Sacrifice:The Shenkar War Read Online Free

in less than a year, and she was soon pregnant with his son. He had a wonderful life. Then the bird flu had taken it all away. Now they were both dead, along with his father, two sisters, and three brothers. He had tried to immerse himself in his work, but his fellow officers weren’t fooled. After failing a mandatory psych evaluation, he was told to take a leave of absence until such time as he could perform his duties.
                  That had been a year and three months ago. Now his life consisted of waking every morning angry that he had not managed to drink himself to death the night before. Every night was the same: come home, get something to eat, then drink until he passed out. Then in the morning he would wake up, place his gun to his head, and try as he might to end his life.
                  He had a part-time job at a local electronics store to pass the time. He didn’t need the money--far from it, in fact, as he had received a check for one million dollars from a life insurance policy on his wife. Every day he was going through the motions of life, not really seeing a future. Well, that was what he told himself, at least. He knew all too well that there were always possibilities in life. His plan was to not allow anything into his life that he would care for that could hurt him in the end. His mother was always telling him he should never let go of the memory of his lost wife, yet he should allow love back into his life--and she always knew the perfect girl.
                  After showering and getting dressed, Liam grabbed an energy drink. He hated coffee, never could stand it, so his morning ritual included an energy drink along with a breakfast Hot Pocket. After finishing his breakfast, he grabbed his motorcycle keys and left to go to the electronics store. He loved the freedom of riding a motorcycle--nothing around you except the fresh air. Revving the engine, Liam sped off to work.

June 4, 2012 , 7:44 a.m. EST
    Elliot Hospital, ER
     
                  Evan sat up in his hospital bed, rubbing his throat. Oh, how it was sore. Induced vomiting was not what Evan had planned for the previous evening, but his nosy neighbor had changed that. Evan had finally had enough of his life and had downed a bottle of sleeping pills to solve the problem. Life just wasn’t worth the aggravation and heartache ever since he had lost his love, Christine, and his entire family to the bird flu--so many people lost to that horror, and Evan felt that he really wasn’t contributing anything worthwhile to society anyway.
    Finally making the gruesome decision had been rather easy, and even though he would be letting his best friend Liam down, he figured that Liam would understand --he hoped, anyway. However, Evan hadn’t realized the damn old woman who lived in the next apartment building over had a perfect view of his living room through his doors to his balcony. She had witnessed him downing the pills, then promptly had called 911. The last thing he remembered was drifting off to sleep, thinking, Finally I am free. And then he was waking up in the emergency room as he vomited into a bucket.
                  Looking up at the sound of the curtain to his bed being pulled back, he saw a nurse enter.
                  “ Feeling better, Mr. Maxis?” she said flatly yet not rudely.
                  “ Not really, but what should I expect for what I did?” Evan said in a croaky voice.
                  The nurse checked Evan’s pulse and then wrote upon a clipboard she had.
                  “ Are the police still out there?” Evan asked.
                  “ No, Mr. Maxis. They have been ordered to leave.”
                  “ Ordered to leave? By whom?” Evan asked incredulously.
                  “ I didn’t ask, but as soon as I am done in here, you will find