Into the Dark (Book 8): The Next World

by Casey, Ryan

  He nodded, then. And he turned around, walked over to Gina. Whispered a few things to her, then kissed her on the cheek.

  He walked back to Mike, then. And together, they stood there in this darkness, stood there in this growing chaos.

  And Mike couldn’t deny seeing something. He couldn’t deny the expression he saw on Graham’s face as he went to people, asked about them, asked how they were doing, how they were getting on.

  He couldn’t deny that Graham looked like he was enjoying this, in some small, perverse way.

  He gritted his teeth. Walked over to Graham, Harrison by his side.

  “Mike,” Graham said, a strained, forced look of sympathy on his face. “I don’t know what’s happened here but—”

  “You’d better not know what’s happened here,” Mike said.

  Graham frowned. “Are you implying something? Because if you weren’t listening just then… I am the deputy leader of this place, now. And that was a serious accusation you just made.”

  Mike went to say something else.

  Then he felt a hand on his arm.

  “Leave it, Mike,” Harrison said. “He’s not worth it.”

  Graham smiled back at Harrison, then at Mike.

  “No? You’re not going to follow up those accusations?”

  “I’ll remember this,” Mike said. “I’ll remember all of it. That’s all I’ll say.”

  “As too will I,” Graham said.

  Then, he walked on to another person, reassured them, offered them support.

  “Let him have his moment,” Harrison said. “Are you ready?”

  Mike took a few deep breaths, got over his conflict with Graham. Smiled. Nodded. “That’s the spirit.”

  He walked over to the door. Looked at the darkness outside. Looked at the people gathered. Looked at this powerless world that they’d just been engulfed in.

  He took a deep breath and cleared his throat.

  It was time to go find out what was happening here.

  Chapter Eleven

  Mike and Harrison had been walking for thirty minutes when the rain started to fall down torrentially.

  The ground had gone sodden very rapidly. Every footstep was becoming an effort. This storm, it seemed to have come out of nowhere. Which felt fitting, in a way. It felt typical.

  But Mike couldn’t let the elements get in his way. He’d dealt with storms before. This was just another in a long line.

  The important thing right now was getting to the source of the hydroelectricity and seeing what was going on.

  Harrison was traipsing along behind him. He was trying to keep up, but Mike could tell he was struggling. He didn’t want to have a go at him. After all, Mike had asked him to be here.

  And he didn’t want to ruin Harrison’s confidence any more than he had already.

  Now wasn’t the time for destroying confidence. It was the time for building it up again.

  And if they succeeded here, that was exactly what would happen.

  “You okay?” Mike asked.

  Harrison puffed as he traipsed through the mud. He rubbed his fingers through his hair, trying to keep at a good pace. But he just kept on stumbling, staggering from side to side. “Just about,” he said.

  “Good. Not much further to go now, anyway. Just got to keep on walking a little further.”

  The further they walked, though, the more convinced Mike grew that these conditions weren’t going to let up. And he could only picture the chaos back at the hospital right now.

  The opportunism that would be occurring.

  He thought of Graham. And as much as Graham insisted he was an innocent party in all of this, and that he wasn’t involved, Mike didn’t trust him—remotely.

  He feared the pandora’s box Vincent had opened by hiring him as deputy. He knew that it could work in his advantage. After all, it meant he could keep a closer eye on him, make a few changes here and there to keep him and his followers sweet.

  But what if he’d made a severe error of judgement?

  What if Graham was taking advantage of this situation right now?

  What if… Graham was involved, somehow?

  He stopped when he saw the source of the hydroelectricity up ahead.

  There was a river, fast flowing. At the side of the river, a sophisticated system had been constructed that powered the hydroelectricity.

  The second Mike saw it, he knew it was bad news.

  The system had collapsed. There were rocks in front of it, completely covering the flow of water into it. The watermill was totally blocked.

  He stood there and shook his head. “It doesn’t look good.”

  Harrison was by his side, scanning the system alongside him. “If we moved those bricks, built it back up again, do you think we might have a chance?”

  Mike scanned it. Really studied it. It wasn’t easy, especially when they only had a barely-working torch between them. “I guess that’s what we’re going to find out.”

  He walked down to the side of the river. Went to put a foot in.

  But it was roaring along. Rushing past.

  “It’s too fast,” Mike said. “And too deep.”

  “We can’t just give up,” Harrison said. “Not when there’s a chance we could get this working.”

  “What do you suggest?” Mike said. “The river. We need to wait until it stops flowing so fast before we even try anything. Could be a few days. But it’s all we can do.”

  Harrison shook his head like he wasn’t sure. Then he dipped a foot into the water. “I think I can make it.”

  “No,” Mike said. “Don’t even think about—”

  “All or nothing, right?”

  And then Mike saw him step into the river, and he was powerless to resist.

  Harrison tumbled into the water. At first, it looked like he was keeping his balance, managing to stay on his feet.

  But then the river’s flow built in intensity and started to carry him along.

  “Harrison!”

  Mike watched as he drifted away, further and further from the point where he’d jumped in.

