V Plague (Book 17): Abaddon Read online

  ABADDON

  V Plague Book Seventeen

  DIRK PATTON

  Text Copyright © 2018 by Dirk Patton

  Copyright © 2018 by Dirk Patton

  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 copyright holder or publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a critical book review.

  Published by Reaper Ranch Press LLC

  PO Box 856

  Gilmer, TX 75644-0856

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing, 2018

  ISBN-13: 978-1724869555

  ISBN-10: 1724869558

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, brands, 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, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Also by Dirk Patton

  Author’s Note

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  16

  17

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  36

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  63

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  69

  Also by Dirk Patton

  The V Plague Series

  Unleashed: V Plague Book 1

  Crucifixion: V Plague Book 2

  Rolling Thunder: V Plague Book 3

  Red Hammer: V Plague Book 4

  Transmission: V Plague Book 5

  Rules Of Engagement: A John Chase Short Story

  Days Of Perdition: V Plague Book 6

  Indestructible: V Plague Book 7

  Recovery: V Plague Book 8

  Precipice: V Plague Book 9

  Anvil: V Plague Book 10

  Merciless: V Plague Book 11

  Fulcrum: V Plague Book 12

  Hunter’s Rain: A John Chase Novella

  Exodus: V Plague Book 13

  Scourge: V Plague Book 14

  Fractured: V Plague Book 15

  Brimstone: V Plague Book 16

  Abaddon: V Plague Book 17

  The 36 Series

  36: A Novel

  The Void: A 36 Novel

  Other Titles

  Coldfall

  Author’s Note

  Thank you for purchasing Abaddon, Book 17 in the V Plague series. If you haven’t read the first sixteen books, you need to stop reading now and pick them up, otherwise you will be utterly lost as this book is intended to continue the story in a serialized format. I intentionally did nothing to explain comments and events that reference books 1 through 16. Regardless, you have my heartfelt thanks for reading my work and I hope you’re enjoying the adventure as much as I am. As always, a good review on Amazon is greatly appreciated.

  You can always correspond with me via email at [email protected] and find me on the internet at www.dirkpatton.com and follow me on Twitter @DirkPatton and if you’re on Facebook, please like my page at www.facebook.com/FearThePlague .

  Thanks again for reading!

  Dirk Patton

  2018

  Oh, a storm is threat'ning

  My very life today

  If I don't get some shelter

  Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away

  War, children, it's just a shot away

  Ooh, see the fire is sweepin'

  Our very street today

  Burns like a red coal carpet

  Mad bull lost its way

  Gimme Shelter ― The Rolling Stones

  1

  I woke up when a giant paw slapped against the side of my face. Not really awake, mind you, but up out of the serenity of a deep sleep long enough to mumble something and bat it away. Before I could drift back into a dreamless slumber, here it was again. Then it started kicking.

  “Goddamn it, Dog,” I mumbled, flailing around until I found his furry hip and gave it a shove.

  There was a grunt of annoyance, but it moved him far enough that his nails were no longer going up my nose. Sighing, I rolled over and came face to face with Mavis. She was watching me with those huge, dark eyes of hers. I blinked in surprise, not at all sure where the hell I was.

  “Hi,” she said, sounding wide awake and chipper.

  I grunted something unintelligible and tried to go back to sleep. But even with my eyes closed, I knew she was still watching me. I could feel the weight of her stare and before long I gave in to the inevitable and opened mine.

  “You’ve been asleep for a really long time,” she said when she saw me looking at her.

  “I’m old, remember? I need my rest.”

  Even on the best of days, I’m not a morning person. Personally, I have this theory that every murder that’s been committed in the history of mankind can be traced back to someone being too damn perky around a non-morning person before they’ve had their coffee.

  “That’s what Rachel said, too.”

  “What?” I asked, unprepared for the comment.

  Mavis kept a straight face for almost five seconds before she could no longer contain the giggles. Her laughter woke Dog and he shifted around, putting his chin on my shoulder and staring at the girl.

  “You’re not funny,” I grumbled, which only made her giggle harder.

  Slowly looking around, I recognized the small building at Lucas’s compound that Rachel and I had used. I was near the edge of the bed, Dog having confiscated the majority of the large mattress. Mavis was squeezed onto a tiny sliver, but then she’s not very big.

  “How long have I been asleep?” I asked, realizing that the gallons of infected blood that had coated me had been washed off and I was wearing a clean pair of shorts.

  “I dunno,” Mavis said, shrugging.

