Oh Hell No! (Pulse Science Fiction Series Book 3) Read Free Page B

wearing the mask giving his face a
waxy, unreal quality.
    She was not sure that bringing
three jumpers back was the right move, but this was a different mission now and
she thought it was best. All the changes were her call and the consequences
were on her.
    She took a moment to concentrate
and to remember their names. The taller man wearing the camera was Salvo and
the shorter one was Corsin. She found herself hoping against hope that she
could get them both out alive.
    A dog started barking and the
shock of it made her heart hurt in her chest.
    She cleared her throat and said
muffled through the mask, “Let’s go.”
    They moved forward through the
grass and along a chain link fence. A double wide trailer marked the forested
property. It had a brown roof designed to look like the pattern of wood even
though it was clearly metal. The white sides of the trailer were ribbed in
pattern. A black truck sat nose outward along one side of the trailer. Light
shown through the blinds over the windows from inside. There was a pale, yet
bright floodlight casting a broad beam of light on the grass, but it was on a
pole on the other side of the trailer.
    The dog pulled to the end of its
chain on the other side of the fence. The other end of the chain not connected
to the collar pulling against the dog’s muscular chest was hooked on a post in
the dirt leaning sideways. The dog was agitated and seemed to be hurling its
body and head into each bark for greater emphasis. Thick, foamy slobber cast
off its lips as they peeled back from the animal’s teeth and black gums.
    Loriei traced with her eyes a
worn, dirt trail from the gate of the fence to the wooden steps of the trailer
that curved out of the reach of the angry dog as long as its chain held.
    In Loriei’s time, dogs roamed free
in packs through some cities and out in the open wastes. The lice usually
resorted to the dogs, if a human host wasn’t available. The dogs did not last
as long once infected by the lice. She wondered briefly, if trying to collect a
sample from the dog might work, but changed her mind quickly as the teeth
snapped at her between barks. Seeing a pack of dogs usually meant the end for
someone caught outside. She wondered if they were seeking revenge for the days
that humans put them on chains. She shook her head. They were probably just
hungry and humans were the easiest prey.
    She stared at the gate for a
moment before raising the metal latch. It gave a light squeak and a metal on
metal clink. She pushed the gate inward and the hinges gave a louder shriek.
She paused after a few inches of turn and waited with her teeth gritted behind
her rubbery mask.
    As she listened between barks, she
heard voices inside. There was music. She heard a car engine rev. A car inside?
Loriei tilted her head. The dog continued barking and the sounds from inside
grew gradually louder. The quality of the sound reminder her of listening to
the recording through the earpiece on the headband after the last jumpers were
killed. She realized she was hearing a television. She knew what they were, but
the sound seemed loud to be considered any sort of relaxing entertainment.
Those noises would not make her feel relaxed at all except that it meant the
man inside might not hear the barking or gate which did relax her a bit.
    She pushed the gate the rest of
the way open with a creak. The sound of the television continued to vibrate the
sides of the trailer, but the door at the top of the wooden stairs remained
closed.
    The dog jumped at the end of its
chain still barking and snapping.
    Loriei motioned with hand behind
her for the other men to stay on the path out of the dog’s reach. She glanced
over her shoulder to be sure they understood. The eyeholes of her mask shifted
making it hard to see at that angle, but she could tell Salvo and Corsin did
not need her instruction. They were hugging the side of the trailer as far from
the dog as they could get.
    She turned her attention