The Next World Box Set [Books 1-3]

by Olah, Jeff

  Gentry waited for the full weight of it to hit her.

  “Then it got bad. Test subjects that had taken the injectable began attacking the doctors, nurses, and guards. Like what you’re seeing out there.”

  Margaret didn’t respond.

  “And then those that were attacked by the test subjects started presenting with similar symptoms. The anger and aggression usually began within minutes—transferred through the subject’s blood. They were placed in quarantine, but the project had completely gone off track. It had morphed into something none of us wanted to be associated with. We knew we needed to stop it, but didn’t know how. And on top of everything else, Marcus Goodwin began separating our teams. He wanted us to push forward without regard for the lives lost. He wanted to find a way to fix the things that were broken without going back and starting over. That’s why, six months ago, I walked into his office and told him I was leaving.”

  She hadn’t changed her expression, but seemed to slump a bit in her chair. She looked to the window and at her glass, but not yet at him. “You were part of this?”

  “I was trying to fix it, but it had been going on long before I started. When I realized there wasn’t anything I could do—”

  “You left, just like the others before you.”

  “You don’t understand, there wasn’t anything I could do. At least not working for Goodwin, he made sure of that.”

  Margaret tilted her head back and again brushed her hair away from her face. She seemed to be considering her response. “If all of this is true, and this whole thing was created in a lab somewhere, is it possible there’s a way to fix it, to help all of those people?”

  With everything he’d already laid out for her, he felt the need to give her at least a bit of hope. “There could be, but I’m not sure there’s anyone left to see it through.”

  She shot forward, her eyes now wide. “You, you could fix it, right?”

  He should have known that this is where she was headed. He’d had the same thoughts a million times over the last two weeks, but wasn’t quite ready to explore what that would entail. “In theory, yes. But at this point, I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

  She nodded. “You obviously knew Major Daniels?”

  “Yes, but what does that have to do with—”

  “You said that man was partnering with the government to finish the project. Was the Major involved with this as well?”

  “He was my friend.”

  “But was he involved?”

  Gentry lowered his head, felt like crawling out of the room. He now wished he hadn’t started down this road. All he wanted to do was arm her with a bit of information that may help her survive a little longer than if they’d never crossed paths, but so far he hadn’t even scratched the surface. “Yes, he was.”

  Margaret looked out toward her home. She sat quiet for a moment, appeared to be letting it wash over her. When she turned back, she looked different, older. Like she did telling the story of her husband. She tried to speak, stopped twice, and then cleared her throat. “What’s Blackmore?”

  “Blackmore?”

  “Major Daniels spray painted it in giant letters on the garage door. Does that have something to do with all of this?”

  “You noticed that?”

  “Hard to miss.”

  “Blackmore is a medical research facility in the Sierra Nevadas. Goodwin had it built specifically for Project Ares and had Major Daniels running it.”

  “Is that where all of this started?”

  Her question hit him in a place he wasn’t expecting, from an angle he hadn’t yet considered. There were always the thoughts of going back and trying to help the man who ended the world—not Marcus Goodwin specifically, more the world as a whole—but in the end he realized there was no helping that man. However, there was an alternative, one that didn’t involve going back into the city.

  “No,” Gentry said, “but it might just be where all of this ends.”

  73

  The room was cold now and he felt like he needed to eat. Owen didn’t remember it being this cold a few hours ago, but then again, a few hours ago, most things were a blur to him. And to exacerbate the problem, he was sitting on the floor, which at the moment didn’t seem to be helping with the temperature or the tightening of his lower back.

  He sat across from Kevin, who he’d helped move into a high-backed leather office chair. His friend was reclined back and had his legs resting on a white and blue cardboard file box. His arms planted firmly on the armrests, sucking in quick breaths every time he shifted his weight, the pain was evident in his face. And at his side, Zeus laid on the floor watching his every move.

  On the opposite side of the room, also seated on the floor, was the man he’d met less than a day before. Travis yawned, rolling his neck from left to right, and took a slow pull of water from a half empty bottle.

  “So,” Owen looked Travis over. “Where you from?”

  Travis stared at the floor. “LA.”

  “Yeah, I figured that. You live here in the city?”

  “At one time, yeah.”

  It had been like this for the last hour or so. Owen would ask a question, get a few words out of the stranger who’d saved them, and then ask another. He’d nearly given up a half dozen times, figuring it wasn’t worth his time. However, it was keeping Kevin from dozing off and on some level, strangely entertaining.

  He turned back to his friend, offered a quick tilt of his chin, and a flat grin. “How ya holding up Chief? Those meds starting to wear off?”

  Kevin hadn’t spoken more than a handful of times and when he did, it was through gritted teeth. He appeared content to simply sit and rest. “I’m good.”

  He wasn’t. His color was better than before, but his face, neck, and hands still held a hint of grey. Nothing that Owen was overly concerned with, but at the same time this was territory he wasn’t completely familiar with.

  Owen gave a quick thumbs-up. “You look good.”

  Kevin held back a laugh, turning his eyes to Travis. “Hey … thank you.”

