2 Days to Live: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller Read online

  Contents

  Title page

  Copyright

  Disclaimer

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Thank you

  2 DAYS TO LIVE

  Extinction Gene Book 5

  by

  Phil Maxey

  Copyright © 2021 by Philip Maxey

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  First Printing, 2021.

  https://www.philmaxeyauthor.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales, is purely coincidental.

  CHAPTER ONE

  4: 11 a.m, December 19th. Eastern Kansas. Highway 70.

  Day 5.

  “Seven.”

  Sam resisted looking at the woman driving. Her body and mind were exhausted but she knew sleep would mean death so instead she looked through the watery blurs to the darkness beyond. Her parents would be following and sooner or later they would catch up. They might not know what Joan was, so she needed to be ready.

  “Seven!” Joan repeated. “That’s how many there were at the start… er… Start… yes, two… three… months… anyway, they were good people. Harrison, Stone, Fletcher, Reynolds… Finn…” she let out a breath. “Finn killed a family of five up in Maine before we took him down…” She glanced at Sam. “You see, it… it turns your emotions up to eleven or something… makes you rage and when you combine that with the strength… well, anyway, they were all good marines… but…” She glanced at Sam again. “But it wasn’t ready… the compound… although they said it would make us stronger and better… We… we were the first… the seven… now… only one…”

  This time Sam dared to look at Joan and saw the older woman’s eyes looking far beyond the highway. Lost in fantasies or painful memories? She didn’t care.

  Joan shook her head then turned and smiled at her passenger. “Better not to talk about the past. Bad things lurk there. The future… yes, better for all of us. You wait. He will make it better for all of us.”

  “Is… he like you?”

  Joan scoffed. “Lucas? Oh, hell no. He’s…” She looked at Sam. “You mean can he change like me or is he in the military? Well, he’s neither. You can also add to that, a bad son… Like really bad. He hated papa dearest. Anyway, the Pentagon came to Biochron. Wanted them to pickup where your grandfather—”

  A stabbing pain shot through Sam’s head. She didn’t want to listen to the crazy old lady. Joan’s words were actually beginning to hurt Sam’s brain. But why was she bringing up her grandfather?

  “— Left off in the late 80s or something. I dont know the history, but point is old man Winters told them to take a long walk off a short plank if you know what I mean. ‘Biochron was created for the medical good of humanity! Not for war,’ I think he said to the general. But junior got wind of what the higher-ups wanted and brought in someone who used to work with your grandfather, a crazy but brilliant old coot called Charles Rackham. Together they convinced Winters senior to get onboard, something about curing diseases and all that. Which—” She looked at Sam again. “It does do you know? Now you’re like me, you won’t get ill… but… anyway. No one really knew how crazy Rackham was. Denver was just meant to be a field trial, a test on the local population. Really low dose. Shouldn’t have had any affect whatsoever other than cured anyone who had a bit of a cold, but… well… turns out Rackham changed things up. Changed the compound and released it everywhere… and I mean… everywhere, even overseas. Still not sure how he managed that. Lucas said he used Biochron’s other offices around the—”

  “Just stop!”

  Joan flinched then looked surprised at the youngster.

  “I don’t care! I don’t care about any of this!” For the first time Sam looked directly at her kidnapper. “Please, I’m not part of any of this. I’m just a kid, you don’t need to take me anywhere.”

  “Lucas said you’re important, and he’s the one I take the orders from now I’ve lost touch with the general. Orders are orders. So sit back, try and get some sleep. Few more hours and we’ll be in Denver and I’m sure he’ll explain everything.”

  A jolt of nausea ran through Sam. She wanted to push the door open again and jump into the void.

  “That’s your home city, right?” Joan looked back to the road. “I had a file on all of you, but… I kinda lost it what with all the fuss.”

  Sam drew in a sudden breath on seeing what became illuminated then forgotten as they drove by.

  Joan looked at her again. “Oh, don’t worry about them. Now you’re with me, they won’t hurt you… well, shouldn’t hurt you. Some of them are so messed up…” She sighed. “It wasn’t meant to be like this… At least that crazy scientist is now gone. Lucas said you will help fix…” Sam’s eyes flicked towards her but the older woman realized she had said too much. “I… should stop talking. You’re right. Get some sleep.”

  *****

  4: 29 a.m. Eastern Kansas. Highway 70.

  Jess looked in the rear mirror at the sleeping young man. She knew nothing about his history, unlike he about hers, but he seemed a good person. She also noticed his anger and flushed cheeks when they talked about Sam. He obviously liked her, but it was also obvious he was hiding something under that hood of his, which appeared to be glued to the top of his head. She had ideas as to why that was, but it was up to Lachlan when he felt comfortable revealing what the change had done to him.

