by James, Matt
Carla was sick to death with worry for her own husband too, but she jokingly talked about how the man could take care of himself. “If anything,” she said, “the monsters are steering clear of him, not the other way around.” Vinny was Jill’s blood, through and through, and he was one tough guy to take down.
That’ll be the first place Frank heads, Jill thought, knowing the two men’s friendship was deep. They were close, especially after she and Frank began drifting apart. She had no idea if it was because of that or not, but she figured the men had bonded. Plus, Carla got into some horrible nagging fits, and Vinny sometimes needed a break from her.
Jill smiled at the thought. She was sitting beneath the Allosaurs, still in her filthy, knee-length, designer red dress. Her luxurious heels were caked in dried blood, and she was pretty sure she had some of it in her hair too. Everyone was dirty, but it beat being dead.
No one, not even John, had gone into the Milstein Hall. At first, it was because of what might still be alive in there. Now, after a couple of days, they figured the room had started to stink like there were a hundred or so dead bodies inside. Survivors guilt was beginning to take its toll on the five of them too.
The Howards were in bad shape, mostly physically. They hadn’t eaten a real meal in days and looked very weak. John had raided the employee lounge on the first night. Next, were the cafés on the first and fourth floors. Jill had accompanied him while Carla looked after the Howards inside the locked office.
Heading back up to the fourth floor sucked, but at least they had flashlights this time. The only illumination they had to see by, the first time Jill had been upstairs, was the red emergency lights. This time would be different.
Even those had finally burned out.
Luckily, the creatures are blind and can’t see our flashlight beams.
It was something they had discovered by accident. They were about to finish their ascent to the uppermost floor when one of the creatures popped his ugly head up from behind the counter of the café. It had been rooting through the garbage from what they could gather. It was also the first beast they had spotted since day one of their terrifying adventure.
Jill raised her gun but had her hand stopped by John. He shook his head and silently stalked forward. With her heels in her purse, Jill quietly followed, careful not to step in any of the random goo on the floor in front of her. All of the levels had noxious fluids splattered across them. She figured it was a mix of blood and drool, and add that together with a little time and…
Ugh, she thought, shivering. And yes, the museum was getting really cold. They had yet to find any clothes that weren’t grotesquely splattered in blood. Jill was starting to get uncomfortable, but she’d hold out as long as she could before slipping into a cadaver’s dinner jacket. Her own coat was still inside Milstein Hall, along with Carla’s.
Twenty feet from the counter, Jill stopped and watched in awe as John wrapped his thick arms around the hunched man’s neck and squeezed. John would inevitably get cut and have to be cleaned up, but it was the quietest way to take one of them out.
Jill didn’t have the ammo to spare either.
She felt exposed being out in the open hallway but didn’t dare move until John had finished his business with the creature. If they drew the attention of another one, she wanted to be able to gun it down before it got too close to an already engaged John. He wouldn’t be capable fighting off another one of them with his arms still choking-out the first.
When he was done, she headed for the counter, stopping just in front of it while John went through the café’s inventory.
Seconds later, he whistled softly, apparently delighted with what he found.
A softball-sized, round object was launched into the air from somewhere behind the register, and in the aura of her flashlight, Jill’s eyes lit up, instantly recognizing it for what it was: A perfectly preserved blueberry muffin. She did everything in her power not to tear into the plastic wrap and hork down the entire thing.
After a couple of more minutes of rummaging, John stepped out from behind the counter with two bags of goodies.
“Muffins and bottled water for everyone!” he jokingly announced, holding them up for all to see.
Jill laughed, imagining Oprah yelling, “You get a muffin, you get a muffin, you get a muffin!”
She couldn’t wait any longer, so she set her gun down and dug into the delicious delicacy—and that’s what it was—a delicacy. John did the same, and they stood there and ate in silence, both stopping halfway through. They knew they had to conserve their rations. The rest would be their dinner.
The original plan was for them to leave immediately, but the hordes roaming the city had stopped them. Everyone was scared. Everyone. No one, not even John could work up enough courage to leave. Jill knew “courage” was the wrong word. John was as brave a man as she’d ever met. Sometimes being courageous meant proceeding with caution in order to live.
Plus, they had spotted another group of creatures through a window this morning, and a mob of gunmen the day before.
A playground for crazies, and for monsters.
Instead of it being the “hunter and the hunted,” Jill was pretty sure everything outside qualified as the hunter. People like her and the others, they were the hunted. They didn’t want to fight. They only wanted to survive. She still couldn’t believe that people had willingly chosen to stay put.
Everyone in the museum wanted to leave badly—Jill more than anyone. She had just started to feel a renewed love for Frank and then had it ripped away from her. At this point, she needed to face the facts that her husband and cousin were probably dead.
She wiped her eyes before the tears fell.
If that was the case, then they could get moving anytime. Jill wasn’t going to voice her opinion again, but nor would she argue against it…this time. She had argued plenty the morning after their first night inside the cramped office.
The Howards were glued to their hip. They literally had no chance at even making it down the front steps alive, let alone off the island.
John was just being a good guy—a good friend—and he was alone in New York as a whole. He had family down south somewhere, but there wasn’t any use worrying about them at the moment. He had mentioned that he wasn’t close with anyone anymore, and Jill was saddened by that. So far, John had been a blessing to have around.
“We have plenty to worry about here,” he said.
He was right, of course, but Jill really, really wanted to see Frank again—selfishly so. Carla wanted Vinny back too. The two of them were the only reason the others were still around now. Jill felt terribly guilty, but she was also thankful.
In a fight, Carla was all but useless, not that Jill was an expert in Mixed Martial Arts or anything. At least she was a good shot.
