Escaping Extinction - The Extinction Series Book 5: A Thrilling Post-Apocalyptic Survival Series

by Tara Ellis

  After dragging her backpack out of the backseat, she began walking at a brisk pace while struggling into the straps. Dakota wondered if she’d made a mistake by not going through some apartments before leaving. It would have been a daunting task, but in addition to some much-needed water and food, she might have found a weapon. She was discovering how ill-prepared she was for any kind of true survival situation.

  She’d only gone two blocks before learning the ruptured gas tank didn’t matter. The turn-pike to the tunnel was up ahead, and it was crammed with empty, immobile vehicles. The back-up spilled over onto 40th and 11th avenues, for as far as Dakota could see.

  It took another hour to cross over the cement landscape and make her way to the entrance. There were bodies. A lot of them, scattered around the opening and off to the sides. Military vehicles were lined up, and what looked like a failed barricade was broken and tossed around. As Dakota approached, she saw that several of the bodies were in military uniforms and wearing gas masks, while the majority were civilians. Signs were lying on the pavement. An assortment of “STOP”, “CLOSED”, and “DETOUR”.

  “They tried to close it,” a man’s voice called out from close by.

  Jumping, Dakota tore her eyes away from a dead woman and saw a man who was sitting on the bumper of a military transport truck, swinging his legs.

  When he knew he had her attention, he hopped down and leaned back against the vehicle, looking her over. “I wouldn’t go in there.”

  Stopping, she glanced back at the three tunnel entrances. Though packed with cars, there were narrow walkways that lined the tunnels, and should be easy enough to navigate.

  When the man made no obvious attempt to move closer, and didn’t display a weapon, Dakota relaxed slightly. Squinting at him, she was encouraged that the twenty-something guy didn’t look sick. “I have to leave,” was all she offered.

  Tsking, he pushed away from the truck and shoved his hands into his jeans pockets in a non-threatening manner. “Understood. But, you might want to reconsider. I suspect there’s a reason I haven’t seen anyone exit those tunnels in the past two days. You might be better off pairing up with me and waiting things out. Us survivors are gonna have to stick together.” His neutral expression turned into a scowl when Dakota didn’t answer as she took a step backward. “You could do worse,” he snapped. “A lot worse.”

  As he pulled his hands back out, she decided to take her chance on the tunnels. “I have to go,” she repeated, heading for the middle tunnel at random.

  “A lot worse!” he shouted to her back, and then he began to laugh. She realized then he wasn’t quite sane, and his cackling followed her into the darkness as she hurried underground.

  Her flashlight pierced the oily blackness only enough to light ten feet or so ahead on the cement walkway. The air seemed thicker down there as she quickly moved through it, like the weight of it made it harder to breathe as well as see.

  Dakota had read an article once, about the massive towers that were part of the ventilation system in the tunnel. Without any power to move the fans, or anyone to maintain whatever back-up system was in place, the air in the tunnel couldn’t be healthy to breathe. It probably wasn’t her imagination that it felt…off.

  “One-and-a-half miles,” she said aloud, her voice echoing off the low cement ceiling. It was only thirteen feet high, and the walkway was elevated, so in the dark it felt like she was in nothing more than a small tube, buried nearly a hundred feet below the water’s surface.

  She was deep underground when Dakota pulled the mask from her face, unable to tolerate the additional feelings of claustrophobia it brought on. The weight of the pack made her legs feel heavy, and while it wouldn’t take more than forty minutes to reach the other side, it felt like it would be an eternity.

  She kept walking.

  “I can do this,” she whispered, pulling at the straps to tighten them before sucking in an extra-big breath.

  Patter, patter, patter…

  Dakota froze, cocking her head to the side and straining to listen. Had she imagined the sound?

  Patter, patter…squeak…tick, tick, tick…

  Spinning, Dakota shone the light around, the beams bouncing wildly off the round walls and causing a dizzying effect. “Hello?”

  The noise stopped. Then, a new chattering sound began, growing in volume as something moved—closer.

