Into the Dark (Book 8): The Next World Read online

  The Next World

  Ryan Casey

  Higher Bank Books

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  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

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  Chapter One

  Three years is a long time at the end of the world.

  It started with the power. What could only be an EMP surge, devastating the infrastructure of the nation. Communications fried. Engines stalling to a halt. Social media and news and all those frameworks of living that people relied on, shattered.

  But even then, it’s not just as simple as that. Entire financial institutions collapsed in a second. Without an outlet for respect and communication, governments lost their control. In a twisted kind of way, power arrived in the hands of the people for the first true time in generations.

  Only it’s a real self-sufficient kind of power.

  A power which leaves people scrambling for the last of the supplies.

  A power which leaves people selfish. Desperate to cling to whatever short kind of life they’ve got left.

  A power which forces people to live like their ancestors.

  But it’s not as easy as their ancestors. Not to say that living like the people during the agricultural revolution era is easy—quite the opposite, in fact. The agricultural revolution might be regarded as a turning point in humanity’s story, but it was notorious for being one of the most taxing periods in history.

  But imagine a world where you’ve already fallen into luxury. Imagine a world where you don’t have to hunt your own food. You don’t even have to think of meat as an animal that has been slaughtered then skinned then carefully packaged in a manner that leaves contamination or infection a rare possibility.

  Imagine a world where you don’t have to even leave your house to get your food or your supplies, because online delivery is just a click away.

  Imagine a world where socialising in person is optional; where some people have better online social lives than those who live more in the real world.

  This is the world prior to 2018.

  This is the world prior to the EMP.

  Then imagine those comforts are taken away from you.

  Imagine the rug being pulled from under your feet, leaving you lost, floundering, like a fish out of water.

  And maybe for a while you’ll find a way to open your gills. Maybe for a while, someone will splash water on you, make you feel comfortable, just for a moment.

  But that moment will pass, and you will end up stranded again. At square one, all over again.

  Because nobody will be there to hold your hand.

  Nobody will be there to tell you everything is okay.

  Nobody will be there to tell you not to worry. To find your food for you. To filter your water for you. To learn to hunt for you.

  You find the most comfortable way to flounder along, or you die.

  It really is as simple as that.

  And most people die.

  Most people fall.

  Most people, even if they think they are adapting to the new world—even if they think they are the most prepared survivalists ever to have lived—will fall eventually.

  Because there is no predicting what might be waiting around the corner.

  There is no knowing if someone around the corner wants to live more than you. If they’re willing to take that extra dark step into a morally bankrupt world before you’re willing to.

  The very nature of the world is unpredictable.

  But three years is a long time.

  Most people thought some kind of power would be in place by now. Most people thought that governments from other countries might just have drifted in and saved the day, so to speak.

  But this was different. Foreign armies had arrived. Peacekeepers had arrived. They’d arrived, and they’d gone again, and they’d fallen into the clutches of this world just like everyone else.

  And besides. It was only when they arrived that the true global scale of an ongoing catastrophe reared its head.

  That it became blatantly clear that the whole world was waiting for nothing.

  Because there was nothing.

  And sure. There were areas of false hope. There were charlatans pretending to be saints. There were pockets of power; locations acting as extraction points.

  And maybe there really was an extraction point out there, somewhere. Maybe there really was a hidden corner of the world that was working its hardest to welcome people out of their hell.

  But there was no time to wait around.

  Stand still, and you fell.

  It wasn’t about waiting for a new world to come along anymore.

  It was about building that new world yourselves.

  There are a few pockets of luck hidden in this world. Special places.

  Places like the one Mike Callaghan found.

  A rare place powered by hydroelectricity.

  Hydroelectricity that provides light.

  That provides warmth.

  But even without all of those comforts… even without the electricity, a place of hope.

  A place where crops were being cultivated. Where animals were being farmed. A place that accepted electricity as a bonus but didn’t lean on it. Didn’t rely on it.

  Because it would be a dangerous thing for the world to fall back on electricity once again.

  It would be a dangerous thing to lean on.

  It could never be taken for granted. Never again.

