Orpheus Born Read Online Free

wasn't goi ng to happen.
    Mutt … the guy with the megaphone … and I bonded quickly, because he seemed to be the only person I was willing to listen to. When he asked me to back him up, I was both annoyed and honored. I had no choice but to help him, though. He kept his head about him, and I believed him when he said that anyone who didn't toe the line could go take a hike. .
    We got the crowd under control, and I allowed myself a moment to think that we might actually get through it. Then I heard that dinging from the elevator, and I just about shit myself.
    It went downhill quickly. The speed with which the infection moved was ridiculous. Some people were bitten and turned within seconds, some didn't immediately turn and were just torn apart.
    I'd never been in circumstances as desperate as those. Once again, there was nothing to do but run. We made it to the stairs ... barely. We left living people behind, but there was just no saving them.
    We barricaded the stairs, trapping the undead on the first floor. No one said m uch until we pulled up chairs in the abandoned cubicles.
     
     
     
     
     
     

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    I ... we ... finally had a chance to catch our collective breath and relax for a few minutes. We started chatting and formulating plans.
    I'm a first impression guy. I try to make a positiv e one on people, and I put a lot of stock into my initial impressions of everyone I meet. Having said that, I liked my ad hoc team right away, save for one Ricardo Anders. But I'm getting ahead of myself with him. Here's what I thought then. In fact, I was right on all of them.
    First, there was Mutt. Sergeant Mutters, career island cop. I already told you that I knew I was going to be friends with him from the get. He carried himself well, treated people with respect, and I'm pretty sure he let me out of a ticket once. If you believe in karma, he'd banked a lot of the good kind.
    My partner-in-barricading, Sam, was one of those guys who doesn't say much. When he does speak, people listen, because it's either going to be funny or pretty important.
    As quiet as Sam is, that's how quiet the security guy isn't. His last name is Salmon; he will tell you repeatedly his nickname is "Fish." Despite his young male bravado, he's a deceptively bright kid who lends a hand, takes orders well, and doesn't hold grudges against people who've pointed a gun at him. He's about Ethan's age, too.
    Lena was the last one I had a chance to actually meet. The first thing I noticed was her ink, particular the elaborate sleeve on her left arm; it was impossible not to. I'll say she's sexy merely as a statement of fact. She's whip-smart, doesn't mind heavy-lifting (literally), and she's spunky. I thought she was going to tear Anders' face off at one point. I was still looking for an excuse.
    Anders. One word: sociopath. That's really all that needs to be said about him. Our relationship won't end up well.
    We decided to gather as many useful goods as we could carry and head upstairs. I was sure we'd contained the outbreak on the first floor. There was that nagging voice in the back of my mind that reminded me of how the outbreak seemed to happen all over the island at once, but I squelched it. The hospital was our only chance for survival. If we stayed on the second floor, we could only live off of vending machine food for so long. At some point, we'd each name the bullet we were going to kill ourselves with.
    Fuck. Bad analogy. You'll understand why in a bit.
    This might be the part that I most want to forget, but if I start cherry-picking stories I might as well stop writing this altogether.
    We got the transmission from the people downstairs. They told us they were trapped in the bathroom. And I mean trapped . They had one exit, and it was surrounded by zombies. Worse, they didn't even have time to think of options, because the restroom door was one of the ones that just swung in and had no lock. From what I've seen so far, those monsters are