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Chapter 3

Author: Sherry Marshmallow
Three in the morning.

The cab had just stopped in the service area when two black SUVs barreled in from the ramp.

The shriek of brakes tore through the night.

The doors flew open. Daniel jumped out with four men and surrounded the cab.

The driver went pale with fear and scrambled to unlock the doors.

"Maya! You can really run, can't you?"

Daniel yanked open the rear door, cold wind pouring in with his roar.

"Get out!"

He reached in to grab my hair.

I had been ready for him. I shrank to the other side and kicked him hard in the wrist.

"Get away from me! I told you I don't want anything. Why won't you let me go?"

"Let you go?"

Daniel sneered, half his body leaning into the car.

"You're out here spreading rumors that something's going to happen in the city! The police came to me, saying you're spreading panic! You don't care about shame, but I do!"

His friends closed in. One of them pulled out black nylon zip ties.

"Sis, stop making trouble. Daniel just won big. This is supposed to be a happy thing."

"Maybe you've been under too much pressure and started seeing things. Come back with us and see a doctor."

They called me sis, but their hands showed no mercy.

Two men circled to the other side, forced the door open, clamped my arms from both sides, and dragged me out.

My palms scraped against the asphalt, pain drilling into me.

Several truck drivers and passersby in the service area heard the commotion and gathered around.

"What's going on? Hitting a woman in the middle of the night?"

Daniel immediately put on a pained expression.

"Sir, sorry you have to see this. This is my wife. She's been under too much stress lately and has severe delusions.

"We won the lottery today, and it triggered her. She insists a bead breaking off the rosary around her neck is some kind of sign from God and says our city is about to be punished. She ran away from home."

He pointed at my messy hair.

"Look at her. How could I not take her back for treatment?"

The crowd began whispering.

"So she's mentally ill."

"Winning the lottery drove her crazy?"

"Poor guy. What bad luck to have a wife like that."

Public opinion turned instantly toward Daniel.

The cab driver took the chance to stuff the money and jewelry into his pocket and sped away.

I was pinned against a car door by two strong men, unable to move.

The rosary pressed against my skin, burning so hot I almost fainted.

"Let go of me! You will regret this!"

I looked at the cold faces around me and screamed until my throat tore.

"There is really something wrong with that city! If you go back now, you're going to your deaths!"

"Smack!"

Daniel slapped me across the face.

My ears rang. Blood filled the corner of my mouth.

"Cover her mouth! Put her in the car!"

He had completely lost patience, his face twisted as he ordered his friends.

Just as the zip tie was about to loop around my wrist, I lowered my head and bit hard into the hand of the man gripping my left arm.

"Ah!"

He screamed and let go.

I used the opening to break free. From my coat pocket, I pulled out an eyebrow razor and pressed it directly against the artery in my neck.

The blade cut the skin, and beads of blood rolled down.

"If anyone takes one more step."

I stared straight at Daniel.

"I'll die right here in front of you."

Everyone went silent.
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  • The Broken Rosary   Chapter 10

    The day I was discharged, the sky was clear.I changed into clean clothes and carried a simple canvas bag.Inside were the settlement funds and compensation issued by the government.It was not much, but it was enough for me to start over back home.I walked out of the hospital gate and took a deep breath of free air.No sulfur smell.No blood.Only a faint scent of flowers.I bought a train ticket back to the southwestern mountains.Sitting on the speeding train, I watched the scenery slide backward outside the window.It felt like another lifetime.I had a new phone number and had cut off every connection to the past.The family group that had mocked and cursed me, the friends who had kicked me out of the chat.They had all stayed forever in that sealed dead city.Fate had marked a price for everyone.The greedy died of greed. The cruel died of cruelty.And I, because I listened to my grandmother's teaching and abandoned the temptation of five million, had exchanged i