  It was a hard year. A hard year of survival. A hard year of hope, then hopes shattered. A hard year of adapting, then re-adapting.

  A year of loss. So much loss.

  But they’d made it through that year, and they’d found themselves in the Wright Green hospital just south of Lancaster.

  They’d made it through the winter.

  Then the summer.

  Then another winter.

  And then before they knew it, they’d been here for two years.

  And it hadn’t been easy. There had been times of discomfort. There had been times of struggle. There had been
times of conflict.

  But they were still here.

  Everything was still here.

  But everything had a lifespan.

  Nothing could be taken for granted.

  You could never rest on your laurels. Ever.

  This is the story of a new world built from the ashes of an old world.

  This is a story of a new beginning.

  A story of hope.

  This is the story of survival.

  This is a story of—

  He saw it.

  And he could only freeze and watch.

  He wasn’t sure what happened next.

  He wasn’t sure of anything as everything blurred around him.

  As he fought past the people flying to him, trying to restrain him.

  As he threw himself towards the alleyway to his right.

  He only knew one thing.

  One thing for certain.

  One dark truth he’d tried to resist all along.

  But he could only hold his nerve and run, as everything fell apart.

  Chapter Two

  “Are you sure about this, Mike?”

  “Harrison, how many times do I have to tell you I’m sure about this?”

  “Once more. If that’s okay.”

  “I’m sure about this. Okay? Happy now?”

  “Not particularly. Another time would make a real difference.”

  “I’m not telling you I’m sure about this again.”

  “Then I’m not—”

  “Quit pissing around. It’s simple. I’ve done it a million times already, and you’ll manage to do it too. You go up to the horse. You wrap the rope here around its neck. You let it run away, let it have some space. Then you reel it in, gradually. Tame it. Get it used to your presence. Before you know it… she’ll be one of ours.”

  Harrison sighed as he stood there, breath frosting in the chilly autumn sun. He was a strange lad, in his early twenties. Quite lanky, very skinny, with a strange twitch to his left eye that he couldn’t seem to snap out of, especially when he was nervous. He’d been with the Hospital group for a good three months, now.

  Mike remembered the day he’d first found him when he was on a scouting mission. Holed up in some awful camp in an old abandoned village. Surviving on a ridiculously vast supply of beef jerky for a good while, not to mention fruit and water from the nearby woods.

  He’d been with a couple of friends, both of whom had made it too, both of whom had been taken in by Mike’s group.

  But as much as Mike rolled his eyes at Harrison sometimes… he had to admit he liked the guy. He was cautious, but he showed a willingness to get involved; a willingness to get his hands dirty.

  He’d been through a lot. Survived a lot on his own out there. He’d done things he was no doubt not proud of. Things that would stick with him for the rest of his life.

  Everything about him was pretty solid.

  Except, it seemed, he had a real irrational phobia of horses.

  They were stood just outside an old abandoned farm. It was definitely abandoned. Mike had been keeping his eyes on it for a few days.

  The horse looked like it had been surviving on dried grass and hay for quite some time. He wondered what had happened to the farmer. Whether he’d just left this place. Or whether he’d died at home after all.

  He’d go in at some point. Examine the house. It was important to know your surroundings. It was important to know who was and wasn’t around. Important to know what supplies were available, too.

  But right now, their focus was on the horse.

  Horses were a vital part of the new ecosystem. Working cars were sparse. Besides, they were noisy, and they were clunky. Mike didn’t miss them, in all truth.

  But a horse and a cart… that was a new way of travel. A tried and tested method throughout history.

  There were a couple of speed bumps, of course. It meant a lot of road clearing of cars that were still abandoned there, or roads that had fallen victim to the elements.

  But the main problem was training the horses. Getting them used to the new system, the new way of doing things.

  Some horses were more co-operative than others.

  Mike put his hand on Harrison’s back. Harrison flinched when he felt it, turned around right away as if some sneaky horse monster had crept up on him. “What’re you afraid of?”

  “I’m not afraid.”

  “You’re quite obviously afraid.”

  “Okay. Okay. When I was a kid. I got bit by one.”

  Mike frowned. “You got bit by one?”

