Everyone nodded.
“CNN and the other channels had it on twenty-four-seven,” Sam added.
Emily nodded. “Until the whole system collapsed and the TVs went dark.”
“Then you remember they interviewed everybody and their brother about it,” Jasper continued. “There was no shortage of crazy theories and the like. Well, some guy came on the Today show and talked about it being germ warfare. Some kind of virus that the Russians or the Chinese or the Arabs put into the air that got out of control. Seemed like conspiracy theory at the time, but I started wondering about it after the shit hit the fan.”
“So what are you saying exactly?” Chloe asked. “You think the Russians attacked us?”
“I’m saying that maybe this virus was designed. First, it wiped out the population by making them go nuts and eat each other. Then it went to phase two, where the people infected changed into something else. The apex carriers. Maybe these guys were designed to hunt down any survivors and clear the area.”
“Clear the area for what?” Ed asked.
“For phase three,” Jasper replied. “These apex carriers, maybe they reached their expiration date. They’d done their job and had eliminated just about everybody left. Now they’ve died off, leaving the world wide open for…”
“For what?” Sam asked.
Jasper looked at the group, his mouth a thin line. “Invasion. Then occupation.”
“Invasion by whom?” Ed asked. “The rest of the world is just as dead as North America. Who’s left?”
“I don’t know. We’re assuming the rest of the world is dead, but we don’t know for sure. The TV went dark and that was that. Maybe there are some people still alive, maybe a whole country full of people who wanted to take over the world. They could have quarantined themselves off at the last minute. They could have given their people a vaccination against the virus.”
“Do you really think that possible?” Trish asked.
“After everything we’ve seen, why not?” Jasper said.
“It’s plausible,” Lisa said.
Jasper wasn’t finished. “Or maybe it won’t be another country that invades. Maybe everybody on Earth is dead and that’s what they wanted.”
“They being who?” Emily asked.
Jasper pointed at the sky. “Them.”
“Aliens?” Chloe asked, her face incredulous.
“Why not? I’m mean, it’s plausible, right?”
“I don’t know,” she continued. “It seems far-fetched.”
“Sure, I give you that. But it’s still plausible, do you not agree?”
Chloe shrugged. “Remotely,” she replied, not as skeptically as she originally had.
Chapter Ninety-Six
As winter approached, the likelihood of reaching California before the snow and freezing temperatures came seemed improbable at best. Having traveled through multiple winters, Ed didn’t want to risk it, even if the carriers were dead. With a harvest of vegetables, a stockpile of weapons and supplies and free-range game animals now in abundance, it seemed a fool’s errand to continue on before the weather broke.
They stayed put and the snow came hard. Ed, Jasper, Zach and Jeremy hunted deer and rabbit, returning to their temporary home in the evening with their kills. There the rest of the group would butcher the animals and cook up the meat. Supplemented with their stock of vegetables they ate well most of the winter months, finally putting on some weight.
They slept better than they had in years, rotating guard duty between so many people allowed everyone to sleep more often and longer than before. They occupied a dozen rooms inside the building, the children piling into a few of the rooms and the adults taking up their own, or doubling up with a partner.
By spring they’d hunted, eaten, laughed and cried together. They finally mourned the loss of their friend Terry. They talked of his boisterous laughter and larger than life personality as they giggled with tears in their eyes.
The apex carriers that had once owned the night all but vanished. Over the weeks following the initial die-off, Ed rarely heard their shrieking cries in the distance. Eventually the sounds stopped completely, replaced by the familiar sounds of the natural animals of the world taking back the night.
By the time the snow melted there were two new additions to the group: a baby boy and girl. Emily helped deliver the two children without issue. They named the boy Casper and the girl Regan. The group came together around the children, breaking down the stigma that came with the circumstances surrounding the pregnancies. No one spoke of Red and his monstrous boys, allowing the new babies to become a symbol of hope for their future.
Emily began to show when the thaw came, already coaching an elated Jasper on how he would help her with the delivery of their own child. Having assisted on the delivery of two births already, he’d quickly moved into the station of nurse as Emily became the group’s resident physician.
As the days warmed and spring approached, Trish showed the tell-tale bump of her own pregnancy. With a fall delivery date on the horizon, serious contemplation of their plans had to be made.
During a warm day in April, the group gathered near the garden. The children had already begun tending to the seeding, as directed by Ed in spite of their uncertain plans on when they might leave for California.
With the work for the day complete and a venison dinner consumed, the children played a game of baseball together in the open field beside the garden. Emily and Jasper sat next to each other, holding hands as she rubbed her belly absent-mindedly.
Ed sat and watched the children playing as the sun slid toward the horizon, the last of its rays beginning to dissipate, allowing the cold to return for another night.
Trish walked out of the building they’d called home for the past four months and approached Ed. She reached out her hand and smiled at him. “Come with me,” she said.
“What’s wrong?” Ed asked.
“Nothing. Just come.”
Ed took her hand and she led him to the other side of the garden, away from the rest of the group. Before them the dried grass of the overgrown field surrounding the building swayed in the chilly breeze. She turned toward the group, watching them for a few minutes before speaking.
“I’ve been thinking,” she said.
“About what?”
She paused. “What if this is home?”
Ed shrugged. “What about Hawaii?”
“What about it?”
“Well, the safe haven.”
“What if this is our safe haven?”
Ed watched the group and considered Trish’s suggestion. For the first time he saw them all not as transitory nomads, but as a community.
