The Anubis Plague полностью

Zahra looked over at her brother. He didn’t reply.

“Baahir?” George asked. “Earth to Baahir…”

Hanan turned around to look at her second born. “He’s still mad at us, aren’t you?”

Baahir leaned away from his mom and peered out the passenger side window. He had been giving everyone the silent treatment for the last two days, ever since George announced that they would be going to Japan for their next trip — not Egypt, as Baahir had hoped.

“Come on, Baahir,” Hanan cooed. “Who’s my handsome boy?”

No reaction.

“Baahir. Wha—”

“Honey?”

Hanan glanced over at her husband. His eyes were glued onto his overhead rearview mirror. Mrs. Kane must have sensed something was wrong, because her demeanor instantly changed from a loving, playful mother, to a hardened, protective survivor. Her eyes narrowed, and she brought her attention to the back window of the SUV.

Her face fell, and she practically dove back into her seat as George picked up the speed.

“How did they find us?” George asked.

Zahra was confused. “Who found us?”

Neither of her parents responded. Instead, they discussed something in hushed tones. Zahra thought she overheard her mother say this was ‘all my fault’ and ‘I shouldn’t have taken it.’

“You had to do it,” George replied. “You know what would have happened if you didn’t.”

What are they talking about?

George reached a hand for his wife’s leg and gripped it hard. Then, he reapplied both of his hands to the steering wheel and sped up even more. Zahra was too short to see what was behind them. She tried to look but couldn’t see anything. The only way she’d be able to see something was if she unbuckled her seatbelt — and she wasn’t about to do that. Not only would she get scolded for doing so, but she’d also be thrown out of her seat given how aggressive her father was driving.

Whatever was behind them, it had frightened both her mom and dad. Her father had made some enemies over the years, but that was mostly with envious colleagues.

Nothing life-threatening… She didn’t know of anyone who would want to hurt him.

Then again, she was twelve.

George suddenly sideswiped something considerable in size, sending them fishtailing around a bend. He quickly got their vehicle under control and didn’t let up on the speed, much to the dismay of his wife.

“Slow down, George!”

“No,” he replied. His jaw was tight, and his eyes were locked onto the road.

They took another winding turn at breakneck speed and, once more, ground against something. Zahra guessed that it had been the safety railing lining the near-vertical drop to their right.

“Dammit, George, I said—”

“And I said, no!” he shouted, cutting her off. Zahra had never heard her dad yell at her mom like that before. “I won’t let them harm you.”

So, it’s not Dad that they’re after, she thought.

Zahra was about to inquire as to who would want to hurt her saint of a mother. Hanan was, in every way, the perfect woman. Stunning and kind, but also tough as nails when she had to be. As far as Zahra knew, she had never wronged a single person in her life. But her mother’s past was an enigma to her and Baahir.

Their SUV was suddenly rammed from behind. It took George everything he had in him to keep control of it. Everyone screamed as they were hit again. This time, they slid across the road and hit the safety railing. To her left, Zahra witnessed a massive black Suburban slam into the driver’s side of their vehicle and pin them in place against the barrier. The cry of shrieking metal was agonizing, as was the sound of her mother’s cries. She reached back and gripped both of her weeping children’s hands.

Zahra hadn’t even realized that she had been crying. They all were — except for George. He was an emotional man, but was currently too focused on keeping them on the road to be bothered with such things.

“Daddy!” Zahra shouted. The driver behind them yanked on the wheel, sped up, and hit them again.

George tried to brake, but they were then hit by a second vehicle. It had come out of nowhere.

This one sent them careening through the guardrail and over the edge.

Zahra felt her stomach turn as their car flipped over on its side.

…and then kept rolling.

She held on to her seatbelt strap and the handle above her window as the Kanes’ vehicle barrel-rolled down the steep grade of earth.

Zahra didn’t know how many times they had rolled by the time they stopped. She shook her head, hearing a high-pitched whine emanating from somewhere inside her brain, shocked that she was still conscious.

And now she wished she wasn’t.

She could hear her father’s wails, even over the sound of the ringing in her head.

“Hanan!” he shouted, bleeding from a cut to his forehead. From her vantage point, all Zahra could see was her dad’s face. He was turned toward her mother. He shook her. “Hanan. Wake up. We need to—”

The tears in George’s eyes started to fall. “Hanan?” He shook her again.