Children of the Mountain (Book 2): The Devil You Know
Page 30
‘Guess that’s up to us then.’
I nod.
‘You think it’ll work?’
‘Without weapons Hicks’ll have no choice but to return to The Greenbrier. And all Peck cares about is Kane. I reckon as soon as he finds out the soldiers have him he’ll forget about Mount Weather and strike out after them with the Guardians. While they’re working things out between them we can be gone.’ I pause. ‘As long as Peck believes us.’
‘He will. We have something of Kane’s, and the soldiers’ dog tags.’
I look over at her.
‘That was clever, taking his glasses. I wish I’d thought of it.’
‘Don’t feel bad. I thought we’d got that straight. You’re the tall one. I’m the smart one. Remember?’
She stops and lifts the goggles onto her forehead. I’ve given her a fresh cotton mask to replace the one she was wearing on the way up. She pulls it down and smiles at me.
‘Frostbite check?’
We’ve barely come a quarter of a mile so there’s really no need. But I reckon if I ever turn that invitation down you can take Hicks’ pistol and shoot me where I stand.
She tilts her head back and closes her eyes. Her skin’s already losing its gray pallor and the shadows under her eyes are fading; I can already see the faint smattering of freckles that run along her cheekbones underneath those long, dark eyelashes. I pull down my mask so that I can kiss her and a moment later I feel her arms slip around my waist. The rifle slides off her shoulder but she ignores it and for the next few moments at least the cold is forgotten. Eventually she pushes me away and slings the rifle back onto her shoulder. She pulls the mask up and sets off again.
I stand in the middle of the road for a moment, watching her walk away. Sometimes I worry that the feelings I have for her will be our undoing. That the world we live in now is too dark and gray and cold to abide them. That it will keep trying until it finds a way to do us harm.
I pull my mask back up. Underneath my thermals the dog tags shift against my skin. I told her we should each wear a set because that’s what Marv and I used to do, when we went out, with the crucifixes. She said she wanted Truck’s and the kid asked for Weasel’s so I ended up with Private Kavanagh’s. I already checked hers this morning, while she slept. Now I reach for the chain and pull out the ones I’m wearing, holding them up to the scant morning light. They’re as they were when I slid them in last night, but I reckon it’s still too soon to show.
Mags said Gilbey told her that the virus was far more resilient than Kane had ever given it credit for; that it would do anything to ensure its survival. Not even what Kane did to the skies could stop it.
I watch as she marches off towards the kid who’s waiting for us further up the turnpike. She says she feels better than ever. She looks it. She’s still way too thin but her appetite’s back. She devoured one of the MREs for breakfast and then started work on mine.
I tell myself the field the scanner created had to be stronger than whatever Kane’s missiles did, way up in the skies, and even though she didn’t get the time in there she was supposed to, what she did get was enough.
But the truth is I don’t know. I don’t understand how any of it works. I can’t tell you why the scanner brought Mags and the kid back, when all the others out there in the dark places just got their circuits fried. Perhaps it has something to do with the medicine she was taking. Or maybe once you’re gone so far there’s just no coming back and they hadn’t yet crossed that line.
I hope that’s it.
I’m not so sure, though.
The newspaper reports I used to collect said it was like the virus meant to hotwire the person it had infected, that it wanted to replace their internal wiring with its own. Except that the virus’s circuits were way faster, and our bodies had never been designed for that kind of speed. All I can think of is how high she jumped in that moment when she appeared out of the pedestrian tunnel; how quickly she closed the gap to Hicks after she had dealt with Truck. I’ve seen how fast Hicks is and she got the drop on him, like she wasn’t even trying.
And that’s what worries me.
I take one last look at the dog tags and drop them back inside my thermals. The wind’s already chilled the metal. It feels cold as it comes to rest against my skin.
***
I hope you enjoyed the latest Children of the Mountain adventure.