  He watched him get closer to the hydroelectricity’s source.

  He watched as he drifted past it.

  Prepared to watch him disappear down the river.

  But then something happened.

  Harrison grabbed on to the side of the entrance to the hydroelectricity source.

  He looked back at Mike. Smile on his face. “I did it,” he said. “It’s not so bad down here, really. And you’re bigger than me anyway. You’ll be fine.”

  Mike shook his head. “This really isn’t the time to start showing what you’re capable of, Harrison. Get out of there while you can.”

  Harrison grabbed a few of the fallen rocks from the mouth of the hydroelectricity source. “Too late,” he said. “All or nothing, right?”

  Mike shook his head. He knew there was no talking Harrison out of this now.

  So there was only one option.

  “Don’t move a muscle,” Mike said. “I’m coming in there. And then I’m getting you out of there. Before the river carries you away.”

  Mike dipped a foot into the river. Its flow was fast, but again, if Harrison had made it, who was to say he couldn’t make it, too?

  “You’re an idiot for this, Mike,” he muttered to himself. “You really are.”

  Then he pushed all thoughts of resistance from his mind and dropped into the river.

  The first thing that hit him was just how intense the flow was. Far, far stronger than he expected.

  And his instinct was to resist it. To push back against it.

  But in the end, he just had to go with it.

  He felt the river dragging him down. Went with it. Allowed it to carry him.

  And then when he was close to the hydroelectricity entrance, he reached out a hand and grabbed the side of it.

  Felt his fingers slip. His grip loosen.

  For a moment, he had visions of himself drifting
off down the river, into the abyss.

  But then his fingers tightened.

  He was holding on.

  He’d done it.

  Harrison smiled, laughed a little nervously. “Dig your feet in,” he said.

  “Thanks, Harrison,” Mike said. “I think I know exactly what I’m getting myself into. Unlike some.”

  Harrison smiled and threw another few rocks from the entrance of the hydroelectricity source. “At least the tables are turned.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I’ve finally got a story where you’re scared shitless to tell everyone. Consider it revenge.”

  He laughed. And Mike couldn’t help appreciating the humour and absurdity of this situation. And it gave him hope. Hope they could get through this. Hope they could move forward, no matter what happened.

  And then he looked down the mouth of the hydroelectricity source entrance, and every muscle in his body went numb.

  It was moving.

  It was caving in.

  “Harrison,” Mike said.

  Harrison looked at him, smile on his face, laughing.

  Hand stuck in that mouth of the source.

  “Harrison get your—!”

  But it was too late.

  The stones that formed the foundation of the hydroelectricity source crumbled.

  They fell down on his arm, one by one.

  Mike heard a crack.

  Then more crunches.

  The sound of bone breaking. Of muscle tearing.

  And then he saw the look on Harrison’s face.

  The look of realisation.

  The look of dread.

  He saw Harrison turn around, losing his grip on the bed of the river, looking at his arm, wedged under a mountain of rock.

  And then, as the water began to drag him along, trapped by his arm, Harrison let out an agonised cry.

  Chapter Twelve

  Mike listened to Harrison’s cries, and he knew he had to do something. Fast.

  The flow of water was dragging him along. His arm was trapped under the weight of the rocks at the entrance to the hydroelectricity source. It didn’t help that it was dark, pitch black now after Harrison had dropped the torch. Mike looked. Saw it bobbing downstream. He knew it was too late to do anything about it; too late to get it back.

  He had to focus on the problem in front of him.

  And that problem was Harrison.

  “Help,” Harrison called. “Mike. Please. Just—just help me. Please.”

  His cries were deafening, agonising. Mike was almost grateful for the lack of light so that he couldn’t properly see the true extent of the injury.

  But he was going to have to confront it if he wanted to get Harrison out of this mess.

  “It’s okay,” Mike said, wading towards Harrison. “I’m here. I’ve got you.”

  Walking towards Harrison, wading through the water, wasn’t easy. The force of the current seemed to be growing stronger by the second. The adrenaline didn’t help. The surge of energy pounding through his system. His heart racing in his chest. His shaky knees as he walked further and further towards Harrison.

  He wasn’t sure he was going to be able to save him.

  He wasn’t sure he was going to be able to help him.

  He wasn’t—

  No.

  He couldn’t just give up.

  He had to get to Harrison.

  He had to help him.

  No matter what it took.

  When he finally reached his side, he grabbed the side of the river bank as hard as he could. Dug his fingers right into it so the river wouldn’t wash him away. Above, the rain lashed down, making visibility even harder.

  He grabbed Harrison’s body in his other hand and lifted him up, just a little, so that he didn’t drown.

  “Help me,” Harrison said. “Please. Just—just help me.”

  Mike looked at the rocks covering Harrison’s trapped arm, pinning it down. He let Harrison free for a second, reached in there, tried to move some of the rocks.

  But moving them just caused more movement.

  Moving them made him fear the whole thing was going to collapse some more.

  He looked back at Harrison. Saw his pale face. The tears rolling down his cheeks. “You’re an idiot for coming in here,” he said. “You really are.”

