A World Reborn: The First Outbreak Read Online Free Page A

around her; smell
their natural odour, almost taste it in the air. She could hear them calling
out for people to get help, get an ambulance, and hear the security personnel
trying to clear a space around her. Her vision returned next. It was foggy, but
she saw a big, burly man leaning over her, touching her neck.
    “She’s dead.” He imparted to another big
man.
    “What was in that syringe?” The other
asked.
    The next thing Isabella knew was the
instinct to bite, to eat and feast on those around her. It was an overwhelming
urge, an instinct so primal and vital to her that without a word and with a
quickness that caught the first man by surprise, she lunged forward and sank
her teeth into his neck, biting ferociously. He screamed, and it pleased her.
Her mouth filled with the taste of his blood, and as she pulled away, ripping
out a chunk of meat and sending a torrent of blood geysering from the wound
across her face, Isabella immediately lost the instinct to consume him. He was
cold to her now. However, the second man coming towards her, he was fresh. He
was warm.
    Isabella’s mouth was full, but that didn’t
stop the demanding hunger that overwhelmed her. As she surged forward he
grappled with her, twisting and trying to keep her at arm’s length. She spat
the contents of her mouth at him, and he looked at her with total revulsion.
Isabella looked down and saw one of his arms was close to her, close enough to
bite and consume and fill the void within her. She grabbed at the sleeve
covering his arm and yanked at the fabric, baring his skin so that she could
sink her teeth into it. He yelled as she did so, and she was aware that a
moment after she bit into his arm he struck the side of her head. It didn’t
seem to hurt, but she did fall, landing on top of the convulsing body of her
first victim. As the second man retreated, he immediately seemed unappealing to
her, as cold as her initial prey. People were screaming all around her; they
were loud and distracting and Isabella couldn’t focus on a singular sound
anymore. They scrambled feverishly and pushed each other to get away. All the
motion and sound was confusing, and Isabella was angry that they were
disorienting her so much. Laboriously, she got to her feet, as did the man she
had landed on, his skin pale and eyes milky just like hers. Isabella looked at
all the warm people that seemed out of reach, all the people she felt the need
to consume. They were moving fast and the noise perplexed her so much she
growled ferociously, the noise turning into an angry, primal roar. And then,
amidst all the confusing sounds around her, she heard a whimper very close by.
She turned and saw a dealer, cowering behind the table. She was warm to
Isabella; she wasn’t fleeing like the others and she could easily be consumed.
     
    The chaos unfolding on casino floor was
being shown on the bank of screens in the security room, but there was some
kind of interference causing the images to break into static randomly.
    “What’s going on?” Roy demanded.
    “I don’t know! There’s some kind of, I
don’t know, some kind of glitch screwing with the system! Damn it! It’s locking
me out!” Donna complained angrily, mashing at her keyboard with a look of
confusion and frustration. Roy looked over at her and then back at the screens.
The woman had torn a chunk out of the blackjack dealer’s face and the two
security team members she’d bitten had attacked the other security officers
who’d come onto the scene. Guests were fleeing in panic in every direction.
    “We’re getting reports of someone ripping
chunks out of people in the main theatre in the middle of the cabaret show, and
in the gift shop on the second floor!” Kyle yelled out.
    “Donna, why are you shutting the security
gates?” Jim questioned.
    “I’m not! The computer’s going crazy!”
Donna replied in a bewildered tone. Roy watched the screens. The reinforcements
he’d sent to help the two men restrain