  Done to all of us…

  It was a constant battle to keep her rage from spilling over into fury at the innocent around her, so instead she just kept quiet. All the effort she went through to get back to her family and now that one of them was sitting just a few feet away, she couldn’t talk. But then, what else would she say? He already knew that the one responsible for the mayhem had somehow gotten another to kidnap his daughter and that this person worked with her father. Which still didn’t make sense to her. But she was almost beyond the point of caring. World ended, check. Crazy SOB kidnaped daughter. Check. Do anything necessary to get her back… check. Everything else was background noise.

  At least they literally had a truck full of guns and ammo to blast into dust anything that got in their way. They just needed to catch up with them, then whatever Joan was, wasn’t going to be enough to stop them from getting Sam back…

  “Less than three days left before the virus has run its course,” said Landon, keeping his voice low.

  Jess looked at him with a smile.

  “Once we get Sam back, we head back to the school near Rockston. Pick up Josh, Meg if she wants to come and we head out. I was thinking north, maybe Wyoming. Find ourselves a little place in the mountains. Fresh water, hunting, find some�
�”

  “Stop… please…”

  Landon looked at his wife then to the black beyond the headlights.

  “I’m sorry… it’s just three days from now, might as well be three years.”

  “I’m just thinking ahead, Jess. What we can do to put our lives back together…”

  “I know…”

  The sound of the road beneath the tires became the only noise in the cabin once again.

  “What’s your take on Sanchez?” said Landon.

  Jess looked at him. “I was hoping you’d tell me?”

  “Met his type a few times on the job. Gets things done. Not someone to get on the wrong side of.”

  “Just what we need.”

  Landon smiled, while nodding. “Exactly.”

  “I can’t figure out why he wanted to come with us though…” Flickers of snow started hitting the windshield. She turned the wipers on.

  “He must see an angle. Hopefully that involves us getting Sam back.” He winced. There was no feeling from his wrist upwards, but now pain was starting to move in the opposite direction.

  She looked across. “How’s your arm?”

  He smiled. “Fine. Getting better.”

  She knew he was lying, but there was nothing she could do to help.

  CHAPTER TWO

  4: 57 a.m. Highway 63. Powell’s Diner.

  Meg sat in what had become her usual spot in the pastor’s kitchen. Clumps of snow fell beyond the frosted glass and the candle on the modest table only provided minimal heat, but it was enough due to the coffee in her mug also containing something alcoholic. A bottle sat a foot away, one that Rufus gave her from his seemingly never-ending supply.

  I have to stay, Liam. Josh needs me. What if they never come back? Then who will be here for the boy? Those that he just met a day ago? Daryl?

  She sighed, her breath almost becoming mist. She poured more of the golden liquid into her mug, which was now more whiskey than coffee and took another sip. She couldn’t shake the feeling she was in the wrong place. The Keller’s were mixed up in something bigger than all of them, that much was obvious and were going to need help to get out of it. But if she headed south, she couldn’t take Josh with her. She wasn’t going to be jumping off a cliff and taking him with her. He was going to have to stay. He appeared to get on well with the other kids, and now—

  A rumbling noise mingled with the light wind, howling beyond the kitchen widow. She sat in silence waiting for it to grow or dissipate and when it became louder, she got up, feeling a little light headed and grabbed for the back of the chair then headed down the hallway to the front door and pulled it open. Headlights twinkled in the distance. She walked forward, making sure not to slip on the steps then stood in a foot of snow.

  The old car slid a little, turning onto the property then fought for grip as it trundled forward, pushing the ice away until it came to a stop near Rufus’s old pickup. Meg stomped forward, avoiding the mounds which she knew to be farming equipment and got to the car, whose cabin light was on.

  Arlo pushed open the door and got out. He looked more flushed than usual.

  “Where’s Landon?” she asked. “Jess went after you!”

  He nodded, wrapping his arms around himself then walked past her to the open front door. Rufus was standing within it, but Arlo kept on going until finding what he required and threw his hands over the flickering candle. The others, now joined by a sleepy looking Brad, walked down the hallway into the kitchen.

  “Well?” said Meg. “What happened?”

  “That storm was something else. Four hours it took—”

  “Arlo!”

  “They’re fine! No, they haven’t found Sam. They’re… going after Joan…”

  Rufus walked to the stove, turning it on while Meg handed Arlo her bottle. He unscrewed the lid then took a sip, enjoying the burning sensation in his throat.

  Brad awkwardly sat. “Going after Joan?”

  Arlo looked at the others. “Yeah… um, she’s not what we thought she was.”

  They looked confused.

  “I… thought she was a former Marine,” said Brad.

  “She’s…” He looked past the others to the boy standing in the dark of the hallway.

