“What the fuck was that?” one of the men asked as he hurried to keep up.
“Couldn’t have been incoming,” another man declared. “Why the hell would there be incoming?”
Jacob swallowed his words and ran behind Craig. They entered the atrium and slowed to a walk then cautiously made their way outside.
“Holy shit,” Craig mumbled then cast a death stare toward Jacob. “You did this.”
Jacob frowned. “I’m sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing.”
Before Craig could berate him anymore, another whistle sheered through the silence. Craig looked up into the darkness then stumbled backward toward the door.
“Incoming!” he shouted.
CHAPTER 33
RUN FOR YOUR LIFE
“Alistair! Alistair!” Daniel screamed in panic.
He tumbled over the snow, digging through the icy slush like a Siberian Husky. His fingers stung from the cold and the only sensation he could feel was the pressure as he raked against the frozen tundra.
“I’m coming Alistair,” he called to him.
Dragging his arms, he scooped away mounds of powder until he could grab a handful of Alistair’s coat. He yanked with all his might, but Alistair didn’t budge.
“No! No, no no!” he roared then started digging again.
“Daniel!” a familiar voice called to him and he stopped and looked around.
MJ was crawling across the snowy ledge toward him. The gash in the side of her head had opened again and blood poured down her face, but she looked ready to fight.
“Alistair…Alistair is under there,” Daniel screamed, but the wind ate his words.
He pointed toward the jacket and MJ’s eyes widened with understanding. She hurried toward him and together they tore through the pile of mush until they could pull Alistair free.
“He’s breathing,” MJ said as she wiped ice from his face. “Alistair can you hear me?”
She shook him gently and lifted his head into her arms. His eyes flickered but didn’t open and she leaned closer and spoke into his ear.
Daniel trembled with fear as he watched. If he’d just listened, they would’ve already cleared the ledge before the avalanched ever happened. He felt like all of it was his fault.
“Is he gonna be okay?” Daniel asked.
MJ gave him a quick nod and smiled. Blood trickled from her head and fell into the snow, making the ground look like the scene of a wild animal attack. Daniel grimaced at the sight then gasped as Alistair made a groaning sound.
He slowly twisted and turned then opened his eyes. “MJ?” he said as his eyes focused and he could see her clearly.
“You’re one tough cookie,” she said. “Can you move?”
Alistair winced. “I think so.” He took her hand and clambered to his feet then shook the ice and snow out of his hair.
“You’re gonna be okay Alistair. If a mountain couldn’t kill you, nothing will.”
Alistair painfully grinned then widened his eyes. “Are you okay?” he asked.
MJ touched the side of her head then rubbed the thick crimson between her fingers and shrugged. “I’m fine. Now, if you can walk… let’s get the hell out of here.”
Together they started back down the ledge toward the other side. With the pile of snow and ice jutting out like a shelf, they left the rope and quickly shuffled across the temporary bridge.
“Daniel!” Trevor shouted.
Daniel looked up with a stoic face as Trevor wrapped his arms around him. He half-heartedly hugged him back then swallowed the bulge of guilt that was lodged in his neck.
“You okay? What happened over there?” Trevor asked.
“He saved my life,” Alistair said quickly.
There was a sudden shiver in the ground and Alistair stumbled into MJ. She caught his arm and he gave her an apologetic glance then looked up the rest of the trail toward the new home he couldn’t see.
“We need to keep moving…and fast,” MJ said as she stared up the sheer wall beside them.
She turned and started back down the trail as the sun slowly rose to the side. The rays of light made them feel better and as the wind died down the mood became optimistic.
Another hour passed like the blink of an eye. The sun had crept up over the horizon and now balanced on the high mountain peaks in the distance. The temperature was still frigid, but the stale air made it bearable.
Alistair hummed a tune to himself as he trudged through the thick snow. The only other sound was the crunch of his boots and the occasional mumble of wind. It was all he could do to ignore the pain in his feet and the quivering muscles in his back. Every step he took was a constant battle between fatigue and survival. A battle that he was on the losing end.
“You hear that?” MJ asked and turned MJ ear to the sky.
Alistair froze and tilted his head. Everyone else did the same and listened for a few moments in silence.
“I don’t hear a thing,” Alistair said.
“Shh,” she ordered. “That! That right there!”
A faint shriek floated across the wind and Alistair wasn’t even sure he heard it. He twisted his face then shivered as the high-pitched whistle grew louder.
“What is that?” Daniel asked with a tremble in his voice.
“Run!” MJ snapped as she turned and took off down the trail.
Alistair didn’t wait for an explanation. He summoned every ounce of strength he had left and ran like his life depended on it. His heavy steps plunged into the snow and he ripped them free, charging down the trail like a bull.
“What the hell is going on?” Trevor shouted as he hurried behind them.
“Shut up and run faster!” Alistair replied.
