Into the Light: A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Thriller (Into the Dark Book 10)

by Ryan Casey

  Kelsie looked at baby Holly, who kept wailing in her arms. Then she looked up at the jaguars, which got closer and closer. She knew what she had to do.

  There was only one thing she could do.

  And that was fight.

  She thought about putting baby Holly on the ground, making sure she was at one side while all of this unfolded. But then that was too much of a gamble, too much of a risk. She wanted baby Holly at her sides at all times. She didn’t want to risk losing her when she was pre-occupied.

  Arya Jr started to bark. The jaguars got closer, closer. Her time to move was running out. She had to do something. She had to make some kind of stand.

  And the time to do that was now.

  She lifted her knife and stepped towards the jaguar right opposite her.

  “Away!” she shouted, waving her knife, jabbing at it.

  The jaguar stepped back, just a little. But as it did, the ones next to it moved in closer. They were clever. They knew what they were doing. They had the advantage in numbers, and they were just waiting for the right moment to move, the right moment to strike.

  Kelsie had to step back. She had no choice.

  She backed up, and she heard something. Growling—no, roaring—behind her. Right behind her.

  And when she swung around, she saw one of those jaguars throwing itself towards Arya Jr.

  She couldn’t let anything happen to Arya Jr.

  She had to defend her.

  She had to protect her at all costs.

  She stepped in, and without even thinking, she rammed that blade into the jaguar’s neck.

  The jaguar whined, almost made a sound like an old household cat, which saddened her in a sense. It was too domestic. Too much like the world of old—the world of a long, long time ago.

  But she couldn’t afford a moment’s sympathy.

  Because the jaguars at the other sides of her were closing in, too.

  She spun around. Faced the other jaguars. They were far closer than she remembered, moving quicker than she could do a thing about.

  Baby Holly carried on crying in her arms. Louder now than before.

  Not that it mattered. She was surrounded anyway. She was too late to do anything about it anyway.

  She took a deep breath and got herself back into the zone.

  She had to be animal.

  She couldn’t be bogged down in her humanity right now.

  She had to fight.

  She pulled back her knife, and she swung at one of the other jaguars.

  That same yelp once again. That cry.

  And the frenzy from the other jaguars that followed.

  But she didn’t give them time to react this time.

  She swung at another of them.

  Took another of them down.

  She staggered back again, then, this siege continuing to unfold. There were four of them left. But they were in each corner. She turned around slowly. She had to be aware of where they were at all times. She couldn’t let herself slip, not for a moment.

  She went to pick the one on her front right when she heard one behind her growl and rush towards her.

  But before she could do anything about that, one of the jaguars ahead of her came flying towards her too.

  A choice.

  Behind or in front.

  In the end, she did something not even she could’ve planned.

  Baby still in arms.

  She fell back.

  Hit the ground.

  The jaguar ahead flew at her.

  She held up the knife for it to land on.

  Right on cue, the one behind her landed on top of that one. Two on top of her now. Arya Jr running around, barking, trying to cause a scene but just as fearful herself.

  She knew there were two more.

  They’d be here soon.

  Racing towards her.

  Wrapping their—

  She felt something, then. Something on her right arm. A sharp, agonising pain.

  A bite.

  She winced. Tried to pull away as the blood rushed out. But it was too late. Those teeth were clamped around her. There was nothing she could do.

  She swung blindly with her knife. Baby Holly was so close to her, but she was also so close to those teeth. To those biting teeth. One wrong move and she’d be finished. It would be her, not Kelsie.

  She felt the crushing weight of the jaguars pressing down as the frenzy continued to unfold, and she continued to kick, continued to fight. Animal instinct now. No humanity. Nothing like that. Just pure, instinctive scrapping nature.

  She went to swing her knife once more when she saw something.

  The jaguar’s jaws opening.

  Releasing her.

  Then moving towards baby Holly.

  She heard the crying.

  She felt the pain.

  The agony of more impending loss.

  And just as she went to swing her knife before time ran out, she heard something.

  A bang.

  Then another bang.

  And then another.

  She stabbed at the jaguars. Swung at them. Pummelled that knife into them with no mercy, no sympathy.

  It was only minutes later that she realised it was in vain anyway.

  They were already dead.

  She pushed free of the jaguars.

  Looked up, baby Holly in her arms.

  And then she looked at whoever was responsible. Still tense. Still not trusting.

  When she saw who was standing opposite her, she didn’t know what to think.

  People she recognised.

  And one person she didn’t recognise, too.

  “Hey, Kelsie,” Manuel said. “Are you…”

  But before he finished, the pain in Kelsie’s arm built up, her vision blurred, and everything went black.

  Chapter Fifteen

  When Kelsie opened her eyes, all she could think of was the jaguar wrapping its jaws around her arm.

  And baby Holly crying as it closed in on her.

  She threw herself upright. Panic took over her. She’d blacked out. She wasn’t sure where she was anymore, or how much time had passed. All she knew was that there was a clock ticking, and that she couldn’t afford to wait a moment.

  “It’s okay,” a voice said. Someone leaning above her. Tate.

