Succinct (Extinct Book 5)

by Ike Hamill

  “Ugh. I remember coughing and sneezing for two days.”

  “We should try again one of these days,” Robby said. “Maybe that allergy was a passing thing. You were allergic to a lot of things when you were smaller.”

  “I don’t really care,” Jim said. “Who needs a horse, anyway? You don’t have to feed a car.”

  Robby looked at him with raised eyebrows.

  “Yeah, okay, I guess you do. Gas or electricity is the same as feeding, but cars don’t require as much maintenance.”

  “What about your kids and your grandkids? What are they going to do for cars? They’re all going to be broken down by then.”

  “There are always parts,” Jim said. “Besides, if my grandkids want to learn to ride horses, let them. I’m talking about me.”

  Robby laughed.

  Something must have spooked the horses. They galloped in the distance. It did sound a bit like thunder. Robby imagined that the sound would be a low rumble down in the basement of the building.

  “I’m going to introduce myself to our neighbor,” Robby said, pushing away from the railing. “You want to come?”

  “Sure,” Jim said. He ran to the door first and slid it open.

  Jim ran down the stairs and then back up. His footfalls made a strange echo in the stairwell. Jim seemed to be studying it as he ran up and down. The boy was excited to be on a trip. They came to Donnelly pretty often, but it was usually only two or three of them. This was the first time that Robby could remember where everyone had cleared out of the house in Gladstone. It made Robby feel somewhat untethered. He could only imagine what Jim and Janelle thought about it.

  They were worried about their sister, too. He could see it in the way that they didn’t talk about her. Usually when she was on one of her expeditions, they bothered Robby constantly for speculation about where she was at any given moment, or when she was coming back. The fact that they had barely mentioned her probably meant that they were being superstitious. The kids didn’t like to obsess out loud about things—they thought that to express their fears was to manifest them.

  In some ways, they weren’t wrong.

  “Who do you think lives here?” Jim asked.

  “I don’t know. We’ll have to see,” Robby said. He actually had a pretty good idea. There were few people who would choose to live underground with so many floors above them. When he saw the doormat in front of the basement apartment, Robby smiled.

  It read, “Not a trapdoor.”

  Robby was certain of who would answer. He tilted his chin at the door and Jim understood—his son knocked three times.

  After a moment, Jim pressed his ear to the metal.

  Robby gave his head a little shake. “Don’t do that—it’s rude.”

  “I don’t hear anyone,” Jim whispered.

  Robby made a slow turn in the hall, looking at the corners where the ceiling met the wall. There was little light down there—only dim security lights so they could see where they were going. Robby spotted a dark object mounted up there.

  “Knock again,” he said.

  When his son knocked, Robby waved at the object, figuring that someone might be watching. A buzzer went off.

  “It’s open,” Robby said.

  Jim only looked at him.

  Robby leaned forward and turned the handle so he could push open the door.

  “That’s the way it used to work on, like, apartment buildings,” Robby said. “The person inside would buzz you in.”

  “And it’s okay to just go in?” Jim asked. The boy stood on his toes and angled left and right to look inside the dark apartment.

  “Yeah,” Robby said. He hoped that he was right. There was nothing inviting about the dark hallway in front of them. With his hand out, Robby led the way until his fingers met the far wall. The hall was painted black. It absorbed the light from outside the door. Robby nearly jumped when his son tapped his shoulder.

  “Dad,” Jim whispered. Tugging on his sleeve, Jim directed Robby toward a tiny amount of light leaking from under a door. Jim stayed right at his heels as Robby moved to the door. He gently knocked.

  “Yeah?” a voice called from within. “It’s open.”

  “Hello?” Robby asked as he opened the door a crack.

  “Come on in,” Liam said.

  Robby finally recognized the voice.

  “Have a seat,” Liam said.