He looked back just as the screeching reached its peak. A flash of silver streaked across the sky behind him and slammed into the mountainside. Chunks of rock blew apart and a fire roared into the air in a blazing inferno.
Panic flooded Alistair’s veins and he let out a terrified scream. His feet wouldn’t move fast enough, the snow was too thick, his legs were too heavy and as the sound of another missile squawked he knew he was going to die.
The sound was terrifying. He could hear the air ripping apart as the arrow of death raced toward them. It didn’t matter where it was coming from or who fired it, the mountain was being blown apart.
“I see the Mayflower!” MJ suddenly screamed.
Her words were like a shot of adrenaline. Alistair sped forward with a surge of energy. He cleared the last slope and his heart thundered with enough force to crack his ribs. He skid to a stop in the clearing and stared toward the opening. The opening where the blast door had been slammed shut.
“No!” MJ screamed and flung her body into the cold, steel. She desperately beat her hands against the dense metal and screamed in fury. “Open the door! Open the fucking door!”
Alistair and Trevor joined in, beating their fist into the door and screaming at the top of their lungs. Daniel turned his back and stared to the sky as another projectile hit the mountain a mile below them. The ground shook as thunderous booms echoed down into the valley.
“Help!” Alistair yelled.
The sound of more incoming ordinance drowned out his voice. He dropped to his knees and with trembling hands, wiped the tears from his face. A mechanical whirl droned below him and as he lifted his head as the doors opened.
“Alistair,” Melinda cried as she rushed forward and wrapped her arms around him.
CHAPTER 34
THIS IS THE END
There was a silence to everything. A calmness that Alistair hadn’t known in a long time. A peaceful wave of serenity that Alistair knew wouldn’t last, but he vowed to enjoy it while he could.
Behind ten feet of reinforced steel they prepared for a life that was never what any of them would’ve chosen. Beneath a mountain they’d found a future, they’d found their survival.
“It’s almost time,” Craig said as he stopped at the door of Alistair’s ro
om.
Alistair nodded then glanced toward his mom. She was laying on the couch with David and Charlie cuddled in her arms. All three of them were sleeping, it was the first time she’d been able to sleep for more than thirty minutes in weeks.
“I never thanked you,” Craig mumbled.
“For what?”
“For everything. You got MJ back here, you made sure Koran never told. You did good.”
“None of it mattered anyway. They still found out where we were. They still almost killed us. My dad is still dead, so is Chase.”
Craig frowned and looked away.
“It’s okay though,” Alistair continued. “I get it now.”
“What’s that?”
“Everyone dies. There’s no getting around it.”
Craig stared into Alistair’s eyes and saw the ghost of a man looking back. His innocence was gone and all that was left now was a jaded view of the world that broke Craig’s heart to see. But it was a view they both shared.
“I’m sorry about your father…and your friend. But they didn’t die for nothing.”
“What did they die for?” Alistair asked.
“So, you could live.” Craig turned around and started back down the hallway. After a few steps he paused and turned back. “We’re all meeting in the atrium before we head down.”
Alistair sat in his room for a little longer. His mom was sound asleep, and her gentle snores made him think of home. But he wasn’t home, and he was never going back. He was an orphan now, an orphan of Earth, they all were.
His thoughts drifted to his dad. The memory of his face when he knew he was going to die, it was something that he’d never forget. There was so much more to the man that he’d never get to know
After waking her up, he headed down to the atrium. Everyone was already there, sitting in a semi-circle while Craig stood in the middle.
“You decided to come after all,” Craig smiled.
Alistair didn’t reply. He sat down with his brothers and crossed his arms. The roof shook, and he could hear the dull thud from an explosion on the surface. They were still under attack, but it wouldn’t matter for much longer.
“Now that everyone is here, I guess we’ll get started,” Craig said. “I didn’t have much, but before we seal the egg off I just wanted to say to everyone, YOU survived. I know this isn’t what we wanted. I know it’s not the plan and it sure as hell isn’t life as we once knew it. But every person here, every single one of you is a survivor! So, fuck mother nature! This planet is ours!”
~THE END~
~Read on for the Epic Conclusion~
“Never Tomorrow: Deconstruction Book Six
NEVER TOMORROW
DECONSTRUCTION
BOOK SIX THE FINALE
By Rashad Freeman
Copyright © 2018 by Rashad Freeman
www.rashadfreeman.com
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without the expressed written consent of the author.
THE FINALE
We have come to the end of a long journey. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I wish I had something poetic or life-changing to say, but I don’t. So, I won’t waste anymore time, happy reading!!!
“If death is not the end, I’d like to know what is. For all eternity we don’t exist, except for now.” – Robyn Hitchcock
CHAPTER 1
A NEW HORIZON
“He’s dead…doesn’t mean you are,” Melinda said as she stared into Alistair’s eyes and offered him a hand. He shrugged and hoisted the bag of grain over his shoulder. It was nothing for his broad frame to bear the weight of the fifty-pound sack. Years of manual labor had changed him. It’d been a long time since he needed help of any kind. “I got a cake, by the way. Cindy made it.”