  The hair raised on the back of her neck, and her encouraging pep-talk from moments before was forgotten. A primal chord was struck as Dakota’s heartrate exploded and her nostrils flared in response. Turning around, she faced the noise that was approaching, and tiny flashes of light were reflected in the flashlight.

  Hundreds of specks…thousands, and they were all moving toward her.

  Patter, patter, patter…

  The chattering sound was their teeth. The result of thousands of sewer rats all grinding their front teeth together at the same time. Something rats did when they were content, much like a cat purring.

  The odd fact flittered through Dakota’s thoughts as she balanced on the balls of her feet, unable to decide which way to run.

  They were everywhere.

  I just want to go home.

  “No—” Dakota cried out, as the sound filled her head and the glowing eyes moved in from all sides.

  “I just want to go home!”

  The Lincoln Tunnel echoed with hysterical, agonizing screams as the rats of New York claimed their territory.

  And there was no one left to hear it.

  Chapter 2

  JESS

  Amazon Jungle near Kumalu, Suriname

  The Libi Nati Preserve

  The sun was up. Jess could see its yellow, misty rays shining through the glass patio door. It highlighted the dust that tumbled and sparkled around the man stitching Akuba’s leg together. Jess could see it, but she couldn’t feel its warmth. She didn’t know if she’d ever be warm again.

  Time had become jumbled. A blur of images superimposed over her erratic thoughts, and all mushed together inside her trembling body. Jess remembered the gun falling from her hand after the man appeared and shot the attacking jaguar. She kept hearing the noise it made as it hit the packed earth inside the barn.

  The strangers. Everyone talking, shouting, and Akuba yelling her name.

  Akuba.

  “Akuba!” Jess gasped, forcing her gaze away from the dust and focusing on what she could see of the other woman. Someone had shoved everything off the dining room table, and she was spread out on it. There was blood on the floor. There was blood on Akuba’s hand, that was sticking out from behind his back.

  The man who said he was her father.

  Jess blinked several times, images flashing again. Akuba being carried down from the loft. Someone picking Jess up. She had stared at his feet as he carried her rapidly inside the house. She could hear the generator. Amisha crying. But not anymore. Amisha and Kamal went back to the bedroom with the little girl, Pikin.

  When was that?

  Jess blinked again, and realized she was still staring at Akuba’s hand. There was so much blood.

  Someone stepped in front of her, forcing Jess to look at him. He was a black man, probably around thirty, with big hair and an even bigger grin. He was pretty banged up from the car accident they’d been talking about, but he looked nice and he was holding a blanket and a steaming cup.

  “I don’t understand,” Jess mumbled, searching his face for answers that she didn’t even know the questions to. She knew she was repeating herself. She remembered saying the same thing several times, but she couldn’t think of any other words.

  “Here,” Devon said, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders.

  Devon. Jess remembered his name, and that he’d already introduced himself to her.

  Devon carefully placed the warm mug in both of her hands, pushing on her fingers to grip it. “You’re in shock. We need to warm you up. Don’t worry, the doc says you’re going to be okay.”

>   “Shock?” Jess tried to lift the cup to her mouth, and that was when she noticed how badly she was shaking. She had to admit that in spite of all her reading, she wasn’t exactly sure what ‘being in shock’ meant. She wasn’t bleeding, just totally freaked out. As in mind blown. Over the edge, and not caring anymore if everyone thought she was just a kid.

  The jaguars…

  “The jaguars?” she asked out loud. The hot tea sloshed onto her hand as she jerked back into the couch cushions.

  “Either dead or run off,” Devon said quickly, setting a steadying hand on her shoulder. “It’s safe, now. Our friend, Eddy, is outside with those other guys to make sure they don’t come back.”

  Noise from the kitchen caught Jess’s attention when her heart slowed and it got easier to breathe. A tall blond woman and a boy not much older than herself were moving around, and it smelled like they were cooking bacon.

