Extinction Gene Box Set | Books 1-6

by Maxey, Phil

  The van turned sharply again.

  “You can slow down, Landon. I bought us some more time.” The revving engine dipped slightly.

  “There’s no way you’re going with those people, right?” he shouted.

  “No, of course not. It was the only thing I could think of to give us a chance to get away. How far are we from Josh?”

  “Should be at the end of this street.” Landon looked at the sky. There was no sign of anything up there, other than gray-white clouds. Light rain began hitting the windshield as they drove over an overpass, crossing the highway which moved up to a bridge. The sky behind the arches was noticeably darkening.

  “They just shot him,” said Arlo, who was shaking. Jess went to place her hand on his shoulder, but he pushed it away. “You’re part of this!”

  “This is not mom’s fault!” shouted Sam.

  “Instead of arguing,” said Landon. “Figure out a way we can get out of this city without being detected! And tell Tracey we’re coming!” While Jess clicked on the radio, informing Tracey they were about to arrive, he racked his brain, trying to think of any training that would help him and his family escape. He eased down on the breaks, while turning into another road bordered by turn of the century brick houses and stores divided by more recent block-like offices.

  “She see’s us,” said Jess. “It’s the building on the left.”

  He drove them into the parking lot, parking next to the other van then turned off the engine. He turned around. “They probably know where we are. When we leave here, it will have to be on foot—”

  “To hell with that!” said Arlo. “When you get out, I’m leaving! This has nothing to do with me! I’m not dying for whatever this is!”

  “It’s your vehicle, you can do what you want with it. But I doubt you’re making it beyond the confines of the city without being chased down or worse. But hey, it’s your choice…”

  Arlo shook his head, the frustration obvious. “Then what am I supposed to do!”

  “Come with us,” said Jess. “We’ll go inside, wait until it’s dark then empty what you can carry from this van, and we do as my husband says. We leave on foot, find another vehicle then get far away.”

  “He said he expects to hear from you within the hour…”

  “It will be close, but it should give us ten or so minutes of dark.”

  “What if they got night vision or something?”

  She frowned. “This is all I got.”

  He nodded. “Okay, okay. Lets—”

  A bang came from the side door, making them all jump.

  “Mom?”

  Emotion mixed with tears across Jess’s face and she threw the side door back and embraced her son, who jumped up inside. A small dog jumped up as well. She looked in shock at the animal, who was wagging its tail while slobbering over her.

  “Yeah, about that…” said Landon. “We now have a dog.”

  *****

  4: 31 p.m. Jefferson City.

  Meg pulled at the cables binding her wrists. She could feel the skin starting to flay but there was still no give. The light seeping through the blinds of the small room she was in was almost completely gone, and then she would be in the dark, making it even more difficult to escape. Those that had taken her and Tye didn’t say much. Two men, one thirty something the other a little older, talked about being immune, but they had to be sure, so they would tie her and the boy up in separate rooms and see if they changed. From the lack of the sound through the thin office walls, Tye hadn’t, so that was something. He was immune, but she wasn’t and sooner or later her captors would know it.

  So much for finding Landon and Josh…

  The plan that Jess whispered to her, to meet at sundown at the most obvious landmark in Jefferson pretty quickly went sour. She backtracked to where they had traveled, the idea being that Landon must be in the vicinity and hopefully the sound of the sedan would be enough to alert the detective, but instead she ran into two people that said their car had broken down and needed help. After the old man and his son, she figured what were the chances that she would run into another set of assholes? Turns out the chances were pretty good.

  Stupid… so stupid…

  She tugged at the plastic around her wrists again, this time the pain being sharper, but she didn’t care. She could only make out dark forms now in the room. A desk, filing cabinet, computer monitor. She had to escape.

  Not only had she not found Jess’s husband and son, but she managed to get herself and the other boy taken hostage by a bunch of crazies.

  Well done, Meg…

  The voices that she had heard with the sounds of engines outside the window, confirmed that the two that came out of nowhere with assault rifles were just two of many more. How many more she wasn’t sure, but she just knew that the clock was ticking on her time as a human.

  Maybe I am immune?

  She scoffed.

  Wouldn’t that be ironic.

  She knew the chances of that being true were low. On the long drive east Jess had explained that in any good-sized city, there would be maybe a hundred people immune. That didn’t mean they would still be alive of course, for the things would kill them anyway. But in a small town such as Rocky Pine? Maybe two or three would have gotten lucky. And she doubted she was one of them.

  Need to escape. I really hope you found that vaccine, Jess.

  She tugged again on the strap. The pain was searing, but she was gritting her teeth, forcing her muscles to obey, despite the burning emanating from her lower arm…

  Her thumb squeezed free, quickly followed by her—

  A muffled cough came through the wall to her right. She waited, frozen in hope which was quickly dissipated by another cough.

  Oh god, no… you have to be immune, kid…

  A door creaked open downstairs, followed by footsteps and the sound of more aging boards. Tye was still coughing. Heavy boots moved across the landing to the door adjacent to Meg’s room, which was then opened.