  I shook my head, trying to… what was the last thing I remembered? Rescuing Mavis and battling the females. Rachel showing up with Lucas and the girl from Sydney. I couldn’t come up with her name at the moment. We’d all squeezed into Lucas’s plane and I had a vague memory of landing at his place in the dark. After that, an indistinct blur until waking up just now.

  The door opened with a creak of dry hinges, light the intensity of a blast furnace silhouetting Rachel.

  “Shut the damn door,” I grumbled, raising a hand to cover my eyes.

  “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” Rachel said, but did as I asked before turning to Mavis. “Thought I told you not to wake him up.”

  “I didn’t. Wasn’t making a sound,” Mavis said innocently.

  “It was the fur ball
,” I said, scratching Dog’s ear.

  He rolled his head to the side and closed his eyes. Figures. Kick me in the face and what does he get? An ear scratch and another nap.

  “Mavis, I need to talk to John. Can you see if Ziggy could use some help with dinner?”

  “Okay,” she said, bouncing off the bed without hesitation. “Come on, Fur Face!”

  Dog immediately leapt to his feet and charged across me, managing to step on a very sensitive area as he launched himself off the side of the bed in his quest to beat Mavis to the door. With a giggle, she opened it and he was gone like a shot. With a smile, Rachel closed it behind them before coming to lie down beside me.

  “What’s up?” I asked as she snuggled in and pillowed her head on my chest.

  “She’s completely smitten with you,” she said, referring to Mavis.

  “I’m kind of fond of her, too. We’ve been through a lot.”

  “Seems like a good kid,” she said, and I could tell she was delaying discussing what was really on her mind.

  “She is. Had it pretty rough and it’s kind of amazing her head is screwed on as straight as it is.”

  We were quiet for a while and I enjoyed simply lying there with her.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked, breaking the silence.

  “Fine. Why?”

  “You’ve only been asleep for six hours. Actually, slightly less. After what you’ve been through, I expected you to be out for at least a day, if not more.”

  I thought about that for a few moments, not sure what to think or how to respond.

  “I’m worried about you,” Rachel continued when I remained quiet. “We have no way of knowing what the virus has done to you. Is doing to you.”

  “Sure you want to be this close to me, then?” I asked, more petulantly than I intended.

  “I’m not joking,” she said, sitting up and looking down at me.

  “Look. This has to be the virus or the nerve agent reacting with the vaccine…” I stopped speaking when Rachel shook her head.

  “We don’t know what it is. I talked to Joe Revard a couple of hours ago and he has several theories, but none of them can be tested without you there. In his lab.”

  “That’s not going to happen,” I said emphatically. “Got no interest in being Joe’s lab rat. What’s the big deal, anyway? Whatever it is, it cured my eye. I can see again!”

  Rachel watched me for a few beats, working through what to say in her head before she spoke.

  “John…” she paused and sighed softly. “Okay. Yes, it repaired the damage to your optic nerve. That’s wonderful and I couldn’t be happier. But it also gave you the strength to take on and defeat ninety-seven females with nothing but your bare hands and a knife.”

  “Ninety-seven?”

  “Lucas counted,” she said with a shrug.

  “Really? He did a body count?”

  “We were all a bit freaked out and it was just part of his way of dealing with the circumstances.”

  “And you’re saying it’s a bad thing I was able to do that?”

  “No, that’s not what I’m saying!” Frustration crept into her voice. “I’m trying to tell you that something has effected a pronounced change in your physiology. Damaged nerves that should have never healed are now healthy. Your strength must be off the charts to have won that battle. Nothing could stop you. What else has changed that I don’t know about?”

  I lay there looking up at her, debating on whether or not to tell the truth. To tell her I could hear her heart beating if I listened for it. That I could understand a conversation Ziggy and Mavis were having somewhere outside. That there was a small animal of some sort rubbing along the base of the back wall of the building we were in. That there was something different about her that I could scent.

  “Nothing much,” I finally said. “Hearing and sense of smell seem to be enhanced. Again, nothing bad. All advantages.”

  Rachel’s eyes narrowed as she considered my answer.

  “Okay,” I said. “There’s no difference between what’s happened to me and what happened to Nicole. No one’s freaking out about her, so why are you so worried about me?”

  “Because it happened to her immediately upon exposure, not almost a year later! And we may not be freaking out, but we still don’t know how or why it occurred.”

  We looked at each other for a bit. The worry in Rachel’s eyes was clear to see, but there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. I didn’t make this happen and there wasn’t any way I could undo it, even if I wanted to. Which, upon reflection, I didn’t.

  I felt terrific. Not a sore muscle in my body. No aching or stiff joints. It was almost like being eighteen again. What the hell was so bad about that?

