The Project Eden Thrillers Box Set 2: Books 4 - 6 (Ashes, Eden Rising, & Dream Sky)

by Brett Battles

  “Yes, ma’am,” the rest of her team said.

  Pax looked back at the volunteers, all of whom were off the plane now, and motioned at the van. “Load up. Time to go.”

  As he turned back around, Martina was looking at him.

  “Thank you,” she mouthed.

  He dipped his head slightly and put a hand on her back. “Let’s see what we can do.”

  THEY TOOK THE 101 Freeway from the Valley into Hollywood and approached the stadium from the basin side. Gabriel, clearly knowing where all the jams were, exited at Gower and turned down Hollywood Boulevard, heading east.

  “Any theories on where this convoy might be going?” Pax asked when Nyla finished her brief.

  “No idea,” she said. “Unless they’re all leaving.”

  Pax frowned. “The reports I heard said the other places that have bugged out usually had a stream of trucks moving from the station to whatever airport they were using.”

  “Could be they’re getting ready to do that.”

  “Could be,” he said. “But from the way you described it, it sounds a little bit different.”

  “If it’s not that, I don’t know what it is.”

  Eastern Hollywood gave way to Los Feliz and then Silver Lake.

  “We’re getting close,” Nyla said. “We’ll stop about a mile and a half out and hike in from there. Any closer and they might see us.”

  When they reached Alvarado Street, Gabriel pulled the van into the gas station on the northeast corner.

  “The hike’s a little hilly,” Gabriel explained as they climbed out. “But the good thing is that so far we haven’t seen any patrols at night. Hopefully that pattern will hold.”

  Duncan organized everyone into two parallel lines, and told them to keep their pace steady while watching out for the person in front of them.

  Pax noticed a few of them pulling their guns out of their bags. “Hold on,” he said. “Best if you keep those stowed for now. Nobody’s got holsters so you’d have to hold them, which means you might accidently pull the trigger. I’ve done it myself and let me tell you, it’s the last thing we need right now.”

  There was reluctance from a couple of people, but in the end they all put their weapons back in their bags.

  “Everyone ready?” Pax asked.

  There was no dissent.

  Looking at Nyla and Gabriel, he said, “Lead the way.”

  LOS ANGELES SURVIVAL STATION

  5:40 PM PST

  DR. LAWRENCE WAS looking through the window when the subject regained consciousness. The girl lay there for several seconds, staring up at the ceiling before she finally sat up.

  Immediately, she placed her hands over her eyes and winced.

  Lawrence pushed the intercom button. “Ruby, are you all right?”

  The girl moved her palms far enough apart to squint at the door. “What happened? Why am I in here?”

  Lawrence clicked the button again. “You had a reaction to the vaccine that caused you to lose consciousness. How are you feeling now? Are you ill?”

  The girl looked around. “What is this place?”

  “Isolation chamber. Merely a precaution.”

  Turning back to the door, the survivor said, “Precaution for what?”

  “As I told you, you had a reaction to the vaccine. It’s standard procedure in such circumstances to isolate the patient until we are sure everything is okay. Now, please answer my question. Are you feeling sick?”

  The girl blinked a few times. “My head hurts.”

  That symptom could have been as easily caused by the sedative as the virus.

  “Anything else?” Lawrence asked. “Do you feel…congested? Any difficulty breathing? Aches? Pains?”

  “Just the headache.”

  Interesting. The doctor noted it on her tablet.

  “How long do I have to stay in here?” the girl asked.

  “Overnight, at least. You will hopefully be able to leave tomorrow.”

  The answer didn’t seem to please her. “Can you at least turn up the air conditioner in here? It’s hot and…” She touched her arms. “I’m sticky.”

  “Why don’t you try to rest more and I’ll see what I can do.”

  As Lawrence stepped away from the door, Rivera asked, “So?”

  She grinned. “Nothing yet.”

  BEN WAITED UNTIL twenty minutes after the kitchen crew collected the dishes before he headed for the dormitory door. He only went a few steps, though, before Jilly ran up behind him and grabbed his arm.

  “Where are you going?” she asked.

  “You know where,” he said.

  “But we can’t leave Ruby.”

  Ben had known since Ruby had been led away that this discussion was coming. Jilly had pretty much spent the rest of the day sitting in the yard, watching the fence in hopes her friend would come back. Any attempt to discuss the escape plan had been shut down. Ben and the others knew, however, they couldn’t wait.

  “No one said anything about leaving her,” he said, “but we can’t do anything for her from in here. After we get out, we’ll figure something out.”

  “Like what?”

  “I promise. We’re not going to just disappear. We’ll get her.”

  “What if they bring her back right after we leave?”

  He grabbed her by the arms and locked eyes with her. “Jilly. We will get her out. But we need to get out of here first. Do you understand?”

  She blinked several times, fighting back tears. “We can’t leave,” she whispered.

  “You can stay here if you want, but if you choose to come, you have to do everything I tell you.”

  “I’ll…I’ll come.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yeah.”

  He smiled as he gave her arms a squeeze. “You’ll be number one behind me, okay?”

  “Okay. But don’t forget your promise.”

