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

by Tara Ellis

  “Purge the world of what?” Devon asked. He was helping the injured woman to sit up, and it was the first time that Tyler really noticed she was indigenous. Her skin was lighter than Devon’s, but a little darker than his own. Instead of African-American features, she appeared more Native-American with long black hair, a snub nose, and high cheekbones. Jess had called her Akuba.

  Sitting with a straight back and lifted chin in spite of the pain she had to be in, Akuba answered before Jess could. “The Kra Puru, what you call The Kuru. According to our local beliefs, it is an ancient illness that has returned many times, sparing those of us meant to heal the Earth and stop the soulless.”

  “The soulless,” Jason echoed, dropping Jess’s hands to turn back to Akuba. “We call them The Cured. And it’s not the result of some evil spirit, but prions that cause brain damage in the part of the brain that controls emotions and empathy. Prions that were released from the layer of the earth between the crust and the mantle during the MOHO eruption, and then somehow leaked into the hot springs. We’ll need some help locating and studying it, whether it’s Dr. Davies or not. But just because someone survived the disease doesn’t make them malevolent.”

  “I don’t disagree with you,” Akuba said. Tyler thought she might get offended with the way Jason was talking to her, but if she was, he couldn’t tell.

  “However,” she continued. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but when studying something which you don’t understand, you must first form a hypothesis. This is based on whatever limited information you can find as a place to start. One of the many things I learned from Dr. Davies, while growing up here on the Libi Nati, was that when you take away what you think, and what you know, and you are left with what is actually in front of you, that is when you are most likely to see the truth.”

  There was a long pause as Tyler slowly chewed his eggs. Marty licked his fingers.

  Jess was the first to speak. “If you stay here long enough, you’ll understand better. My dad left me to go live at the resort with the others touched by the Kra Puru, and to be closer to the hot spring.”

  When Tyler first saw Jess cowering in the barn, he’d thought she looked like nothing more than a young, frightened girl with red braids and freckles that stood out on her nose. He realized now that she was probably only a couple of years younger than him. And while she was understandably freaked out earlier, he didn’t think she was someone who scared easily. From what he’d overheard the other guys saying before they left with Eddy to go make sure the jaguars were gone, she’d faced them on her own, trying to save Akuba. She was most definitely Jason’s daughter.

  “Why would he do that?” Peta asked, frowning. “I get how this disease changes people. Our friend, Eddy, is one of The Cured, and he can be a pain in the butt who’s downright scary at times. But I’ve come to accept that while his blunt logic is sometimes flawed, I don’t believe he’d ever do anything to hurt us, and his motives are in the right place. What reason could your dad have to abandon you? He’s been studying the Libi Nati from the preserve for years. Why do you think he won’t help us, and doesn’t have a soul?”

  “Because he believes the Kra Puru is creating a race of superior people!” Jess blurted, her voice rising. “And that the rest of us are here to serve them, or else be killed.”

  Tyler’s mouth went dry, making it hard to swallow as he set the plate on the floor in front of Marty. “Have at it, bud,” he whispered, never taking his eyes off Jess. She wasn’t kidding when she said things were complicated.

  “We all have a lot of questions,” Akuba said, looking pointedly at Jason. “But I think it would be best if we got some sleep first, before trying to discuss things that are so important.”

  Tyler could feel the tension rising, and he wasn’t even sure when or why it had happened. Devon was uncharacteristically silent, and both Peta and Jason were being somewhat confrontational. He figured it was because they’d all been through so much to get there, and pretty much everything was riding on getting access to the hot spring. Akuba was probably right, and they all needed to back off until they could think more clearly.

  “I’d give just about anything to sleep on a real bed,” Tyler said, in an effort to lighten the mood. “And thank you for the food,” he added as he stood up and looked at Jess. “I haven’t had fresh eggs in forever.”

  Jess grinned at him, and Jason seemed to realize how he was coming across as he looked sheepishly at Akuba. “Of course, you’re right. I’m sure we all want the same things.”

