End Days Series Box Set [Books 1-4]

by Isherwood, E. E.

  He didn’t have a lot of time to make up his mind, so he slowed the convoy.

  “Grab the atlas. We can see if there’s a way out. I’ll contact the others on the CB and let them know we’re thinking of making a turn.”

  She chuckled as she felt around next to her seat for the book of maps. “I don’t think they’re going to complain.”

  Faced with another challenge, and busy with mics and maps and driving, he still went back to the only thing that mattered to him.

  Garth is freaking alive!

  Twelve

  Search for Nuclear, Astrophysical, and Kronometric Extremes (SNAKE). Red Mesa, Colorado

  “The way to fix this, as Dr. Sinclair so succinctly put it, is to blow up the experiment.”

  Faith replied because everyone else was silent. “Doctor, we’ve fought hard to keep this place running. We stopped a terrorist attack that was intent on shutting us down. They could come back at any minute, in fact. Now you say the terrorists had it right?”

  She immediately wondered if Dr. Johnson’s people had been the terrorists. It seemed incredible, but that was where her mind traveled when nothing else made any sense.

  Dr. Johnson spoke with a deep, rich timbre, which added gravitas to his words. “The world as we know it is about to end. That’s bad enough, but the real shitter is that none of us can stop it.”

  She’d been thinking along those lines since the NORAD soldiers had arrived. The genie was out of the bottle, and all the madness in the news couldn’t be ignored or reversed. Some level of worldwide chaos and instability was going to be with humanity for a long time. However, she’d never dreamed she’d be asked to give up. “You came here to tell us to hold out our arms and welcome the end?”

  The man was short and a little on the pudgy side, but he was a heavyweight in the physics community. He stood in front of Faith’s peers and controlled the room.

  “Definitely not. We have much to do before the end arrives. That’s why I’ve gathered you here and let you in on the big secret. No matter how badly my bosses want it to be true, the world cannot go on without bringing in all the scientific knowledge we can. General Smith did a noble job of bringing in scientists from all over America. His foresight really helps now.”

  Faith quietly groaned as she took a seat in one of the empty chairs in the front row. Between multiple bomb blasts, a train accident, and running for her life, her body was exhausted. “Everything we’ve done has been for nothing? Sir, we’ve lost people here. Good people.”

  “And millions, perhaps billions, are slated to die in places outside your cocoon of safety.”

  “Billions?” she asked with skepticism. “What kind of disaster are we talking about?”

  “All of them,” he deadpanned. “Right now California is split in two, and the SoCal tectonic plate and everyone on it is heading out to sea. Magma is bubbling up in the Yellowstone caldera as the plates shift, and the geomagnetic field protecting us from the sun’s radiation is out to lunch in some places. And that isn’t even the bad stuff.”

  Faith gave him a tell-me-more glance.

  He went on. “Two nuclear detonations happened today. One was in the remote desert of New Mexico, and the other happened in the lonely country west of Las Vegas. That is what really has America blinded by the headlights.”

  Her people freaked out like she’d never seen. Multiple people spoke over each other.

  “Be quiet!” she yelled.

  They mostly listened.

  “Was it an attack?” Faith asked in a tired voice.

  “No, not at all.” Dr. Johnson seemed surprised. “I can’t believe you would even ask such a question. Haven’t you figured out what’s been happening out there beyond your perfect little circle?”

  She nodded. “A little. One of our scientists lost his pacemaker when he left the collider property. Planes have come out of the past. General Smith told us some other things, plus what we’ve gleaned from the news, but there’s so much going on it is hard to know what’s true. We’ve been stuck in here for a very long time, doctor.”

  “I’m sure that’s true, so here are the facts. You’ve seen the movie I brought, so you have some idea of how things work. Energy flowing between the two supercolliders gains new properties when it taps into the dark energy locked in the rocks under the Earth’s surface. It changes reality on the receiving end. As I’m sure you’ve figured out, the effects are more pronounced on your exponentially larger supercollider here at SNAKE. It isn’t just reality that is bent, but also time.”

