Read Terror Rising: Book 0 – The Insurgence for Free Online

comprehended that something
terribly wrong had just happened.
     
    Fallout
     
    The box truck burnt away, engulfed in
flames, with little remaining but its frame. Angela rose to her
feet on wobbly legs. She could still feel the heat of the blast,
warm and vivid.
    Other agents, Chief Drake and Captain
Martinez among them, stood up in a daze, feeling their heads and
turning to the hypnotic dancing flames in the distance. Thick black
smoke flowed upward as ashes rained down all around them. Pieces of
metal, plastic, wire, and glass lay scattered on the ground. The
truck’s charred frame continued to burn with the shooters’ bodies
no longer around.
    “We need to get out of here,” Chief Drake
said, rubbing his face.
    “Sir?” Martinez replied.
    “Clear the area,” Chief Drake told him in a
short tone. “We don’t know what kind of chemicals are being
released into the air right now.”
    Captain Reynolds stood up, her red hair
unpinned and hanging in her face. “Rex…” she said. “Where’s
Rex?”
    Angela looked around and could see no sign
of the K-9.
    “I’m sure he’s around here somewhere,”
Martinez said. “He’s a smart dog.”
    “Certainly smarter than us if we hang around
here one minute longer,” Chief Drake added.
    Angela could see that all their faces were
smudged with greasy black soot, and she doubted that her own
appearance was any different. Her stomach was sick with grief. And
as a parade of sirens wailed in the distance, the loss of one of
their own had yet to sink in among the stunned group.
    Chief Drake clapped his hands together as
ash continued to fall from the sky. “That’s it, people. Time to
move out. We need to tell the emergency responders to keep their
distance until someone can measure the level of chemical agents in
the air.”
    Martinez began coughing, heightening the
level of fear among them. “It’s just the smoke,” he said, waving
the concerned faces off. “Don’t worry about me.”
    Angela walked over to him and patted him on
the back as the flames continued to flicker in the distance. Chief
Drake was already off and headed toward the narrow dirt road where
two fire engines, an ambulance, and several police cars were racing
toward them. He held his radio up and called into it.
    “ All emergency responders are advised
to stay back. Possible chemical agents in the air. I repeat,
possible chemical agents in the air.”
    “ Let’s get out of here,” Angela said.
She placed her arm around Martinez, who was hunched down and
coughing. He cleared his throat and rose just as Captain Reynolds
approached them with a ghostlike shock in her eyes. “Agent Dawson…”
she said, vacantly. “You don’t think…”
    “ I’m sorry,” Martinez said, placing
both hands on her shoulder. “It doesn’t look good.”
    Reynolds began to tear up. Martinez pulled
her closer with a hug as she cried into his shoulder. Angela
scanned the area for Rex. It was the least she felt she could
do.
    Two other agents, Bernasconi and Tyson, were
in a dazed state as well but dutifully followed their chief to the
road where the emergency vehicles slowed to a halt.
    “ This is too much,” Captain Reynolds
said, backing away from Martinez and wiping her eyes. She then
walked off with a slight limp, calling for Rex and scanning the
area. Only Martinez and Angela remained, staring from afar at the
fire still burning wildly.
    “ Truck was rigged with explosives,”
Martinez said vacantly. “We stumbled on some real shit out here,
Agent Gannon.”
    Angela nodded as the glow of the fire
flickered in her eyes. “That station wagon. It’s all we have
now.”
    He turned to her, agreeing. He hung his head
down, cursing under his breath while balling his fist.
    “ We’ll figure it out,” she said,
trying to say whatever she could to help.
    Martinez no doubt blamed himself. His head
slowly rose, revealing tears in his eyes. “We owe it to Dawson now
to find out who’s responsible for