With a gun that’s almost empty.
Once it was, she would be useless too.
Just another pretty face in the crowd.
It was what someone had once told her when she applied for the Bar Exam. The asshole that had the gall to utter the words, later found his ass on the floor. Jill had gotten so pissed that she had laid the dipshit out with one punch at a college party. From then on, no one crossed her.
Frank wanted to kill the guy, for what it was worth. They had been together for a few months at the time but had quickly fallen in love with one another.
Jill and John walked quietly until they reached the rotunda. He carried their swag, Jill held her gun and flashlight out like one of Frank’s action heroes did. His favorite was unquestionably Bruce Willis’ John McClane.
I swear, that man can recite that movie by heart.
It made Jill happy to think of the corny things her husband did, instead of the irritating ones.
John must’ve caught her smiling because she could feel herself blush in the dark. The rotunda was brighter than most rooms in the museum on account of it being on the outside of the building. It featured high, easterly facing
windows to boot. But when the sun was on the wrong side of noon, the beautiful room slowly turned ghastly.
“What?” Jill asked, leaning away from the grinning man.
“Your mouth… What’s with the smile, all of a sudden?”
She didn’t know what to say, so she told the truth.
“I’m just thinking of my husband.”
“Frank?”
Jill nodded. “The one and only.”
“Don’t hurt me for asking this, but…you guys seem to have an ‘interesting’ relationship.”
Jill snorted, laughing loudly. She instantly cringed, knowing there could be more of the creatures nearby. Everyone, herself included, usually did their best to stay quiet. If they had to speak, it was always in hushed voices. John was reading her like an open book. Was she really that easy to get a read on? As a lawyer, she’d like to think it was harder than John made it seem.
“You could say that,” she replied. “Frank and I have had some problems lately, but…”
John finished what she was about to say. “But things change when faced with a life-altering crisis.”
Jill nodded. “You realize what’s important.” She closed her eyes as they stepped down from the stairs and out into the rotunda. “Our jobs, our families, our…infertility.”
John looked at her like she was crazy. “Infertility?”
Jill instantaneously felt like a moron. She quickly explained. “We haven’t been able to have kids, and I think it drove a wedge into our marriage. We—I—didn’t mean for it to happen, but I think we were already strained so far, and…”
Jill’s voice caught. She felt like such a witch.
“Look,” John said, “I don’t know Frank, and I barely know you, but I think you guys will do fine when this is all said and done.”
Jill smiled again, but it quickly turned into a frown when she heard the world ending on their doorstep. Multiple explosions rocked the doors and windows, rattling them hard. Whatever was happening outside, it was close, and it was big.
John threw his bags into Jill’s arms, who then threw them into Carla’s when she came running out of the office behind Member Services. In her bare feet, Jill hauled ass, catching up with John as he rounded the Allosaurs. Together, they slid to a stop and reached for the nearest door lock.
Just in case she had to go outdoors, Jill slipped back into her heels. If there was glass, or worse, fresh blood, she’d be able to protect her feet, somewhat. John looked at her and mouthed a three count, flipping the lock and throwing open the door. Just as it swung open, she saw who she had wanted to see for what seemed like weeks.
Frank.
Before she could call out to him, he was tackled to the ground, his skull impacting the concrete steps. Her husband looked up at her before passing out from the blow to the head. Then, the creature that had blindsided him opened its fanged mouth and moved in for the kill.
Oh, my god! she thought, tears running down her face. Frank, no…
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MATT JAMES is a husband, a father, and the #1 bestselling author of over fifteen action-packed titles.
He's responsible for such thrillers as DEAD MOON, DARK ISLAND, THE DRAGON, BLOOD AND SAND, and PLAGUE. Matt has also partnered with USA Today bestselling author, David Wood. Together, they’ve co-written three stories within David’s popular Dane Maddock Adventures (BERSERK, SKIN AND BONES, and VENOM).
YOU CAN VISIT MATT AT:
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/MattJamesAuthor
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PRAISE FOR MATT JAMES
"Matt James is my go-to guy for heart-stopping adventure and bone-chilling suspense!"
—Greig Beck, international bestselling author of
BENEATH THE DARK ICE
“If you like thrills, chills, and nonstop action, then Matt James may just be your next favorite author!"
—John Sneeden, bestselling author of THE SIGNAL
PRAISE FOR “DEAD MOON”
“DEAD MOON is a high-octane thrill ride filled with action, suspense, and of course, monsters! An amazing read!”
—Zach Cole, author of KAIJU EPOCH
PRAISE FOR “THE HANK BOYD ADVENTURES”
“BLOOD AND SAND takes readers on a spellbindingly treacherous journey that also manages to have fun along the way!”
—Rick Chesler, bestselling author of HOTEL MEGALODON
“The Hank Boyd series has been added to my must-read list!”
—J.M. LeDuc, bestselling author of SIN
“The next Hank Boyd Adventure can’t come soon enough!”
—David McAfee, bestselling author of 33 A.D
PRAISE FOR “PLAGUE”
"PLAGUE erupts from the pages in a steroid-filled tornado of terror and shock!"
—SUSPENSE MAGAZINE
“PLAGUE is filled with action, monsters, and our new favorite hero, Logan Reed. Need a cup of coffee and the next book!”
—THE MR. CAFFEINE SHOW
PRAISE FOR “EVOLVE”
"A rip-roaring action-adventure that grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go!"
—Richard Bard, Wall Street Journal bestselling author of BRAINRUSH
Copyright © 2019 Matt James
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
The right of Matt James to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Cover design © Matt James used under
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