  “How—how long—”

  “It’s okay, Kelsie. You’ve only been out five minutes.”

  “Five minutes. But… but…”

  “It’s okay. Just take a breath. You’re going to be okay.”

  She sat further upright. Closed her eyes, took deep belly breaths. Five minutes. It was nothing. She was still here, that was the main thing. And baby Holly, she was…

  Dread hit her square in the chest. “Where’s…”

  She saw her, then. Saw her in Manuel’s arms. Saw him rocking her, quietening her.

  Then she saw the mess of the jaguars around them all in the light of the moon.

  And then the mystery person.

  Holding a rifle.

  She turned to Tate, then, the flurry of emotions sparking confusion. “I thought… I thought you were dead.”

  Tate took a deep breath and sighed. “Gregg and Rachel. They weren’t so lucky. But Manuel and me, we just about made it. Focused on pushing on. Took the woods. We probably weren’t so far behind you all along. But anyway. It’s lucky we found you when we did.”

  Kelsie looked more closely at the man standing with these people. The man with the gun. There was something about him she didn’t trust. She couldn’t pinpoint why it was, not at first.

  And that’s when she realised exactly why.

  He was wearing the same gear as the rest of the Outsiders.

  He was one of them.

  “Get him away.”

  “Kelsie—”

  “He’s one of them. He’s—”

  A hand on her shoulder. Tate. He looked into her eyes. “It’s okay. Really. He’s with us.”

  Kelsie tried to wrap
her head around what could be happening here. Why Tate was so calm with one of the Outsiders being with them. She felt like she’d missed so much. So much she needed to know.

  And she figured the truth was closing in on her. Fast.

  She got to her feet. Felt pain in her arm right away, where she’d been bitten.

  “Looks sore,” Tate said. “But not nearly as bad as it could’ve been.”

  She nodded. Winced. “Could be worse, like you say.”

  “Regardless. You do need to get it seen to. Get it cleaned.”

  “We’ll get to that,” Kelsie said.

  She walked over to Manuel. Saw baby Holly in his arms, being rocked from side to side. She was fast asleep.

  Kelsie smiled at him. “Looks like you’re a natural.”

  Manuel smiled back. “I was, once upon a time.”

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean…”

  “No. It’s fine, really. It’s good. Reminds me of better days. And hey, who knows. Perhaps I’ll meet someone in the new world. Someone I can start again with.”

  Kelsie took baby Holly from him and smiled. “I hope so.”

  She held baby Holly and felt her warmth. Saw her open her eyes; look up at her for a second. She even swore she saw something like a smile.

  Then she closed them again, drifted off.

  Her bundle of love.

  She looked up, then. Looked at the mystery guy. She knew she was going to have to broach the subject of who he was. And there was no time like the present.

  “So what’s your story?”

  The man was pretty short but well built. He looked healthy. Well-groomed. Like he was living a good life. “The name’s Jack,” he said, his northern accent strong. “Pleasure to meet you.”

  Kelsie frowned. A northern accent. Not what she was expecting from one of the guys dressed in this gear. “Don’t give me that. Your people, they destroyed my home. They’re destroying so many homes. So don’t give me that ‘pleasure to meet you’ shit. What’s your game?”

  Jack sighed. “Look. I know how it appears—”

  “I know exactly how it appears.”

  “But it’s not quite as simple as you’re making out. Not quite as clear cut.”

  “I’ve seen the destruction you’ve caused. I’ve seen what you’ve done to so many communities. Not just my own.”

  “You’ve seen what people like me have been doing,” Jack said, sighing. “I’m not one of them. I’m wearing the gear, sure. I’m holding a rifle, sure. But only because I came across one of them on their own. Took them out. Grabbed their gun and… well. You know what they say about camouflage.”

  Kelsie frowned. “And I’m supposed to just believe you?”

  “You can believe whatever you want to believe. The truth is I’m not your enemy. If I was, I’d have killed you already. All of you.”

  He looked at Tate, then.

  “As far as I’m aware, this man’s the only real link we have to this supposed outside world. So I suggest we trust him. We follow him. Because as many atrocities as the people in black have committed, this man seems good. Truly good.”

  Kelsie pondered Jack’s words. In the end, she couldn’t argue. He could have killed them all. He hadn’t. That had to add weight to his story. It had to count for something. “So what’s your solution?”

  Jack sighed again. “Frankly, we only have one option.”

  He brushed his hands through his hair. Clearly calming himself. Bracing himself.

  “The extraction point in Blackpool. It’s there for now. But I’ve heard things. There are people heading towards it. People who don’t want the best for it. People like the ones you’ve seen.”

  “And how do you know this?”

  Jack lifted something. A radio. “Not working anymore. Figure they have some kind of code, and they’ve noticed I’ve dropped off the map or whatever. But I heard what I needed to hear. And it matches up to exactly where you’re heading, too. But regardless of where we stand, the fact is… we have a tough road ahead. Because we have to face up to a very possible reality.”

  “Which is?”

  “The extraction point might already be gone.”

