Rabid Read Online Free Page A

and Abby got out, followed by Jack, who had moved to the front of the vehicle to give Pippa and Aiden time alone.
    The werecats sniffed through the rain for any scent of danger.
    â€œAnything?” Jack asked.
    Salvatore shook his head.
    â€œI’m not detecting anything, either,” Abby said.
    They climbed back into the car, locked the doors, and slept until morning.
    They made Houston early the next day. The streets were overgrown with weeds, just like the highways, but the buildings stood erect, their glass intact. They parked in front of the first hospital they came across.
    â€œI wonder why no one turned this city into a safehold,” Jack wondered aloud as they climbed out of the vehicle. “It seems to be completely deserted.”
    â€œIt is,” Aiden responded, sniffing the air. “There are hordes of ferals close by, but I can’t tell exactly where they’re hiding.”
    â€œWe’d better get back in the car,” Jack said.
    â€œDon’t worry, they don’t smell like they’re in the city,” Pippa said. “They’re miles away, so we can do what we need to do and then get out of here.”
    â€œAll right,” said Jack as he watched the four teenagers sniffing the air. It occurred to him that he was the only human left in the group. He’d be happy to trade a bit of that humanness for the ability to detect ferals.
    They entered the hospital and methodically checked the first floor, looking for a hematology lab or a clinical chemistry lab. Pippa found a wheelchair and coaxed Aiden into it. He was reluctant to use it at first, but at her urging he swallowed his pride and let her wheel him around.
    They found what they were looking for, an intact lab with hematology equipment and medical supplies. Aiden used his sun ring to illuminate the room, and Jack found alcohol, cotton swabs, needles, and syringes. He extracted blood from Abby and Pippa and put the samples under a microscope. When he looked up from the microscope, he was smiling.
    â€œWhat?” Abby asked.
    â€œI want to extract blood from all of us.”
    Jack took blood samples from Aiden, Salvatore, and himself and studied them all under the microscope. He found some test tubes and mixed some of the blood samples together, then examined those as well. The entire process took more than an hour. The others waited quietly as the doctor worked.
    â€œIt’s just as I thought,” Jack said when he was finished. “Pippa’s blood is an anomaly, assimilating all blood types at once, as well as the three known species of human, feral, and werecat. It’s bizarre, but the cells are living together in harmony and working together in some sort of symbiotic relationship. Her blood is stabilized, but Abby’s is still evolving. The hemoglobin from Abby’s werecat side seems to be the dominant source and is moving about aggressively. So I applied Pippa’s sample to the four of ours. Every test gave the same result. The werecat gene takes precedence, multiplies rapidly and balances the system without destroying the other cells. But when I tried Abby’s sample, it had no effect. Not yet, anyway.”
    â€œI guess that means I have to go through what Pippa did,” Abby said.
    â€œWe’ll be there for you, sis,” Pippa said. “We’ll be better prepared this time.”
    â€œWhat if you injected me with some of Pippa’s blood,” Abby asked. “Maybe that would stop the transformation. It seems to have worked for Aiden.”
    â€œAiden doesn’t have the same makeup as you do,” Jack replied. “And at the time, we had no choice. We were trying to save his life. We can’t chance it with you. Besides, I’m not sure what we’re dealing with concerning Aiden. He’s still having trouble, so I can’t say how it would affect you in your current state. You might have to approach a feral-like state as your sister