  “We’ve guessed as much,” Faith replied. “Are we going to fix it or not?”

  “Can we fix it?” Bob added from inside the audience.

  “One thing at a time,” Dr. Johnson responded. “Those bombs were nuclear tests done in the 1940s and ‘50s. Time has come forward in those places. They weren’t new bombs dropped by a hostile power.”

  Faith expressed disbelief. “How do you know for certain?”

  Johnson laughed in what was almost a cackle. “People called it into local newsrooms. We took it from there.”

  Missy stood up in the middle of the room. “I’ve been listening to the radio since I started working with all the new scientists. They mentioned a small nuclear attack today, but that was all they said. I didn’t hear anything about testing.”

  “And you won’t, not for a long time. Maybe never. Right now, the news reports can only say nuclear explosions were seen in those areas. We aren’t telling anyone the truth.”

  “But why?” Missy pressed. “We can handle it.”

  “You, maybe. But America the beautiful? No way. We’re keeping it as low-key as possible to quell the panic of the nation.”

  Faith laughed. “How does that help anyone? You have to tell them the truth, so they know we aren’t at war.”

  “Don’t worry,” Dr. Johnson answered evenly. “We control the news. Didn’t you know? Everything that gets said out there is approved by us. Our belief is that it is better to have people think we are at war than to tell them time-traveling nuclear tests have come into the present. It is also why we have a media blackout of what’s happening in California. There are a few other oddities we’ve wallpapered over using our friends in the news media. I’m sure you can see why?”

  Missy plopped down into her chair.

  Faith didn’t know how to respond because it was so far out of her hands.

  Dr. Johnson held out his arms and spoke like he was rallying the crowd. “My friends, you are safe. There’s nothing to worry about here inside the loop of your beloved collider. That was why we came. That’s why we’re waiting for others to arrive.”

  Faith wasn’t sure where he was going with his talk, but she was positive she didn’t like it.

  He continued. “You’ve been brought in on a dirty little secret, I’m afraid. It pains me to be the one to tell you this, but that bastard Shinano blabbed most of it when he went on television.”

  “He described SNAKE as a safe place,” she said almost to herself.

  Dr. Johnson pointed to her. “Yep. We worked hard to paint SNAKE as the bad guy the past few days, but he ruined most of our efforts.”

  Faith was too tired to express all of her anger, but she let a little go. “Oi! You bastards are why the protesters showed up!”

  “Don’t blame my bosses or me. We were protecting you.”

  “That was what General Smith said,” she conceded.

  “And he was. We were all lucky he was able to get here ahead of the rest of us.”

  She was going to have to unpick his involvement later.

  Dr. Johnson went on. “The villain is Mr. Shinano. He was the backer of this failed effort, but he and his people have now gone totally off the reservation. We believe his company lackeys brought in the C-4 to end their mistake. Still, he was telling the truth. This place is a lifeboat on an ocean of calamity taking place out there. We are doing our best to make sure the right people come here while still hitting our quotas, bu
t he threw a giant monkey wrench into this operation.”

  She was getting frustrated with his lack of clarity. “So, there is a way to stop the disaster? To fix it?”

  He looked at the floor as if saddened. “Dark energy has properties we can’t identify or control. Now SNAKE and CERN are like two mule deer with their antlers tangled together after fighting for dominance. If left alone, the two animals might never get free, and they’ll die a slow death from starvation. However, my group has enacted a plan to kill one of those deer so the other may live.”

  Faith suddenly understood his point. “If Shinano was correct, you came here to be safe. That means…”

  “CERN must be destroyed.”

  Sydney Harbor, Australia

  Standing at the railing of the boat, Dez was tired and rushed and full of adrenaline, but she’d made up her mind. Her life’s mission had been to save animals, and she couldn’t allow those inside the truck to remain trapped in there. The Majestic might have been pulling away from the pier, but she was prepared to jump across the gap and make things right, even if it meant she was going to miss her trip to America.

