The Vitalis Chronicles: Tomb of the Relequim by Jay Swanson Read Free Book Online Page B

otherwise they had all rushed off to the secure ward where the fire was blazing. The patients, amused by this new turn of events, whooped and hollered at them to get on with it. Others cowered in fear of the blaring siren. A few continued about their business as if nothing were out of the ordinary.
    “ How on earth could a fire start back there?” one of the doctors, a fat, gray old woman asked.
    “ Poor wiring?” said the bespectacled doctor before walking back to his desk. “One of you might want to go supervise the patients in the meantime. Looks like every moron working for us ran off to seek his glory in the fire.”
    He chuckled to himself as he sat at his desk, his subordinates hurrying out into the fray to keep the peace. A f ire in the secure ward... he thought. That might alleviate some of our headaches. Should have thought of it sooner.
    He could see the two doctors struggling to contain the rising level of commotion through the windows in his office. Chairs were being thrown, fights were breaking out. Half of the men were rolling with laughter as their friends were beaten and kicked.
    “ Monkeys,” muttered the fat doctor. “Big stupid monkeys.”
    A loud concussion rocked the room. Everyone quieted down and stared at the air lock leading to the fire, save a few who giggled uncontrollably. Air lock may have been too generous a description, as smoke curled out of the seal while they watched.
    Another concussion rocked the room, followed by another, and another. The room was silent now except for a man laughing maniacally in a corner. The attention of the room was drawn fully to the dull metal door that jutted out from the wall.
    The bespectacled doctor rushed to the end of the hall, anger and confusion playing games amongst his wrinkles. “ What the hell is going on?” he demanded.
    No one answered, and soon his gaze was drawn along with theirs to the door.

    The guard in the small room next to it was frozen in place, waiting. A red light illuminated on his control panel, signaling that someone wanted in from the other side. The monitors on his desk were useless. Either the cameras had shorted when the sprinklers went off or they were steeped in smoke. Unsure of what to do, he looked up into the room at the doctors. They were standing there gaping as much as their patients. Finding no help from outside, he turned slowly to the panel.
    What harm could come of it, he thought? That was why there was an airlock attached to this ward. If it turned out to be one of the murderers from the other side he could keep the second door locked. The patient would be unable to get through unless buzzed past the second door.
    Besides, the orderlies were probably looking to turn off the water by now. With the reassurance of the security system backing him, he flipped the switch that turned the light from red to green. The door buzzed until its latch was disengaged by the person on the other side.
    It opened slowly, and to his horror the guard realized the fire was burning even more fiercely in the hall. Screams broke through the roar and flickering light as a slight figure stepped into the chamber. He wasn't all that small, but he was no orderly.

    The bespectacled doctor's gut writhed as he waited. The light above the metal door had turned red when the other side had opened. Now he was waiting for it to turn green and allow whoever was inside through. Somehow there was a greater sense of dread in the room than any fire should have produced. Why haven't we evacuated the patients? he thought in a brief moment of calm. Why haven't I just gotten out of here myself?
    And then the door burst off its hinges. It flew into the room. The thick rusty metal crushed one man and dragged him across the floor, leaving a bloody skid as it slid and broke the legs of another.
    Standing in the gap was the boy, that little bastard who had put two of his men in the infirmary just a week before. But he wasn't raving. He wasn't hallucinating. He