The Extinction Series , Ellis, Tara [famous ebook reader .txt] 📗

“What if he could still be one of the Cured?” Peta asked, her voice strained. “Until he’s taken his last breath, we don’t know which way it’ll go.”

Eddy was shaking his head. “Yes, we do. Even with the medical intervention, if he was going to fall into a coma, it would have happened by now. I treated hundreds of patients at Harborview, Peta. None of the coma patients had progressed this far, or for this long.”

Peta turned away from Eddy and looked instead at Jason. Tyler guessed she wanted confirmation. He didn’t blame her for not trusting Eddy, but Jason looked grim. “I’m afraid I have to agree with him,” he confirmed.

Marty whimpered, drawing Tyler’s attention back to the man in question, as the heated debate continued. Dropping back down to sit near Hernandez’s head, he held his breath for a moment and just stared. “Alex,” he whispered, setting a hand on his forehead.

“You can stop fighting about him,” Tyler gasped, his voice a harsh whisper. He realized Peta was reaching over the side of the truck, and she grabbed him by the arms. Tyler looked back at her, and saw his own grief mirrored in her eyes.

His shoulders sagged under the weight of acceptance, and Tyler said the words that made it real, releasing Alex from his pain. “He’s gone.”

Chapter 20

JASON

Suriname Border, Courantyne River Ferry Terminal

Thin bands of light penetrated the small windows high in the vaulted ceilings, casting intermittent highlights on the macabre scene inside the terminal.

Jason hesitated when he saw the first two bodies. Someone had taken the time to arrange them on the floor with various items, like a jacket or towel, to cover their faces. He assumed it was the woman they’d met in the parking lot, though she’d disappeared inside the building and hadn’t come back out.

Reaching up, Jason tugged at the gas mask to make sure he had a good seal. After opening the door, he’d immediately gone back to the truck to retrieve it. The smell of decay was overpowering, and he’d been incredibly grateful he’d left the mask clipped to his pack. Since they were all immune to the virus, no one thought to add the others to everything they had to carry.

With the power out, most of the interior space of the terminal was in shadow. Jason shone a flashlight into the corners to make sure he wasn’t missing the door he wanted. He tried to ignore the other shapes. The dozen or so piles of decomposing flesh and bones that used to be someone’s wife, husband, daughter, or son. The building was now a tomb, and as with the other places he’d been that contained multiple bodies, Jason felt a sort of implied reverence. He could feel them. The remnant of who they used to be and what they’d meant.

The creaking of a swinging door was loud in the heavy silence, causing Jason to jump involuntarily and spin around. The Glock was gripped tightly in his hands, and he forced his breathing to level out as he slowly lowered the gun when he spotted the old woman walking hesitantly toward him. That she appeared unphased by either the smell or grim surroundings emphasized how far-gone she was, mentally. While Jason didn’t consider her a threat, she was definitely unstable and therefore unpredictable.

“Policia?” Jason called out when she was still at a good distance. “Office. Policia office.”

They needed keys to the boats parked out on the river. They were all marked with official insignia, and patrulla fronteriza, which Devon said meant border patrol. It made sense, since they were at an official border crossing. Jason could see there were different customs stations inside the building, so all he had to do was find the security office. At least, that’s what they were all banking on.

Eddy was stationed at the main door, which they’d propped open. Peta, Devon, and Tyler were still putting the final touches on Hernandez’s grave. They hadn’t been able to find any shovels, and ended up using various items to dig a shallow hole in the tough soil riddled with tree roots. The man deserved a lot more, but it was the best they could do.

The woman shifted from foot to foot, her hands in constant motion between her hair, mouth, and tugging at her clothes. Her eyes were wide so that the whites of them stood out in the dim lighting and added to her wild appearance.

“Policia,” Jason repeated, ready to begin the search on his own. The unexpected ferry crossing was a huge setback all on its own. But the death of Hernandez, on top of losing their truck and having to get across the river, had the potential of throwing them far off track.

He kept thinking of the people back at the CDC lab. In addition to Tyler’s dad and the dozens of military personnel and scientists, there was an equal number of “patients” trapped underground. They were the only ones to make it to the surface after the alarm sounded, and everyone left behind were as good as dead, unless they came up with some additional information for the CDC team. It had been over three days. Three days since they left, and based on what he was seeing in South America, they had already run out of time for the majority of the world’s population. Jason felt the deaths of countless more with every minute that passed like it was a personal failure.

“Policia?” The woman suddenly shouted, sounding surprised, like she’d finally understood what he was asking. Waving her hands in the air, she spun around and began running back the way she’d come. “Policia!”

Frowning at his lack of options, Jason followed her around a counter and in between several desks with papers scattered across them, frozen in time. After turning