Reveal: Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian Thriller - Book 4 (Caustic) by Brian Spangler

Author:Brian Spangler [Spangler, Brian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-04-15T05:00:00+00:00

11

The fog surrounded them—a relentless blanket of gray that brought with it both the familiar dangers they were brought up to revere and the safety of being hidden. Sammi tied off her end of the tether strap, taking his hand as they began to walk away from the machine. Declan looked back once, noticing that Sammi kept her hand to her middle. She didn’t look back at the machine. Not once. And he considered that maybe there was nothing for her to see. A sense of relief came to him, understanding that Sammi had been truly disconnected from the machine.

She’s free, he thought and placed his hand on their baby. They’re free.

Declan stopped when he heard something ahead of them approaching. The quick gate of footsteps shuffled against the sand to his right and left, surrounding them.

“Did you hear that?” she asked, her expression dire. “Declan—”

“Shhh,” he interrupted.

Three sets maybe, but could be more, he guessed.

The hairs on his neck rose and his eyes grew wide as the feeling of being hunted consumed his senses. Instinct took over, and he dropped to his knees. Sammi followed him, leaning heavily against his body. Declan wrapped his arm around her nervously.

Out of the fog, nearly a dozen legs appeared, vaulting in every direction around them, fixed upright like prison bars. He pulled Sammi in closer until he felt the moisture of her warm breath on his neck. His mind went to the zombies—had they somehow escaped the machine and followed them outside? But there was something primal about the motion of legs barring them. And there were the smells that had been absent inside the machine. Declan was certain that they were in the presence of hunters.

Outsiders, Declan feared and braced for an attack, closing his eyes and draping his other arm over Sammi’s head. She began to cry, and he tried to comfort her with whispers of how much he loved her.

“Declan?” he heard a voice shout from the group. “Declan. Declan!”

He slowly opened one eye, peering out, afraid to see what waited for them. Ms. Gilly’s round face seemed to swallow the world, staring back at him. His heart filled with shock and disbelief when he saw her wide grin and a fresh tear falling onto her cheek. She leaned in and peppered his face with kisses.

“Ms. Gilly?”

“Declan, my boy, are we glad to see you!” his father’s voice called out. Kneeling next to Ms. Gilly, his father looked ten years younger. Declan frowned, confused by the sight. His father patted his shoulder, firm and strong, without any hint of his hands shaking. And the smell? Declan searched for it, but found nothing that reminded him of potato juice. But it was the life in his father’s eyes that convinced him something terrific had happened.

“Dad?”

“We came for you,” his father said. “We came to save you.”

“It’s good to see you,” Declan told him. “And you too, Ms. Gilly.”

“Oh please. Janice,” she exclaimed. “Call me Janice.”

There were others with them, and by now Declan felt their presence all around them.

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