Endurance: Apocalypse (The Endurance Series Book 2)

  T. J. Blake was born in England, Guildford and is currently living in Surrey.

  Endurance: Apocalypse is the second instalment of The Endurance Series, and Blake’s third novel.

  To keep updated and to find out more about T. J. Blake, visit his personal blog page:

  http://tjblakeauthor.com/

  Follow him on Twitter @TJBlake93

  And like The Endurance Series Facebook page. www.facebook.com/TheEnduranceSeries

  Copyright © 2014 T. J. Blake

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 1499734220

  ISBN-13: 978-1499734225

  ENDURANCE: APOCALYPSE

  T. J. Blake

  1

  Looking down to earth, gliding across the sky, I go to the countryside. I see rippling lakes, flowing rivers and open fields with bound rolls of hay, and white, cloud-like sheep pottering around the open grassland.

  Is this what happens when you die?

  Before this moment I felt asleep. I have no sense of time. This could just be a dream but it can’t be; my brain must be functioning but how?

  Flashbacks of my hanged, swinging body enter my mind. The sharp sound of creaking from the ceiling echoes in my head. My view of the window is different; non-existent. Instead, a sheet of glaring white light shines in. The sound of Danni’s screams and cries echo irregularly in the background.

  Danni, Miller and my bitch of a mum’s confrontation didn’t end well. I have a bad feeling that all hell is going to break loose. It angers me that Miller and mum are going to go against their word. They promised me they wouldn’t carry on this experiment at all. Just shows how much Mum cares about me.

  As I look down onto the M25, I see a queue of cars; it must be the early morning rush hour.

  A mist of smoke from car exhausts travels into the skies. An occasional beeping echoes through the misted, exhaust-fumed atmosphere.

  The cars move slowly in all three of the congested lanes on both sides of the motorway. It’s what I’d expect from a motorway in the early morning rush hour. Until, in the distance, I see something hovering in the skies.

  No. Please no!

  A sharp, rigid-shaped black machine floats above the M25. Another two appear either side of it. As they hover in the sky, more appear in the distance along the M25. They move into a formation. One stays above the motorway, another glides to the right and the other to the left. They are motionless on the light breeze.

  The people in their cars begin to look up to the skies, craning their necks and tilting their heads back to look.

  I need to stop this right now. I float just a metre in front of the machines. I stare at the metal barrels on either side of them.

  No, don’t do it!

  I hear a droning sound from the barrels. As the machines’ deep, bass sound vibrates loose chunks of concrete on the M25, flames light up and launch bullets past and through me. This is the moment I realise that I cannot do anything now. The only thing I can do is hope that what I am seeing is not real.

  I look back to the motorway and see the cars flipping and exploding. I drop down to the motorway, landing on my hands and knees.

  People abandon their cars and run away from the blasts ahead of them. Others freeze, awaiting their death, and others jump off the motorway and run into the surrounding fields. The fleeing people make their way onto the grass, running into emptiness, they are soon halted by two machines as they appear from the ground in the fields. Clumps of mud and grass slide off the sides of the craft as they rise.

  They hover in front of the running people like eagles suspended above their prey. The droning noise of the machines’ engines reverberates through the empty fields.

  Forty men and women fall to the ground covering their faces, screaming and crying. Some curl up, hugging their knees, whilst others lie on their backs resting on their elbows, staring at the machines.

  Barrels appear underneath the craft. The people scream louder as they plead not to be killed; crying for help.

  “Help.” “Don’t kill me.” The pleas of the people fill the air.

  Two men and one woman run away from the machines. They sprint on the uneven surface until they are shot down. The bullets lift them off the ground and launches them half a metre from where they were shot.

  The people on the floor shout and cry, until they are obliterated. The mud and grass is torn apart as thousands of bullets leave the machines and hit the people and the grass, creating a bloody, dusty haze above the ground.

  I look away from the machines in the fields and look ahead to see a tsunami of cars and flames travelling towards me. It follows the curves in the road. It surges past me at such a speed, accumulating every car and person in its path.

  I watch the tidal wave pass by where I stand. I look at the M25 that the wave has demolished. It is littered with pieces of metal, crawling and scorched bodies of men, women and children, and burnt out, overturned cars are scattered across the road.

  The electronic message boards and road signs have collapsed onto the seared road, the metal road signs’ paint peels as it burns, revealing rust underneath.

  The realisation of it all settles in. There is nothing I can do to stop this. Everyone is in danger and I can’t warn anybody.

  2

  A screech emanated from the running gear and the train began to move. The tramp stared through the window, his eyes were bloodshot.

  Danni took out her turquoise iPod and headphones. She folded her right leg over her left and moved her right leg to the beat of the song.

  As she looked around at the carriage’s line map and posters, two of the posters stood out to her.

  The first poster was a picture of Miller titled “Missing, Michael Miller.” with a picture of him underneath.

  The next poster grabbed Danni’s attention more. She stood up and held onto one of the yellow bars secured throughout the carriage and pulled herself towards the poster on the rickety train.

