In The End | Book 3 | After The End

by Stevens, GJ

  “You always have a choice,” Alex added at my side.

  Without saying a word, Jess reached out, handing over the letter with her red fingerprints still on the page.

  Not even the gunshot echoing between the buildings could pull me from the words as an icy shiver ran down my spine when I read the final line.

  “Go,” I said, catching her eye as I looked up from the white page. “We’ll find you.” I turned to Thompson. His subordinate had stepped back but not holstered his pistol and stared with a blank expression. “Where exactly are you taking her?”

  Thompson shook his head. I held my tongue for a moment then looked around, already trying to figure out which way we would start the journey. “We’ll find you.”

  “Sir,” the soldier to Thompson’s right spoke, keen to move. As if they’d read my thoughts, the double boom of a Chinook’s blades whipped up the air, sending dust in a swirling chaos around us.

  Shadow barked as the left soldier motioned us back through the carpet of bodies and toward the building. When a burst of gunfire called from one of the other groups of soldiers, we ignored his instruction, instead watching as they headed our way, the sniper gone from the roof too.

  I could guess the reason they were on the move, racing to fly away and leave us on our own.

  With no weapons, and Jess gone too, we’d have no chance.

  “Give us a gun. Please,” I shouted over the growing din of rotors and Shadow’s bark, but none of the soldiers reacted to my words. Instead, crowding around Jess, they guided her away then turned their backs as she looked out from between their helmets.

  With no choice, together we backed up as I coaxed Shadow with my hand on his neck, glancing at my feet to avoid the debris of bodies and slick chunks of decaying flesh.

  It wasn’t long before the sun blotted out with the bulk of the Chinook filling the view as it lowered to land beside the soldier’s protective circle. A vision of the hospital roof sprang to mind, the memory so clear of when Lane fell backwards with the spray of blood. I held my arms wide to stop any of us making that same mistake.

  Another shape, an Apache gunship, caught my eye to the side as it sliced through the air with its long round gun at the front following the gunners turn as he swept for targets. I couldn’t help but wonder what his orders would be when Jess was safely spirited away.

  I backed us up closer to the building, not caring for the mess down the face of the glass.

  Alex saw it first. Then I caught the sight, too.

  At the same time, Mandy’s sharp intake of breath told me she was the next to see the spaces between the buildings filling with figures pouncing to the air and at their backs the slow amble of those without souls.

  Cassie gave no sign, even as gunshots rattled from the soldiers walking backwards to empty their weapons as they closed up to the protective circle.

  “Jess,” Alex called, as the figures covered the distance in the blink of an eye.

  Despite the Chinook so close, almost on the ground, sending the downwash of the rotor blades to batter us all, Jess replied.

  “Go. Run. Quickly,” she called through the turbulence, reminding me that as soon as they’d taken to the sky, they would leave us behind, unarmed and almost certain to die.

  55

  JESSICA

  I shook my head toward Alex, not able to battle against the fierce noise whilst trying to hide the desperation at being trapped by Toni once again. If she knew how I felt inside, Alex wouldn’t willingly leave my side.

  All I had left was to hope that I could make a difference when I got to where they were taking me, although I knew it was likely she would have planned for every eventuality.

  Still, I had no choice but go with them for the sake of the children, for any hope of there being a future for me, forcing down any fear that I could make this entire thing so much worse if I gave Toni what she needed.

  But I couldn’t just ignore the fact that once the helicopter landed, it would be over. I would be hers.

  Either way, someone else would take the pain and perhaps it wasn’t my decision; maybe fate should have been the one to decide. Startling myself, I realised for the first time I was about to let someone else have control.

  With the helicopter coming so close, holding steady in its descent, I spotted the soldiers coming towards us, knowing there were so few left of their number.

  The helicopter pivoted around, turning, almost in touching distance so when the wheels hit the ground we could run inside, taking to the air and be gone from this place to safety and to hope I could stop the kids from going through what I had endured.

  Toni would show me how to control myself, despite the progress I’d made. She would show me how to stop the hunger altogether and I would have time to think about what to do next. How to take back control. And find Alex again.

  56

  LOGAN

  With the building at our backs no longer able to protect us, I looked instead on the river to our right, remaking the choice I’d hoped we’d avoided. Glancing the other way and toward the pained calls and the wet, wrenching sound of a soldier being ripped apart, I turned away as another stumbled with a creature landing to drag yet more to the ground. There were so many everywhere I looked.

  As the helicopter’s wheels touched the ground, I grabbed out at hands either side and gripping tight I led everyone forward, along the building and toward the river.

  Alex soon let go, pulling off the rucksack and holding it in her hands, jumping over the edge without hesitation and was quickly swept along by the torrent, her head under the brown water. I tried to let go of Mandy’s hand but she gripped tight. As I looked her way, she called out through the whirl of turbulent air.

  “I can’t swim,” she shouted, her eyes bulging as she shook her head.

  Panic surged and I chanced a look to the rushing creatures at our backs and the last of the soldiers running to the helicopter, hoping I would see them take each of the creatures down before they flew away with Jess, and the pilot of the hovering gunship would forget any orders he might have to leave no witnesses.