  “I won’t.”

  When he let go of her, he glanced at Preston, who was standing only a few feet behind them. Preston gave him a shallow nod, indicating he’d heard the conversation and would keep tabs on Jilly when Ben couldn’t.

  Ben made his way outside, strolled over to the fence, and dropped down. Crawling along the narrow shadow at the barrier, he worked his way around to the gate.

  Close up now, he examined the grass. What was amazing to him was how uniform and tightly woven it all was. His father had always prided himself on the grass in their yard but it was nothing like this. This was a work of art.

  He almost felt guilty as he dug his fingers through the blades, grabbed the roots, and pulled. As he’d hoped, a large chunk of grass came free in a single piece. He set it aside and began removing more and more grass, creating a lane about two feet wide and three long all the way to the gate. Once the grass was out of the way, he began digging through a layer of sand that came out a lot easier than he’d expected.

  “How’s it going?” The half-whispered question came from behind him.

  He looked back and spotted Preston standing a dozen feet away, facing the side so he wasn’t looking at him.

  “Faster than I thought,” he replied.

  “It’s going to work?”

  “I think so.”

  A foot down would probably be enough, but he went farther just in case. They certainly didn’t want anyone getting stuck trying to get out. After about two feet, he hit a layer of black plastic that he realized must be part of the irrigation system. That was fine. The trench was more than deep enough.

  After he had it cleared all the way to the gate, he stopped. They would dig out the other side when it was time to go.

  Though the sand he’d removed was all in the shadows, he covered it with the pieces of grass to cut down any chance the lighter colored material would be noticed. After examining his handiwork and determining there was nothing else he needed to do, he retraced his path along the fence and returned to the dorm.

  Those who were with Ben on trying to esca
pe were gathered around one of the bunks near the door. The others were in the seating area, unaware what Ben had been doing.

  “So?” Jilly asked.

  “All done. Five minutes to clear the other side and we’re out.”

  “Except for the center-field fence, and the guards, and who knows what else,” Valerie said. She had reluctantly joined their escape plan, but still wasn’t above pointing out at every opportunity why it wouldn’t work.

  “Yeah, except for that,” Ben replied, choosing not to engage.

  “How long should we wait?” Preston asked.

  Ben shot a look toward the back of the building. “Until the others fall asleep, and then we go.”

  “WHAT THE HELL is he doing?” Nyla said.

  “Who?” Pax asked.

  “In the special holding area.”

  Pax had been studying the guards in the stadium bleachers. He refocused his binoculars on the area within the tarp-covered fence. “I don’t see anyone.”

  “That’s what I’m talking about,” she said. “He came out of the building and walked over to the fence, then I lost him.”

  “You sure he didn’t go back inside?”

  “Yes, sir. One hundred percent.”

  Pax scanned the fence all the way to the gate, searching for a tear in the tarp that might give him a view inside, but found none.

  “Could be he just needed some time away from the others,” he suggested.

  “I guess.”

  “Keep an eye out for him. I’ll be back in a minute.”

  He crawled backward from the crest of the hill and made his way to where the others were waiting.

  When Martina saw him, she stood up. “Are they still there? Please tell me they’re still there.”

  “The lights are on in the building, and Nyla saw at least one guy,” Pax said. “So someone is.”

  She frowned. “A guy? Not any of the girls?”

  Gabriel stepped over. “They usually stay inside after dinner, so that’s probably where they are.”

  “‘Probably’ doesn’t mean they are.”

  “Martina,” Pax said. “I understand what you—”

  “No, you don’t. You don’t understand. I should be—”

  “We have all lost people. Many, many people. So when there’s someone close to us still here, still breathing, we want to do anything we can to keep them alive. I get it. More than you can ever comprehend.” He paused. “My aim here isn’t to sound mean, but if you want to help us free your friends or whoever it is being held over there, then you need to get your head on straight and focus. If you can’t, if you’ll run off on your own and not follow directions, then I can’t have you coming along. And worse, I’ll have to task someone to stay here with you to make sure you don’t do anything rash.”

  She hugged her arms across her chest and looked away. After a moment, she nodded. “I get it. You’re right.”

  “So are you in or out?”

  “I’m in,” she said, looking at him again. “Definitely.”

  “And I can trust you won’t do anything stupid?”

  “I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”

  He held her gaze for a second before he smiled. “Never doubted you would. Wanted to make sure you didn’t doubt, either.” He turned to Gabriel. “The others?”

  “Second team’s in place,” Gabriel said. “Team three’s hiking in, but should be in position within thirty minutes.”

  “Good.”

  “Do we have a plan yet?”

  “I got an inkling of something. It’ll be a little risky.”

  “At this point, what wouldn’t be?”

  “You’re right about that.” He glanced sideways at Martina, who was still standing nearby. To Gabriel, he said, “Walk me back.”

  They headed up the slope toward the lookout point.

  After they were out of range of the others, Pax said, “I’m going to need two people. Preferably a man and a woman. Gotta be people who are willing to act without hesitating. You got anybody like that in your squad?”

  “Sure. Nyla and I.”

