The Alt Apocalypse {Book 3): Torrent
Page 22
The doctor let go of the woman and dove into the water to retrieve it. It kept bobbing out of his reach. Then he caught it, and he went under. He resurfaced, waving his arms. The video froze.
“We’re not showing you the rest of the video,” said Turner. “This is where Dr. Konkoly lost his footing at a drain he couldn’t see. Paramedics tell me he was sucked into the drain and trapped there. They did pull his body from the water only a few moments after he slipped under. It was already too late.”
The frozen video dissolved to a still photograph of the doctor. His name was on the bottom of the screen. It looked like a picture taken from a social media account. It was a snapshot, not a professional photograph. Danny recognized the location of the picture. Chills ran along his spine and his mouth went dry.
The doctor was standing in the Inner Peristyle at the Getty Villa. Behind him was the Temple of Hercules, and beyond that the Atrium. There were Corinthian columns to one side of the snapshot.
Danny could see in his mind beyond the edges of the picture. There was the Outer Peristyle with its long reflecting pool. There was the herb garden. There were the galleries. Flashes of an elevator strobed in his mind. It was like a holiday slideshow, these images.
Then he saw a false wall and a place beyond it. He smelled soil. He felt the wind of a circular pathway play with his balance. He saw camels and a man dressed in traditional Middle Eastern garb. There was a room full of electronics. There was a woman named Gilda.
The reporter was back on camera, talking about other things now, something about the concern for disease spreading among the surviving population. That was always a threat after apocalyptic catastrophes, said the reporter. Danny wasn’t listening anymore. He was preoccupied with what had just happened, with the images in his head and the accompanying sense that he had experienced them before or would in the future. His stomach lurched and he swallowed hard.
Danny closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to shake free of the sensation he was somewhere else. He turned off the television and rolled from the bed, tripping on the sheet wrapped at his thigh. At the sink in his bathroom he turned on the cold water and splashed his face, slurping some of it from his hands. The water dampened his dry mouth, satiating the need to drink.
He pressed his hands onto the sides of the porcelain, wall-mounted sink, and locked his elbows. Water dripped from his chin into the sink. He sucked droplets into his mouth and looked up.
“What is going on?” he asked himself aloud. He was sweating now. He felt it under his arms. “What is happening?”
He looked into his own eyes, but what he saw was the reflection of the Getty Villa and all of those things that were not in the snapshot on television. He saw a place he’d never been, not even once.
At least, not in this life.
CONTINUE THE ADVENTURE WITH AFFLICTION
A RELENTLESS DISEASE. NO CURE. AND NO WAY TO STOP IT.
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LOOKING FOR A STAND-ALONE NOVEL YOU CAN’T PUT DOWN?
A FAMILY VACATION. AN EXPLOSIVE DISASTER. A DESPERATE STRUGGLE TO GET HOME.
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FOR A FRESH TAKE ON THE APOCALYPSE ENTER THE DARK WORLD
A COMPLETE THREE BOOK SERIES
No communication. Limited power. An unbreakable will to survive.
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Acknowledgements
Thank you to everyone who’s supported The Alt Apocalypse. It’s a challenging series to write and I’m so thankful to those of you enjoying the concept of new stories, same characters, different stakes. I’m honored by how you’ve embraced it.
Thanks also to my team of incredible professionals who help get this book into your hands. Felicia Sullivan, Pauline Nolet, Patricia Wilson, Hristo Kovatliev, and Stef McDaid are all amazing.
Of course, my family always deserves the most gratitude. Courtney, Sam, and Luke give up time with me so I can spend it with these characters, in this imaginary world. I love you three more than any words could convey.
To my parents, mother-in-law, and siblings, thanks to you for all of efforts to support my work and spread the word. I am always grateful.
Table of Contents
Author’s Note
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
Acknowledgements