  Jess was on a small loveseat in the sitting area off the kitchen, from where she could see everything that was happening. Her vision sharpened and cleared as she took a long sip of the tea. It was mint; her favorite.

  A dog padded around the kitchen island and came to sit in front of her, next to Devon. She thought he was a German Shepherd, and for some reason his presence made her feel safer than all of the additional guns. Reaching out with one of her hands, Jess smiled when he licked her and then moved so she could reach his head.

  Devon also smiled. “This is Marty. He’s Jason’s dog, but he has a habit of adopting everyone as a part of his pack.”

  Jess looked up at the mention of the other man’s name. She glanced over to where he was still hunched over Akuba’s leg. She remembered telling him where the fishing gear was kept. That’s what he was using for the stitches. “Is he a doctor?” she asked, frowning at the troubling memory.

  “He’s an emergency room doc,” Devon said, obviously trying to reassure her. “He knows what he’s doing.”

  “Are you a doctor, too?”

  Devon laughed and leaned back warily. “Heck, no! I don’t like blood. I’m a scientist. Most exciting stuff I get into is in a petri dish.”

  Jess couldn’t help but grin back at him, and felt herself relaxing so that she wasn’t shaking anymore. “Who are you guys? Why are you here?”

  Devon turned to gesture toward the woman. “Peta here is also a scientist. Kinda like my boss. We’ve been trying to track down the source of The Kuru to help some other doctors back in the states come up with a way to stop it.”

  Jess scrunched up her face as she considered his answer. “Do you know my dad?”

  Devon looked at Jason, who seemed to have frozen at her words. He shifted so he could see them over his shoulder while his hands continued to move in practiced motions, possibly tying a knot.

  “Dr. Eric Davies,” Jess said evenly. “My dad. The scientist who owns this preserve.”

  “Uh, no.” Devon stood and made a face like he’d eaten something sour. “It’s complicated.”

  “Everything is complicated,” Jess retorted, which caused Devon to raise his eyebrows at her and nod in agreement.

  “You can say that again,” the boy said as he stepped up alongside Devon. The light brown skin of his face was covered in scratches that were still raw, and there was a bruise forming along his jawline.

  He was holding two plates of food. It looked like scrambled eggs and bacon. Marty stared up at the food and whined, drool immediately forming along his muzzle. “You don’t happen to have any dog food, do ya?” the boy asked.

  Jess shook her head. “No. I never had a dog for a pet, just a monkey.” The look on the boy’s face was enough to mask the flare of sorrow she felt over mentioning Goldie. As he handed her the plate, she decided not to tell him she wasn’t hungry.

  “My name’s Tyler,” he said before giving the rest of the food to Devon.

  She glanced back and forth between Tyler and Devon. “Is he your dad?” she asked.

  Tyler chortled and then tried to stop when Devon scowled at him. “No offense,” he said jokingly, raising his hands. “No, my dad isn’t here. But I was in Madagascar with him when the MOHO erupted.” When Jess stared blankly at him, he tried to explain. “Madagascar is a big island not too far from where the first eruption in the MOHO was. You know, the one that started everything?”

  “I know,” Jess said. “The Libi Nati geyser erupted pretty much right after it.” That seemed to get Peta’s attention, as she stopped moving around and stared at her, listening. “So, then where are your parents?” Jess persisted.

  Tyler shifted from foot to foot, and looked down at the floor. “They’re…gone.” He met her eyes then, and Jess could see how deep his pain was. “So now I’m helping them. We’re going to stop it. The Kuru, I mean.”

  Even though he was tall and skinny and not much older than her, Jess sensed that Tyler was probably someone she could count on more than most adults. Something in his eyes. There was a sort of determination there that couldn’t be faked. She’d like to think he saw something similar in her, but she wasn’t feeling all that strong at the moment. “I’m sorry. I guess you could say my dad is gone, too. At least…the person he used to be.”

