The Project Eden Thrillers Box Set 1: Books 1 - 3 (Sick, Exit 9, & Pale Horse)

by Brett Battles

  So far he’d been able to make pretty good time. The roughest part had been right after he left the canyon. The gentle slope there had been deceiving. Decades of rainwater had carved out gullies that seemed to appear out of nowhere. If he had hit one of those too hard, he would have wrecked and broken his arm or worse.

  But now he was on smooth, level ground so he was able to ramp up the speed. He figured the area was probably the bed of the ancient ocean that used to cover this part of the desert. Sarge would have known for sure.

  He allowed himself a quick look around. Brown for as far as he could see. He glanced at his gas gauge. He had maybe another sixty or seventy miles left. Reluctantly he backed off on the accelerator. If he kept his speed down a bit, he might be able to squeeze out another ten or twenty miles. That could make all the difference in the world.

  He let his eyes settle on the hills in front of him. Another fifteen minutes and he’d be there. If he figured it right, once he reached the top he’d be out of the quarantine zone. The thing he didn’t know was how far he’d still have to go to reach anyone after that. The map his dad had given them was also in the backpack.

  To this point, he’d focused all his thoughts on surviving—going as fast as he dared, keeping the bike upright, looking for holes in the ground. But the thought of the map brought everything back.

  Mom and Sarge. Leaving home after the sun went down. Racing through the dark desert.

  Nick.

  Lisa.

  The girl who meant everything to him and his best friend in the world—both dead.

  The thing he kept coming back to was that he’d sat there and done nothing. He had watched the men raise their rifles. He had watched them fire.

  And he had done nothing.

  Maybe he could have created a distraction. Maybe it would have been enough for Nick and Lisa to get away. Would it have worked? Probably not, but, dammit, he should have given it a try. He should have—

  He didn’t see the rock.

  One moment his eyes were tearing up with anger over his inaction, and the next he was flying over his handlebars, landing hard against the desert floor.

  He lay on his back for a moment, groaning with the pain. The worse of it seemed to be coming from his left knee. He pulled off his helmet then felt his leg, checking if it was broken.

  When his hand reached his knee, he nearly jerked back. It felt wrong. He tried to sit up, but that just made the pain worse, so he only raised his shoulder and tilted his head so he could see what was going on.

  Immediately, he knew what had happened. He’d seen something similar before, during P.E. at school. They’d been playing soccer, and Ryan Young had tried to kick the ball but had stepped awkwardly and fallen to the ground.

  Like Ryan’s had been then, Paul’s kneecap was sticking out like a shelf off the side of his bent leg, dislocated.

  His eyes slammed shut as a new wave of pain washed over him. He took several deep breaths, trying to regain a little control. When it happened to Ryan, the school nurse had come down to the field and slipped it back into place while the rest of them stood around and watched.

  Paul didn’t have anyone to put it back in place for him. He was going to have to do it himself.

  “It’s okay. It’s okay,” he said out loud. “Two seconds and it’s over.”

  He arranged his leg so that the back edge of his shoe’s heel was on the ground. He then put his left hand on his kneecap, and his right on his thigh. Taking several quick, deep breaths, he tried to calm himself. Then, before he could talk himself out of it, he pushed down on his thigh and in on his kneecap. As the leg straightened, the cap moved back into place.

  He yelled out, not so much in new pain, but in memory of the old. Because while his knee was indeed throbbing, the sheer intensity of the pain he’d been feeling had subsided.

  He lay against the desert floor, panting.

  It was several minutes before he finally pushed himself up. His bike was about ten feet away. At first glance, it didn’t look like it had suffered much damage. He took a tentative step toward it, but immediately his left leg howled in pain. There was no way it was going to be able to hold his weight for any length of time, so he hopped as best he could to the bike.

  As he pulled it off the ground, he smelled gas. There was a wet spot on the dirt under where the tank had been. He looked at the bike, checking for a hole, a loose hose, anything.

  It was the cap. It had come loose somehow. He tried to think back to when he’d siphoned the gas from his brother’s bike. Had he not made sure the cap was on tight? There was really no other explanation.

  He took it off now and looked inside. There was still some gas sloshing around in there, but how much had he lost?

  “Dammit!” he yelled. I’m such an idiot.

  He put the top back on, making sure it was secure this time, then wheeled the bike over to where he’d left his helmet.

  Once he was re-outfitted, he got on and started up the bike. His left leg was already starting to stiffen and was going to be a problem. With more than a little pain, he bent it enough to get his foot on the peg.

  He coughed a couple times, and he couldn’t wait until he could drink some water and get the dust out of his system.

  Then he resumed his journey to freedom.

  Thirty

  IT WASN’T UNTIL they landed that the window shades rose again.

  Ash looked outside. They seemed to be at a small airport. He could see a few planes parked off to the side and a hangar in the distance.

  “Where are we?” he asked.

  Pax glanced out the window. “Well, unless we got lost on the way, this should be Sonoma County, California.”

  Though Ash had been stationed twice in California, he only had a vague idea that Sonoma County was somewhere in the North.

  “This is where my children are?”