  “I have to save them,” she said to herself.

  She took a deep breath of anticipation, fought off her doubts about whether jumping back was the right thing to do, and leaned forward. However, someone grabbed her firmly by the arm before she could do it.

  “Zandre? I have to go!”

  “I know,” he said sadly, “but I can’t let you. Not like this.”

  “But we were responsible for locking them up. They’ll die without our help.”

  Her opportunity to jump frittered away even as she watched. Zandre let her go once the boat was about three meters out. It was much too far to jump.

  “Fuck, we can’t let them die,” she complained. Zandre had never shown any hint of betrayal in all the years she’d known the older man. This was the first.

  “I can’t let you die, Dez. Your father and I would do anything for our kids. At least, that was what we told each other before he had you and Faith. I, sadly, never found the right woman to give me one.”

  She looked at the shore and considered jumping into the water.

  Zandre read her mind. “I won’t stop you if you want to swim for it. Australia’s a big country, as you know. I can’t put you in a closet while we sail past her, but know I’d do anything to protect you and get you to safety because of that promise to your father. Hell, I’ll jump in with you if you want to go back.”

  The chugging engine rumbled below her feet, and the vibration grew in intensity as the ship sailed for the narrow harbor exit. That would be the best place to debark if she was really going for it.

  “Do you think someone will find them and let them out?” she asked.

  Zandre’s eyes were sympathetic. “You said we could get to safety by going to America. I put everything I could into this small bag based on what you told me. Whether those animals get out of my truck or not, the world is going to shit, right, mate?” He put his hand on her shoulder in a fatherly manner. “What happens to all the other animals out in the wild when it does? At least ours don’t have to worry about being eaten.”

  It was a poor argument, but Zandre was better suited to being out in the bush than on a debate podium. Still, it served to break down her resolve a little more.

  “I really don’t know what we’re going to find in America. My sister was vague.”

  “But you believed her?”

  “You betcha.”

  “Then I believe her. Things are disappearing in strange ways. I don’t know if this is magic, or aliens, or the work of an evil genius. All I know is I want to get you safe from it. Me too, as it turns out.”

  They shared a quiet laugh as the boat got well out into the harbor.

  “Oi,” she said excitedly. “Why don’t we ask the captain to radio back to the harbor and ask someone to let the animals out?”

  It seemed so obvious.

  Zandre smiled. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.”

  But before he could go to the bridge, she realized how it would be a mistake.

  “Wait,” she begged. “You can’t call it in.”

  For a moment, she glanced down at the water and considered jumping again.

  “Why not, Dez? Your idea is bang-on.”

  She sighed. “We can’t endanger anyone else. What if they send a pregnant woman or an elderly dock worker? They won’t know how to handle a Tasmanian Tiger. And who knows what a Duck of Doom would do when it’s scared? I can’t have that on my conscience.”

  Zandre patted her on the back. “You think of everyone but yourself. Your father would be proud of you.”

  She smiled and accepted the compliment, and she did want to avoid getting anyone hurt, but her reluctance to jump and save the animals herself stemmed more from fear than from selflessness.

  Dez was afraid of the water.

  I-80, Nebraska

  “There’s a cutoff!” Connie cried. It was hard to hear over the sound of locusts beating the front windshield.

  “How far?” he asked.

  “A few miles,” she replied.

  The swarm shifted direction before Buck could think about his options. Turning around wasn’t what he wanted to do, but the situation was different from the buffalo herd in Wyoming. There were plenty of highways cutting south toward Kansas. They passed one every ten miles, it seemed. However, once the swarm was upon them, it took away his reason to change course, so he ordered the convoy to stick to him like glue, and he’d get them through.

  The wipers swished the carcasses out of his view, but a messy film built up that the wiper fluid was unable to clear.