  Cassie flashed by at my side, followed by Shadow going under the murky water. I thought about his wound and the pain he must be in and the concentration needed to kick his legs under the surface.

  “We’ve got no choice,” I shouted to Mandy. “Hold my hand. I’ll keep you safe.”

  She nodded, then we both turned to the fast flow, drawing a deep breath and holding tight to each other’s hand as we jumped.

  I listened to her squeal through the short fall, before we were engulfed, freezing water stealing my breath, but all I could think was keeping my grip. As the rush settled around me, the chill took hold; I tried to kick my heavy legs, willing myself up through the water and pulling against Mandy’s weight as she seemed to sink lower, dragging me down. With my hand going numb, along with the rest of my body, I could just about feel my grip against hers as my lungs screamed for air.

  The next moment, Mandy’s grip wasn’t there, her hold gone, the downward drag slowing and I pulled my heavy arm up. Her touch was gone.

  Moving my arms around in a circle, I sought her out, but with my energy almost spent, my will draining as the cold penetrated, I could do nothing more than to save my own life.

  With water rushing me along, somehow I broke the surface, gasping for air and spitting out the earthy water as I searched for her.

  I couldn’t catch my breath, unable to will my lungs to pull deep. I tried calling out, but the cold stole everything I had. I tried turning to search but it took all my energy to stop my trainers and clothes pulling back down into the water as I rushed along.

  “Mandy,” I tried again, but was rewarded with a mouth full of foul water I couldn’t help but swallow. There was no sign of her.

  With my breath still shallow and racing, I grew weaker with every moment, shivering as the rush of water seemed to settle, carrying me along as the last words I’d said to Mandy went around in my
head.

  The flow of water turned me facing back to where we’d jumped. Panic rose as I watched the remains of a figure hit the helicopter’s blades, spreading chunks of red in a spray, before my foot caught on something under the surface and the dirty water filled my view again.

  Fighting not to open my mouth under the water and twisting my leg, I rose to the surface to feel the chilly air on my face, batting away the water as I watched the helicopter crumple, disintegrating as it hit the tarmac and sent debris spraying to the water.

  I tried to stay afloat; I tried to look for any survivors as bodies slapped into the water, but the thoughts dimmed as I circled my arms, fighting my heavy limbs so I wouldn’t get dragged away with the current.

  57

  JESSICA

  The creatures were everywhere, our rescue no longer certain. Hundreds of them all around. But my only panic was for Alex, for my other companions. They stood no chance if they didn’t leave now.

  Relieved, I watched Logan holding Mandy’s hand as they jumped into the turbulent, churning waters of the river.

  I turned away, watching the air fill with wicked creatures pouncing, ripping through the last of the soldiers who had held back to guard the perimeter. Still flanked on three sides, I saw a figure in the air just in front of us and I knew before the creature bore down it would hit the rear rotor blades before it landed. The three soldiers saw it too, but none of us could turn away.

  To the sound of flesh pulverised by the spinning blades above our heads, I pushed my arm out with a monumental feat of strength, knocking the three soldiers to the ground as the rotor blades caught against each other in the air and smashed into the metal body of the helicopter. For a moment, the aircraft rose but then fell to the sound of metal grating, grinding as if it consumed itself.

  With the chopper tipping sideways, throwing up great clods of tarmac and metal to the air as the blades crashed into the ground, I raised to my feet, pushing each of the soldiers up, hurling them toward the river and running after them with the ground shaking beneath me and a fireball racing at my back.

  58

  LOGAN

  Cassie pulled herself from the water first, her skin almost blue as she landed a fair few buildings down from where we’d jumped. Turning, whilst still on all fours, she grabbed Shadow by the scruff of his neck, dragging him to the edge and wrapping her arms around his front quarters until his paws found purchase on the concrete ledge.

  Kneeling on the slipway between the two buildings, I watched as Cassie searched out across the turbulent water. She soon fixed on another figure ahead, who fought with the current just as I did, arms pumping toward where Cassie beckoned.

  Alex. She was high in the water using the rucksack as a floatation aid. As she bobbed around, the water rushed her wildly across the river. Despite her own search across the view and her pale, pained expression, she pounded the water with her legs, clearly knowing she’d be swept away and battered to a pulp by the sharp contents of the water.

  Pulling her to the ledge, Cassie raised her up, Alex’s clothes clinging tight as the water coursed to the ground. As soon as Alex had all four limbs on the ledge, she let go of the pack and twisted around, staring out, her look darting across the debris-laden surface to scan the water.

  Still kicking my legs as hard as I could, despite their weight, I made progress to the bank and watched another figure between me and the two pale-faced women, with their arms extending my way. As I fought through the water, feeling disconnected with my body, I couldn’t help but marvel at the energy of the figure floating by, reaching out towards the women.

  On seeing it’s stretch, they shuffled back from the edge, staring on, but not grabbing hold as it floated past. Only then did I realise why.

  If I had the energy, I would have turned around to check for more creatures in the water, but I was so numb and cold I wouldn’t have noticed if one had already bitten through my leg.

