"David Moody - Autumn 1 - Autumn" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moody David)

began to split and bleed. He began to choke on the blood running down the inside of his trachea.
PriceтАЩs wife tried to help him, but all she could do was catch him when he fell to the ground. For a
fraction of a second she was aware of his body beginning to spasm but by that point she had also been
infected. By that point the volume of oxygen reaching her lungs had reduced to less than ten per cent of
her normal oxygen requirement.
Less than four minutes after PriceтАЩs initial infection he was dead. Thirty seconds later and his
wife was dead too. A further minute and the entire street was silent.




1
Carl Henshawe


I was almost home by the time I knew that it had happened.
It was still early - about half-eight I think - and IтАЩd been out of the house since just after four. Looking
back I was glad I hadnтАЩt been home. It was bad enough seeing Sarah and Gemma lying there after it had
happened to them. Christ, I wouldnтАЩt have coped seeing it get them both. I just couldnтАЩt have stood
seeing them both suffer like that. I couldnтАЩt have done anything for either of them. It hurts too much to
even think about it. Better that they were gone and it was over by the time I got home.
IтАЩd been out on a maintenance call at Carter and JamesonтАЩs factory five miles north of Billhampton. I
usually ended up going there once or twice a month, and usually in the middle of the night. The bastard
that was in charge of the place was too tight to pay for new machinery and too bloody smart to get his
own men repairing the system when he knew that he could call us out. DidnтАЩt matter what went wrong or
when, he always got us out. He knew the maintenance contract better than I did.
I was six miles short of Northwich when I first realised that something was wrong. IтАЩd stopped at the
services to get a cup of coffee and something to eat and I was just coming off the motorway when the
radio started playing up. Nothing unusual about that - the electric's in the van had a mind of their own -
but this was different. One minute there was the usual music and talking, the next nothing but silence. Not
even static. Just silence. I tried to tune in to a couple of other stations but I couldnтАЩt get anything.
Like an idiot I kept driving and trying to sort out the radio at the same time. I only had one eye on the
road, and the sun kept flashing through the tops of the trees. The sky was clear and blue and the morning
sun was huge and blinding. I wanted to get back home so I kept my foot down. I didnтАЩt see the bend in
the road until I was half way round and I didnтАЩt see the other car until it was almost too late.
I slammed my foot on the brake when I saw it. It was a small mustard-yellow coloured car and its
driver was obviously as distracted as I was. He was coming straight at me, and I had to yank the steering
wheel hard to the right to avoid hitting him. I must have missed him by only a couple of feet.
There was something about the way the car was moving that didnтАЩt seem right. I slowed down and
watched it in my rear view mirror. Instead of following the bend that I had just come round, it just kept
going forward in a straight line, still going at the same speed. It left the road and smashed up the kerb.
The passenger-side door scraped against the trunk of a heavy oak tree and then the car stopped dead
when the centre of the bonnet wrapped itself around another tree trunk.
There was no-one else about. I stopped and then turned the van around in the road and drove back
towards the crash. All I could think was the driver was going to blame the way I was driving and it would
be his word against mine and Christ, if he took me to court heтАЩd probably have a good case. I kept
thinking that I was going to lose my job and that IтАЩd have to explain what had happened to the boss
and...and bloody hell, I didnтАЩt even stop to think that the other driver might be hurt until I saw him
slumped over his steering wheel.
I stopped my car a few feet behind the crash and got out to help. My legs felt heavy - I didnтАЩt want to