  • The Broken Rosary   Chapter 9

    Sand and gravel were whipped up by the wind.I opened my eyes sharply.Three military helicopters broke through the clouds and hovered above the broken bridge.Blinding searchlights fell on me.A commanding voice came from a loudspeaker."Person on the bridge, stay where you are! Hazmat rescue is in progress!"A rope ladder dropped from above.Two soldiers in full protective hazmat suits slid down the ladder and landed steadily on the bridge."Ma'am, are you hurt?"The soldiers quickly fitted a gas mask over my face and pulled me onto the ladder.I gripped the rope tightly, my body shaking from extreme tension and exhaustion.The helicopter rose.Through the window, I looked down at the city where I had lived for three years.Yellow-green toxic fog had already swallowed the entire urban area.Fires and thick smoke were everywhere.The streets were packed with tiny black dots, infected people tearing at one another.The rotor blades stirred huge currents of air, briefly

  • The Broken Rosary   Chapter 8

    River wind rushed toward us, heavy with damp air.The torn steel bars at the edge of the broken bridge pointed at the sky like claws.The driver collapsed over the steering wheel and cried."It's over... it's all over! I risked my life for that little bit of money!"I ignored his breakdown.I pushed open the door and walked to the edge of the broken bridge.The river below was fast and bottomless.The toxic fog was less than two miles away.I closed my eyes and took a deep breath."Sir, do you have rope in the car?""Yes... there's a tow rope in the trunk."The driver stared at me blankly."Get it. Tie it to the bridge pier. We'll climb down along the pier."It was the only way to live.Just as the driver hurried to get the rope, my phone rang.It was an unknown number.When I answered, Daniel's voice came through, weak to the point of collapse."Maya..."His voice was accompanied by violent coughing, each cough sounding as if he were spitting blood."Where are you?"

  • The Broken Rosary   Chapter 7

    The morning wind carried a sharp sulfur smell.I climbed up from the ground, every bone in my body screaming.Three hundred yards ahead, the infected group had already noticed me.They smelled the living and suddenly sped up, charging like starving wolves.Run.That was the only thought in my mind.I turned and sprinted in the opposite direction.The sedative still lingered in my body, and my legs felt as heavy as lead.I had not gone far before heavy breathing came from behind me.An infected man in a suit lunged at me and clamped both hands around my throat.The whites of his eyes had turned blood red, and foul, rotten breath sprayed from his mouth."Get off!"I pried at his hands with all my strength, but his grip was terrifying.Suffocation rolled over me, and my vision began to darken.The rosary against my chest suddenly burst with scorching heat."Crack!"The sixth, seventh, and eighth beads snapped at the same time.Fragments shot outward.One sharp splinter l

  • The Broken Rosary   Chapter 6

    The ambulance was silent.The two nurses had been thrown badly and were groaning as they clutched their heads.I was dizzy from the impact too, but the pain weakened the sedative's hold on me."Hank! What happened?"One nurse pulled open the partition to the driver's seat.The driver, Hank, was covered in blood. He pointed through the windshield, his hand shaking like a sieve."We... we hit something..."I twisted my head with difficulty.A black SUV had been driving the wrong way and crashed into the front of the ambulance.The hood had buckled high and smoke poured from the engine.That SUV was the one Daniel's friends had driven at the service area.They had returned toward the city before the ambulance and turned back halfway.The door was kicked open.A blood-covered man tumbled out.It was Daniel's friend Mouse."Help... help me!"Mouse crawled to the ambulance door and pounded on the glass."Don't go back! The gas... that gas is poisonous!"From inside the SUV

  • The Broken Rosary   Chapter 5

    Big Dave's scream through the speaker stabbed into everyone's eardrums."Big Dave, what the hell are you doing?"Daniel frowned."They're crazy... everyone is crazy!"Big Dave's voice was hoarse, full of extreme terror."There's blood everywhere! They're biting people! My pool hall got smashed. Pete's guts were ripped out!""Daniel, every road out of the city is blocked! Don't come back! Whatever you do, don't..."Before he could finish, a heavy impact came through the phone."Beep, beep, beep..."The call disconnected.The entire service area fell silent.The psychiatric nurses looked at one another, the hands holding syringes frozen in the air.My whole body went cold.Grandma's warning had come true.That city had become hell."Daniel Lawson, did you hear that?" My voice shook."Big Dave wouldn't joke about something like this. Something happened in there!"Daniel stared hard at the phone screen.The muscles in his face twitched violently.Then he smashed the phon

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