Endurance: Apocalypse (The Endurance Series Book 2) (13 page)

Jonny watched. ‘I’m Tom. Thanks for saving my life,’ the man said with a cheeky grin and nervous chuckle. As the vision dispersed into thin air, Jonny then watched Tom and Danni moving into their home together, hugging, laughing and nose to nose losing themselves in each other’s eyes. Jonny’s vision paused, showing them face-to-face as though it was a picture, until it burned within Jonny’s mind and showed Tom’s body hanging from the ceiling in a sitting room. Danni’s piercing scream rang, repeated on a loop effect in his mind as he watched her run towards Tom’s hanging body.

She untied the rope, releasing Tom to the ground. His legs buckled and his head crashed to the carpet.

He watched Danni pressing on Tom’s chest saying, ‘One, two, three, four.’ Then she opened his mouth and blew to try and resuscitate him. She stopped, and rested her head on his chest; then she began to scream. He watched her face against his still chest whilst her tears soaked his shirt. Her cries sounded husky as though she had strained her neck muscles.

He left the vision and released his grip on her neck. Her eyes rolled up in their sockets. He thought about what he saw. She wasn’t lying.
He,
Tom loved her too. Jonny felt as if he had a connection with her. As Danni squirmed on the ground, trying to crawl away, he touched her cheek and entered another vision.

He saw himself walking along the countryside. As he walked along the muddy path, staring at the blue sky and tree tops, he looked to his left to see Danni smiling at him.

He saw his hand stroke her cheek down to her neck. He pulled her in; they both closed their eyes as they kissed.

The vision blurred and he saw himself wearing a suit. As he turned around, he saw Danni wearing a white dress. Smiling once again, she lifted her hand up, revealing her diamond ring.

Jonny returned to the present. ‘I can see the future?’ Jonny mumbled. He looked up to see Danni on her feet, she was holding a gun. She loaded it and pointed it at Jonny.

‘Danni.’ Jonny said, holding his hand out to her. ‘Danni… I… I know you now. I know we were once close.’ Jonny began to feel an emotion he wasn’t used to. Happiness.

His eyes warmed as a tear dropped from his eye. He stared at Danni’s shaking gun. ‘Put it down, I won’t hurt you.’ Jonny said.

Danni dropped the gun and slumped to the ground, sighing with relief. She let out a small laugh as she pushed herself off the ground. She hesitantly walked over to Jonny who stepped back.

‘Let’s get out.’ Jonny said as he looked across the station.

Danni watched him walk around picking up weapons and explosives.

‘Is this one of Miller’s replicas?’ Danni asked.

‘Yeah, it was going to be used as a group simulation but he wanted me to kill you in here so that he could film it and show it to your family.’

‘And you were happy to do that?’

‘No.’ Jonny said as he set up explosive devices around the building. ‘If we take out these side walls, it should collapse, then we’ll get out.’ Jonny said.

Danni stared into his eyes. ‘What do I call you?’ Danni asked hesitantly. Jonny looked back at her.

‘Nothing yet; right,’ Jonny walked into the middle of the station. ‘Come here.’ Jonny said beckoning Danni over to him.

As she stood a couple of feet from Jonny, he flicked his arm up suddenly, making Danni jump; it was the trigger to detonate the explosives. The explosions went off together, making Jonny’s ears ring, but only for a moment. For Danni, it lasted much longer; she fell to the ground clutching her head wearily. In slow motion, she pulled herself back up onto her feet. She stood in the same spot as she was previously. Jonny felt a sense of relief until he heard something crunch from above. As he looked up above her, he saw rubble falling towards her. The ceiling was caving in.

‘Danni!’ Jonny bellowed as he ran towards her.

The rubble hit the back of her head, knocking her forward. Her neck jerked back like a spring. She stared into Jonny’s eyes, seemingly unaffected. Jonny ran towards her and cocooned himself around her as more rubble fell. It smacked Jonny’s back, causing no pain to him. Danni looked into his eyes as her eyes fluttered. A trickle of blood dribbled from her hairline and down between her eyes. Jonny reached to the back of her head and dabbed his palm onto her head. He saw blood on his hand.

Danni became a dead weight.

15

London Waterloo was engulfed in flames, blood and battered bodies.

Some people that remained crawled along the ground, pushing chunks of rubble out of their path. They were headed towards the exit, but most died before they reached the outside.

Laura Dupry proudly stood on stage as she held Ed, a grey-bearded man, one of Sarah’s group members up in the air with her power.

Ed hopelessly stared at Laura.

‘You don’t seem to be begging me to not kill you like everyone else has so far.’ Laura said.

‘Because I’m not scared of dying, I would be with my wife if I did die.’

‘How cute,’ Laura said sarcastically. ‘Another member down Sarah, your group is very small now isn’t it?’ Laura said, turning to her right to speak to Sarah where Smith held her head tightly, forcing her to watch.

Laura slowly clenched her fingers together, and Ed began to choke.

‘Stop! Please,’ Sarah cried.

Laura snapped her head around to look at Sarah with narrowed eyes. Her lips formed a cruel line as she sneered. She closed her hand into a fist and a crack sounded from Ed’s neck.

Sarah began to weep. ‘Please stop; just let everyone go, kill me.’

‘I will kill you, but no one leaves.’ Laura said.

Smith threw Sarah to the ground. As she fell, she hit the back of her head.

‘That’s everyone locked away.’ Miller shouted as he emerged from the old undergrounds that had been converted into his prison cells and science labs.

‘Where do you want her?’ Smith asked Miller.

