Devouring The Dead (Book 1) Read Free Page A

watched Edith drop the boy and run after the doctor. Tina sprung out of the ER, too, blazing past Sally and knocking her over as she ran toward the dying boy on the floor. At that point, Sally ran and didn’t look back.
    She managed to get out of the hospital with a few others. There was utter chaos and confusion in the entrance a s she fled, ignoring her training, and the cries for help. Outside, it was raining and she ran straight across the road, headed for the tube station. She called her sister, Kathleen, and told her what was going on as she waited to get into the station. A crowd of people blocked the entrance though, so she hadn’t been able to get in and she knew better than to wait any longer; in seconds, they would be everywhere. She heard the shouts and screams close behind her, and ignored them. If she ran down the embankment, she might make the next tube stop. She prayed it was still running. Dropping her phone while she ran, she left the mob at the station.
    Sally ran across the road, dodging taxis, buses, and reached the steps to the river. Fifteen or so wet concrete steps faced her, the hospital was behind her, and her future was in front of her. Looking down, she saw a couple holding hands beneath a large umbrella. They looked up at her and the woman smiled. Sally paused.
    “Run. Run! Get away fro m here as fast as you can!” Sally screamed at them from the top of the steps, and they looked at her, clearly thinking she was mad. It wasn’t just the bizarre command to run, but she had bare feet and was drenched. The rain had mixed with the blood soaked shirt she wore and bright crimson drips of water trickled down her arms and fingers.
    “Are you al l right?” said the man taking a step toward her.
    “Brian, be careful,” said the young woman.
    “ It’s okay, Lyn,” he said. There were sounds of cars sliding and screeching to a halt, horns blaring, and glass shattering from behind the strange woman on the bridge.
    “Please,” said Sally sniffing, taking a step forward, and trying not to breakdown and cry. She couldn’t, not yet; her son would need fetching from school. As the rain splashed her face, she realised she couldn’t leave these poor people standing here. It wasn’t fair to do that to them. How many people at the hospital had she abandoned: patients, colleagues, and friends? How many were dead, how many alive? “Please trust me and just run.”
    A figure appeared behind Sally and grabbed her, sending them both flying down the st eps and crashing at the couple’s feet. The woman screamed as Sally landed on her head, breaking her neck instantly. The man who grabbed her, rolled on top of Sally and his teeth latched onto her cheek, ripping it off. He tore at Sally’s face, biting and chewing her supple flesh. Sitting on top of Sally’s body, the attacker chewed her skin as blood oozed from his mouth. Lyn screamed. Brian stood stock still, in shock, ignorant to his girlfriend’s screaming. The man who killed Sally, stood up and pounced.
    Lyn’s screaming stopped as they fought; the young woman tried to fend him off, but he was too strong. He fought with her and they inadvertently found themselves by the edge of the Thames. Lyn kicked and punched him, but to no avail. Eventually, she lost her balance and they both fell over the side and into the water.
    “L yn?” whispered Brian. His brain could not process what his eyes were telling him.
    “L yn? Honey?” He slowly approached the river bank and looked over the side. His wife was floating away downstream, face down, in the brown, choppy, water. Her overcoat was heavy and dragging her down into the sludge at the river’s edge. The man who had attacked her was stuck in the sludge too, trying to drag himself up the bank and out. The man looked up at Brian and snarled.
    Brian dropped the umbrella and fell to his knees. He had to call the police. He had to do something. L yn was...she had been there a second ago. What had happened?