Alistair’s father’s birthday was always a tense time, but this year was different. Alistair had grown distant and pulled away from everyone, including his family and friends. He was sick of being reminded, sick of being stuck in a place that made him remember every piece of his life that he’d lost. It was easier to run from it.
“That was nice,” Alistair finally replied.
Melinda gave him an endearing look. His angled face was covered with stubble, his eyes were tired and far too worn for the twenty-two years he’d been alive. Life had taken its toll and molded him into something Melinda hardly recognized. But the shadow of his father was never far away.
“I gotta get back to work,” he said dismissively.
“Alistair, I just…I just want to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine, Mom.”
“Okay. Well, will you be home tonight?”
“I don’t know.”
“David and Charlie miss you. They haven’t seen you in a week.”
“I’ll stop by when I can. I gotta finish the work on the scrubbers after this.”
“I hope I’ll see you tonight.”
Alistair nodded and walked off, leaving his mother to sulk. She hadn’t seen him in four or five days and had no clue where he’d been sleeping. But he wasn’t a child anymore, he was a man. That was a fact that Alistair never failed to mention, especially when she got too nosy or appeared to care too much.
Five years had passed since they first went underground. Five long years that had beaten down everyone. Lives had changed, some had ended, but time still went on and so did the survivors.
No one was what they used to be. Kids had grown up under the umbrella of the apocalypse. Their lives were shaped by constant fear and worry. For the adults the years flew by as they dealt with crisis after crisis, but for the youth the years of struggle moved much slower. It molded them into a generation without a real home, and they barely remembered what life was like before the event.
Alistair dropped the bag of grain in the store room and rolled his shoulders. It was the last of the grain from the locker and with a total of four bags sitting on the floor, things were going to get skim in a few weeks.
Yawning, he let his feet pilot him to the main utility room. He’d been there so often he could find his way in the dark, walking on his hands. The chug from the carbon scrubbers had become his favorite song, yet when he opened the door the machine was barely turning over.
“Wondered when you’d finally make it,” Daniel said as he turned toward the door. “Can you bring me that wrench?”
Alistair smiled and pulled a wrench from the toolbox. “Where’s Trevor?” he asked.
Daniel took the wrench and tightened a bolt then stood up and looked at the clunky machine. Sighing, he put his hands on his hips and cocked his head to the side. “It’s one of those days for Trevor.”
Alistair nodded. “Want me to crank it up?”
“Sure.”
Alistair flipped the breaker on the wall then pressed the ignition button. An electric hum buzzed through the floor as the scrubber came to life. It droned like a small airplane and they smiled at each other.
“Think we just used her last life. There won’t be any resurrecting this thing next time.”
Daniel frowned. “I told Max she was on her last leg.”
“Yeah, he thinks he knows everything.”
Daniel laughed. “Well, we’re breathing for now. That’s an improvement. You doing that thing for your dad?”
Alistair shook his head from side to side. “I just-, I just want to forget about it sometimes, you know?”
“
I thought that for a while too. But no. You need to remember, it’s important.”
“Why?”
Lowering his head, Daniel paced the room then turned back to Alistair. “Because one day you won’t remember. One day you’ll forget everything about him. You’ll be here, walking through the halls and you’ll think about your dad, but you won’t see his face, you won’t hear his voice. Everything that made him, him…it’ll be gone. And you’ll wish to God that you could have that back. Memories fade, Alistair. You gotta try and keep those alive.”
Alistair looked away as Daniel’s words sank in. He could hardly remember his dad’s face now and most times he was happy for it. The image of his father taking his last breath would always come to mind, but as the years passed that picture blurred, and it was a memory Alistair didn’t want back.
“I’m just saying,” Daniel continued. “I know what it’s like to think you want to forget about something. And I know what it’s like when you finally do. A memory, even a ghost is better than nothing.”
Daniel wiped tears from his eyes then turned his back. Alistair winced and tried to ignore the sting of guilt he felt, he was wrong for even complaining, knowing that Daniel had lost both of his parents. Everyone had been wronged by fate, but they had no choice but to keep moving forward. He was no different.
“I’m sorry,” Alistair whispered, guilt pressing down on his shoulders.
“Don’t be. I know sometimes anger seems like the easier solution. You can control it, you can focus it, do something with it. But that anger, it’ll eat at you, man. Don’t let it win.”
With a smile, Alistair asked, “When did you become the one with all the answers?”
“While you’ve been moping, I’ve been in Max’s library.” Daniel smirked. “Those self-help books are actually worth a read.”
Deconstruction- The Complete series Box Set Page 85