  Travis finally lifted his head. “Sure thing.”

  Kevin looked like he wanted to respond, but then was overcome by another wave of pain. He pulled his left arm in close to his torso, clenching his jaw and talking in three or four quick breaths.

  Owen reflexively winced. He didn’t like seeing other people suffer, and he liked it on his friend even less. “I’m sorry buddy, you want me to see if I can get you something a bit stronger?”

  Once the moment had passed, Kevin slumped in the chair. He closed his eyes and looked almost at peace. “No, I’m alright. I’ll be fine.”

  Travis sat up straight. “You sure, I can see if—”

  “Yeah, I just wanna sit here and close my eyes for a few. Think about something other than my shoulder.”

  “Just let me know.” Travis took a few seconds and then turned back to Owen. “I lived here off and on a few years ago. Couldn’t decide where I wanted to end up. I always liked the ocean, but with prices what they were …”

  Owen laughed under his breath. It didn’t feel right at the moment, but he thought it might keep the tone of the conversation headed in the right direction. “Ain’t that the truth?”

  “How about you?”

  It was the first time Travis had asked him anything that didn’t have to do with his friend’s injury or the events that played out in the intersection the day before. It seemed an awkward attempt, but on the other hand, there were still a few things he wanted to square away, so this was progress.

  “The valley, just north of downtown. Couldn’t stand the traffic or the heat during the summer, but hey it’s better than what we got now.”

  Travis pushed his back into the door frame, began to nod. “That’s the understatement of the century, nothing but death outside these walls. Almost makes a person wish they were driving in rush-hour traffic, at least then the woman in the minivan in the left lane isn’t looking t
o eat your face.”

  This time Owen did laugh—he didn’t hold back either. He caught himself remembering what it was like before. Early morning workouts, lunch that involved ordering off a menu, car-line pickup in the September heat, binging Netflix on a Saturday afternoon with Natalie by his side, caffeine by the liter, and every other thing he had taken for granted. There were many things about his former life that that he was going to miss, but at the moment, every single one seemed irrelevant.

  “You out there by yourself?”

  Travis seemed to stiffen a bit. “Mostly.”

  “Since the beginning?”

  “Yeah, except for the couple of days I spent here with Paul and his family. They got me off the streets when things got really bad on this side of town.”

  Owen wanted to ask the question that had been on his mind since the man with the shotgun and the black tactical vest had the side of his head blown off. There wasn’t really a good way to come at it, other than to just ask. “You been in that apartment building ever since?”

  “Made it there a day later. It took a bit to clear the first floor, but the others were a piece of cake. Just get them into the stairwell and let gravity do the rest.”

  “You’re a good shot.”

  Travis now looked at him. He had been before, but now he had something behind his eyes that said he was listening, something that wasn’t there before. “Just lucky I guess.”

  That was crap. There was no way the round that peeled back the side of the stocky man’s head was luck. Neither was the next shot that blew apart the men’s neck who stood in front of the white BMW. Luck had nothing to do with any of it.

  Owen just wanted to hear Travis say it. Find out who the man seated fifteen feet away really was. He shook his head and grinned evenly. “I’m just not buying it.”

  “Buying what?” The look on Travis’s face now beginning to harden.

  “You’re former military right, maybe—”

  Kevin’s eyes were still closed. His voice came out thick and slow. “He was a cop.”

  Travis nearly leapt from the floor. He turned quickly from Owen to Kevin. “What, what are you talking about?”

  Zeus looked like he was going to stand, but then just dropped his head back to the floor as Kevin let out a restrained chuckle. “You’re the cop that killed that psychopath a few years ago.”

  74

  Travis had moved to a folding chair and hadn’t spoken for what seemed like a full minute. He stared at Kevin, his face hard and his hands buried deep in the pockets of his pants. He looked uncomfortable, intermittently blinking as he seemed to be contemplating a response.

  Kevin opened his eyes, looking worse than a few minutes ago, the grey rings around his eyes now looking closer to black. Using his right arm to reposition his left, he took in a sharp breath as he was reminded of the previous day’s events.

  “Listen, I didn’t mean to stir up any bad memories, my man. Hell, I followed that story for weeks, thought you were a complete badass. Not many people would do what you did, but most probably wished they had the courage.”

  Owen was at a loss. He remembered hearing something about a police officer who’d killed a man in his own home a number of years before, but he didn’t recall much else. But before he could interject, possibly cool the mood in the room, Travis finally found his voice.

  “Silas Vaughn killed my wife and my son.” His lower lip began to shake, but he quickly bit into it and waited for the moment to pass.

  Owen began to push away from the floor. “You don’t have to do this.”

  “He was a man who I had put away on a drug possession charge my first year on the force.” Travis ran his hand across his face. “When he got out … he came to my home.”

  Owen wanted to stop him. He could see where this was headed and could feel the temperature in the room beginning to climb with each passing second. He wanted to stop Travis, but knew he shouldn’t. The man who saved his family needed to get this out.

