The Day After Never Bundle (First 4 novels)

by Russell Blake

  Lucas removed his penlight from his plate carrier and switched it on. He handed it to Jacob, who led the way through the wreckage of what had been the lobby and then down a flight of service stairs that smelled of long-dry urine and general rot.

  “There were some squatters in here a few years ago,” Jacob explained. “Before Magnus set up the lab. His men took care of them.”

  Lucas didn’t have to ask how.

  “Why didn’t you try to get to Shangri-La too?” Lucas probed. “Sierra told me you were…close.”

  Jacob shook his head. “That’s not my role. I have to stay here and do what I can to sabotage Magnus’s vaccine effort. That’s the most important thing I can do – they already have adequate know-how in Shangri-La.”

  “You weren’t tempted?”

  “I wasn’t invited. Besides, I know what I have to do. If I’m successful, Shangri-La will still be there, and the world will be a better place for everyone.”

  Their soles crunched on broken glass and bits of ceiling tile that had been ripped out for access to the copper wire above. Next they entered a long basement hall with dank air, the walls sweating through battleship gray paint. Jacob stopped at one of the metal doors, listened, and then swung it open and motioned for Lucas to enter.

  They entered a room lined with huge steel pipes, each with wheeled handles at junctions where they continued on in narrower runs. Jacob walked to a small opening on the far side of the room and gestured for Lucas to follow him through. They both had to crouch to get through the vandalized duct gap, and then they were in a tunnel with bundles of heavy wiring running its length, a two-foot wide walkway stretching down the middle.

  They made their way to the end, and Jacob twisted the handle on a corroding steel door at the top of four cement stairs. He walked through and Lucas ascended, the hair on his arms standing up at a thrumming sound coming from ahead of them.

  “AC compression lines and the pump rooms are up ahead,” Jacob explained. “Not much farther to go.”

  They were in another corridor, this one with a polished concrete floor and ivory walls painted in high gloss. Above them, emergency lighting flickered, though only a few of the bulbs were still working. Jacob handed Lucas back his flashlight and whispered, “No need for it from here on. This section has power.”

  The scientist picked up his pace and turned into a dark hall before stopping at a green steel door with maintenance stenciled on it. He glanced at Lucas and rapped softly. A muffled voice called out from inside.

  “What the hell do you want at this hour?”

  “Eddie. It’s me – Jacob.”

  The sound of a bolt opening filled the hall. The door opened ten seconds later and they found themselves facing a gnome of a man in orange coveralls, no more than five foot two, his white hair askew, his blue eyes puffy but the whites almost luminescent.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, unable to keep the fear from his voice, and then registered Lucas standing behind Jacob. “Who’s this?”

  “Sierra sent him.”

  The man’s expression changed and he sized Lucas up. “Yeah?”

  “She’s safe,” Lucas said, his voice low.

  “Who’re you?”

  “A friend.”

  The little man looked down the hallway and stepped aside. “Get in here before you draw the guards,” he snapped. “I could hear you a mile away.”

  Jacob and Lucas stepped into a chamber as long as a boxcar and stacked to the ceiling with boxes of parts, pieces of machinery, tools, bails of wire, and various gizmos Lucas couldn’t identify.

  “Lock it,” the gnome said.

  Lucas obliged, driving the bolt home with a solid thunk.

  “This way,” the man said, and led them through the clutter to another room, this one wider but equally stuffed with junk. He moved to a seat and sat beside a desk with a computer monitor in the center of it and stacks of papers on either side of the screen. He swiveled around and faced them, his bulldog face raised pugnaciously to Lucas. “You have two minutes to explain,” he barked.

  Lucas recounted his story in half the allotted time and, when he was finished, stood silently waiting for a response. Eddie looked him up and down, taking in his dusty boots and pants, the dried blood on his sleeve, the fatigue lines and discoloration beneath his eyes, and slowly nodded.

  “I can make a call. How long will it take you to get to the Roswell area?”

  “Figure four days, if I turn around now and start riding.”

