There was a sound in the corridor outside.
Emma moved to the small window in the door.
A spidery leg slowly lowered into view from around the corner. She couldn’t work out what it was from – a pod, a sheep, it could be anything.
“Oh fuck!” Ralph stated. “Look!”
He was pointing to an inlaid window on the screen. It showed a view from a camera up in the main warehouse. There were thousands of creatures.
“Shit!” Bachman said while looking over Ralph’s shoulder. “Have you hit the button yet?”
“All done,” Ralph replied. “But it’s recalibrating.” He pointed to a small bar.
“Seriously?” Bachman said. He was looking at an innocent-looking progress bar slowly fill up.
“We have a problem over here,” Emma announced.
“Can it wait?” Bachman said as he continued to stare at the screen.
Just as he asked that Emma shrieked as the doors slammed inwards. She used all her strength to keep the creature on the other side of the wooden barrier. But she was too weak; the doors burst inwards.
219
The Furnace
On the surface in the main warehouse
Quirauk Mountain, Pennsylvania
The towering metal doors started to screech open, sending a high-pitched metallic shriek throughout the massive warehouse, along with the clanking of large gears grinding.
The creatures pushed forward, eager for the fresh air and sunlight.
The black spores started to race across the ceiling like a wave of undulating oil.
Just as the large pod raised a spidery leg, a tentacled covered, deformed sheep tried to race ahead, to be the first to exit. The pod slammed a spiky leg through the sheep’s body, pinning it to the concrete.
It would be the first to leave.
The sheep thrashed and spurted black blood everywhere, but it’s screams of death were lost to the excited sounds of the creatures behind it. The excited animalistic roars of the animals was deafening.
The large pod pulled its leg free and went to take its next step out into what was left of the dying world of man.
Suddenly, the large doors reversed and started to grind shut.
The creatures roared in anger.
With a bang, the main blast door was slammed closed, just missing the large pod, and crushing the body of the deformed sheep.
A loud siren started blaring. Red lights flashed on the walls.
Then a computerized female voice started counting down.
10…
9…
8…
The creatures fragmented, no longer queuing to exit the main warehouse.
7…
6…
They didn’t know what was happening. However, with the main doors now closed they tried to rush to the large elevator.
5…
4…
The lift was immobile – shut down and locked in place in preparation for the quick flash of the flames of The Furnace.
3…
2…
However, it would be no quick flash this time, due to being overridden and set to thousands of degrees. The warehouse was now a colossal crematorium.
1…
The bright billowing flames sprang from hundreds of small nozzles, like flamethrowers, amplified over and over, engulfing everything in a tsunami of fire.
The creatures had nowhere to run. They climbed over each other, in their panic. Tentacles shriveled and burst into flames. Flesh melted from the deformed bodies. Bones were turned to crumbling powder.
The smaller pod’s legs ignited and cracked, and then they exploded into a shower of black pus.
The black spores across the ceiling ignited as if a match was put to gas. In one continuous flare the spores vanished, replaced with raining ash.
The largest pod was the last to die. It didn’t try to run, or thrash about. Its outer surface frizzled and started to burn. Cracks appeared and black ooze dribbled from them, which was instantly sent up in a burst of flames. Its towering legs gave way, and it dropped to the superheated floor, as fire filled every inch of the warehouse, consuming all the oxygen. It's skin started to blister. Then, looking like a balloon had simply popped, the large pod exploded – incinerating as it flew apart, with its remains landing as dust.
Countdown completed, the voice announced.
220
On the surface outside the main warehouse
Quirauk Mountain, Pennsylvania
The large metal doors glowed red in the heat, and hissed as the metal slightly buckled.
Outside everything was calm, with just the sound of the wind rustling through the trees.
The deformed sheep were crushed in the heavy doors. All apart from one small section. A piece of a tentacle, no more than an inch long, lay motionless on the ground. It twitched once, and flipped over.
Suddenly, a dark shape swooped down and scooped the tentacle up in its beak. The crow flew off into the distance.
###
Part Nine: Keep Running
(Out soon)
About the Author
Glen Johnson was born in England in 1973. He used to live in Devon, just a stones throw away from the English Riviera, but in August 2014, he gave away all his belongings, and bought a backpack, and he has been traveling Asia ever since. While he travels (with his older brother Gary), he will be helping charitable organizations, writing and releasing books about their foundations, leaving them with all the royalties. He is also helping to write a new computer game called The Seed, from the creators of the award winning S.T.A.L.K.E.R Misery mod. He has also started to release a collection of books about his travel adventures as they unfold, and Living the Dream: Part One – Khaosan Road, Thailand is available now. He loves to travel and has already visited thirty-five different countries, and lived in Mexico City, Mexico for far too long for a pale skinned European. He has also been married twice – and still refuses to say where he buried them.