  “We have to slow down,” he told Connie. Then, on the CB, he said the same thing.

  Mac howled in his crate back on the sleeper bed.

  “I hear you, buddy. We’ll be through this soon.”

  An impossible number of insects swarmed the truck. Sometimes, the dark shapes became so thick, it was hard to see anything on the highway ahead. It was like driving at night in a blinding rainstorm.

  Cutting speed helped reduce the splatter factor, but some of the locusts still fell out of the sky and bashed themselves on the glass, as if they’d decided to kill themselves on the Peterbilt.

  The hood was covered with a blanket of bodies two inches thick.

  The downpour was nerve-wracking, but Buck tried not to let it get to him. “Hey, Connie. When we get to Kansas City, what do you say we get us some of the best barbecue this side of the Mississippi River?”

  The engine growled as Buck downshifted to a lower gear. Not only was it hard to see ahead, but the locusts covered every square inch of the road surface. Aside from the taillights of a car far ahead and a couple of headlights from a truck going the other way, there were no signs of human civilization.

  “You’ve got a screw loose, mister. How can you think of food when we’re being greased over by the entrails of a billion bugs?”

  He laughed.

  “Spend some time in the Marines, and you’ll learn to eat no matter what’s going on around you. In Iraq, I once ate breakfast next to a sewage lagoon that was—"

  “Please, no!” she said with mock horror.

  The engine coughed, causing him and Connie to lurch forward.

  She became serious again. “What was that?”

  Mac yelped as if mirroring her question.

  A wave of locusts fell upon them, making it all but impossible to see outside. He didn’t want to frighten his passengers, but he was willing to bet his motor’s air filter would need to be drained of locust juice.

  The wipers worked at full speed to keep the glass clear, but each swipe was less effective than the last. Almost without realizing it, he’d painted himself into a corner. If the truck broke down and they stopped, they might soon be buried under a mountain of dead locusts.

  “Just tell me when we reach the turnoff,” he replied. “We’ll be fine.”

&
nbsp; Thirteen

  “I think this trip voids the warranty of my truck,” Buck joked as the locusts continued to pile up against his windshield and inside the air intake. He knew the motor better than his own voice, and right now it was talking trash.

  He shut off the air conditioner to take some of the load off the engine, and he broke out in a sweat two seconds later.

  Connie didn’t rise to his humor. “The exit is close. I think I see a sign up ahead.”

  He saw it too.

  “There!” he shouted.

  Connie picked up the CB mic. “Guys, we’re at the turnoff, thank God. Follow us.”

  “Roger, Connie,” Eve replied. Monsignor also confirmed he was still back there.

  She looked at Buck. “We’re going to make it.”

  “Damn right, we are. This trip isn’t going to end with a swarm of insects shoveling out our innards, I’ll tell you that right now.”

  “Eww.”

  Some drivers chose to pull over and park with their hazard lights on, but Buck wasn’t one to sit out a battle. Plus, he worried the crawling critters would have time to further investigate the engine compartment and get where they could do real damage. He figured their best chance was to keep going.

  He was already moving at walking pace, so the exit ramp up to the intersecting highway was easy to handle. Despite the insane number of locusts and the darkness they created, Buck used the fence lines along the edge of the roadway as a guide. He followed them as he might during a whiteout snowstorm.

  “Turning right,” Connie relayed to the others.

  As Buck gave it some gas, the rain-like sound of insects crashing on his windshield kicked up again. The wiper fluid wasn’t rated for constant hard use like this, and the wipers mostly swished the bug guts from side to side, so he had to use a sliver of clean-ish glass on the outer edge. There were splats of bug juice there as well, but they hadn’t been smooshed around.

  “It’s a good thing I’m not afraid of bugs,” Connie said matter-of-factly.

  “I thought all girls were afraid of them.” Buck reached over and poked her side to show he was being silly. He wanted to make sure neither of them succumbed to the gloom outside.