  “Thank you,” Akuba replied, gesturing to her leg. “Regardless of our beliefs, I don’t think any of us can deny we all met at a very fortunate time.”

  The back slider opened then, and Eddy led the way inside with the two other men behind him. They were all holding rifles and looked grim, but confident.

  “Everything appears secure for now,” Eddy announced, setting his AR against the back wall. Tyler studied the other man for a moment, wondering how Eddy had walked away from the Jeep roll-over with hardly a scratch. Maybe it had something to do with how drunk people always seemed to escape injury because they didn’t tense up. Yet another benefit to being rid of strong emotions.

  “We’ll need to keep our guard up throughout the day, though,” the older man said. Tyler thought his name was Paul.

  “I can do that,” Eddy volunteered. “You and Mavi should sleep, so you can patrol the grounds tonight.”

  Tyler was surprised at how the other men simply nodded at Eddy, and didn’t challenge his assumption at giving them orders. Maybe cleaning up dead jaguars created some special sort of bonding time for the guys, but Tyler thought it was weird how fast they accepted him. Especially considering what Jess and Akuba had said about The Cured.

  “Are you okay?” Paul asked Akuba, moving closer to look at her leg. “Eddy told us about their trip to get here. I’d say we’re pretty lucky a couple of doctors and a Marine showed up right when we needed them!”

  Akuba smiled in acknowledgement, and then took Paul’s offered arm to help her stand. “I’m afraid you have an advantage, then. Jason was too busy stitching me up for us to swap all of our stories, but I need some rest before we fill in the blanks.”

  Devon took her other arm, while Jason turned back to Jess. “Akuba’s going to need antibiotics. She mentioned your dad keeps some here? I’d also like Peta to take some for a stab wound, if there’s enough.”

  Jess was nodding. “Yeah. Antibiotics was one of the things he insisted we have lots of, because the local clinic was always running low. It’s in the storage shed with the food. I’ll go get it.”

  Eddy picked the rifle back up. “I’ll escort you.”

  Tyler saw the faintest glimmer of fear in the girl’s eyes, and how she glanced hesitantly at Akuba. “I’ll go, too,” he offered. Patting at his thigh, he called Marty away from the empty plate he was methodically licking. “Marty needs to go out.”

  Jess smiled openly at him as she followed him and Eddy outside. “Thanks,” she whispered. “You can have my dad’s king-sized bed all to yourself when we get back.”

  The thought of sleeping on a real mattress, inside a room that he wasn’t locked into, was enough to lighten Tyler’s step as they set off across the open expanse of lawn. Eddy was keeping Marty close to him and the rifle at the ready, so that he felt relatively safe out in the bright sunshine.

  While there was obviously a decent amount of ash high up in the atmosphere, it wasn’t as bad there as in Venezuela, and Tyler could almost pretend like it was a normal summer day. Even though he was in the middle of the Amazon, which looked and sounded more exotic than the forests on Madagascar. If it hadn’t been for the killer cats and supposed soulless people wandering around, it could have been enjoyable.

  “Why did you live in Madagascar?” Jess asked casually, as they reached the midway point. He could see another, smaller house and a couple of other buildings beyond it, mixed in with the fields of animals and gardens. “You sound American
.”

  Tyler raised an eyebrow at her. “Didn’t you like, grow up here in the middle of the jungle? How do you know what an American sounds like?”

  Jess rolled her eyes. “We had students and other researchers coming and going from the preserve all the time, and I was at the resort enough to hear accents from all over the world.”

  Tyler glanced over at her, intrigued. “The resort. That’s where this Libi Nati thing is, right?”

  Jess nodded, while biting her lower lip. “Yeah. Mr. Sandwood was the most recent owner. My dad fought for years to get the resort to work with him on protecting the hot springs. When he first came out here twenty years ago, he bought up all the available land, but was never able to get the most important part. So, he settled for negotiating over it, and it ended up that keeping the Lokono involved was a big selling point to the tourists.”

  “I don’t get it,” Tyler said, scratching at his head. “What do they do?”

