Capital Falling | Book 4 | Sever Winkless, Lance (most popular ebook readers TXT) 📖

of the short road, a shadow appears from the right. I come to a quick stop, as does the shadow, the Rabid has seen me. My heart rate increase as the beast in front turns its body towards me as if it might fancy a stroll down to the river. Before it can decide, my M4 swiftly pulls back into my shoulder as my head lowers down to its sights. The male Rabid still looks undecided as I squeeze the trigger and the silenced M4 spits a bullet into the creature’s head. As soon as the Rabid has dropped into a pile, I lower the rifle and continue to the end of the road.

Taking cover against the side of the larger office block, on my left at the junction at the end of the road, I suddenly notice the top few floors of the Cheesegrater building jutting over the top of smaller buildings ahead. Not too far, I think as I stick my head out to look around. In front of me is a wide through road with multiple lanes. An overpass on the right, carries the road onto London Bridge. I was hoping that I could get onto that road from here, but I will have to carry straight on and hope that the next junction will meet up with it. The street ahead is another narrow road between office blocks on the left and a building site on the right. The site has a perimeter of blue boards, covered in the obligatory Health and Safety signage.

Something catches my eye, dark figures moving under the overpass, the tunnel dark and foreboding. I lift my rifle to get a better look through its sights. Three beasts are sheltering under the overpass, moving slowly in no particular direction, but their heads are turned towards me and they stare. Have I just slaughtered one of their pack, is it the body heaped in the road that they stare at or is it me?

It makes no difference if it is me or the body that has caught their attention, I am planning to come back this way, to get back onto the boat, with Karen and Jim. Whilst I might be able to slip past the creatures, one whiff of their flesh will prove irresistible to the undead, I am sure of that. The Rabids will have to be dealt with.

The underpass is too far away for me to take out all three creatures effectively from my position. I have two choices, I can either move closer or make them come to me. I choose the first option and push myself off the building behind me.

My movement stirs up the three Rabids. They make no sudden threat to rush forward and attack, but they do begin to mill faster around under the concrete underpass, as if they were agitated. Chilling grunts and squawks echo out from the tunnel and bounce off the surrounding buildings up to me, the noises suggesting that the beasts are trying to communicate between themselves, if that is even possible? Perhaps, they are trying to determine who this newcomer is stalking towards them, or perhaps I give them too much credit.

I use whatever cover is available as I move down the front of the smaller office block. The cover is limited, however and the creatures watch me come, but they still seem unwilling to come out into the open. At the end of the office block, I decide I am close enough and take a knee, my rifle up with my elbow resting on my knee to steady my aim.

Smoke drifts across the M4’s sights and the creatures have come to a standstill, watching me. I take the opportunity and quickly calculate the best shooting order. I take aim at the Rabid furthest away from me, behind the other two, in the hopes that shooting that one first may go unnoticed. I squeeze the trigger and hit a headshot, my rifle rapidly repositions and as soon as the second Rabid’s head is in my crosshairs, I squeeze again. The contents of the third creatures head are splattering onto the road only seconds after the first and in quick time all the Rabids are down.

Pulling my rifle in, I quickly swivel to check the rear, in case the killings has alerted any other creatures. It hasn’t, nothing moves, and I push myself back up onto my feet. Turning, I make my way back up the road towards the blue boards of the building site, crossing the multiple lanes as I go.

Cautiously, my right shoulder brushing the boards, my rifle’s silencer leads around the corner and onto the street opposite the one I took up from the wharf. Around the corner, a gate into the building site hangs open where another modern office block stands half constructed. I move out from the side, giving the opening a wide berth, in case anything is waiting to jump out on me.

Nothing moves inside the gate, it is deserted, scattered tools in the mud of the site suggests that the area was deserted rapidly. I slide past wondering where all the workers went, there are no bodies in the mud with the tools, in fact, there is a distinct lack of bodies anywhere in the streets, so far. Has everyone been turned into the undead from this part of the city, or did they manage to escape to safety? I know which one my money would be on.

Ahead, the street splits into two, I’d planned to go right but it is blocked by more blue boards, so I am forced to carry straight on. My pace slows as the way forward narrows into a slim footpath between the buildings on each side. This is not what I had planned, a claustrophobic alleyway with no other escape routes, other than the entry and the exit. A rustic, but trendy wine bar runs up the left side of the alley, a perfect establishment for the cities