In The End Box Set | Books 1-3 Stevens, GJ (story books to read TXT) 📖

“Were you bitten?” he said, his voice quivering as he spoke with his gaze locked to mine.

I forced myself not to flinch to my arm underneath the sleeve of the jacket and shook my head before shooting a glance back to Toni as he spoke again.

“Her?”

“No.”

“Take off the jacket. We’ve got to see,” he said, motioning with the rifle.

I paused before I replied. “I’m not wearing anything underneath.”

His gaze came up from my torso and he latched back onto my face, his head turning in Toni’s direction, glancing back quickly when I spoke.

“I got covered in blood when we were trying to escape. You’ve got to help us, please?” I said, biting down my annoyance at myself as I let the tears flow.

He paused, moving to look off into the distance as if leaving the conversation for a moment, then he turned back to the line before returning to stare wide-eyed in my direction.

“What is it?” I said, leaning towards him.

“They’re coming,” he replied, before the call from the group could shut him down.

“Private, stow that,” came the booming voice.

I turned back to him, almost putting a hand out in comfort as I realised he was yet to face the horror in person. His gaze was no longer on me, was no longer on the van, instead fixed across the horizon as he stepped backward to the roadblock.

“Get back in the van, Miss,” he said, as the distance between us grew.

I followed his gaze out to the horizon, but couldn’t see anything new. I turned back to the roadblock and saw the soldiers leaving their defences to fan out so they could see past the van.

“Miss, get back inside,” he said, but his eyes had never left the horizon.

“Get back in, Jess,” I heard Toni say. “Get in the van,” she said again, the words loud and controlled.

I turned and I felt the wind change. The foul stench of sewerage filled my nostrils.

I knew what it meant before I saw the two figures running down from the high ground; before I had a chance to tell if their stance was controlled enough. Not too animalistic. Too fast or too slow to confirm my fears.

They were still human and I knew what they were running from.

29

I watched in the wing mirror as the pair of soldiers ran with their wide expressions fixed forward, neither looking back as they hurried to cover the ground. Their hardened faces and the disbelieving look in their eyes told me they’d seen at least as much as we had. A breath pulled unbidden as I spotted the barrel of a long sniper rifle rising from behind one of their backs.

“It’s him,” I said, not turning to Toni.

She made no reply and I lost the train of thought as I turned to see a soldier shouting through my window.

“Move it,” the tall man called, his top lip consumed with a bushy moustache. His confidence, more than the stripes on his chest, told me he was in charge. With breath misting against the window, he pointed to the left side of the roadblock where two soldiers were pulling down the sandbags while another revved the engine to move one of the two Land Rovers.

By the time I’d turned my back he raced up the side of the hill to meet the pair. He turned only when they didn’t wait, running at their side as they shouted their report.

I turned the ignition, wheeling the van up the first of the incline, the tilt unsettling as I leant in the opposite direction with my hands correcting the steering left and right to miss the remaining sandbags. As the wheels settled back to the tarmac, I pulled open the door and jumped out onto the road while not listening to Toni’s calls for me to get back in. To stop being so stupid. To get us away from the danger.

The words disappeared as my door slammed shut.

“Give me a pistol,” I shouted to the three soldiers settling back behind the roadblock. None looked up from their rifle sights as they knelt against the sandbags. “Give me a gun,” I said, nudging the closest at his shoulder.

He looked up and shouted across to the three returning.

“Sarge,” he said, flicking up a look in my direction.

“Hundreds,” said the sniper, as he swung the long rifle from his shoulder, the deep blue of his eyes lingering on mine for more than a moment.

Jumping over the roadblock as he broke the connection, he gave me the slightest of nods before running to the back of the closest of the Land Rovers without a chance for me to reply.

The stench caught in my nostrils and I looked down the road, watching the valley cut between the hills as it wound out of view. The sergeant stood at my side as he looked, stone-faced, in the same direction.

“Give me a pistol,” I said. “I trained in Israel. I may not be able to hit a bull’s eye on a target, but I can bring the odds a little more in our favour.”

The sergeant double took, looking down across my spoilt front and turned to the van before snapping back in my direction.

“Get in your vehicle, Ma’am. Get in the vehicle and get the fuck out of here,” he said.

I turned to the van, saw Toni’s stern wide-eyed command repeat his words, her head leaning out of the open driver’s window.

I bit my lip, her scolding look only deepening my resolve as I told myself she had no control over me.

“Where do we go?” I replied, folding my arms in the cold.

He double took again. “You know what’s coming?” he said, looking down the blood stains across my front again.

I nodded.

“Then get anywhere. Get as far