Thicker than Blood by Madeline Sheehan Read Free Book Online

who was watching me
impatiently and with more than a little annoyance. Clearing my
throat again, I tentatively took the gun, clutching the thick
handle in my seemingly too small and shaking hand. Then with a deep
breath, I got to my feet. The weapon was heavy and awkward in my
grip, making me feel like a child playing dress-up.
    “Eve’s watching the back,” Jami said to Alex.
“And we’ve got five…no…”—he paused, glancing down at his
watch—“three minutes to get the fuck out of here before the patrol
circles back around.”
    “Let’s go,” Alex said, his voice deep, laden
with determination that I didn’t share. I might have been standing,
but it felt as if cement blocks had been strapped to my feet, my
fear keeping me locked in place.
    “Leisel!” Jami admonished me in a harsh
whisper. “Eve is waiting for you! Risking her life for you! Move
it!”
    Evelyn. Her fate was my fate, and my fate
would be hers. It was all I needed to propel me into motion. One
step in front of the other, until I was sandwiched between my two
unexpected saviors, and we were moving slowly but surely down the
dark and narrow hall.
    It was a mindless march on my part. Consumed
by fear, the only thought that kept me going was that I would reach
Evelyn, that there was finally a chance we could be free of this
place and this life that wasn’t a life at all. At least, not one
that was worth living. Out there we might have a chance at some
sort of happiness, and at the very least, freedom. Freedom was
happiness, wasn’t it?
    My thoughts took a turn then, thinking of the
infected, remembering how many there had been in the early days
after the infection had hit, how quickly they’d ripped our lives to
shreds. I quickly shook those thoughts away, knowing it would do me
no good to overload my mind with more horrors than were already
occupying it.
    We hurried down a small flight of stairs and
took a quick detour through a damp and dusty basement, the only
light from a flashlight in Jami’s hand. Then up another flight of
stairs, through another corridor, fumbling in the dark until a
faded exit sign finally came into view.
    And then I was out the door and into the
night, the cool fall air a welcome balm on my overheated skin. A
slim pair of arms wrapped around my neck, a familiar scent
enveloped me, and I let out an exhale filled with hope.
    Until I saw the two dead bodies lying next to
the Dumpster.
    Evelyn squeezed me tightly, kissing my hair
and cheeks. “It’s going to be okay, Lei, I promise.”
    “One minute!” Jami hissed before pulling
Evelyn off me. “We have to go now!”
    With a final worried look from Evelyn, they
took off running, and then Alex grabbed my hand, ripping me free
once again of my dark thoughts and crippling fear.
    We ran like the wind, like bats out of hell,
toward the west end wall, toward our freedom, with only thirty
seconds left before our escape would be discovered.

Chapter Six
    Evelyn
    If this had been a movie, an alarm would have been
sounding right about now, blaring obnoxiously to let everyone know
that something was wrong, that someone was trying to get out. Or
worse, someone was trying to get in. Right then, I would have
welcomed such a sound; at least then we’d know whether our
impromptu escape had been noticed or not.
    But in our world, such a noise was dangerous.
A noise so loud would draw any and all infected from miles around
straight to our walls. Insipid creatures with a one-track mind,
hell-bent on tearing into anything and everything, but once they
had a target, their one-track minds became even more deadly.
    Jami glanced down at his watch, then looked
at me. “Game time,” he whispered, his words half lost to the wind
as we continued to run.
    The next guard shift was due to report. Any
second now they would discover the bodies, discover that Leisel was
missing, and soon we’d be apprehended and probably executed on the
spot. That thought alone drove me faster, pushed me to run