  “I was working the graveyard shift and got a call from a number I didn’t recognize, so I let it go to voicemail.” Travis dipped his head back. He had tears running down both sides of his face. They glinted the dim light that drifted in from the hall. “When my partner and I stopped for a bite a few minutes later, I retrieved that voicemail.”

  Kevin was now sitting almost all the way up. He had his right hand resting on Zeus’s head, his eyes locked on Travis, just waiting for a break in the heart-wrenching story. “Listen, I’m sorry. I didn’t remember all the—”

  Travis continued, as though he hadn’t heard Kevin. “It was my neighbor, he said there were patrol cars in front of my house and wanted to see if everything was okay. Before I even finished listening to the voicemail, my partner and I got the call to come back to the station. They were trying to keep me from going home.”

  There was a long silence. Owen turned to Kevin, holding his gaze and noticing the bandages near his left bicep were beginning to ooze. But before he could fully stand and make his way over, Travis slammed his hand against the wall.

  “That scumbag got off. His attorneys laughed as they walked out of the courthouse that afternoon. I had to bury the only woman that I ever loved and the most perfect little boy this world would ever know. I had to say goodbye to my wife and my son while Silas Vaughn walked away a free man.”

  Travis inhaled slowly, now mostly through his curled up nose. His eyes were red and his face wet. He didn’t bother wiping his tears as he folded his hands in front of his chest. “I was placed on leave and sent to see a therapist for the voices I had started to hear. I had begun to drink and started taking pills just to get to sleep. That wasn’t what she would have wanted and it sure as hell wasn’t who I was.” He paused a second and looked toward the hall. When he started again, he had a different look on his face, appeared to be fighting back a smile. “So, I went to his house in the middle of the night and killed him.”

  Owen turned from Kevin and looked at Travis through narrowed eyes. “I’m sorry.” He didn’t know what else to say, didn’t think there was anything more to offer.

  Travis pulled the chair around behind him, moved it to the left of the door, and sat back down. He gazed out toward the pair of windows at the northwest corner of the room and used his hand to push his hair away from his forehead. “Yeah, so am I.”

  Before Travis’s words had a chance to fade, Kevin leaned back a bit, wincing through the obvious pain. “I’m sorry, I didn’t remember the whole story, just who you were and what you did. And I can’t begin to thank you enough for helping save my friends and also for saving me. It was my fault; I got us into that mess and you had to come out and help.”

  Travis furrowed his brow, looked from Owen to Kevin. “I didn’t have to.”

  “No,” Kevin said, “you didn’t have to. But you did, and right now that’s everything. So, once I get back on my feet, up and around,” he tried to force a grin. “I owe you one, probably more than that.”

  Travis was already shaking his head before Kevin finished. “No, you don’t owe me a damn thing. I didn’t do it for you and I didn’t do it for your friends. I did it because it was the right thing to do. I did it because I couldn’t stand by and watch those men slaughter you and the others, but mostly I did it because my wife would have wanted me to. She would have told me not to just walk away, that I wasn’t that kind of man. And I knew that I would have listened to her.”

  “You’re a good man,” Owen said. “We’re headed to the coast once he’s back on his feet, and we’d be grateful if you came with us. Strength in numbers, you know.”

  Travis appeared to be thinking it over, but his face had all but given away his answer. He began with a quick shake of his head, subtle but it was there. “No, I’m heading out in the morning, going back at first light to see about my building.”

  “You can’t think that being out here alone is the answer. I mean surely you’ve seen enough to know that’s not the case?”

&n
bsp; “I’ve been alone for a long time, since well before all of this. And in some ways, and on some levels, it’s easier now. Sometimes humans are worse than the dead, but I think you probably already know that.”

  He couldn’t disagree, but also couldn’t help thinking that Travis might be better off staying with him and his group. Not that he needed protection from what was out there—he was more than capable—Owen just figured that having others around may be good for his mental health, if that were even possible. This new world wasn’t easy to navigate and being on your own wouldn’t make it any easier.

  “You sure you won’t change your mind?”

  Travis looked away, just shaking his head. “I don’t think so.”

  Owen was tired. He couldn’t think at the moment, and trying to convince Travis of something he wasn’t interested in probably wasn’t a good idea. “Okay then, at least know that my friends and I are extremely grateful and give me another shot in the morning, once we’ve all had some sleep.”

  “Another shot?”

  “At convincing you to come with us. I mean I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t at least try.”

  The corners of Travis’s mouth turned up. It wasn’t necessarily a smile, but it was close. “We can talk again in the morning, but I can tell you right now, I don’t think it’s going to make any difference.”

  As Kevin again reclined in the high-backed chair, Owen offered Travis a quick nod. “Don’t be so sure.”

  75

  Natalie sat at the end of the conference table looking out over her children. She had laid a jacket over Noah, who now slept alongside his sister in the corner of the room. Three feet away, Lucas was slumped forward at an awkwardly painful angle. She wanted to go over and help him to the floor, but thought better than to wake him.

  Across the table from her, Harper sat with her hands resting in her lap, also watching the only family she had left. Her grandmother had moved two of the conference room chairs together and was the first to be taken by sleep. She looked peaceful, as if she hadn’t a care in the world.