Survival Instinct Read Free

immediately. Thank you for your cooperation.
     
    The note was unsigned, but it all made a horrible kind of sense to her grief-struck mind. The shot had done this. Her man, the love of her life, was dead because he and the other soldiers had been guinea pigs for this new and horrible vaccination against a fucking cold. Rage replaced her grief for the moment, and she was grateful, as it allowed her to think clearly. She had to return to the morgue- there were folders there, medical records in the rooms nearby as they shared a building with the infirmary and surgical suites. She would be able to find the answers she needed and maybe stop this before it went any further.
    Nadine leaned down to kiss the cold lips of her fiancé one last time when his eyes opened. Startled, she fell backwards off the bed, landing with a thump on her tailbone and letting out a cry of pain. She watched in horrible horror-movie slowness as Graham’s body sat up. His head turned and tilted down, unerringly locking his filmy blue eyes on her scared brown ones. Stiffly, he swung his legs off the bed as she grabbed the phone, forgetting that the military might now be the enemy, forgetting that the last thing she wanted to do was call them to come save her. But the thing that used to be Graham was quicker than she expected, and he pounced on her. Without hesitation, she saved her life, swinging the phone like a batter winding up to connect with the ball, and swung with all her might into the face of the man she had once loved.

FOUR
    Nadine calmed herself, systematically grabbing supplies and setting them on the table in the break room. She would eat- she was starving, literally- but there were things that must be done first. She wanted an honest idea of what was available here in the store, and what she could feasibly take with her when she left. Until then, food would have to wait. Her future survival was more important than stuffing her gullet with food when she might not have enough to last her more than a day or so.
    The cabinets held several food items that, while not high in nutritional value, would still be useful to her until she found healthier things to eat. There were two bags of potato chips and one of tortilla chips as well as two jars of cheese dip- and these had peppers in them, so at least she’d be eating veggies, right? There were also three boxes of snack cakes that held six cakes each- eighteen cakes, three family-size bags of chips, and two jars of dip, not to mention all that beautiful bottled water. Nadine casually swiped a hand under her lips, wiping the thin strands of saliva from her watering mouth. It was so much compared to the nothingness she’d survived on these last few weeks. She had an idea that if she’d stumbled into a food store instead of one that sold sporting goods her heart might have stopped at the thought of having to make such a difficult choice.
    Nadine finally selected a bag of corn chips and a single jar of dip. She set a couple bottles of water within easy reach, yet allowed herself only two tiny sips to start with. She knew she’d only throw up if she guzzled down a full bott le at this point, and that would only make things worse. When she was satisfied that she wouldn’t be ill, she took a couple more sips and then opened the chips. It was difficult to keep from scarfing them down by the salty handful, but once again she forced herself to stay in control. No one was going to take her food from her. No one was going to force her to quit- she could nibble all day long and into the night if that’s what she wanted to do, so going slowly, one meager bite at a time, would be to her benefit.
    The chips were greasy in that delightful way only good corn chips could be, and even though this was food she had once avoided when offered something healthier instead, she couldn’t remember a time something had tasted better. She wished longingly for meat or fish, but she could survive on these for the time being.