Condemn (BUNKER 12 Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

scowled. "Time for him to change
his tune. If he's contagious, he puts us all at risk. And that baby
sounds like he's getting worse, too, so whatever we can find will
go toward helping us all."
    "You still didn't answer my question,"
Nami said. "What can Allison and I do?"
    Jonah turned to Harry. "You stay here
with your family and the rest of the group. Nami'll take your
place. Keep an eye out for movement. If you see anything, take the
bus and leave. Just go."
    "And leave you behind?"
    "If we hear the bus going, we'll know
something's up and we'll hunker down until things clear enough for
you to return. Assuming it's Wraiths—"
    "What else would it be?"
    "Assuming it's Wraiths," Jonah
repeated without answering, "you'll draw them out of town.
Hopefully." He pointed to the hatch in the roof of the bus. "If for
some reason you can't leave, climb up on top. Shout to let us know
you're in trouble. This town is small enough that we should hear
you."
    He turned to Kari and Nami. "Make sure
to stay together. Watch each other's back. Return before it starts
getting dark."
    Danny hesitated shutting off the bus,
then twisted the key. The engine chugged and coughed, then wheezed
into silence. Not a one of them didn't utter a silent prayer that
it would start up again the next time they needed it.
    A few minutes passed, then Jonah
gestured to Danny and they stepped off. Each of them gripped a
heavy metal pipe in their hands.
    Harry watched them go, then turned to
Kari. "As much as I thought the boy's father was an arrogant jerk,
and even disliked Jonah himself for acting the same way, I have to
admit he has some redeeming qualities."
    Kari reluctantly nodded. "He's
decisive, assertive, capable. I just worry about the choices he
makes. That was Jack Resnick's biggest failing— he was reckless
when he got emotional. And stubborn."
    She plucked a couple sturdy weapons
from the stack on the seat by the door and handed one to Nami, who
handed over his pistol to Harry.
    "Whatever you do," Nami said, "fire
that only as a last resort. It seems to trigger the change in
them." Then he and Kari followed Jonah and Danny into the
town.
    Harry nervously fingered the cold
metal on the barrel of the gun, feeling the places where rust had
begun to etch away at it. Nothing infuriated a Wraith more than the
deafening blast of a gunshot. Nothing made them attack with greater
violence.
    He prayed he wouldn't have to use
it.
    * * *
    Danny would much rather have been anywhere other than where he was,
standing on the porch outside the door of an abandoned house. He
felt like bolting back to the bus and, indeed, his gaze did flick
up the road to where it was parked. Fifty yards, he estimated. He
could cover it in about ten or fifteen seconds.
    "Hey!" Jonah hissed. "You with
me?"
    Danny's attention snapped back.
"Yeah."
    Jonah raised his pipe and nudged Danny
back as he tried the knob. It was locked. Nevertheless, the door
yielded when he pushed on it. He gave it a good shove and it popped
open. The splintering on the jamb around the deadbolt was proof
enough that someone had smashed through it before.
    Someone, or
something.
    The air inside smelled
musty.
    Jonah knocked the pipe loudly against
the door frame a few times and waited, cocking his ear and leaning
slightly inside.
    Danny shook like a leaf. He really,
truly did not like this. It was really dark inside the house. Too
dark.
    "Okay, come on," Jonah whispered. "If
anything's in here, it would've come out and attacked us by now.
Shut the door behind you."
    He stepped confidently into the middle
of the room, then disappeared into the next before Danny had taken
two steps. Danny cursed under his breath, but Jonah reappeared with
a chair in his hands. He wedged it beneath the knob. "So they can't
get in," he said.
    "And we can't get out."
    "Just kick it out of the way if we
need to leave in a hurry."
    "Easy for you to say." Danny wasn't
sure he'd be able to remember under pressure.
    "Open the curtains. Let