  “Sorry kid, but if you’re changing, I gotta put a bullet in you!”

  What?

  As Tye tried to protest through his shortened breath and coughs, Meg scrambled to get her other hand free and then onto her feet.

  Come on!

  Tye’s cries of anguish got louder.

  “I gotta do it, kid! You could kill all of us!”

  Without hesitation Meg got up, fumbling in the dark for the item she remembered when there was light. Grabbing the small pot and plant, she moved to the door and turned the handle. She gambled that in the chaos the man wouldn’t hear her open it.

  She tugged it back and sure enough a twenty something man with a baseball cap was holding a shotgun through the open door to her right. The white of his eyes obvious from the glow of a flashlight resting against the doorframe. He raised the double barrels as Tye’s attempts at breathing continued.

  “I don’t want to do it! I have to! It’s the rules! Everyone has to—”

  Meg brought the clay pot down as hard as she could on the back of his head, but he remained upright. He turned, shock across his face, wavered then collapsed. Meg ran forward, pulling the gun from his quivering hands and looked back into the room. She went to move forward but then stopped. What if Tye does change?

  “I’m… not… a… monster… Asth… ma…”

  She walked quickly into the room, placing the gun on the ground and pulled at the straps around his wrists. “It’s going to be okay. Try to control your breathing.”

  “Inhaler… pocket…”

  She stopped untying his ankles and delved into his jacket pocket, pulling out the small blue plastic device and handed it to him. He immediately pressed it to his mouth and pushed down on the button, then took a deep breath.

  “See… everything’s going to—”

  “Harold?” shouted a male voice from downstairs. “Was the kid a monster or not?” They started to climb the stairs. “Shit. Have I got to put all of them down, or can you do
it for...”

  The man looked up at the shotgun pointing directly at his face.

  “Lower the rifle, real slow,” said Meg. “Place it on the step and move back—”

  In the split second it took for him to raise the long barrel the inch towards the woman at the top of the stairs, she had already fired. Meg knew he was going to from how his face tightened just before. Another thing that Liam had taught her.

  She ran down the few steps, picked up the rifle and put it over her shoulder. Tye appeared around the bannister at the top. She waved him down, while she continued to the bottom, stepping over the body and quickly ran through the balding man’s pockets. “Jackpot!” she said, holding up a set of keys to Tye. “We need to get a move on or I’m going to miss an appointment.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  4: 46 p.m. Jefferson City.

  A slither of light mauve hung on the horizon, almost completely eclipsed by a thick blanket of dark cloud. The dark silhouette of the dome of the capital building just visible against it.

  Jess looked down at the trees and lawn below, then the roofs of vehicles in the parking lot beyond. She turned to Landon. “It’s time.”

  He picked up a backpack and placed it over his back as did she, and they quickly left the office using a small flashlight to light their way, moving into the hallway then stairwell, descending until arriving at a rear door of the building, which was already open. Tracey, Arlo, Sam and Josh were equally kitted out, waiting in the corridor near the door. The boy held Donnie’s leash, the small dog excitedly looking out to the world outside.

  “Any sounds out there?” said Landon to the adults.

  Tracey shook her head. Arlo did the same but Landon felt the latter’s movement was more involuntary. “We stay close together, follow the route and we’ll get through this. Trust me, it wasn’t long ago I was doing the same thing.”

  Arlo shook his head again. “Okay. Just don’t go too fast. I’m not much of a runner, if you hadn’t noticed.”

  Landon smiled. “We won’t.” He moved to the front then looked to Jess at the back. She nodded and he moved out onto the concrete path. They had spent most of the past hour carefully planning the route to the capital building, which they guessed was roughly ten minutes away, meaning they would be there by the time Meg should be. And they would do it without any light. Each of them had done their best to memorize the slopes, fences, parking lots and streets they would need to navigate in the dark. But as Landon waited for his eyes to adjust, the urge to not take another step was almost too strong for him to overcome.

  “Is it clear?” whispered Jess behind him.

  He let out a breath. “Yes, I think so. Lets go.”

  They moved slowly down the slope, hands by their side until Landon reached the railing which ran along a small wall. He climbed over and dropped down the few feet to a path and waited, holding his arms aloft to help the others down, all the while listening best he could for the slightest of unnatural noises.

  Once they were all down, they moved along the path, their hands randomly touching the wall to keep them on track and made it to the parking lot. The wet ground reflected just a hint of the sky above, and that combined with the darker shapes of the vehicles provided what they needed to increase their speed, and they were soon at the other side, where the ground had become gravely. Light glinted off train rails, which they carefully stepped over and then were into an even darker space, a small forested area.

  Landon switched his small flashlight on, but kept it pointing down at the twig and grass covered surface. He looked up at the thick roof of branches, making sure there was no glimpse of the sky. “It’s not far, just another few minutes. Remember, we find a building and get inside!”

  Acknowledgements came from the others and they began to push on as the rain became heavier, the ground softer.

  “Come on,” said Josh to the dog that was pulling at the lead, circling a small patch of ground.

