Endurance: Apocalypse (The Endurance Series Book 2) Read online

  ‘He didn’t, it was a fix.’

  ‘You would say that, you weren’t elected.’

  ‘It was obviously fixed.’ Sarah said as she approached the man; he stood up straight, sticking his chest out.

  ‘Miller threatened the Prime Minister. We don’t know where the Prime Minister is, we only have Miller’s word that he is actually still alive.’ Sarah said. ‘He’s making these elite humans, I know that much. We worked together but he did something unforgivable… We have to stop him otherwise life will never be the same again.’

  ‘What did he do?’ A young woman whispered.

  ‘That doesn’t matter. He can’t be trusted. We need to end this and end the virus outbreak once and for all.’ Sarah walked through the tunnel and the large group followed.

  ‘We’ll set up base here.’ Sarah said to the group as everyone entered the underground stop.

  The group stumbled up onto the platform and sank to the ground.

  ‘I believe this is just two underground stops away from Waterloo. Barricade the entrances. We have explosive weapons which we need for the attack on Waterloo, but we also need to plant some under the roads.’

  ‘Why under the roads Sarah?’ two people asked simultaneously.

  ‘Because we can detonate them when he calls for backup; we’ll kill his backup before they get to us. We’ll have more of a chance then.’

  ‘Who’s the backup?’

  ‘The police and army,’ Sarah said with a sigh. ‘Miller has all the power he needs to dominate London.’

  The group asked Sarah questions all at the same time; their voices jumbling together and becoming louder.

  ‘Everyone calm down.’ Sarah said.

  ‘How do you know everything he wants and everything he’s doing?’ a man asked.

  ‘Because I was planning it with him; I didn’t want this, his plans are ludicrous.’

  ‘What are the plans?’ a young woman asked.

  ‘He wants to turn everyone into elite humans.’

  ‘Why is that such a bad thing?’ a man asked.

  ‘Because once you turn, it completely changes you.’

  ‘How?’ someone else said.

  ‘It changes people in many different ways. Our studies showed that it could change you physically and mentally. The mental enhancements have mostly been to do with memory and sight. There are cases where some have even been able to see the future.’

  ‘That’s incredible,’ a woman said.

  ‘This virus kills more than it changes; millions of people will die if Miller is allowed to make this virus airborne, which it already could be.’

  Most of the people in the group were worried and chattered amongst themselves until Sarah fired her gun into the air. Brick dust drifted down from the ceiling.

  ‘Let’s hope that they heard that. You all want to be taken by Miller to be experimented on? That’s fine by me. Wait here for them to come and get you, or even better; you could just walk out of here right now and make your way to Waterloo and hand yourself in.’ Sarah screamed, throwing her gun to the ground.

  The group remained silent for a moment. They watched Sarah sit with her back against the wall, hugging her legs.

  A feeble man stood up warily and spoke to the group. ‘Miller is a monster. We need to back Sarah.’ He said, waving his veiny arms. ‘Miller is using this virus as a weapon; we need to dispose of him. We could make this virus into something special rather than a weapon.’

  The group begin to nod and chirp, ‘Yes!’

  Sarah’s head lifted up from her bended neck position and stared at the man. ‘Yes! Yes, you are exactly right!’ Sarah pushed herself up and walked over to him. ‘Who are you? What’s your name?’

  ‘I’m Lee Reichwein, nice to meet you.’ Lee said and he shook Sarah’s hand. He had a tight grip.

  ‘Err Sarah… Miller is about to make an announcement,’ a grey bearded man said, tapping his small black radio.

  ‘Turn it up Ed.’ Sarah said.

  ‘Mum… Mummy… Mum wake up.’ Jerome whispered as he shook Sadie’s shoulder.

  ‘Ugh, what baby?’ Sadie whispered.

  ‘Miller’s making an announcement,’ Jerome said, still shaking her.

  Sadie opened her eyes and sat up. ‘How do you know baby?’

  ‘I heard it on the radio, can’t sleep,’ Jerome sighed.

  ‘Oh baby, it’s okay. Good boy for waking me up though,’ Sadie said as she brushed her knitted cardigan aside.

