Paradise Lost: Tales of the Dead Tropics Read Online Free Page A

stumps; a security guard with intestines dragging on the floor; a young dark-haired woman with a gaping hole where her abdomen once was. Doctor Wilson stumbled behind her, oblivious to the gaping hole in his chest. One of the guards turned and fired wildly at them. A bullet slammed into the chest of a middle-aged woman in a nurse's uniform. She fell back into the crowd. And then she stood up.
    "Help the wounded!" Biggs yelled, snapping everyone out of their paralysis. "Get going!" He grabbed the Jack's arm and pulled him up. We followed the other guards carrying the older injured man through. I rushed back to hold a door open. I waved at Emma and the others. "Come on!"
    She was so close, I could see the flush on her cheeks and the terror in her wide eyes. Not far behind her were the men and oh, so close, too close, were the monsters. Their missing limbs slowed them down, thank god, but they kept coming...
    "Hurry, Emma." I murmured and held my hand out to her. Her eyes met mine and she reached for me. I closed my fingers around hers and swept her into a tight one-armed hug as I continued to hold the door open.
    "Am I safe?" She whispered pleadingly.
    "For now." I answered truthfully as I watched the boys drawing closer over her shoulder. And then they were through, and the guards were bolting the doors shut.
    5

    A gurgled cry drew my attention. The older guard was lying against the wall. The nurse in me kicked in. I grabbed a kit from the nearby counter and hurried over to examine them.
    "Call for help" I snapped at Biggs as I ran by. Kneeling by the older man, I struggled to stem the flow of blood from his neck but I saw the light of life already fading from his eyes. Within a minute, he was gone. I stood up. "I'm sorry. He's gone." I quickly moved over to the young man. His wounds were more serious but not immediately life threatening. I worried that he was going into shock.
    As I knelt beside the lad, Emma moved to join me, her red hair falling over her face. "You saved my life, Lori. I can't believe that you risked your life like that!"
    I shrugged, embarrassed, as I worked on the boy. "Momentary madness."
    Emma grinned, and with a professional eye, quickly assessed the situation in the room. Her smile faded as her eyes settled on the dead guard.
    "How long has he been dead?" She pointed.
    I frowned, puzzled. "A few minutes. Why?"
    Emma stood up, agitated. "You've got to get him out of here. Now!" Her blue eyes appealed to the other guards. "The ones who have been bitten turn quickly when they die. Hurry, we don't have long!"
    Even as she spoke, I saw the dead man's eyes snap open. His lips peeled back and he lunged at a blond guard near him, sinking his teeth into the man's calf.
    "Get him off, get him off!" The guard screamed, fumbling with his gun. Biggs stepped forward, coolly pressed his gun against the side of the dead man's head and pulled the trigger.
    Biggs turned an icy blue eye on me. "Either you are a shitty nurse who can't tell when a man is dead, ma'am, or I just iced a corpse. " He closed his eyes briefly. "I don't suppose there's much chance you're a shitty nurse, is there?"
    I shook my head wordlessly, pushing myself to my feet. "He was gone."
    Biggs sighed and turned away. "Not sure how I am going to explain this away if there is an inquiry. Then again, not sure there's any way to explain any of this..."
    He passed Ken as he gathered his remaining able officers for a conference.
    "Thanks." Ken's sensitive face was drawn and pale. "That stick allowed me to hold off Jan...those creatures until the officers arrived."
    I accepted his thanks with an awkward nod. It was hard to feel proud when I had abandoned them and run like hell.
    The stocky sandy-haired guard (I privately nicknamed him B1, with his pointy head and spiky hair) sent to make a call trotted back from the nurses' station, looking unsettled. "I can't raise anyone in admin, or down in ER, the office..."
    Biggs scowled. "Everyone's spread so