  Jess scoured the void behind, her eyes in tune with the dark, able to see the trunks and undulations beneath her. Each shadow suggested danger, but her other senses were telling her they were safe for now. She looked at her son, trying to encourage Donnie to keep moving. “Just give him a few seconds.”

  Josh frowned and the dog soon settled and did its business, then stood up and tried to run after the others, straining at the leash. Josh ran with the dog and Jess did the same behind, quickly catching up with the others.

  “Oww… fuck,” said Tracey. Landon whirled around with the light, illuminating a grimace. “I’m fine,” she said, rubbing her knee. “Keep going.”

  They emerged from the trees, Landon scanning the parking lot ahead of them. The ground fell away across the street, to the right. He had no idea what was down there, but there was an impression of a small bridge, so he presumed a creak or something below. They moved across the road and back onto the concrete of the lot, using the rows of vehicles as a guide.

  Arlo glanced behind him to Jess, as Josh with Donnie moved past. “You think, they know by now, you’re not there anymore?” he said between breaths.

  “Probably.” She wiped the drops from her face, looking back the way they had just come from again. “Good idea, putting the radios on hands-free and leaving them there. Might confuse them for a bit longer.”

  They both continued moving between the vehicles and soon the group were across the lot. The sidewalk was at an incline, and more than one was breathing hard as they progressed up the slope.

  Landon looked up at the top of the capital building just a hundred yards ahead. He wanted to do anything but go near that building again, but he equally wasn’t going to ditch Meg and the kid. But how long could they hang around?

  “We’re here,” he said, standing at what he was sure was a junction of some kind if his memory from earlier was correct. The massive building loomed above them, a dark square capped with a dome against the lighter sky. He looked left then right. Another building, not as big, but with an angular roof and what appeared to be a spire, sat twenty yards away. “I think that’s a church. The spire would be a good vantage point.”

  They quickly set off again, moving across a parking lot.

  Landon was sure he could smell the odor of organic matter, the thing’s signature stench from the building, a few hundred yards away, but dismissed the sensation as his imagination.

  They stood in an alleyway, between two equally large buildings, the one to the left being the church.

  Landon felt the wall for a door, but when none was forthcoming decided to chance turning the flashlight back on again. The glimpse he caught of his family as the cone of light flashed across their faces, before he swung it to the wall, burned into his memory. The last few days was imprinted upon their grime laden, damp, red faces.

  There was no obvious entrance in front of them, so he lifted the light higher, letting it stretch further along the alley. He leaned forward then ran towards an indentation, almost lost to shadow. “Here! There’s a door, here!”

  He immediately tried the handle which resisted his efforts to turn it then before anyone could comment, took a step back and slammed his shoulder into the wood barrier, the lock breaking instantly. The door swung back and everyone bundled inside, closing it behind them.

  “Hell, I can breathe again,” said Arlo.

  Landon flicked the light to him then towards the end of the corridor they had entered, and walked to the door at the end, the others following. This door opened on first try and he swung the light from let to right, illuminating shelves of cobweb covered old books, pots, pans, plastic crates of toys, and furniture stacked up against a wall. They moved into the basement area, closing the door quietly behind them.

  “We should be safe down here,” he said as he moved between shelves looking for the exit to the floor above, then found it. A set of stone steps ascended to a closed door at the top. He looked at Tracey. “How you feel about going up, into the spire and letting us know if you see any vehicles ou
t there?”

  “She’s got an old pickup,” said Jess to the young woman who let out a sigh.

  “Yup, sure. But how long we waiting in this place before leaving? Those corporate types going to be looking for us by now.”

  He looked at her bare wrist then pulled his watch off and handed it to her. “The rendezvous was meant to be in a few minutes. We’re give it another thirty, then we leave.” He felt his wife’s eyes on him, but ignored her gaze.

  Tracey adjusted the rifle on her back, then took off up the steps, pausing slightly at the door then opened it and moved outside.

  Landon looked to the others. “I need to secure us a vehicle. I’ll go back to the parking lot outside, see if I can find anything old enough to start.” He looked at Jess, holding up one of the remaining two radios. “If you have to use it.”

  She nodded and he smiled at the kids who were both shivering, then left the way they came in.

  *****

  5: 12 p.m.

  Meg’s eyes darted between the fuel gauge and the dark highway. “How you holding up, kiddo?”

  “I’m fine, thank you. Is it much further?” said Tye.

  “Nope, just a few more minutes, then this old lady is going to eat some chocolate and all will be good with the world once again.”

  Please still be there, Jess.

  The needle on the pickup’s fuel gauge had been bouncing in the red zone for most of the journey from the old farmstead, and the engine had picked up a noticeable stutter a few miles back. The vehicle may be entering the city of Jefferson, but she was fairly sure it wouldn’t be leaving it.

  The sun had long since diminished, being replaced by a blanket of cloud that was dropping fine flickers of snow on everything below.

  Large flat buildings, superstores by the looks of the advertising boardings passing by, sat behind equally expansive parking lots, most still full of vehicles.