  “As close as we can get.” Pax tilted his head toward the back. “Chloe will take you the rest of the way.”

  Though they were still taxiing, Pax unbuckled himself and got up. He retrieved the metal case from the cabinet, then set it on the floor between his and Ash’s seats. He undid the clasps and lifted off the top. Protective foam lined the box, while another thick sheet covered whatever was inside. Pax pulled this away, revealing a small arsenal.

  “You liked the SIG so much, I got you three,” Pax said as he touched the hilt of one of the three SIG SAUER P229 pistols inside. “You have four boxes of ammo, three extra mags…well, five if you only use one gun. I also packed a pair of binoculars, and something we call little bangs.”

  “Little bangs?”

  Pax moved a few things around, then pulled out a hard plastic rectangular box about an inch thick, and opened the top. The inside was divided into two parts. On one side was a device that looked like a cell phone, complete with a touch-screen display. On the other side were a couple dozen half-inch squares lined up like crackers in a box, the majority of which were gray.

  Pax pulled out one of the squares. In the center was a smaller black box that barely rose above the surface. Running out from it were tiny wires that spread over the gray square.

  “See the number?” Pax asked.

  Ash took a harder look. On the black box a number had been painted in gray. Hard to read, but not impossible. This square was numbered one.

  “I see it.”

  Pax turned the gray square around. “This other side will stick pretty much anywhere. But you’ve gotta remove this first.”

  He flicked his finger across the edge, and Ash could see there was a clear plastic sheet covering the back.

  “Put this wherever you need it. Then you use this thing here.” He pointed at the black cell-phone-looking device. “This is your trigger device. Interface is easy. You input the unit number, then either set it off manually or set up a timer. These things don’t create a lot of damage, but they’re quite the noisemakers. Good for diversions if you need them.”

  “I’ll bet.”<
br />
  “Careful, though. You see these four here?” He touched four tiles that were grouped together. Unlike the others, they were white. “These do more than just make a noise. They’re what you use if you do need damage. They’ll blow a hole in pretty much anything you’ll come across. There’s only the four, so don’t confuse them with the others.”

  He closed the box and tucked it back in the case. He then gave Ash the emergency phone number Matt had mentioned, making him repeat it several times. It was an easy number. Ash knew he wouldn’t forget it.

  As soon as the plane stopped rolling, Pax said, “I believe this is your stop.”

  There was no one around as they stepped out of the jet. In fact, the whole airport seemed quiet and deserted. It was tucked between several green hills, and though Ash could see a few houses in the distance, there was no town visible.

  Pax nodded toward the hangar. “Your ride’s right over there.”

  Parked near the closed hangar door was a silver Honda Accord.

  The metal case went in the trunk, while Ash put his messenger bag in the back seat. Chloe had a dark green backpack. She tossed that into the footwell up front before climbing into the passenger seat.

  “You got GPS in there,” Pax told Ash. “It’s already preset to get you to the highway. Chloe will take over after that.”

  He held out his hand, and Ash took it.

  “You’ve been put in a terrible position, Captain,” Pax said. “Most people would have given up already. Think they crossed the wrong man when they found you.”

  “Yes,” Ash said. “They did.”

  Pax stepped back. “Don’t be a stranger.”

  By the time Ash got the car to the airport exit, the jet was already racing down the runway and taking off.

  He let the voice of the GPS guide him through the countryside. In his other life, he would have appreciated the beauty of the area, mainly because Ellen would have loved it.

  I should have brought her here.

  I should have brought her a lot of places.

  He gritted his teeth and continued to drive.

  When they finally reached the highway, the GPS stopped giving directions. Ash looked over and saw that Chloe was staring out the window.

  “Which way?” he asked. It was the first thing either of them had said since they’d gotten in the car.

  She didn’t move for a second, then she pulled up her head and looked over at him. “What?”

  “Which way? Pax said once the GPS stopped, you’d know where to go.”

  “Oh.” She leaned forward, looking out the window again, and seemed to notice their surroundings for the first time. “Where are we?”

  “At the freeway. North or south?”

  She started nodding. “South. Definitely south.”

  He headed for the on-ramp. “How far?”

  She glanced at him again, then returned her gaze to the window. “Fifteen-point-seven miles.”

  “Serious?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  He hesitated, then said, “Okay. Fifteen-point-seven miles.”

  “Almost point-six now.”

  SINCE ASH KNEW he’d be shedding Chloe as soon as he didn’t need her any more, he was content to let the miles pass by in silence and avoid forming any kind of bond. For whatever reasons of her own, Chloe seemed fine with not talking, too.

  The first thing either of them said came from Chloe at exactly fifteen-point-four miles from where they’d entered the freeway. “Next exit.” Once they were on the off-ramp, she said, “To the right.”

  They were in a rural area, probably about fifty miles north of San Francisco. The area immediately surrounding them was hilly and green from recent rains. As they headed west the hills grew larger, and the trees started changing from scattered oaks and a few cottonwoods to a growing forest of evergreens.

  “How far are we going?” Ash asked.

  “At this speed, we’ll turn in nine minutes.”