  “See. I knew you’d react like that.”

  “No. I’m not reacting like anything.”

  “You’re judging me.”

  Mike tried to stifle his laugh. “Judging you? Not at all. Bit by a horse. Happens all the time. Common problem.”

  “Shut up.”

  Mike laughed, then. He saw Harrison blushing, saw his left eyelid twitching away. But as they stood there in the sun, Mike found himself feeling… well, grateful. Grateful for the world he had now. Grateful for the home he had to go back to. Grateful for the world that he’d been a part of building over the last two years.

  Not a world he’d spearheaded the building of. His leadership days were over. They were well behind him.

  He was happy to be a part of the system, now. Happy to be a cog in the grander scheme of things.

  He’d done leadership. He’d done it too many times.

  And he’d seen how costly his error of judgements had been along the way.

  He didn’t want any of the responsibilities of leadership on his conscience. Not again.

  Harrison took a few strained, forced breaths. He held the rope in his shaking hand. “Okay,” he said. “I’ll do it. I’ll go get it.”

  “Good man,” Mike said, slapping his back even harder. “But Harrison?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Watch yourself. I wouldn’t want to see you get bit. Zombie horses are a bitch.”

  Harrison tutted and shook his head.

  Then, he walked over towards the horse.

  As he got closer to it, Mike found himself smiling. Smiling at how shifty Harrison grew when the horse turned around and looked at him. Smiling at how he never looked the horse in the eyes, not closely. He wished Holly was here with him right now. He’d have so much to share with her. So much to tell her.

  He wished so many people were here with him right now.

  “Go on,” Mike called, as Harrison got closer. “Imagine you’re showing off to Gina. Trying to impress her.”

  Harrison turned around. Cheeks flushed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Come off it, kiddo. Everyone can see you two are in love with each other. You’re practically obsessed with the girl.”

  “I’m not obsessed—”

  “Sure. You’re totally calm around her. That’s why you stutter around her.”

  “I d-d-don’t stutter.”

  “You d-d-don’t?”

  Harrison opened his mouth as if he was going to say something else.

  And then he just turned around and carried on walking.

  He got within a few steps of the horse. Mike checked the rope that was tied around the tree. He knew what was likely. Harrison would get the rope around the horse’s neck and then he’d open the gate and the horse would run off.

  But in time, they’d build the trust of the horse.

  In time, they’d have it by their side, rope free from its neck.

  And she could be Harrison’s first horse.

  He saw Harrison lift the rope up to the nervous brown horse’s neck.

  He saw him look away, then throw the rope around it.

  And then he saw Harrison turn back to him, smile on his face.

  “I did it!” he shouted, delight in his voice. “I—I got it, Mike!”

  Mike went to stick his thumb in the air.

  But he’d already seen what was coming before it happened.

  The hors
e reaching down.

  Wrapping its teeth around Harrison’s shoulder.

  The delight on Harrison’s face turning to fear.

  “Ow!” he screamed. “It bit me. It—it frigging bit me!”

  And Mike couldn’t control himself.

  Mike couldn’t contain his emotions. Not for any longer.

  He laughed. Fell into hysterics. Planted his hands on his knees and lost his shit.

  “It’s not funny!” Harrison screamed as he sprinted his way back, shirt torn by the horse. “It’s not bloody funny!”

  But he was laughing now, too.

  Both of them were laughing as the horse trotted off into the distance, tied around the neck by this rope.

  Because this was the world they were in, now.

  This was the reality they lived in.

  And Mike wouldn’t trade it for anything.

  Chapter Three

  When Mike got back to the hospital, he was still laughing.

  He was on the rooftop of one of the hospital buildings. The sun was starting to set as autumn rapidly progressed. Back in the day, this would have been when the clocks went back, giving you a luxurious extra hour in bed.

  But that wasn’t so important anymore. It wasn’t so relevant.

  They got up with the sun, and they went to bed when all the work was done.

  The hospital roof gave a beautiful view of their surroundings. There were the fields, which were filled with crops like tomato plants, fields of potatoes. All kinds of fruit and veg lying ahead of them.