  “Akuba’s tribe,” Jess explained. “They’ve been I guess what you’d call the “keepers” of the Libi Nati for as long as their recorded history. Libi Nati means “Life Waters”. They believe it has healing powers, and that they’re supposed to take care of it.”

  “Huh.” Tyler knew the response was inadequate, but he was too tired to come up with much more.

  “How long have you known Jason?”

  Tyler glanced over at Jess, and saw that she was watching him closely for a reaction. Eddy had dropped back behind them a ways with Marty, keeping a vigilant watch. Tyler shrugged. “Not long. He seems like a decent guy, though.”

  Jess wrung her hands together and bit at her lip again. “He said he was my father.”

  He grimaced. While Tyler had overhead bits and pieces of conversation, he didn’t know enough to help her out. “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to ask him. He hasn’t told me anything. He doesn’t talk much.”

  Looking disappointed, she quickly recovered and tried a different line of questioning. “Why do they think the prions came from the hot spring?”

  Smiling, Tyler faced her feeling much more confident. He’d actually been a part of those discussions. “Because there was this other science lady who was basically crazy, and she’d figured it all out. We went to her house in California after our helicopter crashed.” Jess stared at him, open-mouthed. “That was after we escaped a military base in Utah, where we were taken after being flown—” he stopped and waved a hand. “Never mind, I’ll tell you about all of that later. Anyway, this lady, Mads, had all this research about the Libi Nati, the preserve, and even your dad. That was how Peta figured it out. She’d even gotten a sample of the water sent to her from someone at the resort, and used this fancy microscope to see the prions in it.”

  Tyler realized Jess had stopped walking, and he turned to find her staring at him like she’d seen a ghost. Afraid she was going to freak out again, he looked around eagerly for Eddy and Marty, but she reached out for him before he could call the other man over.

  “It was Amisha,” she gasped.

  “What was Amisha?” Tyler asked, confused.

  Jess started walking again, but in the wrong direction, back toward the barn. “The person who sent the water to that Mads woman. Amisha worked at the resort, and she told me how she got paid a bunch of money to mail a jar of water.”

  “Okay…” Tyler said, waving at Eddy to follow them. “Cool, I guess. I mean, it’s a small world and all, but why’s that got you all jumpy?”

  Jess hesitated as they approached the open barn doors, and he took hold of her arm to make sure she waited until Eddy went inside first. Marty sniffed excitedly all around the doors, but his hackles weren’t up, so Tyler figured there weren’t any homicidal jungle cats nearby. Of course, he’d done the same thing with the freaky house cats, so he waited a moment longer before letting Jess go.

  “All clear,” Eddy confirmed, sticking his head back out.

  As Jess ran inside, Tyler thought about how he’d get a kick over Devon’s reaction when he told him about the Amisha connection. He’d probably find a wall inside the house to use like a giant whiteboard, so he could start making lists and drawing lines. It seemed to be a thing with the science-types.

  “This!” Jess squawked.

  Tyler flinched as Jess jumped in front of him, holding something out in her hands. Squinting, he took a step closer to confirm it was a mason jar, full of what looked like water. As the realization hit him, he gulped and ducked away from her. Immune or not, a jar full of Kuru wasn’t something he had any interest in playing with. “Is that what I think it is?” he demanded, pointing at it accusingly.

  “Yes,” Jess confirmed, looking over at Eddy, who was watching her closely with a faint expression of curiosity. “I think I know what my dad is doing.”

  Chapter 4

  PETA

  Amazon Jungle near Kumalu, Suriname

  The Libi Nati Preserve

  Rubbing at her eyes, Peta squinted and looked up at Jason. He was squatting down next to the loveseat where she slept, the sunlight behind him in the kitchen casting him into a silhouette. Considering how bright it was, she couldn’t have been asleep for very long.

  “Sorry for waking you up so soon,” Jason said, confirming her suspicions. “But Akuba is up and wanted to talk with us while Jess is still asleep. I thought you’d want to be in on it.”

