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

The remnants of a large barbeque she’d treated herself to was spread across the center island, and Madeline had no inclination to clean it up.

Let it all rot. Just like the rest of the world.

Passing through the mess without a second glance, she stopped at the threshold to her bedroom.  Her hand moved slowly, reluctantly, until she finally clutched the doorknob of the closed door. She’d only been inside the fetid space once since pulling the mattress out. There hadn’t been a need.

Madeline would never be returning to the house that used to mean so much. It was originally built as a solace and refuge that she no longer required, nor wanted.

Then why was she so hesitant to enter the bedroom?

She stared at her hand for a moment, curious as to how it continued to clasp the knob without turning it. There appeared to be a disconnect between her thoughts and actions, and it wasn’t the first occurrence over the past three days. If she hadn’t already been wearing soiled clothing, Madeline would have opted to back away and let it go. Except she couldn’t rely on finding necessities while en route, and it was simply illogical to leave without the basic requirements of appropriate clothing and toiletries.

“Sierra uniform two lima November. Listening.” The shrill words from the radio, turned up to maximum volume, echoed through the hall and caused Madeline to jerk back from the door.

Startled, she looked at her watch. Fifteen minutes. She’d lost fifteen minutes while standing there in the dim hallway, absorbed by her thoughts.

Madeline shuffled backwards from the door before spinning on her heel and jogging to the office. While she found her progressively disjointed behaviors concerning, it didn’t cause a rush of fear or surge in adrenaline. Instead, it gave her more points of interest to add to her notebooks, and created yet another layer to an increasingly complex matrix of possibilities.

Grabbing for the microphone, she keyed it up while sliding the nearby pad of paper and pen over. “Kilo six mike sierra. Go ahead.”

The expected series of clicks and chirps played out before the familiar voice of Dr. Eric Davies broke through loud and surprisingly clear, though there was a decent amount of background static. “Hello, Dr, Schaeffer. I’ve had the confirmation on the vessel Demetrius. It will be harbored off Matagorda Bay, in Port Lavaca. A Mr. Antonio Latoya will be waiting for you at the entrance to Bayfront Peninsula Park.”

Madeline finished scribbling down the name and locations in Texas. She had a long drive through the night to her first rest stop near Vegas, and then another twenty hours to Texas, before crossing the ocean in the most direct route possible to Suriname. High-altitude flight was now out of the question, in addition to the impossible task of securing a plane and pilot. According to Davies, and the news Madeline read prior to the satellite feed going dark, all infrastructure was lost. There weren’t enough people left alive to support anything. It was rather astounding that the man was able to locate the boat and other modes of transportation in Suriname, though Madeline would have to get herself to Texas first.

“Received,” Madeline replied, after double-checking her notes. “I should arrive in less than two days, before sunrise on Saturday morning.”

There was the standard delay during the transmission, before Dr. Davies signed off. “Excellent. I’ll expect to see you Monday or Tuesday. We have a lot of work to do. Sierra uniform two lima November out.”

Madeline promptly unplugged the radio and set it, along with the laptop, notepad, and papers from her wall of information into a waiting box. Carrying it to the kitchen, she shoved a plate of half-eaten chicken breast aside to set it down, before going back to her bedroom. That time, she entered without any indecision. Her path was now solidly laid out, and what was in that room had no influence over it.

Heading straight to the massive closet, Madeline made good time once she selected the bag on the floor that was already partially packed. She’d forgotten about that. How after the first symptoms of The Kuru quickly developed, she’d gone back to her bags and dumped most of the contents out to retrieve—

The bag slung over her shoulder, Madeline slowly crept to where the remaining box spring sat on the bedframe of the four-poster bed. A couple of feet away from it lay a picture and necklace. The photo of her with Lizzy. Her red-haired, spirited sister who’d been spared the final and terrifying chapter of their time on Earth. Bending to pick up the locket, Madeline noticed a second photo partially hidden under the bed. Henry. The picture from her desk.

I’m complicit.

The thought was random, and it took Madeline back to the final, agonizing day she’d spent in the room, before falling into a welcome oblivion. She’d awakened to another type of oblivion, where she’d been freed from the chains of guilt.

Or have I?

Her hand clenched around the necklace as she lunged away from the pictures, the memories, and the faint stirring of emotions tickling the back of her consciousness. They weren’t wanted, needed, and certainly wouldn’t be helpful.

Stomping down the hallway, Madeline tried and failed to ignore the ever-present stain on the floor. Another reminder of her failure to rid herself of the cloying, lingering vestiges of past self-doubt and inadequacies.

Hefting the box from the counter, she pushed through the front door and left it open, as well as all the lights on. After loading the items onto the front seat of the Hummer, she jammed the necklace into her jeans pocket and went to where she’d left the extra gasoline lined up against the wall of the garage. It was more than she could take with her.

Selecting two of them, she marched back to the house with purpose, and never