The Virus, Lee, Damien [summer beach reads .txt] 📗

He wiped his free hand over his face as the vehicle skidded to a halt.

“Let’s hose her down.”

Morris sent a blast of water flowing onto the wreckage as more trucks arrived. Frankland leapt from the side as the men grabbed the handlines, adding to the stream of water. He looked into the orange screen in a daze. He often found fire to be mesmerising, and despite its destructive capacity, he couldn’t help but feel calmed by its allure. A sudden movement within the flames dragged him back to earth. He looked away from the inferno, at a smaller fire burning to the side. He stared hard as a charred arm emerged from the wreckage.

“Morris! Get that hose over here!”

He turned back to the vehicle and retrieved a fire blanket as Morris aimed the spray overhead.

“What is it?” he called

“A survivor!”

Frankland rushed over to the body as it scrambled away from the flaming debris. He tried to get near, but the heat was too intense. He turned as Morris raced over in full PPE. The firefighter grabbed the blanket and darted forward. Frankland looked on in horror as the flames devoured the survivor. He guessed she was a woman based on the ashen remains of her clothes, but the flames engulfing her made it difficult to judge. He watched as Morris pounced on the human fireball. The woman screeched and jerked as he smothered her in the grey cloak.

“It’s okay!” he yelled, scooping her up in his arms. But still, the woman screamed, squirming in his grasp. He raced back to the truck with Frankland in tow, before laying her on the ground.

“She’s alive. Help me, will you?”

Frankland stooped down beside the woman. The heat within the blanket was almost overpowering. The woman had ceased her struggles and lay dormant on the ground as the two officers looked on. A loud crack from the wreckage spurred Morris into action.

“I need to put this out. The medics are on the way.”

Frankland nodded, concerned by the woman’s still form. As his comrade dragged the length of hose closer to the crash site, he stooped down next to her face. The smell of burnt flesh stung his nostrils as he drew closer. He stared at the blanket covering her head, wondering what horrors it concealed. If the rest of her body was anything to go by, he imagined her face was a blackened mess. His heart thumped against his ribs. His trembling hand reached forward, grasping the edge of the blanket. It was then that the woman’s head emerged from the folds. It all happened in a flash. His hand inches away from her head, then her face darting out of the blanket and snapping at his fingers.

Frankland yelped in pain. He jumped back, examining the bloody gash on his smallest finger. Blood ran down the side of his hand, reaching his wrist before he wiped it away. He looked back at the woman who lay prone once more. Her blackened face was worse than he had expected. All her features had burned away, leaving a charred, pulpy mass. Her nose, eyelids, and lips had all perished in the flame, giving the woman a skull-like appearance. Despite her immobility, she fixed him with a hungry stare, watching as he tried to stem the blood flow from his hand.

“Well, those guys can sort it now,” Morris announced, motioning towards the other emergency vehicles that had arrived. Frankland glanced over, watching as they doused the wreckage in geysers of water.

“Are you alright?” Morris nodded towards Frankland’s cradled hand. Before he could reply, the sound of engines caused the two men to turn. They watched as a convoy of vehicles arrived.

“It’s about time you guys showed up,” Morris said, stepping towards them. Frankland looked down as the man’s boot came close to the woman’s head. He tried to voice his concern, but she was too quick.

“What the—” Morris staggered as the crazed woman seized his leg. “What’s she doing?”

“Move!” Frankland snapped, but it was too late.

The woman dragged herself closer and clamped her teeth into his leg. The man’s scream echoed around the runway. He hobbled away as the other officers opened fire with semi-automatic rifles. The bullets ripped her remains apart, leaving behind fragments of bone and ash.

“He’s infected.” A senior officer stepped forward, eyeing Morris sternly. “Get him to quarantine, now.”

“What?” Morris gasped, his panic-stricken eyes darting back and forth between the officers. The men stepped forward and grabbed him. “Wait!” Morris stumbled as he was escorted to a waiting vehicle.

“Frankland, are you injured?” The senior officer asked.

“No, sir.” He subtly concealed his injured hand behind his back.

“Good. Get in. I need you to file a report.”

Frankland stepped forward as the door to the armoured vehicle swung open. He jumped inside and sat beside an officer. As the vehicle drove away, he looked down at his clasped hands. He knew what they would do to Morris. It would be the same thing they would do to him if they found out. He also knew what he would become. If their intelligence was correct, it was only a matter of time before he turned into a monster. He closed his eyes and shook the notions out of his head. He had never believed in monsters, nor did he think he would become one. He felt perfectly healthy. His fever he blamed on the sun. His dizziness he blamed on the fumes from the wreckage. And he assumed his insatiable hunger was down to not eating that day; something he planned to rectify as soon as they returned to base.

The End

A LETTER FROM THE AUTHOR

Dear reader,

Thank you so much for purchasing my debut novel. I sincerely hope you enjoyed reading it half as much as I did writing it!

As a new author, I don’t have an