Why not add Glen Johnson as a friend on Facebook. From his author’s page, you can keep up to date with all his new releases, and when his kindle books are free on Amazon. He checks it daily, so pop on and say hello! Don’t be shy he’s a friendly chap.
www.facebook.com/GlenJohnsonAuthor
Alternatively, click ‘Like’ and you can follow Glen Johnson on Sinuous Mind Books official Facebook Page.
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Also by Glen Johnson from Sinuous Mind Books
(Available in ebook or paperback from Amazon)
Horror
Lamb Chops and Chainsaws Vol.1: Nine Disturbing Short Stories About the Darker Side of Human Nature. UK USA
Lobsters and Landmines Vol.2: Another Nine Disturbing Short Stories About the Darker Side of Human Nature. UK USA
French Fries and Flamethrowers Vol.3: Nine More Disturbing Short Stories About the Darker Side of Human Nature. UK USA
The Human Nature Trilogy Vol. 1-3: Twenty-Seven Disturbing Short Stories About the Darker Side of Human Nature. UK USA
The Watchers. UK USA
Horror/Occult/Supernatural
War of the Gods: Part One – The Devils Tarots. UK USA
Horror/Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopian/Zombie
The Sixth Extinction England: An Apocalyptic Tale of Survival. Part One: Outbreak. UK USA
The Sixth Extinction England: An Apocalyptic Tale of Survival. Part Two: Ruin. UK USA
The Sixth Extinction England: An Apocalyptic Tale of Survival. Part Three: Infested. UK USA
The Sixth Extinction England: An Apocalyptic Tale of Survival. Part Four: The Ark. UK USA
The Sixth Extinction England: An Apocalyptic Tale of Survival. Omnibus Edition. Books 1 – 4 UK USA
The Sixth Extinction England: The First Three Weeks. Noah’s Story. UK USA
The Sixth Extinction England: The First Three Weeks. Red’s Story. UK USA
The Sixth Extinction England: The First Three Weeks. Betty and Lennie’s Story. UK USA
The Sixth Extinction England: Omnibus Edition. Books 1 – 4 UK USA
The Sixth Extinction England & The first Three Weeks: Omnibus Edition. Books 1 – 8 UK USA
The Sixth Extinction England & The Sixth Extinction America. Omnibus Edition. 1 -8 UK USA
The Sixth Extinction England & The first Three Weeks & The Sixth Extinction America. Omnibus Edition. Books 1 – 12 UK USA
Fantasy
The Spell of Binding: Part One. UK USA
The Gateway: World One of the Seven Worlds. Close the World Enter the Next. UK USA
The Keystone: World Two of the Seven Worlds. Close the World Enter the Next. UK USA
Children/Young Adult
Parkingdom: You Can Be Small and Still Make a Big Difference. UK USA
Non-Fiction/Travel
Living the Dream: The Story of Two Brothers Journey in the Exotic East. With 102 Colour Photos. Part One – Khaosan Road, Thailand UK USA
THE SIXTH EXTINCTION
(Set in England)
UK USA
An Apocalyptic Tale of Survival
(Omnibus Edition)
Outbreak
Ruin
Infested
The Ark
Mankind is no longer at the top of the food chain.
The Sixth Extinction is an apocalyptic tale about a pandemic that sweeps the globe, decimating the human race, leaving humanity struggling to survive. Within three weeks everything has changed. Social structure has collapsed. The police are non-existent, and the army concentrates on the cities. Gangs of yobs rule the streets. It becomes everyone for themselves.
The story follows three main characters, Noah, Red and Doctor Melanie Lazaro, as well as Betty and her simpleminded grandson, and a Squad of military personnel. It follows all their journeys of self-discovery through the changing world.
Noah Morgan is just an average twenty-one-year-old. He has no aspirations in life, no girlfriend, few friends, and a dead-end job. Red is a nineteen-year-old female runaway, with a sad past and a disturbing secret. Together they leave behind everything they have ever known, looking for a safe haven.
Betty and her grandson Lennie are just trying to stay alive, and find somewhere safe to hide while they try to make sense of all the madness around them.
The Squad is a small group of military personnel who are trying to get back to the safety of their large base – a base that holds a secret.
Doctor Melanie Lazaro is working around the clock, under military supervision, in Exeter University’s Biomedical Sciences Department, trying to create a cure for the new pandemic that is turning humans back to their primordial roots, creating mindless killing machines with only one purpose − to eat.
The four-part series is a fast-paced story, all set within a twenty-four-hour time-frame.
THE SIXTH EXTINCTION
(Set in England)
UK USA
THE FIRST THREE WEEKS
(Omnibus Edition)
Noah’s Story
Red’s Story
Betty and Lennie’s Story
Doctor Lazaro’s Story
The four part series is a prelude to The Sixth Extinction series.
We get to see what happened within the first three weeks of the outbreak from the point of view of the five main characters, set out in four new books.
NOAH MORGAN’S STORY
Noah is just an average twenty-one-year-old. He has no aspirations in life, no girlfriend, few friends, and a dead-end job stacking shelves in a local supermarket. He locks himself away in his small flat, playing computer games, while ignoring the world outside.
