Death Returns (Death Knocks Book 3) Read online

  Death Returns

  Death Knocks Part II

  Miranda Hardy

  Jay Noel

  Death Returns

  Copyright © 2017 by Miranda Hardy and Jay Noel

  All rights reserved.

  Death Returns is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the authors’ imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means. The scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the authors’ intellectual property. If you would like to use material from this book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher. Thank you for your support of the authors’ rights.

  Quixotic Publishing

  Death Returns / Miranda Hardy and Jay Noel. —First Edition

  M.H. ~

  for Faith and Cody

  J.N. ~

  for Dom, Ally, and A.J.

  Contents

  Prologue

  1. Maverick

  2. Maverick

  3. Astid

  4. Astid

  5. Maverick

  6. Astid

  7. Maverick

  8. Astid

  9. Maverick

  10. Astid

  11. Maverick

  12. Astid

  13. Maverick

  14. Astid

  15. Maverick

  16. Astid

  17. Maverick

  18. Astid

  19. Maverick

  20. Astid

  21. Maverick

  22. Astid

  23. Maverick

  24. Astid

  25. Maverick

  26. Astid

  27. Maverick

  Also by Miranda Hardy

  Also by Jay Noel

  About the Author

  About the Author

  Prologue

  Astid

  The one-room, windowless prison was the only home I’d ever known. Where’s Mother? Why haven’t they brought her back yet?

  Things had been strange earlier that day. Tension seemed to fill every inch and every corner of the building. Even the normally jovial Dr. B appeared bothered by something in the morning. I could have broken through his mental block to find out why he was so upset, but Dr. B was one of the few workers at Level 6 who treated us nicely.

  Mother had gone willingly, like always, even after sensing Dr. B’s dark thoughts. She made small talk by asking him about the outside world, knowing Kren and I always liked hearing about it.

  Dr. B described the spring weather that took place in the different areas of the country. He’d always apologized for not being eloquent enough to capture the beauty of Mother Nature, but we enjoyed his description of the blooming flowers and trees. It fascinated us. Living below ground provided no other distractions. The outside world sounded like such a contrast to our bland and mundane existence at the facility.

  I had vowed not only to see the world above, but I planned to pluck a purple flower and smell the scrumptious scent of a pine tree.

  Mother usually returned by our afternoon meals. Kren and I ate in silence as we waited for her. A few more hours passed, and we both failed to hide our anxiety. It was the heavy silence that filled our hearts with terror. Kren paced near the door while I sat on the bed, trying my best to keep calm. The camera in the corner of the room swiveled back and forth between the two of us, and it was preferable—in my mind, at least—not to give the soldiers a reason to shock and sedate us. They’d often storm into our room at the slightest show of irritation.

  Despite being terrified of what I might find, I reached out with my mind, going beyond our walls to see if I could glean anything from the people outside our locked chamber. I felt Kren do it too. A group of scientists stood in a circle just down the hall from us. We probed their minds, and it took only seconds to get the answer we dreaded to discover.

  Mother was dead.

  The emptiness hit both of us simultaneously. I franticly pushed my mind further to sense Mother, and hoped I had misinterpreted the scientists’ thoughts, but I found nothing. We had always been extra sensitive with one another, able to feel each other from wherever they took us within the cement and steel walls. Our family always had a strong connection, but it had broken…permanently.

  Tears flowed down my face, and a huge knot formed inside my stomach. Kren slid against the wall down to the cold floor and pulled his knees in, rocking back and forth. The very center of our lives had been yanked from us, and we had been powerless to stop it.

  I attempted to extend my mind outside again when the howls echoed all around us. The alarm blared, piercing our eardrums. Kren and I clapped our hands to our ears to block the retched sound.

  What is going on? I asked Kren with my mind.

  We both glanced at the camera and noticed it had been deactivated. The green light no longer blinked. Smoke entered our room from under the heavy steel, locked door. Our moment of sadness turned to fear.

  The wailing and incomprehensible warnings from the hallway speakers intensified. Panic filled the corridors and chambers outside our quarters, and it took several moments for one of us to take action.

  Kren rose and rushed to me. His arms wrapped around my trembling body, and he pulled me to the door. I couldn’t explain why, but I fought him. I refused to go. All of the chaos and fear from outside penetrated our walls, mingling with my own terror.

  The door clicked open as the automatic lock released its hold on the steel post. Without projecting any of my thoughts to my brother, I forced myself to make a difficult decision. If this was our one chance at freedom, we needed to take it.

  We would be powerless no more.

  Kren let go of me, grabbed my hand, and led me into the smoke-filled hallway.

  All of the doors around us were wide open. Other test subjects scattered. Many hesitated, while others didn’t think twice about sprinting through the smoke for a chance of escape.

