The Pandemic Sequence (Book 3): The Tilian Cure by Tom Calen Read Free Book Online Page B

that took Derrick aback. “Your call, kid. You know the area better than me.”
    Derrick unconsciously chewed the inside of his bottom lip as he weighed the risks. “Well, we’ve come this far,” he said finally. With silent agreement, Hicks shouldered his pack and returned to their steady pursuit of the Tils.
    Over the next hours of walking, the sky grew increasingly dark, both from the waning of the day as well as a mass of thick gray clouds that were quickly filling the air above them. Though the heart of the storm was still perhaps some miles off, Derrick could hear the thundering booms in the distance. A stomach-turning pang of regret settled over him as it became clear that the pair would not only been spending the night’s passage in Til territory, but that those hours would pass under a cloud of rain.
    Starting as a light mist, the rain that eventually overtook them soon turned to a hissing downpour that limited distant sight. The tracks they were following were quickly becoming little more than pockets of mud. So are ours, he thought sourly. Any search party looking for us won’t find our trail come morning. Pulling the collar of his jacket tighter around his neck, Derrick set his jaw and trudged along beside Hicks.
    The other man, either more resilient or more practiced, seemed to ignore the storm entirely. Derrick could note, however, the increasingly coarse language tinting Hicks’ grumbles. Eventually the man pulled up short and scanned what little could be seen in the driving rain.
    “What is it?” Derrick asked in a hush. Instinct tingled within him and he slowly reached for his weapons.
    “The trail’s getting thin,” Hicks replied grimly.
    “If we wait out the storm…”
    “There won’t be anything left. We’ve been going northeast for the last hour or so, though. We should continue in that direction until full dark and make camp for the night.”
    Derrick was about to voice his agreement when a blinding fork of lightning cascaded over the sky behind them. Before his eyes recovered, his body shook as thunder blasted his ears. A second bolt of electric blue flashed. In the momentary brilliance of light, he saw three human shadows contrasted in the flash. Or, he thought he did. When the sky returned to its minimal dusky light, the place where the figures had stood was bare but for a leafless tree with twining branches. Recalling Hicks’ warning of nerves getting the better of him, he tried to push the fleeting image from his mind, but a cold dread continued to tickle his spine.
    The thick blanket of night unfolded far earlier than normal due to the heavy cloud cover that could now only be seen in the dancing flashes of lightning. A small aluminum tool shed provided cramped quarters but Derrick breathed a grateful sigh for the roof’s protection from the pummeling storm. Even if the rain hitting the metal roof did not sound like a battlefield of firing cannons, the unease he felt, and believed he could see mirrored in Hicks, would not allow for sleep. Rather, the two huddled quietly in clothes that had long since been soaked through.
    By the light of a small flashlight, Derrick ran the small sharpening stone along the edge of the katana. Since he had had the blade in his possession, the smooth ritual of stone on sword had often worked to soothe his tension. That magic failed in keeping troubling thoughts from his mind this night.
    Derrick had faced Tils before, more than he cared to recall, and the fear that had once filled him when the ravenous eyes of an infected fell upon him had long since diminished. He had learned much over the years, learned the Tils’ weaknesses, and learned he could face them and survive. No, he had stopped fearing the Tils some time ago, but the events of the last two days had resurrected the fear he thought defeated. The tension in his body was as heightened as it had been on that first fateful day of the outbreak. He tried to work the reasons in his head, but it