Deadman's Switch & Sunder the Hollow Ones Read Online Free

neck.
    â€œAre you sure he injected you?” he asks. “I don’t see a hole here, just the scrapes you had before. Old blood. Mostly. It’s stopped bleeding, though. I don’t see anything new.”
    I reach up again, wincing because this time it’s my injured hand, and I gently run my fingertips over my skin. I can feel myself shaking. Shock is beginning to set in. I need to know before it gets any worse.
    And yet I don’t want to know.
    â€œI felt it go in, Kel.” I nod at the empty syringe on the floor. Neither of us wants to pick it up. It’s radioactive. It’s deadly. Contaminated. Viral. Whatever it held is now inside of me.
    â€œYeah, but he—”
    â€œI know what I felt. And I know what I saw.”
    â€œMaybe it’s not what you think.”
    â€œYeah, you’re right, Kel, “ I snap. “Maybe it’s just a vitamin B shot.”
    I stare at him. He tries to hold my gaze, but can’t. He can’t mask the look in his eyes, the fear. The knowing. I’m a dead girl. He knows it. A curtain rises over his face, covers his eyes. Concern. Suspicion. Already he’s giving up on me, writing me off.
    â€œKelly… please.”
    â€œHold still,” he tells me, irritation creeping into his voice.
    I brush his hands aside. “Forget it. It doesn’t matter. We need to think about the others. We need to get the stupid tram moving again before the rest of the group dies.”
    I don’t even know if they’ll recover.
    I’m on the verge of crumbling. I need to move. I need to keep moving or else I’ll fall down and never get back up again.
    Reluctantly, Kelly turns away from me and studies the control panel.
    â€œI tried moving the lever back up,” I say. “That’s supposed to tell the tram to go back in the direction we’d just come, but I can’t.”
    Kelly tries a couple switches and dials. He only manages to flip off the blinking emergency lights, which is a relief, and get the main lights back on.
    â€œButton,” he says, showing me the side of the lever. He pushes it and the lever moves, but the trams doesn’t.
    â€œShit,” he says.
    I turn away to go check on the others, leaving Kelly to figure out how to get the tram moving again. I want to make sure everyone’s still breathing.
    Stephen’s eyes follow me as I slip past him in the passenger compartment and make my way toward the others in the back. I have to fight my desire to plant a front kick straight into his face. Only my training and the memory of Nurse Mabel keep me from doing it.
    â€œYou can leave, you know,” he tells me, taunting. “Think about it. No implant anymore. No one to control you, now or ever. The failsafe won’t work on you. Just power this thing up again and drive yourself right on out of here. You and your boyfriend. He can go, too.”
    I don’t know why my body has rejected the new implant. Apparently I’m unique. All the others’ implants seem to be functioning.
    â€œI’d never leave my friends.”
    â€œThey’ll only hold you back, Miss Daniels.”
    â€œShut up. Just shut the fuck up.”
    I reach Reggie first, sprawled out where Kelly dragged him after tying Stephen up. There’s a knot forming on his forehead, and it’s already bruising. He breathes in agonizing wheezes.
    Jake appears to be worse off. His body is twitching, like he’s being electrocuted. His tongue protrudes from his mouth and he’s making a wet, gagging sound. I turn him onto his side to keep him from choking. It’s about the only thing I know about seizures and such. That, and to move the person away from furniture so they won’t hurt themselves. Not much I can do about that in here where space is tight. At least he’s still breathing.
    Ash is on the floor now, having slipped off her seat when the tram stopped. I check to see that she’s