  “Where’s my mom?” said Josh.

  *****

  5: 25 a.m. Highway 70.

  Sam awoke, but kept her eyes closed, a little trick she had learned. That way the crazy old lady wouldn’t start talking, either with her fantasies or ask how she was doing, which Sam hated even more. She actually managed to sleep. Not much, maybe an hour, but as she sat there listening to the engine hum, the cobwebs which were clogging up her thoughts started to clear.

  Must be close to Denver…

  Joan’s plan was to take her somewhere inside the City… A place full of the things.

  As soon as she stops and there are buildings around, I’ll run… as fast as I can. Even if she changes, she won’t—

  A cacophony of roars and groans filled the air as if she had been dropped into a nightmare. She opened her eyes and instantly wished she hadn’t, pushing back into her seat while grabbing hold of the door handle for support. They were driving past a wall of bone, muscle and rotting flesh, the SUV veering left then right to avoid any impact with hundreds of the things. Like ghostly visions of an insane mind they came and went in the headlights, some swinging what passed for their heads in the truck’s direction, and snarled.

  Sam shook her head, not understanding what she was witnessing.

  “I told you, they’re no threat to you,” said Joan.

  “What… what is happening… why are they all walking like this…”

  “Well—” A particularly ugly concoction of canine teeth and human features, snapped at the windshield, making Sam duck in her seat. “— that, I couldn’t rightly say, but… probably has something to do with Lucas and you.”

  Sam shuddered, flicking her head towards the driver. “Me? How can any of this have anything to do with me?”

  Joan frowned while continuing to slowly swerve around the mounds of awkward appendages staggering onwards. “Have you not been listening to anything I’ve been saying? You’re special like your mom, and her mom before her. At least that’s what the general told me after I took their compound.”

  “Special? I’m not fucking special!”

  “Hey, calm your horses! You’re a kid, I get it. But no need to curse!”

  Sam was shaking from her feet to the ends of her fingers, and she had no idea how to stop it. She turned away from the woman and closed her eyes. Fear was threatening to overwhelm her mind and that wouldn’t lead to a good outcome.

  Think about mom and dad… think about Josh, think about before… They’re coming… I know they are…

  A strange thought intruded upon her attempts to calm down. What if Joan wasn’t crazy? She opened her eyes again.

  “You alright, there?” said Joan. “Thought you were having a nervous breakdown or something. I’m not sure your mental state really matters to Lucas, but I’m sure it matters to you.”

  Sam looked at the woman to her left. “I want to know more.”

  “Oh, now you want to know, do you? Hm, well I don’t know everything and there are some things that I can’t share. But—”

  “Why am I special?” Sam noticed the dark jagged shapes of mountains many miles in the distance.

  Almost there… keep her talking…

  “I’m not a scientist. I’m just a soldier. Do what I’m told to do. It’s your family’s genes… genetics… oh I don’t know. Something about your grandma that was special. She was born different. Your grandfather and Rackham have meant to have worked with her back in the day, until she died giving birth to your mom. It was in a file I was given when I agreed to be part of the trial.”

  Sam scoured her memories of anything similar to what she was being told, and found nothing. She never knew her grandmother, she died around the time she was born, not giving birth to her mom. She hid a
sigh. So much for giving the old woman’s crazy rants a chance. This whole thing was obviously because of the change. It had messed up Joan’s mind. Sam had no doubt Joan believed what she was telling her, but that didn’t mean it was real.

  Sam didn’t know how they were driving through a sea of the things without them attacking and she didn’t care. As soon as the chance presented itself, she was going to escape.

  CHAPTER THREE

  5: 49 a.m. Highway 70.

  Static came from Landon’s radio, jolting him awake. He sheepishly raised it to his mouth in preparation.

  “You there,” said Sanchez.

  “We are. Over.”

  “So what’s the plan, when we get to Denver?”

  “Find our daughter. Then go back to where we started. Over.”

  “And who’s the person who took her?”

  Landon exchanged a glance with his wife. “A woman. Former marine, so she’s tough… Over.”

  “She got weapons?”

  “I don’t know, but she’s only one person.”

  “And you know where she’s going?”

  Landon held the talk button down, moving the radio closer to his wife. “Probably my company’s headquarters in southern Denver,” said Jess.

  “And you know this ,how?”

  “The woman, Joan, used to work for my company.”

  There was a pause before Sanchez continued. “Yeah, you see, I’m not really getting the big picture here. Feels like there are things you’re not telling me.”

  Jess looked at her husband again. She didn’t have the patience to fill a stranger in on the past few days. Not again. “There are things we’re not telling you, because it doesn’t change anything. We’re going to Denver and getting our daughter back, if you don’t want to—”