Into the Dark (Book 8): The Next World

by Casey, Ryan

  The memory of this being the place he was when the news broke.

  When the power went out—again.

  He lifted up the syringe. “We had no reason to believe anyone was responsible for anything suspicious with the cows. Not until I found this.”

  A few side glances. A few people looking at one another.

  “It’s important not to be paranoid. It’s important not to turn this into some kind of witch hunt. But we can’t ignore the evidence. We can’t ignore the facts. I have reason to believe someone has targeted these cows. Someone has taken them out intentionally.”

  A few mutters. A few shakes of the head, disagreement, that kind of thing.

  But Mike was sure of what he’d found.

  “Who was on shift, then?”

  “Gemma and Dave,” Mike said. “But they said it was like that when they got there. Which means someone must’ve got in between shifts, somehow.”

  “And who was on shift before Gemma and Dave?”

  Mike looked around and saw Grant standing there. Grant still wasn’t the same after his wife’s death. Still very vengeful. Graham, now in a position of power, had done a lot to distance himself from him—to try and cut himself off—but Mike still got the sense that Grant was a loaded gun just waiting to burst with fire.

  Mike cleared his throat. “Taylor and Sofia.”

  A few tuts. A few whispers.

  And Mike sensed what this was. He sensed exactly where this was going. Taylor and Sofia. Relative newcomers. Enough to stir the melting pot of tension right now.

  “Then there’s your answer,” Grant said, hands raised, smirk on his face.

  A few eruptions of anger. Shouting. Discontent.

  And Mike wasn’t sure why he’d thrown himself into this position of leadership. He wasn’t sure why he’d gone and done that to himself.

  But now he had… it was his responsibility to get out of it.

  “Like I said,” he said, raising his voice. “It’s important we don’t jump to conclusions here. We have to investigate thoroughly. We have to really get to the bottom of this. And that means keeping cool heads.”

  “The time for cool heads passed a long, long time ago,” Grant said.

  Mike gritted his teeth together. “You want to be careful saying things like that. They could just get you into a lot of trouble.”

  But Grant didn’t seem fazed. He actually smirked.

  “We’ll see who ends up in trouble,” he said.

  Mike did something else, then. Something that seemed like it came from nowhere.

  He walked up to Grant, squared right up to him.

  “Like I said. You want to watch yourself.”

  Grant squared right up to him.

  Fireworks prepared to explode.

  And then the door slammed open.

  “What’s happening here?”

  Mike looked over. Saw Graham standing there, frown on his face.

  He had to give it to Graham. Since his “election”—as much of a token gesture as it might’ve been—he’d calmed down a hell of a lot. Adapted to the new order of things, right when the people needed it.

  Because they did need leadership right now more than ever. Especially with the situation with the power, and everything that came with it.

  “Grant?” Graham said. “What’s wrong?”

  Grant went to say something else. And Mike braced himself. Braced himself to swing a fist at Grant, if that’s what it took—even though Grant was way more muscular and well-built than he was, these days.

  But then Grant shook his head and stepped back. “Nothing,” he said. “We’ve sorted it.”

  “I should expect so,” Graham said.

  He walked over to Mike then. Leaned over to him. “Can I speak with you? Privately?”

  Mike wasn’t sure he wanted to be any more engrossed in what was happening. But he wasn’t exactly in a position to refuse.

  He nodded. Then he followed Graham outside, right to the front of the bar.

  “I think I know who has been killing the cattle,” Graham said.

  Mike frowned. “What?”

  Graham lifted a syringe out of his pocket. “I found these.”

  Mike’s throat tightened. “How…”

  “I didn’t want to say anything in public. Because I knew the kind of trouble it might stir. But… but I found these in Taylor’s room.”

  Mike thought about the repercussions. About what this could mean if it got out. “How…”

  “His door was open. I spotted them. Remembered what you’d said about the syringe. And I couldn’t just ignore it.”

  Mike wasn’t sure what to think. He wasn’t sure how to react to any of this.

  “I… I know in the past I might’ve announced this in front of everyone. I might’ve made it public. But I see that’s naive, now. I see we need to keep this kind of thing quiet. Under wraps. Because… well. Being in a position of leadership has shown me how important it is to avoid frenzy.”

  Mike nodded. He wasn’t sure how sincere Graham was being. But he had to take him at his word. He had an opportunity to cause a stir in front of everyone. He’d chosen not to. That had to be something.

  “And there’s something else,” Graham said.

  Mike followed Graham to Taylor’s room. Stopped, right outside it.

  And then Graham pushed open the door.

  When Mike saw what was inside, his heart skipped a beat.

  The papers on the walls.

  The plans. Plans plotting the downfall of this place.

  “We need to do something about Taylor,” Graham said. “We need to act. Urgently.”

  Mike didn’t see Grant hovering in the background, watching.

  Chapter Seventeen

  When Mike went to the bar to find Taylor, he was already missing.