  Kren’s urgent thoughts penetrated my mind. We need to run, Astid. Now! He pulled me toward the laboratories.

  Some of the others followed us. They were as frightened as we were. If we failed in our attempt, the soldiers would surely kill us. This was the point of no return; no going back now.

  Screams from scientists, soldiers, and other test subjects reverberated all around us as we made our way through the foggy maze. Kren led the way. He swatted an armed soldier aside, sending the man sailing into the air and slamming against the wall, clearing our path.

  At least ten more of our people trailed me; some struggled for air from the thick smoke. The one named Felix pulled Alyssa up from the floor after she stumbled. The closer we got to the labs, the more I desired to search for Mother. It was foolish since I knew she was dead.

  I held onto Kren’s shoulder and expanded my mind out in an effort to get a confirmation of the nightmarish reality. Somehow, I found Dr. B’s mind.

  He cried out in anguish. Intense and conflicting emotions filled his heartbroken conscience. Dr. B held strong feelings for Mother. He couldn’t save her, so he fulfilled a promise he had made to her before she died.

  Dr. B had vowed to save the rest of us.

  Move! Kren yelled mentally, snapping me back into the moment.

  Smoke wrapped around the guards, but they were unaffected due to protection their masks provided. The soldiers formed a blockade at the other end
of the corridor. They pointed their shock sticks straight at us as a warning.

  Kren broke from my grasp and charged toward the soldiers with a rage I had never seen or felt from him before. He slid right under them, out of reach of their electric batons. Kren tripped them up with outstretched arms. One by one, they tumbled to the floor.

  One soldier recovered and steadied himself quickly. He raised his weapon and attacked my brother, but Kren moved too fast. His strength increased with the adrenalin and grief coursing through his veins.

  Kren easily evaded the swing. He grasped the man’s head and snapped his neck without hesitation. Another pair of soldiers pulled themselves up from the floor, but Kren struck them both down with his fists, shattering their jaws.

  I was horrified.

  Let’s go! Kren motioned to me and the others to head for the exit door.

  The heavy door pushed open, and I ran up the spiral stairway. The others continued to pour up the stairs behind me. Kren waited until everyone in our group passed through the doorway before slamming the heavy door behind us and sprinting up the stairs.

  I almost entered the door leading to the next level, but stopped the moment wild barking and growling pierced the air. Since every door in the building was now open, all of the test subjects were free. That included the abomination known as The Dogs.

  The pack of vile creatures tore their way through the corridor below us, mutilating the soldiers in their path.

  Kren sprinted from the rear of the group and clutched my shoulders. The Dogs are right behind us. Keep going!

  I willed my legs to move. After taking a deep breath, I climbed the next set of stairs.

  I counted each level as we ascended. We had gone up five levels to the last door in the stairwell—it led to the main floor…the surface. My legs strengthened with the thought of finally escaping to the outside world.

  The Dogs climbed to at least three floors below us, disfiguring every human they found. I felt each life extinguish as the monsters tore through their flesh with their razor-sharp teeth. Despite the humans having been our captors for all of our lives, I felt pity for them.

  But Kren didn’t. He relished their massacre.

  When I forced my mind to reach through the door, out into the main corridor, I sensed three more armed soldiers at the other end of the hall.

  They will shoot to kill us, Kren warned everyone. Run fast and do not hesitate. They cannot defeat us all.

  Kren pressed his body against the metal door, gathering his strength. He closed his eyes and commanded his body to swell with renewed fury and power.

  We’re almost free.

  Everyone in our group likewise gathered their strength, ready to fight and kill for our freedom. Garn and Avaion steadied themselves right behind us.

  Kren and I shoved the door open and bolted towards the stunned soldiers. The guards scrambled and raised their guns. The corridor filled with the alarm’s incessant screaming and our stampeding footsteps.

  The soldiers fired their rifles, but we dove to the ground. Their bullets streaked harmlessly through the air over our heads.

  We leaped back to our feet, continuing our charge straight for the soldiers. They discharged their weapons repeatedly, and some of the others near me went down. I felt their essence leave their bodies, but I didn’t have time to mourn. The rest of us kept running.

  Kren soared into the air and threw himself into the soldiers, taking out all three of them. I stomped on the head of one of the men, knocking him out without killing him.

  Thick, metal bars began to slide out from the ceiling in an effort to lock down the facility. The guards had regained control of the building’s security systems.

  Panic coursed through my entire body. Was the exit door locked? I threw my weight against it, and it opened without any resistance.

  I was the first to walk through, stumbling out into the sand. I felt each grain slip inside my shoe and rub against my toes. Strange sights and smells assaulted my senses. It took a moment for me to take it all in. The small one, Wanek, careened out the door and landed face-first on the alien ground. He spat the sand out of his mouth before being helped up by Kren.