  The only light in the room was coming from Jim’s big monitor. The view showed the outside door of the apartment. Robby wondered how many other views were available to Liam. Leaning toward Liam, Robby offered his hand. Liam shook it without getting up.

  Robby took a seat on the couch. Jim sat so close that their shoulders and knees were touching.

  “Zane protected your anonymity, but as soon as I heard that someone was living down here in a basement, I figured it had to be you.”

  “She doesn’t have to do that,” Liam said. “I told her that it doesn’t matter who knows that I live here. They all think that because I don’t want to be social it means that I want to be isolated.”

  “It’s not the easiest distinction to make,” Robby said.

  Liam smiled. “You can’t be Jim, can you? You’re getting tall.”

  Jim nodded.

  “Last we talked, you were living in that nice place on Crosby Street,” Robby said.

  Liam shrugged.

  “You know that Ty always has a bed open in the clinic,” Robby said. “A lot of people stay with him when they want some friendly roommates for a bit.”

  “I know.”

  Liam raised a remote control. The bottom of the remote was wrapped in electrical tape. Robby recognized the modification. Instead of trying to find reliable rechargeable batteries that would fit a remote control, a lot of people were using the custom battery packs that Brad had been making. They didn’t fit quite right and had to be taped in place sometimes. It was a bandaid approach. It was only a matter of time before they would have to give up on things like remote controls and tablet computers. It was getting more and more difficult to find old batteries that would still take a charge.

  When Liam pressed the button, the display changed. They saw a view of the grounds around the apartment building. Liam kept cycling until he landed on a camera that must have been perched on top of the building, looking west. Robby wondered if Liam had conquered his fear to mount the camera himself, or if he had traded for someone else to do the work.

  “You still working with the sheep?” Robby asked.

  “Dead.”

  “Sorry?”

  “The flock that I was tending,” Liam said with a shrug. “It wasn’t my fault. Some kind of virus they think.”

  “So what are you up to now?” Robby asked.

  Liam pointed with the remote at the screen.

  “I don’t really do anything. I haven’t been out of here in a while.”

  “How do you get food? What’s your contribution?”

  “I’m currently relying on the kindness of the community.”

  Robby leaned back against the back of the couch.

  “You want someone to talk to, Liam?”

  Liam shook his head. “I’ve talked enough. I’ll be okay, Robby. I just need some time to myself, you know?”

  He hit the button again. This time, they were looking straight up, as near as Robby could tell. There was a blur of light that could have been the moon.

  “Jim found some puppies down in Albany.”

  Liam’s eyebrows went up. For the first time since their arrival, he seemed interested in something.

  “Tell him, Jim.”

  Robby had to nudge Jim before he would speak.

  “My sister and I heard some puppies in an old building. The mother was there. She didn’t let us get too close.”

  “How old?” Liam asked.

  Jim shrugged. “We didn’t get a good look. I can show you where on a map.”

  Liam shook his head. “Doesn’t matter.”

&
nbsp; After another few moments of silence, Robby put his hands on his knees and began to push himself upwards.

  “Well, it’s good to see you, Liam. We’re going to be around for another day or two. Maybe I’ll come back to visit you again? Or you can come upstairs? We’re on the third floor.”

  Liam gave them a wave. As soon as Robby got to his feet, Jim was at the door, letting himself out.

  “Hey, Robby? Can I talk to you alone for a sec?”

  Robby whispered for Jim to wait for him on the stairs. Liam hit the button again and the two of them watched until Jim appeared at the bottom of the stairs and sat down. Robby wondered what his son was thinking as the boy propped up his chin with his hands and looked at Liam’s apartment door.

  “What’s up?” Robby asked.

  “I’ve heard things online, you know? Seems like something is happening.”

  “There’s always something happening, Liam.”

  “Something, you know, unusual. Something paranormal, maybe.”

  “Nothing like what happened before, Liam. You don’t need to worry about that.”

  “I’m not. I’m not. I know all that stuff is done. I read through your account of the light. I’ve been thinking about it a lot.”