  He searched everywhere, Graham by his side. Searched every corner. They walked off in different directions. Tried to find him.

  But there was no sign of him.

  And it made Mike wonder…

  The day was rapidly progressing. The sun was starting to set. And it felt like a long, cold night was ahead. A sleepless night. A night that was going to lead to change, one way or another.

  He just knew they had to track down Taylor. Fast.

  Because wherever he was, he could be causing some kind of trouble.

  Stirring some kind of major plot.

  Destroying this place from within.

  Mike walked towards the back of the hospital grounds. Graham had taken a different route to him. And something concerned Mike. The fact that not only was Taylor missing… but Grant was too.

  He remembered that look in his eyes. The way he’d told Mike that he wasn’t worried about a thing. That he wasn’t concerned in the slightest about whatever was coming next.

  He sounded like a man who had come to terms with a morbid fate.

  And Mike wasn’t sure how to feel about that at all.

  He kept on searching the ground behind the hospital. And as he walked, he ran through everything that had happened. The cows. Somebody taking them out. Graham finding the evidence that Taylor was plotting something.

  And it didn’t add up. Why would Taylor do something like that? What would he possibly gain from it?

  Mike just knew one thing for certain.

  It was going to cause tensions to take another momentous leap, especially since Taylor had only been here for six weeks.

  He’d arrived after the paranoia began in earnest. Before the power went out. He was a newcomer in every sense of the word.

  And that was only going to bring scrutiny towards him and towards those who had allowed him to get into this place.

  He went to take a right turn when he saw something.

  There was movement. Movement somewhere right up ahead.

  He tensed his fists. Realised he’d left his knife at home. Shit. He felt lost without it. Like he was lacking something. A core part of himself; a part of himself which made hi
m feel far, far stronger.

  He cleared his throat regardless. Then he started to walk towards the place he’d spotted and heard the movement. Because there was still rustling there. Still something moving.

  It could be Taylor.

  It could be Grant.

  All of this could be a setup.

  He stopped when he reached the bush. Held his breath.

  And then when he was absolutely sure about what he was doing, he yanked the branches to one side.

  “Wait! Wait!”

  Mike almost jumped out of his skin. “You scared me. What the hell are you doing out here?”

  It was Tom. One of the kids around Kelsie’s age. He was a part of Richard’s old group back in the day. “I was just—just playing around. And then—”

  “Well it’s a bit late to be playing around here. Besides. Things aren’t great right now. You should get back home until we’re absolutely sure nothing’s a threat.”

  Tom looked away. Nodded.

  But it was the way he rushed off that caught Mike’s attention more than anything.

  That startled him, he had to admit.

  “Wait,” Mike said.

  Tom stopped.

  And that’s when Mike saw it.

  The rucksack draped over Tom’s shoulder.

  And there was something about it. Something that made him wonder. Something that made him want to see…

  “What’ve you got there?”

  Tom turned around. Looked up at Mike. Fear in his eyes. “N—nothing.”

  Mike took a step towards him. “If you’ve got nothing in there, you won’t mind showing me. Will you?”

  Tom’s cheeks went pale. And Mike knew something was amiss right then. Seriously amiss.

  He didn’t want to consider what was amiss. Didn’t want to entertain the possibilities—especially what seemed like the clearest possibility right now.

  But as he walked towards Tom, he knew he was going to have to face up to the truth, one way or another.

  He grabbed Tom’s rucksack.

  And Tom held onto it. For just a few seconds, he looked like he was going to keep tightly gripping onto it.

  Then he let his grip loosen and handed it to Mike.

  Mike was first startled by how heavy it was.

  He unzipped it. Looked inside.

  When he saw what was inside, his heart sank.

  Syringes.

  Pieces of paper.

  The kind like Mike had been shown in Taylor’s room.

  Mike looked up at Tom. Tears were building in his eyes.

  “Who gave you this, Tom?”

  Tom shook his head. “She—she told me not to say. Made me promise.”

  Mike frowned. “She?”

  “Please. Just let me go. Let me—”

  That’s when time seemed to stand still.

  Because Mike heard the blast somewhere behind him.

  The undeniable blast of a gun.

  He looked at Tom.

  Then over his shoulder.

  “Don’t move a muscle,” Mike said.

  He ran. Ran in the direction of the blast. And he knew he was running into danger. He knew he was stepping into the eye of a storm. Guns. They weren’t supposed to be in the hands of the public. There were hardly any around.

  And reasons for firing them were limited. Very limited.

  It could only mean trouble.

  Big trouble.

  He wanted to turn away.

  But he had to keep on going. He couldn’t hold back. Not now someone might be in danger.

  He ran around the corner, and he saw it.

  Taylor. Lying on the floor.

  Bullet in his skull.

  And then he saw Grant standing there, holding that gun.

  “Grant,” Mike said.

  Grant turned around. Shook his head. Half-smiled. “It’s about time they paid,” he said. “Paid for what they did.”