  ‘Danni, Miller’s making an announcement,’ Sadie said.

  ‘I heard Jerome tell you. Wake everyone up; we need to prepare for what’s to come.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Sadie asked.

  ‘Well, Miller making an announcement, it can’t be good,’ Danni said and shrugged. ‘I’ll get Enzo.’

  Danni ran down the corridor to Enzo’s door. She knocked. After the second knock, Enzo stood at the door fully clothed.

  ‘I wonder what Miller wants.’ Enzo said.

  ‘You care to come to our room and listen with us, to prepare?’

  ‘Sure.’ Enzo said shutting the door behind him.

  As Miller stepped up onto the stage under the Waterloo clock, he was tugged back by one of his elite humans.

  ‘Sir, there were gun shots heard within the tunnels, should we investigate?’

  ‘I think that’s probably best; send two men down to search the tunnels.’ Miller said.

  ‘Yes sir.’

  ‘One more thing, I want you to be deputy of the elite army and the successor to my assistant Jonny. If he was to unfortunately die, you would replace him.’

  ‘Yes sir, thank you.’

  ‘Wait… You remind me of somebody I used to work with. Can I call you Smith?’

  ‘Yes sir.’

  ‘Brilliant. Good work Smith. Don’t let anyone disrupt me on stage. If there’s any trouble, kill them immediately, do not hesitate.’

  ‘Yes sir.’ Smith said as he walked up on stage.

  Miller followed Smith and as he stared out onto a large crowd, he raised his hands into the air to catcalls from the people below him.

  ‘Welcome everyone; I’m glad you could make it so late at night or should I say so early this morning. It is just past two a.m. and I am speaking to all of you present in Waterloo and everyone one of you who are listening to this on whatever frequency you are connected to. This announcement means that I have the opportunity to introduce to you my elite humans.’

  Miller placed his hand on Jonny’s shoulder. ‘This is Jonny; he was brought back from the dead. This man was dead for days rather than hours, but this in my hand,’ Miller said as he pulled out a small glass of dark green liquid. ‘This brought him back to life. He’s fully functional; he is physically stronger and smarter. This man can now live a long life. These other men on stage with me are volunteers, they wanted to be changed; they wanted to join the elite army to live a better life, would all you agree, men?’ Miller asked as he looked to each of the bald men surrounding him.

  ‘Yes sir!’ they bellowed.

  Miller looked out onto the crowd and smiled.

  ‘I could change you all right here, right now. You could all become part of the elite army; you could all grow physically and mentally. Let me welcome Laura Dupry onto the stage.’ Miller clapped as Laura stepped up onto the stage.

  ‘Laura was a pathetic human only a few hours ago, but now she’s elite. Look, she’s kept her hair, unlike these guys, but her power is a mystery. She has developed mentally, her brain has enhanced and she has an un-quantified power; such are the powers of this drug everyone, this will change the world with your support and…’

  ‘Laura! Laura my darling, where’s Gav?’ An elderly lady shouted from the crowd, waving her arms.

  ‘Excuse me? How dare you interrupt me? Who are you?’ Miller bellowed.

  ‘What’s it to you? I’m a dear friend of Laura’s and the mother of her husband.’

  ‘I’ll deal with this sir.’
Laura whispered to Miller. ‘I killed Gavin.’ Laura said loud enough for her mother in law to hear.

  Miller grinned as he rubbed his hands together excitedly.

  ‘What?’ The elderly woman said.

  ‘I had to do it to become elite.’ Laura said.

  ‘You bitch!’ The woman shouted as she barged through the crowds.

  Laura pushed her hand out in front of her toward the elderly woman. As the crowds began to surge forward, and some climbed on the stage, a force knocked everybody off their feet except Laura who remained with her hand out in front of her. Laura screamed as her skin tinted grey and her eyes glowed luminous green.

  ‘Unbelievable.’ Miller said. ‘Turn off the frequencies for now; I’ll make my announcement in a moment.’

  ‘What’s going on?’ asked Ed, tapping his radio.

  ‘They’ve cut the frequencies.’ Sarah said.

  ‘Should we attack now?’ asked Lee.