  “Which one?”

  “The ball of light that you guys went to up in Maine. You know, with the trailers full of meat?”

  “Oh,” Robby said. He didn’t like to think of the people as “meat” but it was accurate, he supposed.

  “I was thinking about the people who chose to go in. Christine, Brynn, and Nate didn’t want to turn away from it.”

  “Yeah.” Robby nodded. He didn’t like to think about them. Sometimes he felt like he had failed them. The worst part was that he still didn’t know how he had failed them. Should he have stopped them from going in, or should he have gone too?

  “The four of you are still together,” Liam said.

  “Sorry?”

  “You, Brad, Romie, and Lisa. You’re the last four from that event, and you stay together.”

  “Sure,” Robby said.

  “Doesn’t that seem odd to you?”

  “No,” Robby said, shaking his head. “No, not at all. Through everything that happened, we became very close. We all lost people and we bonded together and became a new family.”

  “You and Corinna went through a lot together as well. All of us survived the churn together.”

  Robby shrugged, not sure of the point that Liam was trying to make.

  “Do you think that if I hadn’t been swayed by the Origin that I would still be together with Corinna?”

  “I haven’t thought about it,” Robby said. “Why would the two things be connected though?”

  “It seems that people grow apart, eventually, except the four of you. Tim and Ty went their separate ways. Jackson and Amy Lynne broke up when Merle was ten. Corinna and I went our separate ways. Only you four have stayed together.”

  “That’s not true. There are other groups…” Robby started.

  Liam cut him off, shaking his head.

  “I think something happened at that first sighting of the ball of light. If Pete had lived, he would be right there with the rest of you.”

  Robby looked down and then looked back to the monitor. Jim was looking up the stairs.

  “I should go,” Robby said, pointing.

  Before Robby could reach the door, Liam said, “If the light comes back, you’ll let me know, right?”

  “It won’t be a secret,” Robby said.

  He left before Liam could say anything else.

  Chapter 28: Ashley

  All Ashley could think about was peppermint schnapps. When she was younger, she had found a bottle and mistaken it for candy. After drinking enough to make herself wobbly, Ashley had realized that it was alcohol, and recognized that it was one of the items on her father’s list of, “things you’re not old enough to try yet.”

  It didn’t matter that it was a forbidden substance—Ashley wouldn’t have tried it again anyway. She hated the feeling of being out of control. The schnapps had robbed her of her ability to think clearly, and she couldn’t abide by that.

  She had that same feeling again.

  “Is it possible that this water has alcohol?” she asked over her shoulder.

  “What?” Lisa asked.

  “This water?”

  Ashley shook her canteen and wondered if she was slurring. She didn’t feel like she was slurring. Putting out a hand, she steadied herself on the trunk of a tree.

  “I don’t feel good,” Ashley said.

  “Keep moving,” Lisa said. “Or I’ll walk right through you. I don’t want to stop.”

  “You’re being mean,” Ashley said with a frown. Her legs didn’t want to work, but she made them. The idea of Lisa plowing right through her was all too real.

  “Where’s Tim?” Ashley asked.

  The question slowed Lisa down so Ashley didn’t have to walk as fast. Lisa was looking for Tim, but Ashley could hear him back there, shaking the paint can. It was the last of the paint, and soon it would be gone. Then, they would have to cut marks into the trees with a knife. That would take longer. On some of the trees the marks wouldn’t last very long before the naked wood underneath the bark would oxidize and be invisible. It wouldn’t be long before they were lost forever.

  “I found him,” Lisa said. “Now get going.”

  Ashley didn’t realize that she had stopped. She vowed to never drink alcohol again.

  “Wait, we’re supposed to go downhill,” Ashley said.

  “Straight. We’re supposed to go straight. Are we going straight?”

  “Nope,” Tim called from the rear of the line.