  “And your interest in the woman and child?”

  “I promised I’d help them reach Shangri-La. After that, I’m out.”

  Eddie’s eyes softened. “You said you rescued them both?”

  “I was the only one around to do it.”

  “The Native Americans believed that you became tied to those you saved. That there was a bond you couldn’t shake.”

  “I’m not Native American.”

  Eddie eyed him skeptically. “Might be something to it, is all.”

  Lucas nodded. “Could be,” he allowed.

  Eddie stood and motioned to two sorry-looking metal chairs with red vinyl seats. “Take a load off. I’ll go see if I can raise someone.”

  The little man trundled to another door at the back of the room, unlocked it, and then disappeared inside. Lucas checked the time, fidgety, and Jacob steepled his fingers and leaned forward.

  “He’s a little rough around the edges, but Eddie’s good people.”

  “What’s his story?”

  “He keeps the place running. He was the head of maintenance before the collapse. He holed up in here while the world fell apart around him, and was on his last legs when the Crew took over the town. They pressed him into duty, and he’s been here ever since. Hates them, but what can you do?”

  “He could disappear.”

  “Man’s sixty-seven this year. Wouldn’t last long out in the world.”

  “You’d be surprised. One of my friends is about that age, and she’s doing fine.”

  “Eddie isn’t like everybody. He’s got diabetes. Magnus keeps him supplied with insulin, and he stays put. Bargain with the devil, he calls it.”

  “Where does the Crew get insulin?”

  “We make it in the lab. For trade. Same with a few antibiotics and painkillers. You’d be surprised how much the desperate will pay for those.” Jacob glanced at him. “Or maybe you wouldn’t.”

  “Never seen a U-Haul behind a hearse. What’s the point of having something if you can’t use it to save your life?”

  “True words.”

  “So he’s working behind the Crew’s back to sabotage them?”

  “Nothing overt. That would be too dangerous. But he can be eyes and ears, and when they brought Eve and Sierra here and set up a vaccine lab, that launched a whole series of events in motion, which culminated in their escape.”

  “And nobody suspected you two?” Lucas asked.

  “They suspected everyone. But what are they going to do, absent any evidence? Kill the two people that run their operation? And then what? Who’s going to keep the lights on or the meds made?”

  “From what Sierra told me about Magnus, they easily could have. She didn’t describe him as a deep thinker.”

  “There’s risk to everything,” Jacob agreed.

  “Dangerous game.”

  Jacob gave him a grim smile. “So’s the one you’re playing.”

  “Got that right,” Lucas conceded.

  “Then we’re in the same boat.”

  “Not really. I can leave.”

  Eddie reappeared and approached Lucas. “All right. There’s another meet set: four days from now at dusk. Place called Bitter Lake, northeast of Roswell.”

  “Bitter Lake,” Lucas repeated. “Never heard of it.”

  “There’s a makeshift bar the locals built out of pallets and whatnot at the water’s edge. Bartender’s name is Colt. He’s your man.”

  “Colt. Bitter Lake. Got it,” Lucas
said.

  A pounding sounded from the hallway door, and a loud voice called out, “Open the door. Now – or we’ll kick it down.”

  Chapter 38

  Jacob looked around, eyes wild. Eddie’s expression hardened with determination. “Damn. They must have been able to triangulate the broadcast. Come on. This way,” he said.

  The little man led them to the room from which he’d emerged. Inside was a storage room with a small bathroom in the near corner. Eddie raced to the bathroom door and yanked it open, and then moved to the shower stall. He fiddled with one of the faucets, cursing. A soft click echoed from behind it, and he heaved on the stall and slid it toward him.

  “Inside. This leads to a storage room on the upper level. From there you can make it back down the stairs to the basement on the far side of the hospital, and Jacob can show you the way out.” Eddie pointed to iron rungs leading up to a hatch in the ceiling. “Good luck.”

  “What about you?” Jacob asked.

  “Someone’s got to open the door.”

  Jacob’s face hardened. “They’ll kill you.”

