Earthfall Read Free Page A

hurried back up the stairs, grateful to leave the darkness of the basement, and headed towards the reception area when he heard a sound that sent a chill down his spine. At first it was hard to make out, but slowly it became clearer. It was the sound of marching boots and it was getting louder with each passing second. That sound could only mean one thing: Walkers were coming. The boy looked around desperately for somewhere to hide. He hurried to the glass wall at the front of the reception area and looked outside. There, just a couple of hundred metres away, a column of marching people was entering the hospital car park. Their bizarre assortment of dirty clothes and long ragged hairstyles gave them a dishevelled appearance that was at odds with their strangely disciplined lockstep march. The boy knew that the other thing they would share was a haunting, vacant expression that showed no hint of the personalities they had all once had. There was nothing behind a Walker’s eyes, no indication of the humanity that had once been there.
    He ran back into the shadows, leapt over the counter and tried to slow his breathing. As the noise of marching feet filled the reception area, the boy could make out another sound – a low, throbbing hum. He wasn’t surprised, every group of Walkers he’d seen had been accompanied by Drones, but he’d been very careful to never get this close to a group of them before. Suddenly, as a high-pitched, almost ultrasonic, whine filled the air he felt something he had not felt in months – a bizarre, uncomfortable sensation in his head, like having an itch in the middle of his brain that he couldn’t scratch. A second later it stopped and the sound of marching started again as the Walkers headed further inside the building, presumably to continue stripping the hospital of any supplies that they might need. The boy rubbed his forehead as the irritating sensation inside his skull faded. He still had no real idea what it was, but it certainly brought back unpleasant memories of the day all those months ago when the world had changed for ever.
    The boy could still hear the Drone hovering somewhere nearby. For some reason it wasn’t following the Walkers into the building. In fact, it didn’t seem to be moving at all. The boy dared not risk sneaking a peek over the counter to see where it was; he knew all too well that if he could see it, it could see him and that would be a very bad thing indeed. He had learned a painful lesson the previous night about just how dangerous it was to not maintain a safe distance from those floating nightmares. He had no choice but to wait and hope that it would eventually move away.
    For several long minutes the boy crouched, praying that the Drone would follow the Walkers further into the building. Just as he was starting to think that he might have to take a huge gamble and make a break for it, the pitch of the throbbing sound from the Drone increased and it began to move. For a few terrifying seconds the noise got louder, but then it began to diminish, heading further away.
    The boy took a deep, relieved breath and, without warning, his chest convulsed as another coughing fit struck. He clamped his hand over his mouth, trying to stifle the sound, but it was too late. The hum of the Drone grew louder again as it returned, attracted by the unexpected noise. The boy darted out from behind the counter and sprinted towards the front door, all hope of remaining hidden gone. The Drone rounded the corner behind him and emitted a horribly familiar shriek as it spotted its prey. A short black tube on the top of the hovering creature swivelled towards the boy, and with a flash and a crackle fired a searing bolt of green light at him. The boy dived forward through the doorway as the energy blast struck the glass directly behind him. The huge sheet of toughened safety glass shattered into millions of tiny pieces all around the boy. He leapt to his feet and began running across