Dark Future Read Online Free

dislocating my shoulder in the process. Gunshots splintered all around us, streaking through the night like bolts of lightning.
    I decided, if this was my last moment on earth, I didn’t want to see death coming. I squeezed my eyes shut. A coward to the end.
    “Move!” His shout was barely audible above the chaos crashing around my head. Machine guns fired. Men screamed. Then a primal animal roared so loud and high-pitched that I tried to break free to protect my ears.
    The man was having none of my self-preservations. He pushed me up over a crumbling rock wall, his hands squarely on my butt and thighs. I clawed at the dirt and rocks to gain leverage. Finally, over the wall I moved forward on hands and knees, desperate for distance. Within one panicked breath the man was there, pulling, forcing me up into a dead run.
    Within four strides he jerked me to a stop and let go.
    Free of his support, my feet skidded out from under me. I landed hard on my butt, fire splintered through my tailbone. My teeth smashed together biting my lip. I rolled onto my side, gagging on the taste of metal, warm and thick, as the blood mixed with my saliva.
    Stricken with no sense of direction, I froze alone in the dark.
    With the rat-a-tat-tat of machine guns punctuating the night with their sharp bursts of light, I could see other men, their faces streaked with black, hovering and firing behind what little coverage there was. Then he was C>
    I could barely stand—the throbbing in my lower back made my legs quiver. I hobbled a few steps and collapsed to my knees.
    “Get the hell up. Now!”
    I shook my head. My lungs were on fire. “Who are you?”
    “If you can talk, you can run,” he shouted.
    I tugged back on my arm, but his grip was relentless. It was either run or be dragged. With sheer strength of will, I forced myself to my feet.
    A brain-jarring explosion erupted from behind. Heat singed my back as the blast propelled me, throwing me through the air. My body skidded to a stop along the ground.
    I trembled. I didn’t want to rise again, but the man refastened his hold and gave no mercy.
    He hauled me across the hard-packed dirt. I stumbled to my feet, forced to run blind in the darkness.
    My chest ached, lungs burned. I’d no idea how long we ran. My body slowed. My oxygen-starved brain no longer obeyed orders. Willing to beg for mercy, I wondered if God had answered my prayer or the Devil himself.
    The man pressed harder and I knew I had my answer— Antichrist.
    I picked up the pace.
    Finally, we slowed to a stop. My hand brushed along a large smooth boulder. Then he freed his savage hold to my arm.
    I collapsed. Every bone liquefied from sheer exhaustion. Grateful for the reprieve, I dug my fingers into my cramping side.
    “Wait here,” he ordered.
    Fine with me. I flipped on my back and gasped for air. I doubted I’d live through the next few seconds, much less the rest of this day. Stealth was so not my priority.
    “Quiet,” he whispered, harshly.
    Unable to utter a word, I shot a middle finger in the direction of his voice. Granted, he did just save my life, but he’d been none too gentle about it.
    He laughed, but it sounded hoarse. Like that part of his vocal cords had about as much use as my treadmill. Of course, he’d been able to see all along. When we were running, he had me swerving all over, possibly to avoid objects.
    I dropped my hand with a thud, too exhausted to care if I’d forgotten to be grateful.
    “It’s the damn thin air,” he said. “I forget how thin the atmosphere is till I have to run a mile in it. Stay here. Let me make sure she’s gone.”
    Female? Something that vicious had a gender? The thought of it breeding caused a cold shiver to pierce my heart.
    As soon as he was gone, I wanted him back. True, wishing the Antichrist back smacked of pure crazy, but lying waiting in the dark for monsters wasn’t exactly a sane plan either.
    “Let’s go.” He took my hand and led me up a rocky