  Ash was tempted to go a little faster, but the road was only two lanes and had become winding with plenty of blind turns.

  After a few minutes, Chloe said out of the blue, “They changed my face, too.”

  Ash glanced at her, then back at the road.

  “I’d be dead now if they hadn’t,” she added.

  Unable to stop himself, he said, “Is that why you’re helping me?”

  For several moments, she said nothing. Then, “I have to help. I have no choice.”

  Ash frowned. “Are you telling me that Matt forced you to be here?”

  “No. Of course not. After you get your children, if someone else needs help, you’ll have no choice, either. We have to fight them. We have to stop them.”

  “You mean this Dr. Karp? Don’t worry. I’ll deal with him.”

  “You don’t understand. You just don’t understand.” She shook her head, then looked back at the road. “There,” she said, pointing ahead. “Turn there.”

  The new road was narrower and obviously less used. The centerline looked like it hadn’t been repainted in decades, and had become more of a faded suggestion than an actual demarcation. The road was dark, too, the sun hidden from view by a thick grove of conifers.

  “Five miles,” Chloe announced.

  Ash glanced at the odometer and noted the mileage.

  “I’m sorry they took your children,” she said.

  Ash didn’t respond.

  “They took someone from me, too. But I can never get her back.”

  Ash remained quiet for a moment longer, then said, “There’s someone I can’t get back, either.”

  Again, silence descended.

  After a bit, Chloe said, “Slow down.”

  Ash checked the odometer, and saw that they had come almost four and a half miles. He reduced their speed.

  The area was quiet. They hadn’t seen a single car on this road, nor had there been any houses or buildings alongside it.

  Chloe patted her hand against the air. “Slower.”

  Ash eased back on the gas some more.

  Finally, she pointed at a spot just ahead and across the road. “There. Do you see it? Between those two trees.”

  Where she indicated he could see the ghosts of two tire ruts running into the woods. They were mostly filled with dry pine needles, and looked as if no one had driven on them for a long, long time.

  Ash pulled across the road and stopped just short of the ruts. He stared into the woods. As far as he could see, there was nothing back there but more trees.

  He grimaced skeptically, then looked at Chloe. “My kids are back there somewhere?”

  She hesitated. “The building where I’m supposed to take you is back there.”

  “This isn’t even a road. It’s a path that no one’s used for God knows how long.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Would you rather I take you down the road they do use? Maybe right up to the front door so you can ring the bell? I can do that if you’d like. Except I’d probably just point the way and let you go on your own. I don’t want to die today.”

  Of course she wouldn’t do that. What was he thinking? And if this really was a way in, wasn’t it a good thing it looked completely untouched?

  “Right,” he said, then added, “I’m sorry.”

  He turned the Accord onto the path.

  Chloe guided him through a slalom course of trees, taking them deeper and deeper into the woods. Keeping their speed to a crawl, Ash still managed to scrape the sides a few times.

  After they’d been going like that for about fifteen minutes, Chloe said, “You should turn the car around here. I’ll get out and guide you. Then we’ll walk the rest of the way.”

  It took a little effort, but with Chloe’s help, Ash was able to get the sedan pointed back in the direction they’d come.

  Once out of the car, he went around to the trunk and opened the weapons case Pax had given him. He grabbed one of the guns, then spent a few minutes filling its mag and the three spares. When
he was done with that, he almost shut the case. Instead, he reached in and grabbed the box of little bangs before closing it up.

  Chloe had been standing nearby the whole time, watching him. He wasn’t sure if she’d been expecting him to give her a gun, but she didn’t ask and he didn’t offer.

  “Let’s go,” he said.

  They hiked for a quarter of an hour, then as they approached a ridge, Chloe motioned for him to get down on his hands and knees. When they reached the top, they dropped to their stomachs and looked down into the tree-filled valley.

  At first, Ash thought it was as empty as the forest they’d just come through, but then Chloe pointed down and to the right. About a half-mile away he saw part of a roof jutting out from the side of the hill, like the structure was built right into the earth. If there was anything else around, he couldn’t see it through the trees.

  She then pointed at one of the evergreens about ten yards ahead of them, then at another about the same distance to the left, then at another and another.

  “Twenty feet up,” she said.

  It took him a couple seconds to see what she was talking about. Attached to each tree at the height she’d indicated were some sort of electronic devices that had been colored to blend in. If Chloe hadn’t pointed them out, he would have never noticed them.

  “What are they?” he asked.

  “Motion sensors. They circle the complex. You can’t see it, but another fifty feet beyond that point is a fence.”

  Ash studied the area for a moment. “I take it there’s a way through there.”

  Chloe shook her head. “Not that I know of.”

  “But Matt told me you could get me in.”

  “That’s true.”

  He stared at her for a moment. “You want to stop being so cryptic?”

  Several seconds passed, then she said, “This used to be an old mental hospital. It was closed sometime in the nineties and the land was turned over to the government, but don’t expect to find it in any of their records. The…others took it over and fixed it up for their own needs. It’s not one of their main facilities so they don’t always use it. But according to Matt, this is where your kids were taken.”