    Head spinning.
    Chest tightening…
    I heard more gunshots behind us. Heard screams right beside me. I tasted something in the air. Something rusty. Like blood.
    And I knew it was blood. I knew right away that it had to be blood. But I didn’t want to accept it. I didn’t want to accept that this gunman, for whatever reason, was firing at people inside a soccer stadium.
    As I was dragged further down the steps and into turnstiles, towards the exit gate, I felt tears start to roll down my cheeks. If I’d just stayed at home, then