Human Extinction Level Loss (Book 1): Nicole's Odyssey Read Free Page B

the thought.  That smile was her mother’s too and Nicole recognized it immediately.
     Her thoughts returned again to her mother and a tightness formed in her chest.  She bit down hard, fighting back her emotions. 
    She stood straight and breathed a heavy sigh, “Shower definitely needed,” she said. 
    Going into the bathroom, she tested the water again.  It was getting warmer, but not yet hot.  She stepped out of the bathroom and sat on the edge of the bed.  Nicole kicked off her cross-trainers and lay on her back.   
      Just a minute while the water gets hot she told herself as she drifted off to sleep, the steam from the running water wafting out of the bathroom and fogging up the mirror.
     
    ☣  
     
    Nicole was in her clinic.  She wrapped a golden retriever's front paw in a bandage while a woman smiled and lovingly stroked the dog's head. 
     
    BAM!
     
    The sound reverberated around Nicole and made her jump.  She looked down at the retriever and then to the woman.  Neither one seemed to have heard the noise.  Nicole finished bandaging the retriever’s paw and the woman scooped up her dog, smiling at the prospect of injuries healed and years of companionship ahead.  A little boy holding a cat came into the office next.  The cat sneezed and the little boy looked concerned. 
    “Just a cold,” she said as she stroked the cat's chin and administered a shot.
     
    BAM!
     
    Nicole jumped, but the cat remained still and the little boy did not act like he noticed.  She smiled and the little boy scooped up his cat and left.  Nicole slowly turned and the clinic dissolved into a courtroom.  She looked up at the judge’s bench looming over her and saw her father sitting there in his dress uniform.  Holding a gavel in his right hand, he brought it down hard. 
     
    BAM!  
     
    Nicole flinched.  “ Why is my father here?” she thought as she approached the bench.  He glared at her and brought the gavel down. 
     
    BAM!
     
    She was about to speak, but was cut short by three more strikes from the gavel. 
     
    BAM!
     
    BAM! 
     
    BAM!  
     
    On the third strike, Nicole's eyes flew open.  She stared at the ceiling of her room in the Friendly’s Motor Inn.  Her eyes focused on a water stain long dried.  Her mind worked the pattern of the stain into an image. 
    “Huh, looks like Jesus… or Willie Nelson…”  Her words trailed off as she drifted back to sleep.  Just a few more minutes and then she would go, she thought. 
     
    BAM!  
     
    Nicole's eyes flew open a second time and she sat bolt upright.  She looked over at the large window to her right. Thick curtains blocked the light, keeping the room in shadowy darkness. She kept her eyes fixed on the curtains as she eased herself off the bed.  With trepidation, she reached out and slowly slid them open.  Something was still blocking the light. She shoved the curtains wide then froze.  Pressed against the glass were seven wet, oozing Dead.  Their faces smeared blood and gore across the glass. Nicole began to shake, her lower jaw quivered uncontrollably.   She screamed and the Dead, who seemed to be searching for her, locked their eyes on her.  They moaned and pounded the glass. Nicole could not look away but was forced to as something beyond the Dead caught her attention.  It grew larger.  She screamed again as the runner came at her.  It slammed into the only remaining spot at the window. 
     
    BAM! 
     
    It hit with such force that the decaying flesh on its face burst.  Blood and gore spattered the glass.  A new sound emerged under the groans of the Dead; a crack began to spread across the window.  Nicole backpedaled and her legs hit the bed.   She tumbled head over heels, collapsing in a heap between the bed and the wall. Bringing her knees up to her chest, she held them tight as she rocked. 
     
    THWACK! 
     
    Nicole jumped at the sound, which sounded wetter to her.  She felt wetness; it seeped into her jeans