  Standing in front of the poster and holding onto the bar above the double doors, she looked at the poster. “A message from Sarah Williams. Hello everybody, due to unforeseen circumstances, I will be taking over as the leader for the virus case. My aim is to keep everyone in London safe and to stop the virus from spreading.”

  Danni laughed as she looked at the poster, but was distracted as she saw somebody in the next carriage. Danni stepped into the middle of her carriage and looked straight through the glass of the door into the next. She saw a female walk toward the door. She took her headphones from her ears and stared.

  Danni paused as she heard shuffling feet and a low growl behind her. She turned around to see Miller staring at her; Smith was behind him.

  ‘Shit!’ Danni said.

  Smith growled louder and Miller stared at Danni. His eyes were dark red, his skin was blotchy and blood smeared his body from head to foot. He had on the same shirt he had been wearing when Danni shot him. His feet were crooked and his ankles looked wrong somehow.

  Miller growled again then snarled ‘Hello.’

  ‘You can talk?’ she said.

  ‘Yes.’ Miller laughed; his laugh was deep and it occasionally cut out. He coughed and spat black liquid; blood dribbled from his mouth.

  Suddenly the train braked, throwing Danni down the length of the carriage. She slid past Smith and Miller who stood on the seats holding the support rails. Danni smashed headfirst into the wall at the end of the carriage, knocking her almost senseless.

  Danni looked to the opposite end of the carriage and saw that the person who had been on the other side of the door had entered. The lights flickered and the part of the carriage that t
he other person stood in went dark.

  Miller and Smith jumped off the seats and Smith bolted towards Danni. She stayed down. She lay on her back and kicked Smith’s ankle, breaking it with a sickening snap. She kicked both his legs as hard as she could, he dropped like a stone. Danni rose and kicked him in the stomach. She put her right arm across his chest, grabbed his chin and cheek with her left hand and jerked his head around to snap his neck. His body went limp and she dropped him to the ground.

  Miller unfolded his arms and clapped slowly. Danni approached him with her guard up.

  ‘He’ll be alive soon.’ Miller said.

  ‘How can you talk?’

  Miller laughed. ‘I’ve been infected all this time.’ Miller struggled as he was caught by a coughing fit. He tried to speak but it was impossible to understand him when he was coughing up blood. He stopped coughing at last and said, ‘My eyes have always been dark; I’m surprised you didn’t notice my pupils. The cure didn’t work for me; it just held the virus off.’ Miller laughed again but it was interspersed with choking. ‘I have to inject the cure every two hours otherwise I’d change. In my house, you injected me with the virus to make it even stronger and now…’ Miller coughed, smiled, and blood trickled from his mouth. His grin revealed his blood-stained teeth. ‘Now I’m unstoppable. You left me, I couldn’t get to the cure to try and stop it.’

  Miller grabbed Danni’s arm and he threw her along the carriage. She slid down the plastic flooring and stopped at a woman’s feet.

  As she looked up, past the woman’s black heels and skirt and past her white blouse, she saw Sarah’s face looking down at her.

  Miller began to laugh; Smith was standing again.

  ‘They’ve always said that the government is corrupt.’ Miller laughed.

  Sarah walked past Danni and stood next to Miller.

  ‘Smith, kill this interfering bitch.’ Sarah said.

  Smith growled. His eyes bled and he chewed his sore lips.

  ‘Sarah, why are you doing this? You’ve stopped the experiment and you killed the infected.’

  ‘Who said I stopped the experiment?’ Sarah said. She laughed and Miller smirked. ‘The experiment is still underway and the infected people are still alive, waiting to be released into London to infect everyone.’

  Miller opened the double doors, allowing Sarah to step out of the carriage. Danni made a run for the door but Miller punched her in the stomach and pushed her back into the carriage. She fell onto her back, clutching her stomach. Miller stepped onto the tracks and forced the double doors shut.

  Sarah and Miller ran through the tunnel.

  Danni stood and faced Smith. He snarled and roared. His eyes were red and his face was twisted in anger and torment; he charged at Danni.

  Sarah and Miller reached the top of Waterloo as they strolled toward the clock.

  ‘Now!’ Miller bellowed across the station. He fell to the ground, dragging Sarah with him.

  All of a sudden, men in body armour pulled out machine guns and begin to shoot everybody inside the station.

  Civilians screamed as they charged towards the trains and exits, jolting as the bullets penetrated them.

  As the shooting continued, Sarah whispered to Miller, ‘Have you thought more about the experiment you’re doing?’

  ‘I have, I have some great plans which will change this planet forever.’

  Sarah snapped her head around to face Miller. ‘You know I don’t agree with this experiment. I don’t want you doing this to…’

  ‘Look, as I said, it’s going really well and no one will stop me.’ Miller took a sly glance at Sarah, her eyes glittered and shone more than usual. As she blinked, a tear dropped and slid down her cheek. ‘There’s the door. This is the only way to build up a bigger and better army.’ Miller said and smiled.

  He released his grip as the shooting ended. Sarah and Miller simultaneously looked up to the station. Silence.

  Sarah pushed Miller off, stood up and walked away.

  ‘You’re making a big mistake.’ Miller waited for Sarah to turn; she didn’t. ‘When you leave this station, you will be against us.’ Miller snapped.