The story follows him as the infection first starts to spread across the world, city-by-city and then country by country, until it eventually reaches England. Over the next three weeks, the world as he knows it will change forever, and he has no choice but to adjust to the situation or die trying.
RED’S STORY
Red is a nineteen-year-old who struggles to put food on the table for her younger sister, Jasmine, after her mother passed away from cancer, and her stepfather turned to drink to cope. Red’s life turns upside-down when she returns from a double shift to find her stepfather has done something inconceivable. Red reacts in the heat of the moment, and then runs away to hide in the local woods, while trying to come to turns with what happened and what she has become.
While hiding from the authorities, and grieving, a virus ravishes the world. By the time she walks out of the woods, to hand herself in, life, as she knows it has changed forever, and not in the way she expected. The world is in chaos, and it is everyone for themselves.
Red has to put her grieving aside; it is now fight or die.
BETTY AND LENNIE’S STORY
Betty is an eighty-six-year-old woman who spends her days annoying the carers in the nursing home, where she was forced to move when the government deemed her unfit to look after herself and her mentally disabled, giant of a grandson, Lennie. Lennie is placed in a home for adults with special-needs and developmental disabilities. They get to see each other only once a week, when a care worker takes Lennie on the train to visit his grandmother.
Then their world changes. The virus outbreak reaches the shores of Great Britain, and the government locks the country down.
However, the care home is forgotten in all the turmoil. The carers stop turning up for work, and the old residents are left to fend for themselves. As the older, sicker occupants start dying, Betty is forced to do things, things which only days before would have seemed impossible.
Unable to reach her grandson, Betty is struggling with her emotions and her body’s limitations. Things go from bad to worse when one night the unimaginable happens, and as people are dying all around her, she has to fight to stay alive.
DOCTOR MELANIE LAZARO’S STORY
Melanie was a child prodigy, miles ahead in her classes. At the age of thirteen, she was one of only four people ever to be accepted into Cambridge University at such a young age. At twenty-three, she is now a renowned scientist in Exeter University’s Microbes and Disease Department.
However, life isn’t perfect; she’s had her problems, and her parents are a little distant and eccentric – her mother cares more about her plants, and her father locks himself away in the basement, and due to bad choices, she still lives at home with them.
Then the virus arrives and the government sends in the army to take over the university’s facilities, using everything at their disposable to try to create a vaccine
Doctor Lazaro is drafted in to run the scientific side of the university while the army barricades it off from the rest of the city. She works around the clock, unable to leave. She wonders, what is the General keeping from her? Why isn’t she allowed to contact to her parents? Why is there a battalion of soldiers walking the perimeters? And why is there screaming coming from the university’s large gym?
Or get the complete collection here:
UK USA
THE SIXTH EXTINCTION
& THE FIRST THREE WEEKS
Omnibus Edition: Books 1 – 8
(Set in England)
Also, at present, the eight book omnibus edition is less than half price on Amazon.
(For a limited time only)
“It is a real page turner from start to finish and doesn’t disappoint. Don’t hesitate, read this and you will be looking for more!”
Amazon UK 5 star review
“The books are fast paced, well written, thought out, and full of some of the best twists and turns that you will never see coming.”
Amazon UK 5 star review
THE HUMAN NATURE TRILOGY
Twenty-Seven Disturbing Short Stories About the Darker Side of Human Nature
UK USA
A #1 Best Seller on Amazon UK Horror Short Stories
LAMB CHOPS AND CHAINSAWS (Vol. 1)
What are your neighbours really like once their front door slams shut? Are your children’s teachers’ sound-of-mind? Has your partner got an evil, sinist
er side? Is a member of your family a murderer? These questions, and more, are examined in a collection of nine disturbing short stories; tales about the darker side of human nature.
Read about a wannabe serial killer who starts his reign of terror on the wrong footing. A Kindergarten teacher who has deep psychological problems that jeopardizes the safety of the children. Why a child of nine turns to violence in retaliation for drug smugglers slaughtering her parents. A fanatical mother who believes her thirteen-year-old son is possessed by the devil. How one killer spirals out of control and in his haste for victims makes a fatal mistake. A government trained killer who was set up as a scapegoat. Or a serial killer who has captured the attention of the world, and has set up one final, sickening display. What does it take to push someone that little bit too far and turn them into a killer? Find out when a savage murder is committed over a packet of lamb chops.
Strangers will never seem the same again.
LOBSTERS AND LANDMINES (Vol. 2)
Lobsters and Landmines is the second book in the Human Nature Series, following in Lamb Chops and Chainsaws footsteps, by continuing to look at the darker side of human nature, by delving into the dark twisted world of the sick minded, the perverse, the psychos and sociopaths; people who take pleasure from hurting others. Individuals, who could be your next-door neighbour or your lover, even a close family member.
The Sixth Extinction: America (Omnibus Edition | Books 1 – 8) Page 49
