Read Online Infection Z (Book 4) by Ryan Casey - Free Book Online

Hayden heard the collective echo of metal rattling open.
    “Look,” Miriam said, squaring up to Hayden, as well as a five-foot woman could square up to anyone. “If you aren’t sure about following me, don’t follow me. If you really are as fucking cynical as I think you are, stay here. Rot in here. You’ll probably be a hell of a lot safer.”
    She walked past Hayden. Towards the corridor. Crouched down and took Tim’s gun from his fingers, which still looked tense.
    “What if… what if I join you?”
    Miriam turned. Looked back at Hayden. Behind the canteen door, he could hear cries and shouts. Mostly shouts of joy. Footsteps clanging against the corridors, against the metal staircase. “I’d appreciate a hand, in all truth. We could use all the help we can get. But if you aren’t up for it… you know what you have to do.”
    Hayden listened to the footsteps. Listened to the people escaping their cells. He knew he didn’t have long to make a decision. He knew he didn’t have long to make his choice.
    Stay in here. Be safe. Be alone.
    Or leave this place.
    Get out.
    Be free again.
    And what Miriam said. About the wall in the south…
    No.
    That was a pipe dream.
    The priority was getting out of this place.
    “Come on,” Miriam said. “You’re coming out this door one way or—”
    An alarm sounded from above.
    “Everyone on the ground this fucking second!”
    Gunfire rattled through the prison.
    Hayden thought it was just for show until he saw the blood.
    The guards stepped into the prison from upstairs. Firing bullets into everyone still standing. Putting them down like this was all just some kind of game. Painting the walls red.
    “Looks like the guards have made your choice for you, Hayden,” Miriam said. “Any good with a fire axe?”
    She handed the axe to him.
    He looked down at it. Looked at her. A person. A person showing trust in him. Showing confidence in him.
    He didn’t like it.
    But he didn’t have a choice.
    So he took the axe.
    The alarm rattling above.
    The gunshots peppering through the prison.
    Miriam smiled. “Come on. Better get escaping this place.”

Chapter Twelve
    “ O n my count ,” Miriam said. “Three. Two. One. Let’s go.”
    Hayden didn’t want to follow Miriam out of the door towards the canteen. He didn’t want to throw himself into a battleground. He could hear bullets flying through the prison. Could see people launching themselves at guards, taking them down. And he didn’t want to be a part of that. It felt unnatural. Like walking across hot coals.
    He knew he was walking towards his own death.
    He knew he was risking everything.
    But he didn’t have a choice. Not anymore.
    He just needed to get the hell out of this place.
    He crouched down. Squeezed the axe tight in his hand. The guards were on the top level. A few people had made it down the stairs, some of them alive, most of them now dead. A man held onto his bleeding chest, looked up at Miriam. Hayden thought he saw him nod at her like they recognised one another.
    And then he heard gunshots crack the tiles on his right.
    Hayden launched himself out of the way of them. Ran under the stairs, following Miriam’s every step. He saw the others gathering around him, around Miriam, like they were both some kind of leaders.
    Nausea built at this fact more than the gunshots thudding in his direction.
    Because he knew what happened when he led.
    Bad things happened.
    “We need to make a break up the stairs.”
    “That’s suicide,” someone shouted.
    “I know it is, Jack. I know. But we don’t have much of a choice right now. Not if we want to get out of here.”
    Jack shook his head. He had long, dark hair, cracked glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. “Hope you know what you’re doing, Miriam.”
    She smiled at Jack. Tutted. “When have I ever let you down?”
    And then she stepped out and raised her hands.
    “Don’t shoot!” she said.
    The guards turned around. Four of them. Pointed their