  ‘Bitch!’ he shouted.

  One of his armed men wandered up to Miller and smiled.

  ‘All taken care of?’ Miller asked as he choked on more blood.

  ‘In the process; we have men throughout, on the tubes, on the trains coming into London and out on the streets. We will have full control in a matter of hours.’

  Miller tried to speak but couldn’t. Blood spurted from his mouth and onto the floor.

  ‘You okay sir?’

  ‘Yes.’ Miller said waving his hands, ‘I’m fine, do your job.’

  Adjusting her weight to one side, Danni waited for Smith to lunge and as he clutched her arm, she forced him over her hip and onto the floor. Smith was dazed but that didn’t stop him growling.

  Danni quickly stood up and stamped on his head. After the second stamp, Smith fell silent and his body lay still.

  As she looked down to his body she thought to herself, how am I supposed to kill him if he keeps coming back to life?

  Danni knelt down to him and pulled his eyelid up. His eyes were bloodshot and his pupils black. She let go of his eyelid and put her hand into her bag pulling out a machete.

  ‘Glad I carry this around with me.’ Danni mumbled to herself.

  She drew the blade to Smith’s neck and used it as a saw. Blood spattered everywhere. It poured from his neck and spurted up onto Danni’s face and clothes as well as the train walls, doors and seats. After a few seconds of the sawing motion, Danni gripped Smith’s head by the hair and pulled. She was sickened by the squelching sounds of the flesh and tendons tearing. The noise was similar to someone stepping in mud.

  She yanked his head off and dangled it in front of her face for a moment and then she tossed it down the train.

  Danni stood, ran to the door and pulled the doors apart. She stepped out onto the tracks and ran for an exit.

  Danni entered the station, the breeze was the only sound, eerily howling through the underground; the station was deserted. She ran up the escalators and stood at the top of Waterloo station. Staring along the station she saw corpses scattered across the ground. Splattered and smudged blood decorated Waterloo. The screams from outside echoed through the station, the occasional explosion vibrated under Danni’s feet, moving balls of dust across the ground.

  Danni looked to an odd wooden platform which stood below the Waterloo clock.

  ‘What the fuck?’ Danni mumbled.

  Voices sounded out from the left. Danni decided to run out of the station and onto the bridge.

  As Danni stood in the middle of the bridge, she looked over to the London Eye which appeared perfectly normal on the late summer afternoon, but the roads beneath were something else.

  Cars were overturned and ablaze. Some buildings had gaping holes in their sides, revealing women and men inside pushing themselves against the walls, crying.

  Danni heard a loud whirring sound behind her. As she turned, she saw the black, menacing machines crawling through the sky; weaving past the distant buildings.

  Without too much hesitation, Danni ran towards the footbridge. As she reached the steps, the bridge collapsed, causing the steps to sway from side to side, throwing Danni to the ground. She landed on her back again. She landed awkwardly; it felt like someone had hit her back with a bat which sank below the skin and jabbed her spine, it took her breath away as she rolled on the ground, groaning.

  She watched the machines shoot at the running people who were flipped into the air.

  A car drove at speed through the wreckage. As Danni looked up from the ground, she saw a man driving with two toddlers in the back and his wife shouting and screaming inside. The man was driving recklessly, knocking into innocent people and swerving past the overturned cars and chunks of rubble. As he drove, he turned to his kids; he failed to see a woman pushing her pram into the road in a
panic. The woman had a bloody wound to her head, she wandered into the road, confused and disorientated. She paused in the middle of the road. Danni stood up and shouted, ‘Get off the road!’

  The driver saw her and tried avoid the woman and pram. His car mounted the kerb and flipped. It landed back on its wheels and he continued to drive it until the black machine blasted the car into flames. Danni was hit by the hot air from the blast, forcing her to cower on the ground, covering her face. After the explosion, Danni looked away from the sky and back to the road. The car was ablaze and the woman and her pram had disappeared.

  ‘Shit,’ Danni said.

  She looked around for a moment and spotted the pram on its side; the top of it was alight.

  Danni ran over to the pram. As she reached it, she knelt down and tried to pat the fire out.

  ‘Save her.’ Danni heard a quiet voice whisper. She turned to see the woman, scorched and almost unrecognisable, reaching out to her. ‘Save my baby, please!’

  Danni looked into the pram and saw a small and piteous figure; the skin was mostly black with only streaks of pink. Danni turned and retched. One moment she was on the underground and the next she was in the street staring at a dead baby.

  She looked back to the woman; as Danni leaned over to help her off the ground, she realised that the woman was no longer breathing. Her eyes were shut, her arm still stretched towards the pram.

  Danni stood up and called “Home” from the contacts on her phone.

  The phone buzzed three times and Danni’s nephew Jerome answered with: ‘Hello.’

  ‘Hello baby it’s Auntie Danni, can you pass the phone to mummy or daddy?’

  ‘Yeah,’ he said.

  ‘Danni?’ a female voice said.

  ‘Sadie pack up your stuff, we have to leave the house and get out of central London. It’s happening’

  ‘Okay.’ Sadie said.