“Look at them out there,” Trish said, pointing to Zach and Jeremy. “They’re happy, wouldn’t you agree?”
Ed nodded. “I would.”
“And isn’t that what you wanted for them all along? Isn’t that what the safe haven was supposed to be?”
“Yeah, it was.”
“So I ask again, what if this is our safe haven? What if this is the place we wanted, but didn’t plan for? Hawaii offers us no guarantee on anything. Sure, things could go bad here, but we also have a chance. We’re a strong group. The carriers are gone, most of the people along with them.”
“What if Jasper’s right? What if there’s a phase three coming?” Ed asked.
Trish smiled. “Then it comes. Nothing we can do about that. But for the foreseeable future, we have this.”
Ed turned to her and smiled. “I love you.”
“I love you, too. You know that.”
“I do.”
“Then let’s stay.”
Ed considered all the years spent living for tomorrow and not expecting to survive the day. To be able to live in the here and now, to stop and watch his kids grow up, that had always been what he wanted. Zach and Jeremy were happy here. He was happy. Jasper and Emily, the children, they all had a look of hope in their eyes they hadn’t had before.
>
“We’d need to get a group vote,” Ed said.
“They’re on board.”
“How do you know.”
Trish shrugged. “I’ve been floating the idea for a while now. Informally.”
Ed grinned. “You never stop amazing me.”
Trish smiled wide. “I do what I can.”
“If we’re going to stay then this place needs a name.”
“Fair enough. “Got any ideas?”
“I do,” Ed said. “Let’s call it Haven.”
About the Author
Brian J. Jarrett is a computer programmer by day and a horror/thriller writer by night. He grew up in West Virginia and now resides in St. Louis, Missouri with his wife and children.
Want more? Subscribe to Brian’s mailing list and receive a free ebook, just for signing up!
http://brianjjarrett.com/offer/
Also by Brian J. Jarrett
NOVELS & NOVELLAS
Into the Badlands (Badlands Trilogy #1)
Beyond the Badlands (Badlands Trilogy #2)
Out of the Badlands (Badlands Trilogy #3)
The Desolate
The Crossover Gene
It Came From the Mountain
The Saint, the Sinner and the Coward
Muster Drill
Yesterday In Black
COLLECTIONS & SHORT STORIES
Walking At Night
Wishes and Desires
Dine In
Cycle
Afterword
And now with book three in the trilogy, I bring this story to a close.
Ending this series is bittersweet for me. Into the Badlands was the first novel I wrote when I returned to writing back in 2011 after a long hiatus. What started out as an experiment in indie publishing went on to sell thousands of copies and continues to be one of my best sellers to this day.
I get bored with writing in the same world without a break in between, so I’ve written a lot of other books while finishing this series. As a result, Out of the Badlands has been a long time in the making, but here it is, five years after the release of the first book. I hope it was worth it.
Will there be another book in this series? Kinda sorta. A fourth novel exists, written in the same universe, but outside the trilogy itself. Maybe that’ll make its way into the light of day sooner than later. I think a short story starring Pastor Dan might materialize as well.
The ending…you might like it or you might hate it. I can’t claim to understand how these stories come to me, but this is the ending that felt appropriate. What caused the virus? What exactly were the white carriers? Why did they die off? Is something worse coming on their heels?
Honestly, I don’t know the answer to those questions.
I feel like maybe there’s more story here, but for now it eludes me. Maybe down the road the Badlands world will call to me again, telling me more of Ed and his sons’ lives. Maybe not. Either way, their journey thus far is complete and, well, we’ll always have that, won’t we?
If you stuck with me through my countless distractions and finished reading this series I thank you for your patience and dedication. These characters must mean something to you, as they do to me, and I’m privileged to have been able to tell you their story.
But for now, there are other worlds to explore and my time to do so is limited. Surely you’ll understand why I must get going.
Brian J. Jarrett
January 28, 2016
St. Louis, MO
Acknowledgements
I’d like to thank my editor, Sandi Powell for her many corrections and improvements to this story.
I’d also like to thank you for your support. Without you, these stories make no sound. If you enjoyed this book please consider leaving a review at the store where you purchased it. Reviews really help me and other potential readers. Thanks!
And a final thank you to Allyson Robben Dowell, who passed away before this book went to publication. Allyson proofread all my books; she had a sharp eye and an abundance of good ideas. She went before her time and her death is a heavy reminder to appreciate every minute we have on this planet.
Table of Contents
Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Chapter Sixty
Chapter Sixty-One
Chapter Sixty-Two
Chapter Sixty-Three
Chapter Sixty-Four
Chapter Sixty-Five
Chapter Sixty-Six
Chapter Sixty-Seven
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Chapter Sixty-Nine
Chapter Seventy
Chapter Seventy-One
Chapter Seventy-Two
Chapter Seventy-Three
Chapter Seventy-Four
Chapter Seventy-Five
Chapter Seventy-Six
Chapter Seventy-Seven
Chapter Seventy-Eight
Chapter Seventy-Nine
Chapter Eighty
Chapter Eighty-One
Chapter Eighty-Two
Chapter Eighty-Three
Chapter Eighty-Four
Chapter Eighty-Five
Chapter Eighty-Six
Chapter Eighty-Seven
Chapter Eighty-Eight
Chapter Eighty-Nine
Chapter Ninety
Chapter Ninety-One
Chapter Ninety-Two
Chapter Ninety-Three
Chapter Ninety-Four
Chapter Ninety-Five
Chapter Ninety-Six
About the Author
Bibliography
Afterword
Acknowledgements
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