  “For what? There’s nothing to find. Radio’s up in the other room. I’m the only one with the keys. And I’m in here.” Eddie frowned. “Now go. I’ll take my chances.”

  Lucas didn’t hesitate, and Jacob tailed him into the small space. The shower snicked back into place behind them, and Lucas switched on his penlight. Clenching it between his teeth, he climbed the rungs and then pushed the hatch up.

  The storage room was piled with discarded machinery, and Lucas pointed at a corner as Jacob scrambled through the gap in the floor. “He’s pretty tricky. That must be the radio. If I didn’t know what to look for, I’d assume it was being used for parts.”

  The radio sat on a crate, sans cover, just a metal frame and a bunch of wire and electrical components. The giveaway was the microphone and a pair of small computer speakers, as well as a power cord stretching into the darkness.

  “I hope he’ll be okay,” Jacob said.

  “Let’s worry about us for now.” Lucas flashed the light on the far door. “I assume you know where we are.”

  “I think so.”

  Lucas removed his hat and pressed his ear against the steel slab. After several moments he replaced it, shut off the flashlight, and switched his scope back on.

  “I can’t see,” Jacob said.

  “I can. Once we’re out, which way?”

  “Left. It would have to be left.”

  “Hang on to the back of my flak jacket. Ready?”

  “Yes.”

  Lucas twisted the handle and eased the door open. There was a wide hall he could make out in the scope. He whispered what he was seeing to Jacob, who whispered back.

  “There should be a stairway at the end of the hall.”

  Lucas nodded and then inched from the doorway with cautious steps, doing his best to avoid any noise. Jacob was right behind him, shuffling along with smaller strides to keep from tripping while hanging onto Lucas’s vest. They heard muffled voices behind them, but they were further away in the building, the sound echoing off the walls, and the absence of light confirmed that they hadn’t been spotted.

  At the stairwell, Lucas led Jacob down to the lower level. When they exited into another hall, Lucas murmured to the scientist, “We’re on the basement level. There’s a hall going straight and one to our right. Which way?”

  “It would have to be right.” Jacob sounded tentative.

  “You sure?”

  “It’s been a while since I was down here…” He swallowed. “Yes, I’m sure.”

  “Then come on.”

  Lucas picked up the pace, and within a couple of minutes they were at another stairway, this one leading up. When they were at ground level, Lucas stopped.

  “Can we use the flashlight now?” Jacob asked.

  “Risky. Why?”

  “I need to see where we are.”

  Lucas checked the M4 safety and then offered the weapon to him, the night vision scope eyepiece glowing green. “Look through there. Takes some getting used to, but not that much.”

  The scientist took the rifle from him, clearly unfamiliar with the feel of a weapon, and peered through the scope. He grunted and motioned left. “This way.”

  Lucas shadowed him to the foyer of the health sciences building. They approached the plywood covering the entry, and Jacob handed the rifle back to him. They listened at the barrier for a solid minute, and when there was no movement outside, Jacob slid the loose panel open and stepped into the night.

  They sprinted across the parking lot, afraid gunfire would erupt from behind them at any moment, and breathed a sigh of relief when they neared the trees at the edge of the lot. They stopped and got their bearings, and then Jacob grimaced in the dim starlight and offered his hand to shake.

  “This is where we part ways. Good luck,” he said.

  Lucas took the scientist’s hand and shook. “You too.” He paused. “You think Eddie will give you up?”

  “Not willingly, but if they apply enough pressure…”

  “You should bail.”

  “I can’t.” Jacob looked away. “It’ll be fine. They don’t have anything on him.”

  Lucas didn’t press the point – Jacob was an adult and knew the risks.

  Jacob hesitated, and when he spoke, his voice was soft. “Tell Sierra I…tell her she’s missed, would you?”

  Lucas swallowed hard, but his face remained unreadable. “Sure thing.”

  “I appreciate it. We didn’t really have any time to talk the night she left…”

  “Right.”

