The Phoenix Trilogy (Book 1): World On Fire Read Online Free

split
along the line her crowbar had drawn, twisting its visage into a ghastly scream,
but it didn’t seem to notice the wound when its prey was so deliciously near.
        Immediately,
Natalie clamped her mouth shut as it slavered over the metal rod she held
between its teeth like a horse's bit. Spit, blood and mucus slopped down across
her face in rivers, spattering over her goggles and nearly blinding her. All
she could see were bloody eyes, half-bugged out of their skull as the zombie
strained to push its face closer.
        Natalie
was going to die. It had leverage, and while she had her knees braced against
its shoulders to keep it from getting any closer, it didn't matter. All it
needed to do was get a little fluid into her, and it wouldn't need to bite. Her
eyes were protected and her mouth was shut, but she still had to breathe. If anything
got through her nose, she'd die just the same as if she'd let it tear open her
throat.
        Suddenly,
Natalie felt its weight shift. The beast was trying to use its legs to push the
advantage, but one of them had been twisted in the fall from the second floor.
Under renewed pressure, the bone finally gave way, and Natalie was presented
with the perfect opportunity to shove the ghastly thing to her side and roll
away.
        In
a heartbeat she was back on her feet, and despite her vision being blurred, she
could see well enough to know where she was aiming. She brought the crowbar
down hard, punching clean through the monster's eye socket and out the back of
its skull, pinning it to the earth beneath.
        There
was no time to revel in her victory. Wiping her face and goggles off as best she could , Natalie searched for another attacker,
already wrenching the crowbar out of the tainted remains beside her. She was
angry now and ready to take on the world if she had to. This had been the first
time she'd ever had to go toe-to-toe with one of the undead, and coming away
victorious made her feel invincible. She'd never felt this way before, and she
liked it.
        But
for all of her vigor, there was nothing left to pursue. Natalie was alone
again. The other bastard remained stuck in the deck window, thrashing to get
out but seemingly pinned. It was over, at least for now. Abruptly, she felt her
adrenaline high come crumbling down.
        Natalie
tried to steady herself, but she couldn't get her body back under control. It
was like all of the energy she had was gone, and now she was acutely aware of
how badly she was shaking. The effect worsened when she took a minute to
realize how close she had come to dying.
        This
had been a close call. If she wasn't more careful next time, she might not get
lucky again.
        Then
she started laughing, harder than she could ever remember, and she kept going
until she couldn't breathe.
        "Lucky.
I gotlucky with this. A raccoon almost gets me killed, I barely win a
fight with one of these things, and to top it all off I'm covered in something
foul that smells like absoluteass and I walk away calling that lucky.
This is a joke. This is a joke and I'm actually laughing. Oh Christ, I'm losing
my mind out here."
        Natalie
was exhausted, resting on her back in the grass and staring at the sky.
Somewhere, her instincts were screaming for her to move, but she didn't care.
This was going to be her minute.
        Soon
enough, she'd be back at it, trying to find some new hideout since the door on
hers was busted. She wouldn't have to go far, one of these houses would
probably do, but it felt like one of the hardest jobs of her life. Laying down
under the sun, watching clouds go by... this was a life worth living. Getting
up meant going back to the real world.
        Slowly,
she pushed herself back to her feet. There were a handful of things she needed
to do, but right then, there was only one that was on her mind. Finding her
resolve, she strode across the street toward the barricaded house, feeling a
pinpoint of