  As the creature floated by, Alex and Cassie shuffled forward on their hands and knees, shivering and shaking on the concrete. They watched, urging my effort as I forced my aching limbs through the pain, kicking my heavy trainers with all I could muster until I felt myself lifted up, my body numb to their hands on mine, pulling me from the cold and out of the turbulence.

  “Mandy,” I called out, still unable to make my voice loud as I scoured the surface, my search stopping on anything in the water. I dismissed the broken tree trunks, the dark-clothed bodies reaching out and snarling our way and lengths of wood and other debris.

  There was no sign of her.

  “She couldn’t hold on,” I said, keeping my view on the water despite knowing she would be long gone.

  Feeling pressure on my shoulder, I turned around, disappointed to see Alex with her hand resting as she tried to reassure me. I stood, trembling as water coursed down to pool to the ground.

  “It’s not your fault,” she stuttered, but then turned away, peering back to the water. “Jess.”

  I followed the way she stared with visions flashing into my head of what had happened after I’d jumped. As the images faded in my mind, Alex pushed her hand to my arm and we stared at the fire-ravaged fuselage of the helicopter rolling from the burning car park and into the water, sending spray high in the air. I gripped her sodden hand in hope she wouldn’t do anything stupid.

  To the grind of metal, we stood shivering, our attention moving from where we had jumped to the dark figures making their dogged journey in our direction, their stilted walk tracking around the edge of the car park, with no sign of any surviving soldiers.

  “We’ve got to go,” I said, looking the other way to avoid the anguish I knew would hang on Alex’s face.

  With her arms wrapped around herself, Cassie moved away with Shadow at her heel, both leaving a trail of wet prints along the slipway. Despite my gentle tug at her hand, Alex remained fixed to the spot.

  “We’ve got to go,” I said again, barely able to speak for my teeth chattering as I looked after Cassie, turning to Alex only when she tugged me around. “The creatures are coming,” I said, before following her gaze and saw her squinting to the water.

  “Cass…” I called backwards when I saw the four soldiers in a line, each sitting low in the water, two fighting to release their packs, the others having already done so. Despite their arms raising out of the water, they were losing their battle with the current and were about to be swept down the river.

  Dropping to my knees and pushing through the ache, I reached out my trembling hand over the edge of the concrete, but I was nowhere close enough for them to take hold.

  “Jess,” Alex called and I looked up along the line, at first seeing a rucksack floating, but my gaze was drawn away to Jess, in her black jacket with her hair flat to her face, as she powered through the water with a breast stroke.

  Reaching the back of the line of soldiers, she pushed against what looked to be a floating rucksack, shoving the weight towards the bank and the faster flow. As it moved to the edge, I realised there was a soldier underneath who hadn’t made it.

  Alex dropped to her knees at my side and together we grabbed the weight with numb hands and heaved it closer. Cassie joined, pulling the dead weight out of the water as Jess shoved each of the soldiers towards us, one after the other so we could grab hold to stop them being whisked away.

  We each had a soldier’s hand in our grip and I soon realised it was Thompson I held, but despite pulling as hard as I could, I didn’t have enough strength to pull him out. The same true for the others. With each passing moment, my numbing grip seemed to weaken. I thought again of the moment Mandy had let go of my hand and I tried my best to keep my fingers firm, despite the pain.

  Within a moment, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the soldier Alex had been holding dragged out of the water to the concrete as if she’d gained strength from nowhere. Thinking she’d summoned supernatural powers, I saw the same happen to the soldier Cass held, and then the weight at my hands became so much
less when a pale pair of hands came from the side and hauled in the Major.

  Collapsing to the ground as the soldiers leaned over on their hands and knees, rifles dangling down as the water flowed from their clothes, I twisted around to see Jess standing, sodden from head to foot, with barely a rush to her breathing and not quivering with the cold.

  Two of the soldiers knelt to the body we’d pulled out first, the pair who’d flanked Thompson, unclipping his pack as they turned him over to his side and then his back before punching him square in the chest. The body coughed and they rushed him to his side as water spilled from his mouth and he gasped for air.

  I watched them bring him back from the dead without fear they would be attacked. The shivers returned, along with a cold so deep. As I watched on, my reactions slow and senses numb, I followed as each head upturned to a sudden wind in the air from the Apache helicopter.

  Cassie helped me to my feet; we knew we couldn’t wait to dry off or take stock. Instead, we pulled up our heavy limbs and I watched in awe as the soldier’s jogged up the slipway, one of them carrying the man they’d just brought back to life over his shoulders.

  No one wasted their energy with words, but we all turned around as the gunship poured lead from its nose, and we looked to the car park and the disintegrating flesh of the creatures caught by the hot lead.

  “Move,” Thompson called out.

  Alex and I tried our best to follow the soldier’s lead up the slipway, Cassie and Jess helping as best they could with water still running from our clothes.

  “So cold,” I said, as I fought to put one foot in front of the other. My muscles were stiff and complained with every movement as if refusing to thaw. I couldn’t bring myself to look again to where the bullets rained from the gunship or to seek it out when the noise of the gun and its rotor blades faded.