Dark New Beginnings (Into the Dark Post-Apocalyptic EMP Thriller Book 7) Read online

  Dark New Beginnings

  Ryan Casey

  Higher Bank Books

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  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

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  Chapter One

  Lana Elizabeth thought she knew what fear was.

  But sitting on this helicopter seat, watching the trees below pass by, she realised she was mistaken.

  It was late afternoon. The sun was shining bright. It’d been that way for the whole journey—blisteringly bright sun right in her eyes for the whole trip. And it hadn’t been a short trip, either. She didn’t know exactly how long she’d been travelling, but she could guess pretty accurately. All of them had grown accustomed to figuring out the time from the position of the sun. The rise of the sun, the fall of the sun. The days all merged together. Calendar days weren’t important anymore. The seasons were more important, more significant.

  Mostly the fear of winter, always looming around the corner…

  Lana’s throat tightened when she thought of winter. It had been tough for so many reasons. Her boyfriend, Martin. He’d caught something. A nasty flu, or something from contaminated water. It was easy enough to happen, after all. Wasn’t exactly beyond belief in this world. Infection was rife. Disease was everywhere. Martin hadn’t lasted long once he’d contracted… well, whatever it was he’d contracted. All Lana knew was that it was violent, and it was unforgiving. Loss of appetite, first. Bleeding from the nostrils. Then from the eyes. Then not speaking. Then not opening his eyes.

  Then…

  Lana swallowed a lump in her throat at the mere memory of what happened to Martin. The way he’d slipped into that coma. The way she’d tried and tried to wake him up again.

  And the way she’d been forced to leave him.

  Forced to do something she never thought she could.

  She looked back. Looked over her shoulder. Saw other people sitting there. Men, alone. Women, alone. Children, alone. The majority of them single. The bulk of them women and children, too. Prioritising, that’s what they told them back at the camp. Prioritising the weak over the strong.

  How patronising. How naive.

  Because nobody who was still around, no matter what gender or what age they were, could possibly be weak.

  Nobody could have gone through the things that Lana had been through and still be weak in any way.

  She looked back out of the helicopter window. The place below wasn’t somewhere she recognised. She’d heard about Albion. Heard about the walls, heard about the gardens, heard about how beautiful it was. A colony just off the coast of Britain, where people were rebuilding. Where things were getting back to normal.

  Promise of a future. Promise of a new start.

  Promise of hope.

  But the word that came to mind when Lana saw the place below wasn’t “hope” or “promise” or anything like that.

  All Lana thought of was the fact that she hadn’t seen any water beneath them yet. And that concerned her.

  She heard something, then. Whispering from the pilot and the guard beside him. A glance back from him, over into Lana’s eyes, then a look away.

  And she knew she was probably just reading too much into it. She knew she was probably just being paranoid.

  But she couldn’t deny the tension that glance sparked inside her.

  The nerves started to build up even more inside Lana. Her heart raced. Sweat trickled down her face. She wanted to throw up. She was already gripping tightly onto her seat. But something wasn’t right about this. Something didn’t feel right at all.

  She wanted to get out of here.

  She wanted to get away.

  She wanted to turn back time and go back to life at the extraction point.

  She thought about the extraction point. There were private rooms. There was food. And most importantly, there was hope. Limited, sure. But just enough to get by on. Just enough that it felt like it was adding to your life rather than dominating it. Much like it had to be if electricity ever returned.

  Because one thing was for sure. Humanity couldn’t afford to get so reliant on something so intangible ever again.

  The extraction point… it was in a perennial state of waiting. There was a list. A list that everyone was on. And it was just a case of working to build the place, working to keep it going, until your time came.

  Until your name was called.

  And when it was called, you left via helicopter and were never seen again.

  Lana looked over her shoulder again. Looked at the people she was with. Leaning towards the windows. Not the smiles she expected to see. Not the widespread delight. Instead, that look of curiosity. That look of concern.

  Then she heard the headphones crackle to life and she almost jumped out of her skin.

  “Sorry,” the pilot said. “We’re having a few issues with the engine. But seriously, everything’s going to be fine. It’s just overheated a little. Give it an hour, and we’ll be on our way again.”

  The helicopter began to descend.

  Behind her, she heard laughter. Relief. And Lana felt like she was a kid stuck at a birthday party she was supposed to be enjoying. On the outside, she smiled. She made herself look happy.