  ‘No we can’t.’ Sarah said. ‘We need to keep quiet; we’ll stay here until tomorrow night.’

  The group fell silent as they heard multiple screams echo from within the tunnel.

  ‘Everyone remain calm and quiet. Be prepared for anything.’ Sarah said as she looked down into the gaping tunnel.

  ‘They cut the frequency.’ Flynn said. ‘Why would they do that?’

  Everyone in the room remained silent.

  ‘Maybe something bad has happened?’ Lynne said.

  ‘Anything could have happened. We’ll just have to wait and see.’ Danni said.

  Danni looked around the room, she saw Carl glaring at her and Sadie hugging Jerome, leaning her head on Lynne. Flynn stood at the window and Enzo knelt with his arms resting on his thighs, he caught Danni’s stare and flashed his teeth at her.

  Gavin’s mum slowly rose into the air. The crowds stared up at her in awe. Miller stood up on stage and jumped up and down.

  ‘This is an example of the elite human. We are powerful!’ he shouted across the station. ‘Finish her.’ Miller whispered into Laura’s ear.

  ‘Sir, aren’t we meant to be helping everyone?’ Jonny asked Miller.

  ‘We are helping, Jonny.’ Miller snapped.

  Laura smiled, revealing her teeth; they seemed brighter against her dark tinted skin. She raised her hand, lifting Gavin’s mother further into the air. Her hand clenched and Gavin’s mum shrieked and quivered.

  The crowds ran, tripping over each other and collapsing onto the ground.

  Gavin’s mum began to haemorrhage. Blood seeped from her eyes, nose and mouth and dripped down onto the crowd below. Laura grinned as she clenched her fist as tight as she could. Gavin’s mum’s skull cracked and the blood flow increased. Laura flicked her hand to her right, Gavin’s mum smashed into the wall.

  ‘This is why you should join us. We are the most powerful beings on the planet.’

  The crowds fled.

  ‘Laura, force them to stop, can you do that? Can you control all those people?’

  ‘Maybe,’ Laura whispered.

  She put her hands to her sides and screamed, ‘STOP!’

  All of a sudden the crowds paused and stood upright.

  ‘Thank you Laura, if any of them make a sound, kill them; I’m trying to make an announcement. Turn the frequency back on.’ Miller smiled and then stroked Laura’s hair. ‘Welcome back everyone, there was a technical issue but we’re okay now.’

  Miller watched everybody in front of him. He heard someone shout, ‘You bastard!’ Miller inclined his head toward Laura who clenched her fist, crushing the man’s head.

  ‘I want to make an announcement to everybody. You may know that there is an army patrol out in London checking the areas and looking after you all. Unfortunately I have a devastating announcement to make that could affect London forever.’ Miller took a deep breath. ‘We will be having a clean up on the streets this evening. By ‘clean up’ I mean that there will be the usual army patrol as well as an air force travelling through London to reduce those who are infected and violently out of control. We suggest that everyone take cover and remain hidden. If you are out and are seen, it will be assumed that you are one of the infected and you will be destroyed. Thank you for your time. Cut the frequencies.’ Miller said.

  He turned to Laura and said, ‘Thank you for waiting so patiently. Laura, can you kill every person you have in your control please. Dump the bodies in the Thames.’ Everybody screamed and one by one their skulls cracked and one by one they slumped to the ground.

  ‘Jonny, can you tell the forces to begin the clean up.’

  ‘Yes sir.’ Jonny said with a sigh.

  9

  ‘What are we going to do?’ Sadie sobbed.

  ‘We’ll just stay inside and be prepared for the worst. We’ll all stay together in the corridor. Stay well away from windows and do not be seen.’ Enzo said. ‘Let’s move.’ He led the way to the corridor.

  As they walked into the corridor, they heard explosions in the distance and felt slight tremors.

  ‘What’s that?’ Jerome asked.

  ‘Oh baby its just nasty people on the outside, we’re safe here.’ Sadie said as she patted his back. ‘Try and sleep.’

  ‘They won’t attack this building will they?’ Lynne asked.

  The corridor was silent as the explosions got closer.

