Sympatico Syndrome (Book 1): Infection (A Pandemic Survival Novel) (27 page)

“Who?” This was going way too far for a few tickets that he couldn’t even remember getting. “You sure you got the right Mark Taylor?”

The fingers tightened again as the cop frog-marched him towards the elevator. Mark balked. This was crazy. When the cop pressed him forward, he didn’t think, he just reacted, jerking his arm free. “Quit pushing me!” The second the words left his mouth, he wanted to suck them back in.

“Get down! Right now. On your knees.” The cop pulled his baton and prodded Mark with it.

“Whoa! Calm down. I just want to know the truth. I have that right, don’t I?”

“I’m not going to tell you again.” The radio blasted a sharp tone, and Mark started at the sudden noise.

The cop mistook Mark’s reflex and swung the baton. Mark ducked his head and the blow landed with a thud against his shoulder. Pain rocketed down his arm like he’d touched a live wire. He sank to his knees. Two more blows landed on his back. He bit his lip to keep from crying out as he fell face-down on the floor, his nose buried in the dank, musty carpet.

The bystanders yelled at the cop while the cop shouted for them to shut up. Without pausing, the officer ordered Mark to lie down. Confused, Mark attempted to lift his face away from the nasty floor to tell him he was already lying down, but a sudden sharp pressure in the middle of his back pinned him to the floor.

He fought to breathe as his arms were wrenched behind him and cuffed. He managed to turn his head, the skin on his face pulling painfully taut as he sucked in air.

The door from the stairwell burst open and three more officers ran towards them, pulling their batons as they charged down the hall. Two men in suits followed, their manner and attitude exuded an aura of power and authority.

The first to reach Mark flashed a badge at him, but Mark couldn’t get a clear look from his angle on the floor.

“I’m Special Agent Johnson and this is Special Agent Monroe. We have a warrant for your arrest as material witness to terrorist acts against the United States.”

I
’d like
to thank my amazing beta readers, Vickie Boehnlein, Allirea Brumley, Win Johnson, Lala Price, and Pam Moore. I couldn’t have published this without them. They gave me valuable feedback on what worked and what didn’t work from a readers’ point of view.

Special thanks to my writing buddy, J.R. Tate. She’s an amazing author and I urge you all to check out her books.

Thanks also, to the Antioch Writer’s Group, where I’ve received lots of encouragement and critique.

And finally, my daughter, Maggie, who helped me brainstorm several aspects of this novel, and who, as a teen herself, and budding writer, gave me feedback to make sure the teens in this novel sound like actual teens.

M
.P
. McDonald is the author of supernatural thrillers and post-apocalyptic thrillers. With multiple stints on Amazon's top 100 list, her books have been well-received by readers. Always a fan of reluctant heroes, especially when there is a time travel or psychic twist, she fell in love with the television show Quantum Leap. Soon, she was reading and watching anything that had a similar concept. When that wasn't enough, she wrote her own stories with her unique spin.

If her writing takes your breath away, have no fear, as a respiratory therapist--she can give it back via a tube or two. She lives with her family in a frozen land full of ice, snow, and abominable snowmen.

On the days that she's not taking her car ice-skating, she sits huddled over a chilly computer, tapping out the story of a camera that can see the future. She hopes it can see summer approaching, too. If summer eventually arrives, she tries to get in a little fishing, swimming and biking between chapters.

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