  But on the inside, she was dying to get out of this. She was dying to get away.

  Because something wasn’t right.

  The helicopter continued to descend. And she watched as they were surrounded by trees; watched as they were enclosed by woodlands.

  And still something didn’t feel right.

  She held her breath.

  Felt the helicopter bump against the ground.

  The engine of the helicopter went quiet. The doors opened up. Fresh air drifted its way inside.

  And Lana took a deep breath of it. She tried to calm herself. This was just a bump in the road. A hurdle. She’d laugh about it in future.

  The pilot held out a hand, gesturing for Lana to exit.

  “Come on,” he said. “You’d better stretch your legs while you
have the chance.”

  Lana looked down the steps beside the helicopter.

  Looked at the people standing there; the people who had walked past her.

  Bemused. But smiling.

  Trusting.

  She gripped on to the rail at the side of the steps.

  She took a deep breath.

  “I’m ready,” she said.

  She walked down the steps.

  It was just a bump in the road.

  It was just a hurdle.

  It was—

  Chapter Two

  Mike opened his eyes.

  The first thing that hit him was the light. The bright light shining down from above. It made him wince, made him close his eyes again right away. He didn’t want to see any light. He didn’t want to see anything.

  He just wanted to sleep.

  He just wanted to…

  A thought popped into his head, then. Where was he? Was he at home? He didn’t have any bright lights like that at home. Not that he could think of, anyway.

  So where was he?

  How had he got here?

  He peeked up at that bright light again.

  And this time, he felt something.

  Pain.

  Searing pain, right across his torso.

  It felt like it was burning. Like someone was reaching inside him, twisting his guts around. He tried to move, but he couldn’t. He was pinned down to the spot. He tried to shuffle free, to break free of whatever this was, of wherever he was.

  But he couldn’t.

  Because things were dripping into his mind.

  Memories.

  Small flashes. Fragments from a past that he couldn’t figure out if it was recent or not. Just that he knew something had happened to him. Several things had happened to him.

  He just had to get up.

  He just had to get out of here.

  He just had to find Hol…

  A memory, then. More vivid, brighter, and more painful than any of his others.

  A memory of Holly kneeling before him.

  Of her staring into his eyes, a defeated smile on her face.

  Rain falling down onto her soft skin.

  And then the man behind her cutting her neck.

  He felt sickness punch him right in the gut as if he was living that moment all over again. And then it all came back, all came crashing back. The EMP. The journey they’d been on. Holly. Kelsie.

  Calvin.

  Calvin…

  He thought of Calvin. The last time he’d seen him. The last thing that had happened to him.

  And it was blurry. It was muddled. It was fragmented, and it was choppy.

  But he could remember the last time he’d seen him.

  Biting his neck.

  Watching him fall back to the ground, clutching as he bled out.

  Going over to him.

  Finishing him off.

  Then watching as Calvin went still.

  His heart pounded as he replayed the memory. Because everything after that was… blurrier than everything else, in all truth. Everything after that felt unreal, somehow.

  Sleepy.

  He remembered just lying there. Staring up at the sky. Staring up at the trees.

  Staring up with Kelsie and Arya by his side.

  He remembered taking a deep, fulfilling breath.

  Then he remembered nothing.

  No, wait.

  There was something.

  Voices. People. People surrounding him. He couldn’t figure out what they were saying. Couldn’t work out what they were muttering.

  And he remembered just wanting them to be quiet, so he could drift off again, so he could sleep again.

  But they dragged him. They dragged him somewhere.

  And then he remembered moving. Hovering.

  And then…

  “Are you awake?”

  The voice above him. Not in his memory. Now. Right here, right now.

  He squinted to his right a little. Saw a figure. Blurry. Hard to focus on.

  But gradually, his eyes focused.

  And gradually, he saw.

  There was a man standing there. Oriental-looking guy. Jet black hair. Bright smile on his face. He was wearing white scrubs and gloves. Like he was a doctor.

  His hands were bloody.

  “Looks like you’re with us after all. You’re a lucky man. You almost—”

  Mike threw himself up. Went to wrap his hands around this man’s throat. Because he didn’t trust him. He didn’t trust anyone. Not after the things that’d happened. Not after everything he’d been through.

