Final Dawn: Season 1 (The Thrilling Post-Apocalyptic Series) by Mike Kraus Read Free Book Online Page B

as it rushed towards him. And the noise. I’ve never heard anything like it. Some type of... buzzing or bass? Whatever it had been, it had left him relatively unharmed, even though he had been knocked out again. The stress must be getting to me. Two times I’ve blacked out in the last day is three more than I’ve blacked out the rest of my life.
     
    Marcus continued to ponder the strange apparition, going over the few details he remembered in his mind as he slowly drifted off to sleep. Sheltered from the wind and chill outside the bus, he fell into a deep sleep, his body doing its utmost to recover from the day’s events.

5:48 AM, March 27, 2038
    Leonard McComb
     
    Cold, dank air hissed around Leonard as he stood silently on the catwalk contemplating his next move. He had tried to keep track of the time since he saw the mass disappear out of the top of the processing station but had quickly lost track amid the sounds of the underground. While the echo of the diesel generators had long since disappeared, gravity still pulled and pushed liquid through the pipes, causing all manner of noises to emerge around him. Sounds of water flowing, air rushing and the creak of the metal catwalk enveloped him, distracting him from counting the seconds.
     
    Since his headlamp had died, he hadn’t dared move for fear of attracting the attention of the mass that had disappeared. While it had retreated once he saw it, the fact that its entry into the processing station’s control room coincided precisely with the failure of the generators filled him with dread. As his legs began to ache from standing for so long, though, he began to rationalize his fears, convincing himself to move forward. What else am I going to do, stand here for the rest of my life?
     
    While the processing station was pitch black, Leonard knew its general layout and that the door to the control room was just a few feet away. He began to shuffle forward, keeping the sounds of his boots on the metal to a minimum as he inched towards the stairs he knew were there. His toe softly impacted with the metal of the first stair and he flinched, half-expecting the mass to reappear. When nothing but the sounds of the station continued, he began to slowly climb the stairs, wincing with every creak and groan.
     
    Leonard held his hands out in front of him as he approached the top of the stairs. He took the steps even slower now, not wanting to misjudge where he was stepping and fall backwards. As he finally approached the top of the stairs, he reached for the control room door and his hand fell upon the cold steel of the door handle. Taking a breath, he pushed down on the handle and swung the door inwards, one hand out in front of him as he walked into the control room.
     
    While this processing station was newer than most that had been built in the underground system, it still conformed to certain safety standards. One of these standards was the mandatory requirement that there be battery-powered backup lights inside the control room and a small stash of emergency flashlights as well, in case of a total system failure. Leonard groped along the wall, searching until he felt what he was looking for. He grabbed the large metal handle with both hands and took a deep breath, tugging it downwards.
     
    A bright spark near his hands made his eyes shut involuntarily and a soft beeping sound came from speakers in the ceiling as several emergency lights inside the control room powered on, bathing the room in red. Leonard blinked several times, adjusting his vision to the light, thankful that the newer stations were going with red emergency lights instead of white ones. Red lights interfered with night vision less than standard white lights did and made it easier and faster for his eyes to adjust to. Leonard shrugged his shoulder pack off and set it on the floor, looking around at the control room.
     
    The room was in surprisingly good shape compared to what he had expected. There