In The End Box Set , Stevens, GJ [motivational novels .txt] 📗

I savoured the sweet milky taste coating my mouth as the treat slowly melted, watching the others in the sitting circle do the same. Except for Cassie and Jess, who’d refused.

Turning from the coast, I stared to the dark horizon ahead, the white of the shallow waves catching the moonlight and the fuzzy mirror image of the great ball in the water.

Our battle was not with the cold cutting through our still damp seams; we could have taken it in turns to wait in the cabin. It wasn’t the constant motion of the waves or the darkness which made the sea so alien, or the quiet, the only noise coming from the rhythm of the engine.

The battle came from the time we had to think. A fight against the calm after so many days of constant fear, of constant racing from death, not knowing what would come next. At least here I knew the worst would be for the sea to turn us over. We would drown, but it would be the end. Or I could just fall over the edge and slip beneath the surface and it would be done.

I looked to Cassie, watching her back with her staring out along our path. Unerring. Not looking away. Not seeing me.

But had the shared moment when she’d spoken about her childhood been a glimmer of a future together? Or once we’d saved the children would I have to move on and find safety for myself?

I looked to the water with its inviting darkness.

Turning to Jess with Alex sitting at her side, I glanced at Alex’s hand resting on top of Jess’s. Perhaps all was not lost.

Shaking away the thoughts, I peered out to the coastline our journey tracked. The land was still so dark. I couldn’t help but think of where the other escaping boats had gone. Were they lost like the ship beached in the estuary? Or had they, some of them, made it to the land further along and found somewhere not overrun? I had to hope for their sake and for ours.

“I haven’t seen any airplanes.”

The words came from Alex and I turned to her looking to the sky, Jess’s head following at her words. I didn’t want to imagine what those two were going through.

I looked up, taken aback by the brightness of the stars in the cloudless night, the view unbroken by vapour trails lining the sky. Was this a sign that our country was not the only infected?

I looked to Alex staring my way and as our eyes met, she nodded in my direction as if I had something on my face. Wiping the back of my hand to my eyes, I looked away.

76

JESSICA

Alex’s words were the last for hours, Thompson’s voice the first to point out the approaching land and the emerging light from the coast. “The Solent.”

“What happens when we get to the island?” Logan asked after a few moments when we saw the white Needles jutting from the sea.

Thompson didn’t meet his gaze; instead, he looked to Gibson before turning to frown in Sherlock’s direction.

“We land at Fort Albert and take you in,” he eventually said, twisting to catch my eye as he spoke.

Logan looked to Sherlock for his reaction and Sherlock frowned back, not bothering to hide his contempt.

“But...” Logan said, turning to me and then to Thompson. It was my turn to speak.

“You’ve seen what they’ve done to me,” I said, peering to Thompson, then the other soldiers. “What they’ve turned me into. You want to hand over that kind of power?” I tried to keep my words calm and considered, watching as Logan looked over to Cassie, but she still had her back to us.

“It’s not right,” Gibson said, leaning forward towards Thompson before looking at Sherlock as he spoke. “If everywhere is as bad as the South West, can you think of anything...” He held his words, pausing for a moment. “Anyone who can take those things on?”

“You’d give them the power to make more like me, to condemn more to the life I face? Is your life worth more than mine?”

“Superhuman strength and to run and leap like that. You could be a superhero. The saviour of the world.” Sherlock’s words dripped with sarcasm.

I couldn’t help but chuckle and looked briefly to Alex.

“I don’t wear my underwear on the outside. Have you ever heard of a hero who goes home with the need to devour human flesh?”

Alex swallowed hard and I looked to Logan, but he turned away as our eyes met.

“And did you know they can reproduce by themselves?” Alex said, not looking at me.

“And heal broken bones in hours,” Logan added, this time catching my eye as I looked his way.

Alex spoke again. “To kill the monsters, we have to make something so much worse.” She leaned toward me and I felt her warmth radiating through my clothes. She took my hands and wrapped hers around mine. “But what happens when all the monsters are dead? What happens when we’re left with just what we’ve created? Are they going to lie down and let us kill them after they are of no use? Do you think they’ll let us control them?”

I looked at each of the soldiers in turn, nodding as Alex spoke.

Sherlock was the first to reply. “Do you want us to put you out of your misery?”

“No,” I said without pause and Logan looked at me as if I could jump up at any moment and attack. Instead, I kept my calm. “I want to end this. Let me off at the Fort. Alone.”

Only the sound of the engine and the water lapping at the hull replied.

“And what do you expect us to do?” Sherlock finally asked.

“Sail off and find somewhere safe,” I said. “Or join