DELIVERANCE: a gripping action thriller full of suspense Read Online Free Page B

terrified old lady. I am with the army, and that is my mother. If you want me to sign something to say I will go in there knowing the risk, then get me a form. If not, find me a fucking suit right now. If you understand, just nod.’
    The doctor nodded.
    ‘Move!’ shouted Marshall.
    The doctor jumped, and ran for the door, leaving Marshall to wonder if he would head for security. But he looked to be heading for the changing facility. It would be a smart move. Marshall was in no mood to be fucked around.
    The doctor returned two minutes later with a suit, a helmet, and a form.
    ‘You will need to sign this,’ he stated.
    Marshall signed with one hand and started pulling the suit on with the other.
    ‘I know you asked for a face mask, but you will need to wear a full HazMat helmet,’ the doctor said haughtily.
    ‘Firstly,’ Marshall calmly replied, ‘If you speak to me in that tone again, I will break your arm. Secondly, I’ve had more Anthrax training than you will ever have. And thirdly, my mother is seventy years old. If there was enough Anthrax present to harm me after this amount of time, she would be dead already. Get me a face mask in the next forty-five seconds or you will be in a cast for a month.’
    Rather than move, the doctor stood still with a stunned expression.
    ‘You now have thirty-nine seconds,’ Marshall advised.
    Broken from his trance, the doctor ran for the door, and again, Marshall was left wondering where he would go. For a second time, the doctor made the right choice and was back with seven seconds to spare. He was panting and red in the face, but he was holding a face mask in his slightly shaking hand.
    ‘Thank you,’ Marshall told him. ‘Now clear everyone out of there.’
    ‘We are trying to save your mother life, sir,’ the doctor whined.
    ‘If it’s anthrax that she has been exposed to, she is already dead,’ Marshall told him clearly. ‘She just hasn’t closed her eyes yet. If it isn’t anthrax, then you don’t know what it is. So you can fuck off and run your tests whilst I speak to my mother alone for a moment.’
    The doctor nodded slightly and scurried away.
    Marshall waited two minutes, placed the face mask across his mouth at the last moment, and unzipped the side of the isolation tent. He stepped inside to find his mother crying, and realised he had never seen her cry before. Not even when his father died. He immediately removed his mask and bent down to hug his mother. At that point, he would gladly have died to give her some comfort.
    ‘You mustn’t,’ she told him in a hoarse tone. They were obviously keeping her nil by mouth ready to operate.
    Idiots.
    ‘Ma, don’t panic please,’ Marshall told her soothingly. ‘I know what I’m doing.’
    ‘I know you do my sweet boy.’
    He sat next to her on the bed and took her hands in his, noticing that they looked red raw.
    ‘What happened to your hands, Ma?’ he asked.
    ‘They scrubbed and cleaned, and then used some machine or other on them.’
    ‘What happened, Ma? How did you end up here?’
    She took a few laboured breaths, and then Elizabeth recounted the story of the day her life turned to hell.
    Not far into the story, Marshall realised it was his fault.
     
    Elizabeth’s story began with a normal day. She woke up around 7:00 am, showered and dressed. She went down to the kitchen and ate toast and jam for breakfast, washing it down with a sweet cup of tea. The doorbell chimed five minutes later, just as Elizabeth was placing her teacup in the sink ready to wash it up. It was Colin, the postman, who had a package to sign for. He wished Elizabeth a good morning and they chatted about the weather briefly, and even shared a smile about the English rain. Elizabeth then took the delivery into the kitchen and set it on the medium-sized table. It was a parcel about eight inches tall, nine inches wide and four inches deep. She didn’t recognise the handwriting, but the post mark was Cambridgeshire where her