  Reaching up, I took Rachel’s hand and gently pulled until she was once again snuggled against me. We held each other without saying anything for several minutes, then my hands began to explore.

  “What are you doing?” she asked with a giggle.

  “If you don’t know, I must not be doing it right,” I said, digging my fingers into her ribs and rolling on top of her. She squealed a laugh before I silenced her with a deep kiss.

  An hour later, Rachel and I sat under the spreading branches of the lone tree that provided shade in Lucas’s yard. One of the side effects of whatever had happened to me was a strong sensitivity to sunlight. Without sunglasses, it was all I could do to force my eyes open enough to see. Lucas had graciously offered his pair of polarized shades which did the trick.

  “You look like a bald Terminator with those on,” he said, passing cold cans of beer to each of us before taking a seat in the shade.

  “I was thinking a white Stevie Wonder,” Rachel chimed in.

  I looked down at the beer in my hand and shook my head. Let them have their fun. All things considered, I was in a great mood. We were all alive, the food Ziggy had on the grill smelled marvelous and Rachel was still glowing from our love making. Across the yard on a small patch of grass, Dog was stretched out, panting in the heat of the late afternoon. Mavis lay with her head pillowed on his side, apparently taking a nap. Yep, things were better than they’d been in a while.

  “So, what’s next, mate?” Lucas asked after draining most of his can.

  “Dinner,” I said, being intentionally obtuse.

  “Asshole,” he mumbled with a grin then belched loudly enough to draw a reproachful look from Ziggy.

  “That’s what I’ve always admired about you Aussies,” I said. “Class acts, all the way.”

  “This from a bloody Yank?” Lucas roared with a shit-eating grin on his face.

  “What’s going on there?” Rachel asked, interrupting us before we could really get started.

  “What?”

  We looked in the direction she nodded to see Smyth and Natalie having an apparently intimate conversation. He was smiling like an idiot and she was twirling a few strands of hair with her finger and smiling back.

  “Oh. That,” Lucas said, belching again. “Smyth is smitten. And from the body language it seems it’s mutual.”

  “He know what she did for a living?” Ziggy asked, having walked over when she noticed where we were looking.

  “Not from me. Maybe she’s told him, but don’t think it would matter. None of us are who we were before this all started.”

  “You have no idea,” Rachel said so softly I think I’m the only one that heard her.

  Reaching across, I took her hand and squeezed it gently. She smiled and squeezed back.

  2

  The sun finally set as we were eating dinner. There were a lot less plates than the last time we gathered around the giant outdoor table. I profoundly missed Nitro, dealing with his absence in my own, quiet way. Unfortunately, I’ve grown too accustomed to losing people I care about.

  Even though it was dark, I still wore the shades. Not that I needed them, but it had quickly become apparent that my red eyes made people uncomfortable. I’ve never been one to care what any
one thought of my appearance, but this was different. They had a right to be nervous around someone who looked like an infected.

  Lucas and I retired to the chairs under the tree as everyone else helped Ziggy with the cleanup. I didn’t see Rachel or Mavis but after a few seconds of listening I could hear both of them inside Lucas’s house. They were chattering brightly as they washed dishes. Dog had stuck with me and now stretched out in the dirt at my feet, belly full of all the handouts he’d successfully begged.

  “Got something for you,” Lucas said.

  Something came sailing at me and I snatched it out of the air. Turning it over in my hand I grinned and broke the cellophane wrapper.

  “I take back anything disparaging I may have ever said about you!” I grinned as I opened the pack of cigarettes. It had been a long time since I’d had one, but the old desire for a smoke after dinner was just as strong as it had ever been. “Where’d you find these?”

  “Smyth got them while he was scrounging in Coober Pedy. Place is almost empty, now. People fleeing the infected. Or just fleeing in panic.”

  I lit up and the first drag was pure heaven. For a few minutes we sat quietly, watching the post-dinner cleanup. I didn’t say anything, but I could also see a pack of dingoes on a ridge in the distance. Normally I’d have only been able to spot them with the use of thermal or night vision, but even with the sunglasses on they were clear to my enhanced vision.

  “You avoided my question earlier,” Lucas said, breaking the companionable silence.

  “Which one was that?”

  “What’s next?”

  I shrugged and lit a fresh cigarette from the butt of the first.

  “Guess it’s time to start building a house. Now that Mavis is with us, that little two room shack we’re using is kind of cramped.”

  Lucas didn’t say anything and after a minute I lowered the shades onto my nose and peered at him over the top.

  “Unless you’ve had second thoughts about letting us stay here.”

  “Pffffttt.” He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. “You’re welcome for as long as you want. You know that. Just expected you to be chomping at the bit to get back to America.”