Final Dawn: Season 3 (The Thrilling Post-Apocalyptic Series) Read Online Free
Author: Mike Kraus
in Mr. Doe came as he leveled his gun at Rachel. As he opened his mouth to speak at her, a shot rang out. Looking down at his hand, he immediately questioned whether he had inadvertently fired his weapon or not. His finger was not on the trigger, though, and the lances of pain in his back and chest verified that the shot did not come from his gun.
Three more shots rang out in rapid succession and Rachel dropped to the ground as two of the rounds passed through Mr. Doe’s body, tumbling end over end out the other side. The final round passed through his heart, lodging in his ribcage, and sending him toppling to the ground. He fell flat on his face, like Marcus had done, but instead of trying to move or roll with the impact, he stayed where he had fallen.
Behind where Mr. Doe had been standing, Marcus was on his side, his gun still pointed at the body in front of him. His arm was shaking violently and his breathing was labored as the red stain on his shoulder slowly spread down his chest. As Mr. Doe succumbed to his wounds, his body gave a small shudder. In that same instant, the whine of the helicopter grew louder as it began to lift off from the ground on its own. Presumably controlled by an autopilot system linked to a dead man’s switch on Mr. Doe’s person, the helicopter rocketed away, though a distant explosion was heard a moment later, accompanied by a plume of smoke far in the distance.
Rachel and Marcus stared at each other over the body of Mr. Doe, neither of them speaking as they each caught their breath and tried to recover from what had just occurred. The sound of footsteps came from behind Rachel, who turned to see David slowly walking up on them, holding a piece of torn cloth against his arm. He stopped over Mr. Doe’s body and examined it before nudging the corpse with his foot. Satisfied that Mr. Doe was finally dead, he leaned down and removed the pistol from Mr. Doe’s death grip before sitting down next to Rachel and Marcus.
“Huh.” David snorted as he looked at Mr. Doe’s body. “That was sort of anti-climatic.”
Marcus started to chuckle, holding his shoulder through the pain. “For you, maybe.”
Rachel stood up and hobbled over to Marcus. She knelt down next to him and examined his shoulder. “It looks fairly clean. It passed right through, so you should be okay. We just need to clean it up and bandage it before an infection sets in.”
David got up before Rachel and headed back to the train. “I’ll be back with the medical kit in a minute.”
Rachel nodded her thanks and watched him walk off, waiting until he was halfway back to the train before speaking to Marcus.
“It was you, wasn’t it?”
Marcus looked Rachel in the eye, still feeling no small amount of shame over what had happened. “I didn’t know, Rachel. I was just looking at the computer and something popped up. I can’t even remember what it said at this point.”
Rachel nodded slowly and patted his arm gently as she sat down next to him to wait for David to return. “I know you didn’t know, Marcus. For the time being, let’s keep it between you and me. David’s already strained enough as it is about your… well, whatever it was that happened before. He doesn’t need to know about this; it won’t do him any good.”
Marcus nodded and leaned his head back against the ground. The sunlight overhead was warm on his face, though the distant black clouds rolling in signaled that it wouldn’t last for long. “I can’t believe this guy’s dead. I mean, really, I thought it’d take more than this to kill him.”
Rachel sighed and stared at Mr. Doe’s body. His suit was wrinkled, torn and marred with dirt and a red stain on the ground was slowly spreading as his blood flowed along the path of least resistance. “I think it’s a rather fitting end, personally. After all he did and all I’m sure he was still trying to do, this will be his final resting
Three more shots rang out in rapid succession and Rachel dropped to the ground as two of the rounds passed through Mr. Doe’s body, tumbling end over end out the other side. The final round passed through his heart, lodging in his ribcage, and sending him toppling to the ground. He fell flat on his face, like Marcus had done, but instead of trying to move or roll with the impact, he stayed where he had fallen.
Behind where Mr. Doe had been standing, Marcus was on his side, his gun still pointed at the body in front of him. His arm was shaking violently and his breathing was labored as the red stain on his shoulder slowly spread down his chest. As Mr. Doe succumbed to his wounds, his body gave a small shudder. In that same instant, the whine of the helicopter grew louder as it began to lift off from the ground on its own. Presumably controlled by an autopilot system linked to a dead man’s switch on Mr. Doe’s person, the helicopter rocketed away, though a distant explosion was heard a moment later, accompanied by a plume of smoke far in the distance.
Rachel and Marcus stared at each other over the body of Mr. Doe, neither of them speaking as they each caught their breath and tried to recover from what had just occurred. The sound of footsteps came from behind Rachel, who turned to see David slowly walking up on them, holding a piece of torn cloth against his arm. He stopped over Mr. Doe’s body and examined it before nudging the corpse with his foot. Satisfied that Mr. Doe was finally dead, he leaned down and removed the pistol from Mr. Doe’s death grip before sitting down next to Rachel and Marcus.
“Huh.” David snorted as he looked at Mr. Doe’s body. “That was sort of anti-climatic.”
Marcus started to chuckle, holding his shoulder through the pain. “For you, maybe.”
Rachel stood up and hobbled over to Marcus. She knelt down next to him and examined his shoulder. “It looks fairly clean. It passed right through, so you should be okay. We just need to clean it up and bandage it before an infection sets in.”
David got up before Rachel and headed back to the train. “I’ll be back with the medical kit in a minute.”
Rachel nodded her thanks and watched him walk off, waiting until he was halfway back to the train before speaking to Marcus.
“It was you, wasn’t it?”
Marcus looked Rachel in the eye, still feeling no small amount of shame over what had happened. “I didn’t know, Rachel. I was just looking at the computer and something popped up. I can’t even remember what it said at this point.”
Rachel nodded slowly and patted his arm gently as she sat down next to him to wait for David to return. “I know you didn’t know, Marcus. For the time being, let’s keep it between you and me. David’s already strained enough as it is about your… well, whatever it was that happened before. He doesn’t need to know about this; it won’t do him any good.”
Marcus nodded and leaned his head back against the ground. The sunlight overhead was warm on his face, though the distant black clouds rolling in signaled that it wouldn’t last for long. “I can’t believe this guy’s dead. I mean, really, I thought it’d take more than this to kill him.”
Rachel sighed and stared at Mr. Doe’s body. His suit was wrinkled, torn and marred with dirt and a red stain on the ground was slowly spreading as his blood flowed along the path of least resistance. “I think it’s a rather fitting end, personally. After all he did and all I’m sure he was still trying to do, this will be his final resting
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