Doomsday Revenge: Payback Time (Josie) novel Chapter 9

Ten grand? Make it fifty! Just get us out of here!” Sylvia shrieked, desperate tears mixing with the blood smeared across her face.

The two goons exchanged a dark, calculated look. They were just hired muscle for Victor Wallace, barely pulling in a few grand a month. Fifty thousand dollars was life–changing money.

Even with the world outside looking like a nightmare, greed won out.

Deal,” the taller goon grunted, holstering his weapon. “We get you to the ER, we get paid. Then we tell June exactly where her sister is.”

They didn’t bother searching for the severed legs. They just grabbed the two crippled Supers, hauled them over their broad shoulders, and bolted for the door.

But the moment they smashed through the glass doors of Fort City General Hospital, they realized fifty grand wasn’t nearly enough to pay for this trip

to hell.

It was pure, unadulterated chaos.

People were sprinting frantically for the exits, their faces twisted in primal terror. High–pitched, glass–shattering screams ripped through the sterile air of the lobby.

‘Run! Someone turned! They’re biting everyone!” a nurse shrieked, scrambling over a fallen gurney, her pristine white uniform soaked in dark crimson. If you get bit, you’re dead! You’ll turn into one of them!”

Not fifty feet away, a man was stumbling awkwardly toward the panicked crowd. Chunks of rotting, necrotic flesh sloughed off his jawline with every step, leaving a gruesome trail of bloody footprints on the polished tile.

He was still conscious, reaching out a trembling, desperate hand. ‘Help me… please… I don’t want to die!”

But seconds later, his body convulsed violently. His pupils rolled back, turning a milky, lifeless white. His throat swelled up like a balloon, choking off his frantic pleas. The only sound left was a wet, raspy rattle escaping his ruined throat.

Heh… heh…

With a terrifying burst of unnatural speed, the newly turned Undead lunged forward, sinking his teeth directly into the neck of a screaming paramedic. Blood sprayed in a high arc across the reception desk.

Go back! Get us the fck out of here!” Arthur screamed, frantically pounding his fists against the goon’s broad back. The apocalypse…. this is exactly what June warned us about! It’s starting! We have to get away from the crowd!”

The two guards didn’t need to be told twice. They spun around and bolted back through the shattered glass doors.

They scrambled back into their armored SUV and slammed the gas pedal to the floor, the heavy tires crunching sickeningly over something soft in the Iriveway.

Outside, the city had already descended into madness.

The air was thick with the scent of burning rubber and copper. Panicked drivers ignored red lights, causing massive, flaming pile–ups that turned the four–lane intersections into twisted metal death traps.

Abandoned cars choked the roads, fueling the gridlock and leaving thousands of terrified civilians trapped as the Undead swarmed the stalled vehicles.

Ditch the car! We go on foot!” Sylvia snapped from the backseat, her eyes cold and calculating. She glared at the two terrified goons in the front. Don’t even think about deserting us. We might be crippled, but we’re still Supers. You really want to find out what Victor does to men who run?”

We wouldn’t dream of it, Ma’am,” the goon stammered, sweating bullets as he cut the engine. “Get on our backs. We’re moving.”

They abandoned the SUV and hit the blood–stained pavement, moving as fast as the musclemen could carry them.

At this point, grabbing Josie was the absolute last thing on their minds. Survival was the only mission left.

While the city burned and screamed, Josie was miles away, standing in the shadows of Fort City’s largest wholesale mega–mall.

In the middle of the absolute chaos outside, nobody noticed that the mall’s heavy steel shutters had been pulled down. Nobody realized the security cameras had all gone dark.

And absolutely nobody noticed the lone girl moving through the aisles like a ghost.

Josie walked down row after row of industrial shelving. She didn’t use a shopping cart. She didn’t carry a bag.

11:00

< Chapter 9

She simply raised her hand.

Store.

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Entire pallets of high–calorie survival food, vacuum–sealed winter gear, and advanced medical kits vanished into thin air. She stripped the shelves completely bare, moving with ruthless, terrifying efficiency.

Once she’d cleared the main floor, Josie headed straight for the restricted underground warehouse.

As she pushed the heavy double doors open, an Undead stock clerk lunged at her from the pitch–black shadows, its jaws snapping wildly.

Josie didn’t even flinch. She didn’t break her stride.

With a smooth, practiced motion, she drove her heavy combat knife straight up through the bottom of its rotting jaw, piercing its brain. The monster dropped like a stone. She yanked the blade free, wiped the black gore on her pant leg, and raised her hand again.

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