  Sarah’s group on the underground listened to the explosions above.

  ‘Pass out the ear plugs.’ Sarah said to Ed.

  Ed rummaged through a yellow box, picking out small plastic bags containing earplugs. He flicked the packs to everyone.

  Sarah looked down the tunnel and saw a small ball of light. Sarah tapped Lee on the shoulder and whispered, ‘They’re coming for us. They would have heard my gunshot.’

  ‘Damn. What should we do?’

  ‘We’ll have to attack them. Can you get the fighters together to warn them to be ready?’

  ‘Sure. Sarah, I hate to say this but we may need to attack sooner than you would like to.’

  Sarah nodded and continued to sit watching the group through the floating brick dust as Lee pottered around the group, whispering to each man and woman who could fight.

  Miller walked down into the underground with Smith and Jonny.

  ‘Smith, can you go and get me the young boy who’s now elite?’

  ‘Yes sir.’ Smith said and he disappeared as he sprinted away.

  ‘This is fantastic, what do you think of all this Jonny?’

  ‘Errr well I think it’s good that we’ve somehow been given these new abilities and…’

  ‘We aren’t just being given these abilities; these abilities are innate. They have always been inside us waiting to come out. That’s what this cure does; it brings to life what your body is capable of. Some people are strong, others are intelligent and others can do more, like Laura and Smith. Laura seems to be able to control humans in some way. She also seems to have a force that she can burst from within, knocking anyone and anything to the ground. Smith is incredibly fast and strong.’

  ‘What’s my ability then?’ Jonny asked.

  ‘Well that’s something you will find out, I’m sure.’

  Jonny stopped walking and he slumped to the floor.

  ‘Jonny?’ Miller asked as he stopped walking.

  ‘Ahh… help…’ Jonny said in a strained voice. He held his head and he curled up into a ball.

  As he closed his eyes, he saw himself walking through rubble. He saw an overturned car scorched. ‘Hello?’ he shouted.

  As his shouts echoed in his mind, he became dizzy. He watched a blurred figure begin to rise from the rubble. A young female floated towards him like a puppet hung loose. She came face to face with him and opened her bloodshot eyes. Jonny suddenly woke up to see Miller’s eyes; he jumped up and grabbed Miller around the neck, as he touched Miller he entered another vision. He saw Miller holding a syringe in one hand and a gun in the other. Jonny watched himself cut off Miller’s head with a blade. As he detach
ed the head, he held it for a moment. The vision ended.

  Jonny let go of Miller and Miller dropped to the ground. He sprang up immediately to stand up straight again.

  ‘What happened?’ Miller asked.

  ‘I… I don’t know. It seemed like a memory or an old nightmare.’

  ‘Of what?’

  ‘I was walking through rubble and some woman rose from the debris. She was covered in blood, and she came face to face with me and as her eyes opened they were bloodshot, then when I awoke, I thought your eyes were hers and so I attacked you and when I grabbed you I saw another vision…’

  ‘Which was?’

  ‘You were in it.’

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘You… You…’ Jonny hesitated, staring hopelessly at the walls around him. He said, ‘You had a gun in your hand and a syringe, that’s it.’

  ‘Hmm, interesting,’ Miller said. ‘We will look into it a little more later; but first I want you to meet this child who was in my replica of London. He was not scared and did not fear the replica. Although all my other subjects thought it was reality, this one boy knew it wasn’t. He isn’t an elite human created by using my infection, this is from the old one but it changed him differently to any other person.’

  Miller walked on again and Jonny followed.

  Miller’s clean up process could still be heard from above Sarah’s group. The occasional screams from civilians and roars from the infected were punctuated by explosions and gunshots.

  ‘Take these.’ Lee said to Sarah and Ed as he dangled two handguns in front of them. ‘You’ll need these if we don’t make it back.’

  ‘You will make it back.’ Sarah said taking the gun. ‘Just make sure they’re dead.’

  ‘We will.’

  Lee walked towards the tunnel and stared into it, watching the ball of light.

  ‘Right people, get ready.’ Lee whispered to the small group of five.

  ‘Don’t we need guns?’ Molly, a butch blonde female asked Lee.