by Paul Teague
Each had a headstone, their name inscribed into small concrete fragments of the fallen wall.
Talya read the names.
‘Harriet, known only as Harry, last name unknown, Julia Levett, Mitchell Cranshaw, Max Penner, Marjani Dimka, Miron Panko, Ross Donaldson, Brad Sivil, Chris Farley …’
Talya looked over to Chris’s parents. They nodded at her through their tears. They were grateful for the humanity that had been shown to their son inside The Grid and they had repaid that kindness by helping Talya in her own time of need, by taking the first tentative steps towards peace in The City.
Talya continued.
‘Rick Stokley, Grace Makins.’
Talya hesitated, bracing herself for the next name she would have to say. It would be difficult for Jena and Dillon to hear the words.
‘Zach Fuller, who was the first to fall in the final battle for freedom.
‘We owe an immense debt of gratitude to Wiz, or Shen Li, Leo Bachus, Jody Carn, Clay Hillman, Hannah James and my own daughter Lucy as well as her good friend, Joe Parsons. Joe cannot be with us today, he is still confined to the Med-Centre, but I know he’s watching on the screen feed, alongside his father, Matt Parsons. Thank you, Joe, for everything you have done with your friends, we owe you a great debt.
‘We face a new and challenging future. I am determined that the new world we build will be based upon fairness and integrity. We owe it to the millions who have died. We are the survivors. Because of the work of former President Josh Delman, we are finally freed from the terror of the plague.
‘There will be huge challenges as we move on with our new lives. Families will be reunited. Those prisoners incarcerated because of minor crimes will be released from The Soak. Prisoners who were charged with more serious crimes will be held humanely and given a fair trial. Families will be reunited, others will find that loved ones have perished. My own family is lucky to have been reunited. My husband, Tom, who we’d thought had died six years ago, is with us today. Like many others, our family must adjust. We will learn to live again. We will be able to love.
‘Finally, before we start to build this new world of ours, we have to put new systems in place so that this can never happen again. Former President Josh Delman will be restored to his original body, then tried in a fair court for the crimes he has committed. He will answer for what he has done in his body of birth. President James Morgan will be relieved of his office and he too will face trial once his consciousness has been fully restored. There are many others, such as Philip Schaelles and Jacob Carley, who will have to account for their actions. There will be many trials to come, but in memory of these brave people who lost their lives fighting for The City, I swear to you today that we will no longer subject our citizens to punishment by death. Furthermore, judgement will be passed by a group of citizens rather than an elite and corrupt group of privileged officials. The Law Lords will be abolished, The Grid destroyed and every man, woman and child will begin life anew with a basic right to freedom and justice. Today the walls to our prisons have fallen, never again will we build them back up again.’
There were cheers and celebrations throughout The City. Everybody knew there was a long and difficult haul ahead, but with freedom and equality they were prepared for the challenge. They would work side-by-side, free and without the fear of Fortrillium.
Joe looked on at the video feed from his bed in the Med-Centre. He’d told his friends to go to the burials. He’d desperately wanted to be there himself, but it would take some time for him to regain his strength. The Centrum medics had fitted a small device into his chest which would give his heart the help it needed. He would regain his strength and take his place alongside Lucy and his friends in their challenge to create a new life.
He thought of Zach, Mitchell, Chris and Ross … so many friends who’d lost their lives fighting to save The City. They’d all been confined within the walls of their own fear. Life beyond the walls would be just as terrifying, but it would be the fear of their own choosing. It was the fear and risk which comes with living a life spent in freedom.
Also by Paul Teague
Sci-Fi Starter Book - Phase 6
The Secret Bunker Trilogy
Book 1 - Darkness Falls
Books 2 - The Four Quadrants
Books 3 - Regeneration
The Grid Trilogy
Book 1 - Fall of Justice
Book 2 - Quest for Vengeance
Book 3 - Catharsis
Writing Thrillers as Paul J. Teague
Don’t Tell Meg Trilogy
Book 1 - Don’t Tell Meg
Book 2 - The Murder Place
Book 3 - The Forgotten Children
Author Notes
So now you know!
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Who lives, who dies, who was a goodie and who was a baddie.
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I think the scene at the end of this book - where Damien goes through the BioSweep - is one of the action sequences that I have most enjoyed writing since I began writing books.
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There’s another scene that I love in one of my thrillers - it’s called Dead of Night - where there is a similar set-up which results in a shock outcome.
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It would all be a nightmare to stage and choreograph in a film, but I’d love to see those final moments realised cinematically.
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I hope that you also got the ending that you feel the characters deserved.
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I had to go through the list very carefully to make sure Talya didn’t miss anybody out.
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Sorry if I killed off one of your favourite characters, but for The Grid to live up to its reputation, it had to be pretty deadly in there.
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Is there going to be a sequel?
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Clearly there’s scope for one.
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The survivors are very much on their own at the end of the book and there’s a sense of hope and what might be possible in the future.
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There’s no sequel scheduled at the time of writing these notes, but the worlds of The Grid and The Secret Bunker are brought together by my standalone book Phase 6.
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You’ll see that there’s plenty of scope for some large scale developments across all of those stories, and if I give you the hint that time travel and space ships may - or may not be - implicated, you should get a sense of what will happen when I eventually get around to writing the final trilogy to wrap up this series.
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I’d love to hear your thoughts on the follow-up - please register at https://thegridtrilogy.com/mail and reply to my welcome email.
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So, what else can I tell you about Book 3?
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Well, did you spot the significance of Reevil96 and 97TRaider?
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Those names are created from two of my favourite Playstation 1 games - yes, I’m that old!
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Reevil96 is Resident Evil which was released in 1996.
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97TRaider is Tomb Raider, specifically Tomb Raider 2 which was released in 1997.
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These are the games I used to play before our kids arrived on the scene, so they very much shaped my gaming influences.
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I still maintain that Resident Evil 1 is a classic, but there was a bit in Tomb Raider that I could never master, even using the cheats.
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I hope that you enjoyed reading this trilogy and if you haven’t yet checked out The Secret Bunker Trilogy or Phase 6, please do look them up and let me know if you enjoy reading them.
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In the meantime, once you’ve read the book, check out this CLASSIFIED article at https://thegridtrilogy.com/3secrets … it’s packed with spoilers, so be warned, make sure you’ve completed Catharsis before taking a peek.
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All the best,
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Paul Teague
Get Connected With The Grid
Access the Secrets page for The Grid 1: https://www.thegridtrilogy.com/classified
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Please keep in touch via social media, our blog or with our regular email updates: https://thegridtrilogy.com/book3
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You can also read The Secret Bunker Trilogy, also by Paul Teague: https://thegridtrilogy.com/TSB
About the Author
Hi, I'm Paul Teague, the author of the The Secret Bunker Trilogy and The Grid Trilogy as well as several other standalone psychological thrillers such as Burden of Guilt, Dead of Night and One Fatal Error.
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I'm a former broadcaster and journalist with the BBC, but I have also worked as a primary school teacher, a disc jockey, a shopkeeper, a waiter and a sales rep.
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I've loved sci-fi all of my life, starting with the Danny Dunn books and progressing to the huge franchises such as Terminator, Star Trek, Babylon 5, The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner series.
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Copyright © 2018 by Paul Teague
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