Affliction Z (Book 3): Descended in Blood Read Online Free Page A

other supplies. That left misfortune as a possibility. Perhaps he’d uncovered the source of the smoke. Or maybe the source of the smoke had found him.
    “What if he’s in trouble?” Derrick asked.
    “We’ll give him five minutes,” Phil said.
    “Then what?”
    Phil looked past his son, toward the stretch of farmland.
    “We can’t leave him,” Derrick said.
    “We can’t?”
    “Not to die.”
    “What if he’s already dead?”
    “What if he’s hurt and needs our help?”
    If it were you, we’d be gone.
    “Dad, come on. Let’s go look for him.” Without waiting for Phil to reply, Derrick set off toward the trees.
    “God dammit,” Phil muttered. He was fine with losing one of the men, preferably Derrick. But continuing solo was not in the plans. He had to sleep, and having someone there to keep watch was integral to his plan to survive. He reached into the cargo area, grabbed a pistol and tucked it into his waistband. “Wait up, Derrick.”
    Together they crossed the threshold into the shaded woods. The air chilled by fifteen degrees as the leaves and branches beat back the sun’s rays. Every step on dead leaves set off an alarm to anyone, or anything, within thirty yards. Phil kept his rifle aimed ahead. Derrick did the same with his pistol.
    “Should we call for him?” Derrick whispered.
    Phil ignored the question as he scanned the ground, looking to pick up Ralph’s trail. He’d entered the woods at the same spot. There had to be something indicating which way the man traveled. After a few seconds, Phil spotted a broken twig.
    “This way,” he said softly, pointing to the right.
    Twenty yards in they heard a crash off to their left. Both men spun toward the sound, lifting their rifles to their shoulders. Derrick stared down his iron sights. Phil scanned the area through his scope, looking for anything out of place.
    Nothing stirred. No follow up noises ensued.
    “Tree limb,” he said through a heavy sigh. “Come on, let’s keep going.”
    “Shouldn’t we call for him?” Derrick asked.
    “Keep your damn mouth shut, boy.”
    Derrick stopped in place.
    “Don’t even think about it,” Phil said, feeling his son’s weapon aimed at the back of his head. “You’ll never make it without me. Now quit fucking around and come along.”
    He pressed forward with little concern over what had just happened. Derrick wouldn’t do anything. The man knew that he needed his father to survive.
    Phil spotted another sign that Ralph had passed. He pointed at a disturbance in the leaves. The spot where Ralph had relieved himself.
    “Why didn’t he just come back to the field?” Derrick asked.
    Phil didn’t respond. He was working through the same question. Something had to have happened that caused Ralph to continue deeper into the woods. Panic, curiosity, or force. Which one was it?
    Standing over the spot where Ralph had squatted, Phil ignored the smell and scanned the area for another sign. A broken limb. More disturbed leaves. Anything.
    He saw both.
    And Ralph’s rifle.
    Ralph, however, was nowhere to be seen.
    “Come on,” Phil called out to Derrick. He scooped up the weapon and blazed a trail past the leaves and broken branches. Disregarding his own rules, he called out for the man. Wide-eyed and with his head on a swivel, he headed deeper into the woods, disregarding the signs that were all around.
    When Phil looked back, he saw Derrick standing in the same spot. His face was drawn and pale. His mouth stuck open. Phil spun toward his son, but before he could take a step in Derrick’s direction, someone — or something — grabbed hold of his shirt collar. Fingernails wove through his back hair and penetrated the skin on his neck and upper back. In an instant, he was knocked off balance and slammed against a tree trunk, while fingers threaded across his face, pulling to the left, sliding over his mouth. Flashes of green and red streaked in the distance in some strange, frenzied