  “But that’s not what’s happening here,” Mike said. “Something else is going on. Something deeper than—”

  “Remember this,” Grant said. And that’s when Mike noticed the pain in his eyes. The tears rolling down his cheeks. “Remember it, and remember it was people like you who did this to good people like me. Innocent people like me.”

  He lifted the gun.

  For a moment, Mike thought he was going to fire it at him.

  But then he saw it.

  That look.

  The same look he’d had when he’d watched Emilia’s burial.

  The moment his life fell apart.

  He closed his eyes.

  Smiled, just a little.

  Then he turned the gun on himself.

  “Grant!” Mike shouted.

  But it was too late.

  Grant pulled the trigger.

  A blast.

  An echoing ring in his ears.

  Then, as the sun continued its descent, silence.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Sarah lay in bed later that night, and she felt the guilt run through her body.

  It was pitch black in this room. Darker than the darkness she’d grown used to when they had power. Because then, you could always switch a light on. When the anxiety got too strong, you could bring in light and forget about the suffocating blackness that brought flashbacks to the days in the wilderness, the days of surviving out there.

  But now, there was no option to do that.

  Now, there was only the darkness.

  But it was for the greater good. That’s what she told herself. That’s what she had to believe.

  Because as much as she knew depriving this place of electricity was disastrous—as much as she knew that poisoning the cows, the killings that had followed, was a disaster in the short term—it was worth a short-term loss if it meant that this place could be saved in the long term.

  She looked to her side and saw Romesh lying there. Felt his warmth, listened to that whistling through his nostrils as he slept. And she felt guilty. Of course she did. She loved him. He’d changed her life after meeting him ever since she’d got here.

  But they had their differences.

  Notably, the future of this place.

  Because as much as she wasn’t sure Graham was the man to run this place… she believed in what he was saying.

  Outsiders were dangerous.

  She’d seen that far too many times already.

  She turned away, thought back to the extraction point two years ago. She thought of Nina. The time they’d spent there. That sense of hope that emanated around the place.

  And then she remembered the way she’d felt when Nina had disappeared. The hope she’d felt for her. The hope that she’d end up on that helicopter herself, one day.

  And then those outsiders came along and ruined that illusion forever.

  She knew she should be grateful, in a way. After all, they’d saved her, in a sense. Saved her from believing in a lie.

  But was a lie such a bad thing to believe in when it gave you hope?

  When there was no hope present… what was there?

  She thought back to the moment the power had gone out. The discussions about it. The tough choices they’d spoken about making between them.

  It was going to be hard, for a while.

  But eventually, this place would find its feet again.

  Because humans had got by for years without electricity. All it was? A luxury. A distracting luxury that drew too much attention to this place; that tempted too many people from the outside.

  So they’d made the decision. They’d gone out there and destroyed the hydroelectricity at its source.

  She tasted sickness in her mouth when she thought about what happened to Harrison. That was… an unfortunate development. Nobody was supposed to die. It had gone horribly wrong—and that was on her.

  They’d tried to save him. Tried to make things right. Tried to fix things.

  Or at least that was the official story.

  In the end, nothing could be do
ne for him.

  She thought of Mike, then. The man who used to lead, apparently. The man who’d brought them to this promised land. But all she thought of when she thought of him was ineptitude. All she thought of was a man who had maybe once led, once upon a time, but had long since given up his responsibilities.

  A man who didn’t have any power anymore.

  What kind of a person was that?

  How could anyone put their faith in someone like that?

  She closed her eyes, and she felt the most sadness for Vincent. Because unless he changed… he was going to fall. He was going to be toppled, right from within. The dominoes of his demise were already falling. And she loved him for what he’d done. She respected him for his custodianship of this place.

  But his time in the hot seat was coming to an end.

  The final pieces of the puzzle were falling into place.

  She took a deep breath.

  And then she let her thoughts wander at the memory of Grant, and of Taylor, and all the other necessary sacrifices.

  She pushed the lie she’d told to Romesh aside. The lie she’d told him so she could ensure he wouldn’t stand against her. So that he’d stay by her side, no matter what.

  The pregnancy lie.

  She felt a momentary guilt, then she took a deep breath.

  They were going to secure a better future.

  Blood on their hands, but something better was ahead.

  They had something worth protecting. Something worth holding onto.

  And that’s exactly what they were going to do.

  She drifted off into sleep.

  The clock was ticking.

  Change was coming.

  Fast.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The next day, Tom was still nowhere to be found.

  And neither was his rucksack.

  Mike hadn’t slept much that night. He figured not many had. Not many who knew what was going on at least, who were aware of the events of yesterday.

  The cows.

  Finding that someone was responsible for what had happened to them.

  Finding out that Taylor was the one responsible—and had even grander plans ahead.

  Finding out that Tom had those syringes and that material in his rucksack.

  Little Tom, who seemed so good, so innocent, so trustworthy…