  He felt lost. He felt disoriented.

  He felt trapped.

  But then as he went to launch himself at this man, pain split through his body. A pain he wanted to fight back against. A pain he wanted to resist.

  But a pain he couldn’t do a thing about.

  He fell back onto the table he was lying on. Gritted his teeth together. His heart raced. His head spun. Everything felt unreal, somehow. Detached.

  The man walked closer to Mike’s side. “I’m sorry. I know you’re probably very confused right now. But things will become clear. I promise.”

  “I want…”

  “What’s that?” the man asked. “What did you say?”

  “Kelsie,” Mike said. “Ar… Arya. Kelsie and Arya.”

  The man squinted at Mike like he wasn’t totally sure what he was saying. Then he took a deep breath and sighed. “I’m sorry,” he said. “But you were alone when we found you. Well. Other than the dead bloke a few feet away.”

  The dead bloke. Mike knew who that was right away. Calvin.

  He thought he’d feel better at the knowledge that he was gone. That he’d feel relieved to know he’d got his revenge.

  But instead it tasted bitter.

  Because Mike had started to trust Calvin.

  He’d started to believe that maybe, despite everything, people could change.

  And then Calvin had stabbed him, so Mike had been forced to kill him.

  Mike lifted his head, then. Looked down at his stomach. Everything was so confusing. How he’d got here. How he’d survived.

  And how this place seemed like it had power, somehow.

  Just how much time had passed after all?

  “Oh, yeah,” the man said. “Yeah, that’s not a nice wound at all. But it looks like you’ve survived a few wounds in your time already, am I right?”

  Mike just glared at him.

  “Oh. I’m sorry. How rude of me not to introduce myself. I’m Vincent. And you?”

  Mike held his tongue. He was reluctant to say anything. He was a long, long way from trusting this man.

  But at the same time, he found himself lacking fight. Lacking resistance. Lacking strength.

  “Mike,” he said.

  “Mike,” Vincent repeated, smiling. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. As much as I’d like to continue chatting right now, you need to rest. You’re lucky to be alive. Lucky we found you when we did.”

  Mike frowned. And that’s when he started to take in his surroundings some more. The flickering light above. The white walls. The scrubs. There was no doubt about it. This was some kind of hospital.

  “What is… what is this place?”

  Vincent smiled at Mike, something that was no doubt going to grow annoying over time. “You’ll see. Everything will become clear soon. For now… just rest. And rest easy knowing you’re safe here. You can trust us. You know that, right?”

  Mike swallowed a lump in his throat. He looked away. Looked out at the rain falling outside the window. “I can’t trust anyone.”

  “I’ll give you some time,” Vincent said. “But really. Everything’s going to be okay from now on. Everything’s going to be just fine.”

  Mike heard Vincent’s footsteps leave the room.

  He heard the door creak, then click shut.

  And as much as he wanted to believe that everything was going to be okay, he knew the truth.
>
  Nothing was going to be okay.

  Not where other people were around.

  He had to get out of this place.

  And he had to get out of it fast.

  Chapter Three

  Kelsie stepped beyond the gates of the extraction point and tried to wrap her head around what she was seeing.

  It was late afternoon. The sun was shining brightly, but there was a little rain forming a rainbow, making everything seem even more like a film or a story. Everything around her was busy, noisy, loud.

  Because there were people.

  Everywhere.

  Some of the people had guns. They were dressed in army uniform, just like the man she’d been walking with that Calvin killed. But these people looked happy. They were smiling. They didn’t look scary or threatening. Not like so many other people Kelsie had come across.

  But in a way, that scared her too. Because it made her think they were hiding something. They were covering something up, she just didn’t know what.

  The place they were in was like nothing Kelsie had ever seen. There were big tents everywhere. There were tall walls with barbed wire around the top. There were portacabins. Everything about this place screamed “official.”

  But the main thing that caught Kelsie’s attention was the noise. The sound of footsteps. The sounds of people chattering. Some of them normal looking. Men. Women. Children. Looking at them, smiling at them. Like they were just neighbours.

  And then there were the helicopters.

  It was these helicopters that caught Kelsie’s eyes more than anything, now. Two of them. The way they were lifting from the ground. The way they were lifting into the sky. People on the ground watching them disappear. Waving them off, tears rolling down their faces, beaming smiles.