  Far out into the horizon, a bright light hovered near the edge. Behind us, darkness swallowed up the sky.

  The others followed me, ambling out onto the rough terrain with their eyes and mouths drawn open. They were stunned we had made it out, and they were overwhelmed with the alien world surrounding them.

  Felix projected his thoughts into all of us with joy. We are free!

  We’re not free yet. Kren grabbed my hand. We must keep running.

  Kren was right. There was no time to stop and revel in our first glimpse of the outside world. Ahead of us, I spotted more footprints in the red sand.

  Others have escaped before us, I conveyed to the group. I reached out with my mind, but our predecessors were too far away.

  Including Kren and I, eight of us had survived. We all wondered how many of us had made it out as we tracked the footprints leading away from our prison…away from Level 6.

  I wanted to search the building one last time with my mind to find out if Dr. B had also gotten out, but we were out of range. With Kren leading us away, we ran as fast as our legs could take us, out into the desert…out into the unknown.

  1

  Maverick

  Two more miles until we reach our destination, but I’m wondering if I’m leading us to our deaths. We fall silent as we fly down the highway in the black Lexus. I can actually taste our anxiety, and I hope I don’t develop an ulcer from all of this worrying.

  I don’t have to be a psychic to know what’s going on with Marcus. His fear of Level 6 runs deep. He never wants to see that place again, and I admire his willingness to help me despite his desire to run the other way. The poor guy has been through so much, and he’s afraid to let me down. On the other hand, he’s pissed—really pissed.

  Marcus is here for the same reason I’m here. We want to tear Level 6 down.

  Astid, in the back seat, contemplates how the Black-Eyed Kids could maybe live alongside the rest of us without violence. She’s so tired of the killing, and having to take lives recently has taken its toll on her. Astid had made a personal vow not to ever kill again, and she broke her promise. What chills her to the bone is the fact that a part of her enjoyed taking a life, like satisfying a deep-rooted hunger. She senses me touching her mind, and her mental barrier slams into place and pushes me out. I stop myself from dwelling on it anymore.

  I’m lost. I feel naked not knowing our next step. It’s like driving into a blinding blizzard, hoping to survive long enough to find shelter. Despite my best intentions, I feel unprepared for what lies ahead.

  Mom always had a plan. She’d organize our vacations so far in advance, she even knew where we would eat each meal. She scheduled and budgeted every event. Now that I think about it, the planning stage was one of the best parts of the vacation to her. It made her feel useful and complete. But Mom is gone, and so is my old life.

  Having no plan makes me uneasy, but how could I have devised some kind of strategy for a mission like ours? We could be making mistake after mistake, guessing what’s around the next corner, and the consequences of those mistakes could get us all killed.

  Maybe in my anger and desperation, I’m pushing us all closer to our demise. My doubts linger until I force myself to shove them aside.

  One mile until we reach the exit, and the air becomes dense. I crack the window open and let a sliver of cool air seep into our space. Yellow, brown, and dark green trees line the highway, and traffic seems light here. I’m glad we won’t hit the insane Atlanta traffic as we did going north. The state park is forty miles north of the city.

  Marcus puts his shades on to cover his black eyes, and Astid follows suit. Being in close contact with the two of them has given me an immunity of sorts to the negative vibe they give off to others. I wonder if I’d be oblivious to other BEKs who might be nearby wi
thout the feeling of dread to warn me.

  Great, now I can’t even rely on instinct to keep us safe.

  Our car is the only one that pulls off exit 285, and we make a left toward Red Top Mountain State Park. Following the brown signs makes the map unnecessary at this point. Lake Allatoona surrounds the park, and the place is gorgeous. Mom would have wanted to take a vacation here.

  Marcus taps my shoulder. “They won’t let us through.”

  A rolling white SUV directly in front of us comes to a halt at the guard gate, and we slow to a stop behind it and roll our windows down. Their voices don’t reach our ears, but we hear the conversation clearly through their minds.

  “What’s up, Earl?” the driver asks. “Why’s it barricaded?”

  “Dave, if you’d actually answer the damn phone, you’d have known not to waste your time coming in,” the ranger says. “Park’s closed today. No one allowed through.”

  “Phone died.” Dave holds up his dead cell. “Whatcha mean closed? The park never closes. I’ve been here doggone twenty-two years, and only once did the park close for that ice storm. And even then, they needed maintenance to come on in here anyways.”

  Earl shakes his head. He’s having a hard time lying to his friend about why the park is shut down. He’s not sure how much to tell Dave.

  Dave looks across the bridge and sees a bunch of people in hazmat suits scouring the woods on the other side. “What’s happened here?”