  The same as Pax had been thinking, but no way would he risk them both on what he had in mind. “I’ll give it a little more thought and let you know what I decide.”

  “I’ll be ready for whatever you need.”

  “Thanks.”

  Gabriel turned back when they reached the point where Pax had to drop to a crawl.

  After Pax rejoined Nyla, he whispered, “Your guy show up again?”

  Still looking through her binoculars, she nodded. “A moment ago. Popped up same place where he disappeared, then walked inside the building.”

  “Just getting air, I guess.”

  “Not sure about that. Take a look at the gate.”

  He raised his binoculars. “What am I looking for?”

  “On the ground right outside.”

  He adjusted his angle.

  “You looking?” she asked.

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Just off center to the right.”

  He looked where she directed. “What the hell is that?”

  “I’m not sure. But it slid out from under the fence a few minutes before I saw him again.”

  “Is that…dirt?”

  “Could be.”

  “So he scooted a handful of dirt under the fence? Why?”

  “No idea.”

  Pax searched the area around the dirt, but there was nothing else to see but grass. Whatever the kid was doing, they couldn’t figure it out from where they were.

  Putting it out of his mind, he refocused on the bleachers. “Let’s take another count of the guards to make sure we haven’t missed anyone.”

  Thirty-One

  TWELVE THOUSAND FEET ABOVE EASTERN NEW YORK

  11:17 PM EST

  ASH LOOKED OUT the Gulfstream’s window at the world below. During the flight, he had seen lights on the ground in a few places, small pockets of false hope where the electricity had yet to fail. But as they descended toward Albany, New York, all lights were off.

  Behind him, Ash could hear the others stirring in their seats, everyone awake and nervous about the unknown barreling toward them.

  As the plane continued downward, Ash tried to get a sense of how much farther they had to go, but the darkness made it nearly impossible to judge. An exclamation of triumph from one of the pilots drew his attention to the cockpit. He leaned into the aisle to get a better look, and smiled when he saw what all the excitement was about. Out the front window were two rows of dim lights marking the runway.

  Ash looked out the side window as the wheels touched down, and noted the landing lights weren’t the ones affixed to the runway, but portable lamps with wires running between them.

  The plane slowed and then taxied toward a hangar, where someone was waving more lights. When the G550 pulled to a stop, three people jogged toward it from a large helicopter parked nearby.

  Ash unbuckled his belt and stood up. “Everyone hang where you are for a moment. I’ll be right back.”

  He motioned for Chloe to follow him, and headed over and opened the door. By the time he hopped off the steps, the three people were there.

  A big man with a wide smile stepped forward. “Are you Captain Ash?”

  “Ash is fine.”

  He held out his hand and the man took it.

  “Edward Powell,” the guy said. “Philadelphia team.”

  He turned to his two companions. “This is Omar Gamin, also Philadelphia.”

  “Omar,” Ash said, shaking.

  “And this is Tamara Costello.”

  As Ash shook her hand, he said, “We all enjoy your work.”

  “Thank you,” she said, looking a bit embarrassed. “Really, all I do is stand there and talk. It’s my partner Bobby who does the real work.”

  “The cameraman.”

  “Among other things.”

  Ash looked past them toward the helicopter. “Is he here?”

  Powell sho
ok his head. “He’s on the recon team.”

  It had been Ash’s idea to send an advance team to the coordinates so it could report back if something was there or not. He didn’t know why Bobby was on it, though. The cameraman and Tamara had been brought into the mission so they could get some footage that, if there was a chance to broadcast it, would show people what was really going on.

  Tamara apparently sensed his confusion. “Trust me, you’ll be glad he went. Let me show you.”

  They walked quickly to the helicopter, where Tamara grabbed a laptop sitting inside and woke up the screen. She worked the keyboard and cursor for a moment, then said, “Bobby?”

  A whisper came back. “Here.”

  “Captain Ash has arrived. Can you show him?”

  “Hold on. Repositioning.”

  Tamara turned the computer around so they could all see the screen. Filling it was a green-tinted moving image. When it settled a few seconds later, Ash could make out three men crouching behind some trees. Beyond them was a black void.

  The image zoomed into the darkness. As it passed the last of the trees, the area beyond began to take shape. It was a shallow valley with several buildings sitting squarely in the middle, lit only by moonlight.

  A dead town.

  “Everton, Vermont,” Tamara told Ash.

  “Changing lenses,” Bobby whispered.

  The picture went blurry for a moment before sharpening again and focusing on a brick building, large for the area, probably three stories high.

  “On the roof,” Bobby said. “Give it a second.”

  Scattered across the roof were several exhaust vents and a small, hut-like structure that Ash figured provided access to the inside of the building. Nothing unusual.

  For several seconds the scene remained unchanged, and then, in a flash of brighter green, something moved out from behind the hut. Not something. Someone.

  The person was carrying an M16A4 rifle, and decked out in the same military-style winter gear Ash had seen Project Eden soldiers wear that night in Las Cruces. He watched as the guard moved deliberately along the retaining wall at the edge of the roof.

  No question. He was a lookout.

  “Are there more?” he asked.

  “We’ve ID’d two more guards so far, but the guys with me figure there’s probably more.”