  They split up, and Lucas trotted north toward the brick house as Jacob went east. There was nothing Lucas could do for either of the men who’d helped him, although deep down he had the urge to return to the hospital, guns a-blazing, and take out the guards. He knew even as he thought it that it was foolhardy, but if the old man or Jacob told the Crew the details of the rendezvous…

  At that point it would be a footrace – it would take them as long to reach Roswell as it would Lucas, and he would have a considerable head start.

  He’d have to chance it and hope that the interrogation went long, assuming there was one.

  Then again, the radio was well hidden and Eddie didn’t strike him as stupid. He had to be clever to have worked against his masters for years without being caught. Perhaps he would get away with it this time.

  Lucas shook away the second-guessing.

  Either he would be questioned and tell them what he knew, or he wouldn’t. Regardless, nothing changed for Lucas. He still had to get to Bitter Lake by dusk in four days with the women, whether with the Crew on their tail or not. Everything else was theoretical. What Lucas did know was that horses could only cover so much ground per day, and Tango, with the ability to make a solid fifty, was better than most, especially if the Crew didn’t use theirs for long distances with any regularity. In that case they might get forty if they were lucky, slowing as the days went by and the animals wore out.

  No matter what the case, Shangri-La had transformed from an ambiguous possibility to a certainty in Lucas’s mind – one he wasn’t going to allow to pass them by.

  He spied Tango’s dark form at the tree where he’d tied him and increased his speed. They would be well clear of the city by dawn, and they could rest more in the heat of the day, once Lubbock’s skyline had faded into the horizon behind them.

  Tango sensed Lucas’s arrival and gave a welcoming snort. Lucas smiled in spite of the dire situation and allowed the horse to nuzzle him before climbing into the saddle, his weariness heavy as a lead blanket, and directing the stallion west.

  ~ ~ ~

  Jacob rounded a corner on the way back to the gutted apartment complex and almost ran headlong into three crew gunmen. He recognized one of them – a guard at the lab – and nodded a greeting.

  The man scowled at him. “You been at the hospital tonight?”

  “What are you
talking about?”

  “Why are you out in the middle of the night?”

  “Where have you been? My apartment burned to the ground. Where am I supposed to go?”

  The guard eyed the scientist the way a crocodile eyes a lamb and then glanced at the man on his right.

  “Take him to the hospital. I’ll be there shortly. Don’t let him talk to the other one.”

  Jacob bit back his protest when he heard the final words. The other one. So they’d somehow placed him with Eddie. He had no idea how, but they obviously had, which meant his time on the planet was limited to hours, barring a miracle. His knees threatened to buckle, but he held firm, resolved to continue his pretension that he had no idea what they were talking about as long as possible in order to buy Lucas time.

  Because regardless of what happened to him, Magnus couldn’t be allowed to get his hands on the girl.

  Jacob would go to his grave to prevent that.

  Chapter 39

  Ruby and Sierra were in the kitchen, preparing breakfast from eggs Bruce had collected, when someone pounded on the trailer door. Ruby froze, skillet in hand, above the flickering flame from the modified wood-burning stove Bruce had shoehorned into the dwelling.

  Bruce came out of his bedroom and peeked out of the side window, and then turned to Sierra. “Don’t worry. Just a couple of customers. Stay out of sight.”

  Ruby moved the skillet well away from the fire and set it down as Sierra made for their bedroom, where Eve was dozing. Ruby followed her in, and Bruce opened the front door as they disappeared into the room.

  Three men stood at the steps, the middle one with his hands on his hips, the others with their arms folded across their chests. All had rifles hanging from shoulder slings, and none looked particularly happy.

  Bruce offered a smile. “Tom. Wesley. Hank. How’re you guys doing today?”

  “Been two weeks, Bruce. Tired of waiting. Either give us what you promised or return the goods.”

  “I told you it could take a while. Hard to find parts for the panels anymore. But I’ve been looking.”

  “You took half the payment in advance, Bruce. You done half the work?” Hank, the largest of the three, growled.