  Kelsie felt her tension welling, building up. “What?”

  “The Outsiders, as you call them. They might already be there. They might already have destroyed it.”

  “And if they have?”

  Jack didn’t say anything else. The resigned look on his face told her everything she needed to know.

  “We’ve only got one choice. Get to this extraction point. Get there as quickly as possible. And hope to God we’re the first ones there.”

  “And if we aren’t?” Kelsie said.

  Jack visibly swallowed a lump in his throat. “Then God help us all.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Thirty-Five Hours to Go…

  It was the middle of the night, and baby Holly wouldn’t stop crying.

  Kelsie was exhausted. Her arm was sore after the bite from the jag, but nowhere near as bad as it could’ve been if her companions hadn’t arrived when they had. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept—and passing out a couple of hours ago for five minutes didn’t count. She was seeing things in her vision. Blocks of colour. Flashing lights. All of them circling her, surrounding her. Voices in her head.

  She knew she needed sleep. She could barely stay awake as she kept on walking. She knew that if she stopped, she’d doze off—probably for days.

  She didn’t have days. She had hours. Thirty-five hours, to be exact.

  And they still had another five hours or so walking before they got to Blackpool; got to the Empress Ballroom.

  Time wasn’t exactly running out. But it was finite. And that was something they always had to be aware of.

  She held onto baby Holly as she walked, rocking her from side to side. She was trying to quieten her but clearly wasn’t doing a very good job. She always knew having a kid would be difficult. She’d seen how difficult they were to look after when other people had them.

  But actually having one… that was a whole different game completely. She talked about sleeplessness, but she knew that was only going to get worse as time went on.

  And a part of her wondered whether she’d made a mistake. A sinister part of her wondered whether things would’ve worked out better if Gina had put a bullet through baby Holly too—and not just from a selfish perspective, but because she wasn’t sure whether baby Holly was going to have the care she so desperately needed.

  But then she felt guilty for even feeling that way right away. Because a larger part of her wanted to care for baby Holly. To protect her, no matter what.

  She was Siobhan’s legacy. She was her legacy.

  She was her daughter.

  And she loved her so much.

  “Can’t be easy, huh.”

  Kelsie turned around. It was Jack who’d spoken. Walking there in that dark gear, rifle in hand. Look of sympathy on his unmasked face.

  She looked away from him. Perhaps it was just her grumpiness talking, but she wasn’t in a mood to small talk with a guy who was dressed in the same gear as a group of genocidal maniacs. It was too early to trust him.

  “Yeah, well. Lucky she’s even here at all.”

  He didn’t seem to be disappearing from her side, though, getting the message she didn’t want to talk to him. “I wouldn’t know. Never had kids of my own. Always wanted them. Close to having one, in fact.”

  “What happened?” Kelsie asked, humouring him more than anything.

  “My girlfriend. We always wanted a kid. Met five years ago, back when I was living in a community just north of here. But… well. As much as we’ve all found our own new problems, cancer isn’t something that can be put on hold. It doesn’t wait for anyone. Very sudden onset. Very swift degradation. I’ll never forget the way she made me feel. I’ll never meet anyone else who makes me feel that way. But I’ll never forget the last thing she said to me.”

  Kelsie look
ed at him. She felt sympathetic, but at the same time, she still felt a reserved distance from this man. A sense that she didn’t want to get too close. That she didn’t want to fall into any kind of trap. “What did she say?”

  He looked at Kelsie, then, like he’d revealed a little more than intended himself. “She said… she said I had to promise to always do the right thing. Even if it went against the grain. Even if it seemed like every damned force of nature was working against me. I had to do the right thing.”

  He wiped his eyes, then. Shrugged.

  “So I guess that’s what I’m trying my best to do. To help you. Help your people. My community is gone now. Long gone. But if I can at least help you lot get to where you want to go—to where we all want to go—then at least that’s something.”

  Kelsie looked away. She noticed something, then. Baby Holly. She’d fallen asleep in her arms.

  “Looks like my droning on’s bored another one,” Jack said.

  Kelsie smiled. “Yeah, well. Thanks. I appreciate it. At least I know where you are.”

  He smiled back at her. Nodded. There was a twinkle to his eyes. A look of genuine caring that she didn’t want to let infect her too much.

  “We’re going to do our best to get your baby to safety,” Jack said. “I know you’ve seen strangers do awful things. We all have. But… but they’ll be held to account, one way or another. That much I can promise.”

  “And this world. When we get there. This… ‘new world’.”

  “What about it?”

  “Do you think it’s… Never mind.”

  She stopped because she didn’t want to entertain the idea of a happy ending too much. She didn’t want to visualise the possibility that there was really somewhere better out there. Somewhere that was so, so close when all things were considered… but that she might not have the opportunity to get to after all.

  She didn’t even want to speculate. To discuss.

  “To be honest, I think it’s probably best not to speculate,” Jack said. “I wouldn’t want to get all our hopes up too much, only for them to come crashing down around us.”

  Kelsie looked at Jack. Raised an eyebrow. “Hardly a walk to paradise, hmm?”