The Rabid: Rise Read Free Page A

to tell them apart; where they begin, where they end. They wrap themselves up and around our necks, strangling the air from our lungs.
    Just as the surface threatens to disappear from view a disembodied voice breaks through the madness.
    “ Cease fire!”
    The order echoes its way down the chain and into the parking lot below.
    “ Cease fire!”
    “ Cease fire!”
    “ Hey, Captain says to cease fire!”
    I straighten my legs up.
    Dare to breathe.
    The air is still heavy with smoke and powdered building fragments.
    I hack and spit.
    I check Bethany.
    She's rubbing a hand across her eyes, the P-32 hanging loose at her side.
    “ Hey, kid, it's Captain Dwyer, Army, Special Forces.”
    “ Are you Captain Styles’ replacement? You heard what I did to him, right?” I'm tensed up, ready for the pandemonium to break loose again.
    “ I am no replacement. I am simply Captain Styles. Whatever you did. Whoever you killed. Better a bullet than a bite, I say.”
    “ Well, Dwyer, he was a bit of an asshole, you've got some pretty big shoes to fill.”
    There's the sound of cast off shells clinking against one another like broken glass as boots shuffle and positions are changed.
    Coming in closer?
    Moving further away?
    Taking up vantage points that are more advantageous?
    There's no way I'm exposing my head long enough to find out.
    “Listen here, there's only two ways this is going down...”
    “ Oh boy, the old tough guy book of clichés, exciting. Let me guess, we give up, or you kill us. Creative, really, I'm shivering.”
    “ Listen up and listen good, you little shit. I've got a couple of the best goddamn crack shots in the business. Right now you've got two Seals and a Ranger staring down their sights at you. We've even got a Delta boy out there on that .50. Cliché or not, that's the score. So yeah, you've got two options.”
    Think Timmy, think.
    Two ways out.
    The hole in the wall or the s tairwell.
    Both are covered up , thick.
    The bastard is right.
    We're dead, either way.
    Go down shooting or give them the satisfaction of dragging it out nice and slow.
    But Bethany...
    “So, Seals, Delta, and a Ranger; it's really nice to see everyone coming together during these hard times.” I check the magazine on the Ruger and find seven rounds left.
    “ These aren't fellas to be trifled with, son.”
    “ Well, I'm still kicking, Captain. Count me unimpressed. Have the asshole outside launch a few more rounds in. There are still a few ceiling tiles left.”
    “ Throw out the cross and we'll let you and your sister go.”
    The words juggle around in my throat before appearing on my tongue. “No idea what you're talking about.”
    “ There's no room for bullshit kid, we've already identified the item we're looking for and have confirmed that it's in your possession. Throw it out and we can all walk away from this.”
    “ What if he's telling the truth, Tim?” Bethany tugs at the back of my shirt, looking up at me, her eyes wide, her face covered in dust and plaster.
    “ He's not.”
    “ But what if he is?” She says, trying to pull away from me.
    “ Bethany, shut up, okay, just shut up for a minute.”
    “ You can trust us, kid. We're men of honor. You know what it means to be a man of honor, don't you?”
    “ Trust you? You just tried to kill us, you jack-ass.”
    “ It was a show of force, nothing more. A shot fired over the deck, just to get your attention and now we've got it.”
    The image of their bullets flying past my sister’s head is still a fresh wound for me. “Yeah, you've got my attention.” I cock my arm around the corner and fire off two more rounds, retracting quickly in the face of the synchronous pop-pop-pop reply of the submachine gun fire.
    “ Cease fire, cease fire!”
    The settling of shells.
    The sound of a magazine being ejected and a fresh one being loaded.
    “ You listen here, you little shit. Your run is over. This is it. Make it easy on yourself. Throw out that cross along with any