‘Lock her away. I want to use her for experiments with the virus.’ Miller laughed.

‘No! No, please Mike.’ Sarah cried.

‘Don’t call me Mike. You were the one who turned against me, you bitch.’

‘Because you turned my son into a monster!’

‘Is that it? Is that what all this is about? I bought him back from the dead; I gave him life! Surely that’s what you would have wanted?’

‘He doesn’t remember anything.’

‘Well, you didn’t exactly try did you?’ Miller said. ‘Take her away.’ Miller watched Smith drag Sarah down the steps, off the stage and across the station towards the stairs down to the underground. Sarah rolled in the blood on the floor as well as into dead bodies.

‘What now?’ Laura asked Miller.

‘We are going to destroy London. We will get the forces to go out on patrol and…’

‘They’re all dead though?’ Laura asked.

‘Not all of them, darling,’ Miller said as he patted Laura’s back. ‘You can go out too; you go and test your abilities. You can control humans somehow. I believe it’s not the human you’re controlling but their bones or the iron in their blood or both. Try controlling objects.’

‘Ok, thank you for this, I mean what I had to do to… my ex, it was grim but it was worth it.’

‘That’s my girl.’ Miller smiled as he escorted Laura to the exit.

16

Jonny cradled Danni in his arms as he walked through the abandoned city streets; the location was barely recognisable. Bodies and rubble from collapsed buildings covered the streets and there were gaping holes in the roads from Sarah’s explosions.

Jonny headed towards Waterloo. He remembered the vision he saw; the one where he held Miller’s head in his hands. He must kill Miller. Miller lied to him about everything.

Jonny grunted and his eyes only looked to Waterloo station. He came to the collapsed footbridge into the station. He jumped up more than ten feet and walked towards the Waterloo entrance.

As he entered, he saw the destruction, bodies on the ground, the blood, the rubble; but no sign of Miller. Jonny made his way down into the underground that appeared untouched but was deadly silent.

Jonny heard screaming from the Northern and the Central Lines. He decided to walk towards the Northern Line and as he did, he saw Sarah being dragged by Smith.

Jonny made his way down the escalator as quietly as he could whilst holding Danni.

He saw Sarah’s feet and legs as they were dragged around a corner, he then heard the slaps of her hands hitting each step as she tried to prevent beating her face against them.

Jonny made a light jog towards the turning and looked at Sarah. Her eyes lit up as she saw Jonny.

Jonny gently laid Danni on the ground and then jumped down the stairs. As he landed at the bottom, Smith turned, quickly releasing Sarah; she moved away from him. Jonny launched himself at Smith knocking him to the ground. Smith lay on the ground, shocked. He didn’t move, allowing Jonny to kneel over him and use his fist to pound Smith’s head. Jonny lost focus as he watched his fists pound Smith’s head into the ground. Smith’s head exploded and still Jonny continued to use all his strength. He lost his senses as he continued to punch Smith’s obliterated head; he heard no sound and remembered nothing from the annihilation of Smith’s head.

‘Tom.’ Jonny heard in the back of his mind but he did not listen, he continued to punch where Smith’s head had been; all that remained was a pool of blood and segments of brain.

‘Tom.’ Sarah said and she touched his shoulder.

Jonny flinched, he turned towards Sarah, lifting his fist up towards her but he quickly controlled himself, dropping his fists to his side.

He looked down to where Smith’s head should have been, momentarily wondering how it happened.

‘Are you ok darling?’ Sarah asked, she sounded concerned.

‘I… I need your help. You’re Sarah right?’

‘Sarah Williams, yes.’

Jonny paused…
Williams? That’s... You’re… My mum...

‘Mum?’ Jonny asked.

‘Oh my god…’ Sarah began to well up. ‘Oh my baby,’ Sarah said and hugged him.

As Sarah hugged Jonny, he entered another vision; the vision of a man holding a baby. He heard Sarah’s voice, then he saw Sarah; she looked the same but without the grey smattered through her hair.

Jonny returned to the present.

‘Do you remember?’ Sarah asked.

‘Unfortunately no, but I know I used to be called Tom Williams.’

‘I will help you remember, I will do all I can to make you remember your past.’

‘Thank you, but right now I need your help. It’s Danni, well she’s…’ Jonny ran back towards Danni’s body. He carried her again and Sarah put her hands over her mouth.

‘She’s dead. I need help.’

Sarah stuttered, finally she said, ‘There’s nothing I can do; she’s been dead for too long, her skin is already cold.

‘No, you help her!’ Jonny snapped at Sarah. ‘Help her!’

‘Right, well I know Miller has a number of labs down here, I’ll see what I can do but there’s no way of bringing her back to…’ Sarah paused, her mood changed from dread to joy as a switch was flicked in her mind. ‘I know what may work but it’s risky.’

‘What?’

‘The virus, when you’re infected, you heal. If I inject it into her and then cure her, she may be able to live a normal life. Come on!’

Sarah led Jonny through the turning paths of the underground. Each wall looked identical, Jonny kept up with Sarah, he didn’t want to get lost; the journey felt like a maze.

‘Quick in here,’ Sarah said as she opened a door onto a small lab.

‘What is…’

‘Miller’s lab.’

Jonny looked around, he saw the bed and remembered being brought back to life. As he remembered Miller, he became angry, he wanted to kill him; he had to kill him.

‘Put her on the bed.’ Sarah said.

Jonny placed Danni on the bed and Sarah tied her down to the bed. They heard a scupper from the corridor where they had just come from. As Jonny looked around, he saw Miller. Jonny instantly clenched his fists.