Plague Town Read Online Free Page A

the souvenir store. A stuffed bear lay in a pool of congealing gore.
    Her attention focused on the oblivious young man who was fiddling with one of the gas pumps. He wore shorts, despite the chill weather, and his legs were strong and tanned.
    An ululating moan emerged from Maggie’s mouth, a call of dreadful desire having nothing to do with sex. She stumbled down a small slope leading to the parking lot, sprawling full length on the gravel in her awkward rush.
    “Ma’am, are you okay?”
    The sound of his voice made her moan again, the sound muffled against pine needles and gravel.
    “Ma’am?” Closer now. “Ma’am, are you hurt?”
    She heard the crunch of his shoes on gravel.
    “Jesus...” His footsteps quickened. “Don’t move, let me help you!” An arm curled around her shoulders as he tried to help Maggie to her feet.
    She clutched at him with eager hands, mewling noises mixing with the moans as he lifted her.
    “Jesus, we need to get you to the hospital and—” He stared into her face, punctured eyeball and all. Before he could react, she sunk her teeth into his cheek, ripping a strip of flesh from his cheekbone to his jaw line.
    “Jesus fuck !” Screaming, the man shoved her away and back-pedaled, hand clasped to his face as blood poured between his fingers and ran down into the collar of his gray Big Red sweatshirt. Maggie staggered after him, arms lifted as if imploring him to hold her again.
    “Oh fuck, oh fuck!” Still clutching his face, the man backed away toward his car, not taking his eyes off of her as she followedhim. He slammed into the rear passenger door and ran around the back of the car, only to catch his foot on the gas hose.
    He went down hard, his skull smacking against the edge of a pump island, then lay there dazed for a minute, shaking his head. By the time he could move, Maggie had staggered around the car. She fell on him.
    Before his screams had fallen silent, Maggie was joined by two other figures that shared her feast. Josh and Jason had been busy eating inside the gift shop. They were still hungry, however, and joined Maggie for a family meal.

CHAPTER THREE
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    “Ash, have you seen my exfoliating scrub?” Zara asked weakly, followed by a rattling coughing fit. My poor roomie had been bitten hard by Walker’s, but even bedridden she insisted on following her skin care regimen, come hell or high water.
    I hustled into the kitchen where she was huddled in front of the open fridge, feebly digging through apples and Diet Cokes. She looked terrible, the circles under her eyes so dark her face seemed bruised, and the rest of her skin sickly pale. Her dark-brown hair hung in sweat-soaked hanks down her back, stray strands plastered to her face.
    All the exfoliant in the world wasn’t going to help.
    “Zara, get back into bed!” I said. Putting an arm around her shoulders, I led her back to the twin bed across from mine. “You can exfoliate later, okay?”
    Zara lay down, coughed again, then smiled weakly up at me.
    “You’ll find it for me, though, right?”
    I held up my right hand and crossed my heart.
    “By the time you’re ready for a facial, I will have unearthed your Sassy scrub from wherever it’s hiding.”
    Zara heaved a sigh, as though a heavy burden had been lifted from her soul, and fell sound asleep. I felt her forehead; it was hot and clammy. She’d been reallysick for three days now, despite having gotten the flu vaccine. If she wasn’t any better tomorrow, I’d get Matt to help me drive her to see Dr. Albert.
    With all the fuss about the latest flu, I’d heard that maybe, what, around six hundred people had actually died from it so far. Yeah, six hundred isn’t exactly a small number, but thousands of people die every year from the regular bug. Given the population of California—let alone the rest of the country—Walker’s didn’t seem too alarming.
    Even Gabriel had been out sick, despite his vegan miracle diet. Since I’d been fit as a