  Ashley looked down and Penny looked up at her. Normally, the dog liked to stay with Tim, but recently she had been at the front of the hikers, regardless of who that was.

  “Do you remember where we’re supposed to go?” Ashley asked the dog.

  Penny went ahead and Ashley followed.

  “I said, keep moving,” Lisa said. She put her hand on Ashley’s back.

  “I don’t know, Aunt Lisa. I don’t want to keep going.”

  Ahead, the dog barked.

  “Where’s Penny?” Tim asked.

  Lisa did it. She pushed the middle of Ashley’s back and the girl was tipped forward. Before she knew it, Ashley was stumbling down a hill. There was something bright and sparkling in the woods ahead. It seemed dangerous, whatever it was. If Ashley had been able to regain control of her balance, she would have fought to stay away from the sparkling lights. Instead, she stumbled, tripped and burst through a bush. The next thing she knew, she was splashing down into water.

  Her foot slipped and she went face first into the shallows. The cold water snapped her back to her senses immediately and she flipped over.

  “Lisa! Tim!” she called.

  Penny barked and bounded up to her on the bank of the river. The dog looked like she was smiling. With another bark, Penny went down to her elbows in a play stance. Then, the dog drank, lapping at the river.

  “Lisa! Tim!”

  She could hear them crashing around in the woods.

  “It’s the river.”

  Ashley got up and moved to the bank. As soon as she stepped back up on dry land, she felt dizzy again. Pushing through the sensation, Ashley closed her eyes and extended her arms, moving through the brush. Navigating by sound, she found Lisa and dragged her back toward the water.

  “Let go of me. You’re all wet,” Lisa said.

  “Grab Tim. It’s this way.”

  Ashley didn’t want to open her eyes. She knew that if she did, the world would spin and swirl.

  “Hey!” Tim complained. “That’s my shirt.”

  Ashley dragged them back toward the sound of Penny barking and the water lapping at the shore. She could smell the water—it was fresh and clean. In a few seconds, she was tumbling backwards again, having slipped off the bank and down into the river once more.


  Ashley laughed when her butt hit the bottom and her eyes sprang open. The look of shock that Tim and Lisa shared was the funniest thing she had seen in forever. Lisa stood, mouth open and hands turned up to the sky like she expected rain. Tim glanced around with narrowed eyes.

  “We found it,” Ashley said.

  Tim bent and touched his hand to the surface of the water.

  “We found the river!” Ashley shouted, splashing water at them.

  Chapter 29: Lisa

  Walking was too difficult. Near the bank, the jungle was tangled with too many plants, reaching both for the sun and the water. The shallows were no better. In some places, the water was only knee-deep, with pebbles underfoot. That was the exception though. Most of the time, the edge of the river was deep with lazy, swirling pools that would require swimming.

  In one spot, where there was a patch of sand on the shore of the river, Tim lined up logs that he cut down while Lisa and Ashley gathered vines to weave. After a solid day’s work, they had a raft assembled that was buoyant enough to carry all three of them and the dog.

  They set up their tents on the beach.

  Tim waded out with a collapsable fishing pole that Lisa had carried. Ashley tied a string to herself so she could go forage.

  “If we make it back here, we should be able to find where we discovered the river,” Lisa said. She slapped a bug that landed on her neck.

  “Why? The trees?” Tim asked.

  Lisa glanced over her shoulder. “Yeah. The stumps and the brush pile should be obvious enough, don’t you think? Robby will probably see it on his satellite photos.”

  As the sun descended toward the hills in the distance, the dragon flies began to hunt the other bugs. Lisa was glad. Compared to the jungle, the bugs along the river were terrible.

  “This place grows pretty fast,” Tim said, casting his line again. He claimed to have felt a few nibbles, but his hook was always empty when he reeled it back in. “Every time I cut down a tree, a few hours later it was hard to tell by the canopy.”

  “Maybe we should mark it some other way,” Lisa said.

  “We’re out of paint, I think.”