  Harrison just shook his head. “I’m sorry. Please. Please.”

  Mike looked back at the rocks, and he knew there was only one option. There was only one choice. It wasn’t going to be an easy decision to make, but no decision was easy right now.

  It was a choice between leaving Harrison here and doing the only thing he could to help him.

  And he wanted to help him so badly.

  He reached to his belt. Lifted his trusty Becker BK-2, which he always carried with him. He looked at it glinting in the moonlight.

  Then he looked at Harrison’s forearm, trapped under the rocks.

  “I’m really sorry about this Harrison, but I don’t think there’s any other way.”

  He saw Harrison’s eyes widen when he realised what he was talking about. Saw him grow even paler. “No. Please—”

  “I—I can go get someone. Someone who… who is more qualified than me. But…”

  He looked to his left. Looked at the racing river. At the rising water. And he knew that there was no time. The way the storm was playing out, by the time they got back here, Harrison would’ve drowned.

  He had to do it himself.

  He had to act now.

  “Mike. Not my arm. Please. Has to be another way. Has to be—”

  “There’s no other way,” Mike said.

  Harrison leaned back then, cried some more. And he felt such a pity for this guy. A decision that was seemingly so heroic. A decision that had cursed him.

  A decision of which there was no guarantee it was going to work out.

  “Do you want to live?” Mike asked.

  Harrison nodded. Shook his head. Confusion setting in. “Another way. Has to be. Please.”

  “Do you want to see Gina again?”

  Harrison’s eyes opened, then. He looked right at Mike with more clarity than he’d seen in this entire exchange. Like he was more certain about this than anything.

  “Yes,” he said. “More… more than anything.”

  Mike put a hand on his shoulder, then. Half-smiled at him, in an attempt to reassure him in whatever small way he could. “Then I have to do this,” he said.

  He pulled back the knife, and he covered Harrison’s mouth.

  “I just—I just wanted to help,” he said.

  Mike felt guilt, then, as he prepared for what he had to do.

  “I just—I wanted to help, Mike. I wanted to be—be what you wanted me to be.”

  Mike’s stomach sank. Sickness. Guilt.

  “I know,” Mike said. “And you did. You did.”

  He looked away. Steadied himself.

  And then he began to slice.

  He wanted to look away as he cut. As Harrison writhed around underneath him. The outpouring of blood was something else, tainting the water, making it red.

  But Mike kept on going. He kept on cutting. He knew that time was going to be limited. He knew he’d have to get the wound covered as soon as possible. He’d have to race back to the hospital and get Harrison seen to before it was too late.

  And even then, it was going to be chancing it.

  Even then, it was going to be nigh on impossible.

  He reached the bone, and he stopped.

  It was too hard. He couldn’t cut through it. And Harrison. His eyes had closed now. He’d passed out. Probably for the better.

  He looked away. Spat into the water, the sickness and the nausea taking over.

  And then he returned his attention to the arm.

  He looked at the bone.

  Then at the surroundings.

  He knew there was only one way to get through it in a hurry.

  Only o
ne way.

  He held his breath. Pressed down against it with all the pressure he had.

  Then he kicked it and snapped it.

  Harrison woke again. Cried out. Like this was all some kind of nightmare.

  But he soon drifted off again; soon passed out again.

  And when he did, Mike got to work on the last of his arm.

  He cut at it. And when he was done, there was a horrifying moment where it came loose and where Harrison started to drift downstream. The moment where he knew it was done.

  He lifted him. Dragged him out of the water as well as he could.

  And then he lifted him, bleeding, upright and started to race his way through the rain, back towards the hospital, still filled with fear, still full of shock.

  “Come on,” he said. “Hold in there. Stay with me. Please.”

  He raced towards the darkness of the hospital, where light once was.

  From one disaster zone to another.

  And he felt the horror fill his body.

  How rapidly things could change.

  How quickly things could fall apart.

  Chapter Thirteen

  When Mike got back to the hospital, he couldn’t believe just how little like home it felt already.

  The darkness was what did it. The darkness and that lack of sound other than the shouting and the mumbling of people in the distance. Mostly pained shouts. Fearful shouts.

  The kind of shouts that weren’t characteristic of this place.

  The kind of shouts that he wasn’t used to behind these walls anymore.

  Harrison was by his side. He was holding his one arm over his shoulder. He’d taken his shirt off, done his best to cover the wound, but it wasn’t enough to stop the free flow of the blood. He needed attention. Serious attention.

  He just wasn’t sure anyone was around to give him the attention he needed right now.

  He was drifting in and out of consciousness. Whenever he woke up, he gripped hold of Mike and gasped with such agony, such pain, it was haunting. Mike kind of hoped he stayed unconscious. That he stayed under. Because at least that way he wasn’t in pain. At least that way he wasn’t suffering.

  When he stepped inside the confines of the hospital grounds, he looked along the streets. Looked at the people rushing to their homes. Others were rushing out of their homes, looking for somewhere that could provide a moment of respite; somewhere that could provide an answer.