  Sitting up groggily, Peta moaned as fresh pain racked her body, and she put a hand to her forehead to try and center herself. She’d been dreaming about home. About green rolling pastures, grazing horses, and the sound of the ocean. It had been beautiful, and the possibility that she may never see it or her mother again made the reality of where she was even harder to cope with.

  Jason frowned as she cautiously tried moving her right arm and then rubbed at her bruised ribs. He clasped her forearm and tilted his head at her. “Are you okay? You can go back to sleep if you need to. I can handle talking with Akuba on my own.”

  Shaking her head, Peta sat up straighter and stuffed the memories back into a safe place, deep under the layers of other experiences that made her the person she needed to be. Controlled, and focused on what had to be done as fast as possible. She’d let him think the bruises were all that was bothering her. “We don’t have time for the luxury of sleep,” she said, standing.

  Taking a step back, Jason didn’t challenge her. Instead, he turned away and led her into the shadowed hallway without another word. She appreciated that about him. He wasn’t like so many other people, who seemed to have a need to challenge everything she said in order to prove a point. Instead, he accepted her viewpoint and let it play out, allowing her to maintain responsibility for her own actions. Good or bad, right or wrong, that was all Peta wanted and it was refreshing to be around someone who got it.

  The generator must have been turned off because the house was silent, and dark where there weren’t any open windows. A warm breeze moved through the whole structure, and Peta was impressed with the amount of airflow. It had to have something to do with the age and intentional construction of the building. She imagined the heat and humidity was a challenge long before electricity and air conditioning were created.

  They entered a room near the front of the house that was obviously Dr. Davies’ office. It was a grand room, with ornate wooden furniture and built-in bookcases. A large window overlooked the grounds and allowed plenty of light in, so that she could see Akuba seated behind the large desk, looking pale and tired.

  The jar of infamous water sat in the middle of the desk, a harsh reminder of what they were up against. After Jess had brought it inside and proclaimed that her father was using it to help spread the infection, it became clear that they were up against more than just the prions.

  Glancing around, Peta saw that the rest of the room was empty, with the two plush leather chairs opposite the desk sitting vacant. “Where’s everyone else?”

  Jason rubbed at his jaw and then absently touched the large cut and knot on his forehe
ad before sitting in one of the chairs. “Tyler and Devon are both snoring away on that big king bed, with Marty draped across their legs. I didn’t have the heart to wake any of them. Eddy is somewhere patrolling, but I got him on the radio and he said he’d be back pretty soon and that we should start without him.”

  Satisfied, Peta took the other chair, eager to hear whatever it was Akuba was willing to share with them. She imagined one of the leading questions would be for Jason, since she acted like she knew something about his situation with Jess. Peta was surprised Jason invited her to be a part of that and she wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not. That sort of family dynamics was bad enough without such dire circumstances thrown on top of it. It was bound to be awkward, to say the least.

  “I want to start by thanking you,” Peta rushed to say, before anyone else had a chance to speak. “And also, to apologize. I’m afraid we came off as rather pushy and perhaps condescending. That isn’t our intent. It’s just that we’ve traveled thousands of miles and almost died several times in order to get here. To arrive at this place, this moment, and have so much hinge on what we do in the next couple of days. I’m afraid all the normal niceties aren’t much of a consideration.”

  Jason cleared his throat. “I, uh…don’t think I could say it much better than that. Except, that I’d like to add that I think you were right.”

  Akuba’s neutral expression changed to register her surprise. “About?”

  “Forming a hypothesis,” Jason said, glancing over at Peta. He pulled a backpack forward that he’d brought with him into the room, and unzipped it. Pulling out first the manilla folder of information he’d been carrying around with him, and then the packet of documents Peta had taken from Mads’ house, he lifted the stack up into the air. “This is what we’ve formed ours on. What we need now is to add your knowledge, so we can get a better grip on how to move forward.”

  Akuba leaned toward them, her arms resting on the desk, and she stared openly at Peta. “I believe that in order to do that, you will need to look at the Libi Nati through a fresh lens. Your science got you here, and once you understand what is happening it may help put those pieces together, but you have to be able to suspend some of that logic.”