  Peta dropped the pan onto the stove with a clatter, and stepped out from around the island. With her blonde hair, blue eyes, and strong features, she was naturally beautiful in spite of the large scar on her cheek. There were fresher wounds scattered around her exposed skin, and she was holding her right arm close to her chest. Her expression was intense; eyes wide and mouth slightly parted in anticipation. “He’s alive?”

  Jason had stopped and turned around, exposing the rest of Akuba. Jess saw for the first time that her friend was awake and propped up on a pillow. Overwhelmed with emotion, Jess nearly dropped the plate and cup onto the floor before leaping off the couch. As she took Akuba’s hand into her own, she realized everyone was staring at her, waiting for an answer.

  “He’s alive,” Akuba said instead, pushing herself onto an elbow. “But I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed if you came here looking for him to help you fight the disease.”

  “You do realize the odds of all of them either being immune or cured are astronomical,” Devon said, pointing at Jess and Akuba. He moved closer to look down at Akuba. “How many people at this preserve did you already know before the outbreak?”

  Akuba glanced at Jess, flinching as Jason finished wrapping the long gash on her right thigh with an ace bandage. “Myself, Jess, Dr. Davies, my cousin Kavish, and his friend, Slaider. Those two are gone right now,” she added.

  “And Amisha,” Jess reminded her. “The girl in the back bedroom. She worked at the resort. And, there’s other people who are immune that we know, who aren’t here.”

  “What?” Peta moved in between Jason and Devon, so that she was facing Jess, with Akuba between them all.

  Jess noticed Tyler had taken her spot on the couch, and was quietly sharing her plate of eggs with Marty.

  “This goes far beyond any potential coincidence,” Peta said, clearly excited. “We need to sit down and try to map out the associations before we go to the resort.”

  Jason was nodding, and Jess noticed that under all of his shagginess, blood-streaked face and dirt, he had very intelligent green eyes. They reminded her of her own. “I’d say this goes a long way towards proving your theory about the affects being different closer to the source,” he said.

  “The source?” Akuba asked.

  “The Libi Nati,” Peta said bluntly. “We believe the hot springs released the prions during the novel geyser eruption.”

  Jess staggered back a step, and reached out to brace herself against the center island. “But…we were there when it happened.”

  Jason moved around the table and approached her cautiously, like she was a wounded animal about to bolt. “You saw it? And you didn’t get sick?”

  Jess swallowed around the rising knot in her throat, and she could feel herself beginning to shake again. The man in
front of her might be a stranger, but there was an indescribable pull deep down inside Jess that gave her the same sensation as meeting a long-lost friend. That their destinies were crossed and she didn’t have a choice but to step onto the rollercoaster with him. “I saw it, and felt it,” she confirmed, relaxing as she accepted that she wasn’t in control anymore. “And no, I didn’t get sick, but my dad did. But it may as well have killed him, because he isn’t Eric Davies anymore, and he isn’t going to help you stop it.”

  Jason reached out and took Jess’s hands in his, his gaze unwavering. “Why, Jess? Why won’t he help us?”

  Jess stared down at his hands and all she could see was the blood. “Because he wants it to win. He wants the Kra Puru to purge the world.”

  So much blood.

  Chapter 3

  TYLER

  Amazon Jungle near Kumalu, Suriname

  The Libi Nati Preserve

  The eggs were amazing. It was the first time Tyler had gotten to eat some real food in over two weeks, aside from the barbeque at the mad scientist’s house. The thought of Doctor Schaeffer lying in her room, and the other bodies they’d left behind caused Tyler to hesitate with the next forkful.

  “Purge?” Peta said, sounding alarmed.

  Tyler looked up, and saw that Jason was holding Jess’s hands while Peta moved toward her. He hadn’t really been paying close attention to the conversation. Dropping the fork, Tyler rubbed at his eyes and then gingerly touched the scrapes on the side of his face. His chest also hurt from where the seatbelt cut into him while hanging upside down, before Eddy had dragged him from the jeep. On top of the injuries, he hadn’t slept for a long time and it was getting harder to focus on things. What were they talking about?