If you’ve spotted anything that needs correcting, or if something you read bugged you, or indeed if you’d just like to say hi, please get in touch through the website. I love getting emails from readers.
Gabriel and Mags will return soon in:
In the meantime if you’d like to read the newspaper clippings Gabriel collects to try and figure out what happened to the world, you can download them free:
Download The Shoebox here or visit http://www.rahakok.com/#!shoebox/fmfmo
But before you go…
It’s hard to overstate how important reviews are to an indie author, so if you enjoyed The Devil You Know and you have a moment to spare could I ask you to post one? If you flip to the last page you should automatically be prompted to give a rating. I think Amazon wants twenty words or more, but if you click either of the links below you should be able to make it even shorter. A sentence or even a couple of words will do just fine!
Amazon (US)
Amazon (UK)
Thank you!
A brilliant young geneticist, desperately seeking a cure for the disease that took her father. A Nevada sheriff, charged with solving a crime that threatens the very existence of his small desert town. But when an unmarked van crashes in sleepy Hawthorne, Alison Stone and Lars Henrikssen find themselves looking for the same man.
Only Carl Gant is not what he seems. And they are not the only ones looking for him.
Download it on Amazon or visit www.rahakok.com
The world lies in ruin. Outside a thick layer of ash-filled snow shrouds the frozen ground and through the long winters violent storms rage. A nanovirus that devours metal has wreaked havoc. Bridges and interstate exchanges lie collapsed in rubble; buildings list and crumble under their own weight. The virus attacked people too, leaching the metal from their bodies, turning them into bloodthirsty furies. Nobody knows where it came from.
Only a handful survived. When Washington was attacked, the President, Kane, and a Secret Service agent, Peck, fled with a visiting class of first graders to a mothballed mountain bunker they now know as Eden. Kane tells the children they are the Chosen Ones. Soon the last of them will turn sixteen and he will reveal their matches. Then it will be their job to repopulate the planet.
But after so long inside the mountain supplies are running low. One of the children, Gabriel, and the troubled soldier, Marv, are sent outside to scavenge for things they need. They carry steel crucifixes that allow Peck, and the handful of children he has appointed Guardians, to check whether they’ve been contaminated when they return.
Gabriel searches the places he scavenges for books. Most of the children can’t read, but he and the rebellious Mags remember how. Books aren’t allowed in Eden, so Gabriel relays the stories he finds on the outside to Mags when he returns.
One day while Gabriel’s outside scavenging he comes across the body of Benjamin, a soldier who was in Eden when they first arrived, together with a bloodstained map that shows the way to a place called Mount Weather. When Kane learns of the map he sends Gabriel and Marv out to find Mount Weather, even though winter is close and the storms are coming. On the way Marv becomes infected with the virus and starts to change into a fury. Before he kills himself he explains to Gabriel everything that’s wrong with Eden. Benjamin had been trying to get the children out but Kane uncovered his plan and sent Peck to kill him.
Gabriel continues to Mount Weather where he finds another bunker, stocked with supplies. He returns to Eden, only to discover that Kane had never intended either he or Marv to return. He sneaks back in through one of the vent shafts, in
tending to free the Juvies without Kane knowing. But Kane has brought forward the ceremony where the children will be matched, forcing Gabriel to rethink his plans.
While searching for a way to get the children out of the mountain Gabriel discovers stockpiles of the virus, proving that it was Kane who was responsible for releasing it in the first place. Gabriel interrupts the ceremony and confronts Kane, threatening to contaminate Eden if he won’t let them leave. The children are scared to go outside but Gabriel convinces them. He holds Peck and the Guardians at bay while Mags and the others escape into the tunnel that leads to the outside. As he’s running after them Gabriel is shot but Mags and one of the others, Jake, come back for him and drag him out. Together they seal the tunnel and Gabriel leads the children to Mount Weather.
Ready to begin?
Table of Contents
recap
begin
Table of Contents
recap
begin