Eden's Exodus (Plague Wars Series Book 3)

  Table of 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

  Epilogue

  Eden’s Exodus

  A Plague Wars Novel

  By

  David VanDyke and Ryan King

  THREE KINGS PUBLISHING

  Copyright © 2015 by David VanDyke and Ryan King. All rights reserved. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, except for brief excerpts for the purpose of review or quotation, without permission in writing from the author.

  Books by David VanDyke

  Plague Wars Series

  The Eden Plague

  Reaper's Run

  Skull's Shadows

  Eden's Exodus

  The Demon Plagues

  The Reaper Plague

  The Orion Plague

  Cyborg Strike

  Comes The Destroyer

  Stellar Conquest series

  A direct follow-on spinoff to Plague Wars

  First Conquest

  Desolator

  Tactics of Conquest

  Conquest of Earth

  Conquest and Empire

  Star Force series

  Outcast: Book 10

  Exile: Book 11

  California Corwin P.I. Mystery series

  Loose Ends: Book 1

  In A Bind: Book 2

  Other Works

  Unfettered

  Low Justice

  Click the links to find them on Amazon. For more information visit www.davidvandykeauthor.com

  Books by Ryan King

  Ryan King's Land of Tomorrow series:

  Glimmer of Hope

  Children of Wrath

  Paths of Righteousness

  See more of Ryan King's books at: Ryan King's Amazon Author Page

  Cover by Jun Ares

  Formatting by LiberWriter

  Chapter 1

  Alan “Skull” Denham didn’t really enjoy running, but like so many things in his life he saw it as a means to an end. It was important to him that he remained fit and in excellent physical condition so that he could do his work.

  That there hadn’t been any work for him for several months was of no concern to him. His kind of jobs always came around.

  Running on the beach was especially difficult, but Skull did it anyway. The packed sand served to strengthen his feet while giving his joints much less of a pounding.

  Five days a week he ran six miles after going for a one-mile swim in the warm water off the southeast tip of Cuba. The current was strong there, and Skull used the challenging swim to keep his mind and body sharp.

  Today, Skull let his mind drift and relax as his body strained. The beautiful white sands and clear blue water soothed him. He nodded to Julio as the fisherman washed out his nets beside a small white boat. Skull would be buying fresh catch from the old man later.

  The Cuban’s wife Marcella waved to him, as she did every morning. The old woman picked up shells on the shore for some purpose Skull could not imagine, but it seemed to be her routine, a comforting ritual that made her happy.

  I can understand that, Skull thought. I’m a creature of habit myself.

  He was almost to his turn-around point when he saw someone walking toward him in the distance, a woman with a good figure and long blonde hair blowing in the wind. Skull didn’t know any blondes on the island, yet he found something familiar about her.

  Skull kept running. He didn’t like unknowns. This was something new and out of place. This part of Cuba didn’t attract tourists and lay far from any sizable habitation. A blonde in a bikini walking here was as unlikely as coming upon a beachside acupuncture stand.

  By the time he reached a quarter mile distance, Skull knew who the woman was. He resisted the urge to stop and turn around to avoid the meeting. Keeping his pace steady, he ran toward her.

  “Why hello, Cassandra,” Skull said, slowing to a walk and stopping in front of her.

  Cassandra Johnstone stopped and smiled at him. “You look good, Alan.”

  “So do you,” he said, meaning it, looking her up and down with pointed relish. “Smart, fine woman like you won’t be on the market long, I reckon.”

  “Is that stuff for real, or are you just trying to knock me off balance?”

  “Maybe I should ask you the same thing about you and your bikini. You could have worn something less distracting, but you didn’t.”

  “Touché.”

  Skull tilted his head slightly. “Zeke wouldn’t mind, you know. He’s been gone a while now. As a matter of fact, he’d probably encourage it.”

  “You don’t have to tell me what my dead husband would or would not mind,” she said. Her voice remained even, but there was a sharp glint in her eye. “Besides, do you really want to risk getting infected?”

  “’Fraid not.”

  “Then quit jerking my chain.”

  Skull showed his teeth. “It’s better than being bored.”

  “I might be able to help you out with that, at least.”

  “Fair enough,” said Skull, shrugging. He pointed back the way he had come. “Let’s walk a little. Don’t want to cramp up, you know.”

  They strolled in silence for several minutes. Skull took satisfaction in knowing he had thrown Cassandra off her game. She’d obviously come here to get something from him. As his best friend’s widow, he had a soft spot in his heart for the spymistress, but knew she could be manipulative and cold as ice when the need arose. She hadn’t been chosen as the CIA’s Moscow Chief of Station for nothing, back before…before Infection Day.

  “It’s great to see you, Cassandra,” Skull eventually said with a hint of sarcasm, “but we both know this isn’t a social call, so why don’t you go ahead and spill it. No need to beat around the bush. We’ve known each other too long for that.”

  “We have known each other a long time,” she said, not looking at him.

  Skull frowned at her silence. “I told Spooky the last time we spoke that I wasn’t interested in joining his reindeer games. It’s cheap of him to send you.”

  “No one sent me. I’ve come on my own.”

  “Not even Markis?” Skull scoffed, spitting out a sound of derision. “One of them needs something and knows that I’ll tell them to piss off. That’s why you’re here.”

  She stopped walking and turned to face him. “You’re saying you wouldn’t tell me to piss off? Why is that, Alan?”

  He looked away. “You know damn well why.”

  Cassandra reached out and laid a hand on his shoulder. “You don’t owe me anything, Alan. Not for Z
eke and certainly not for me personally. Nothing that has happened is your fault. You don’t have to feel sorry for me or try to protect me or be my guardian angel.”

  Skull stepped back from her, shrugging the hand off. “That’s a relief,” he said with more bitterness than he intended. “Now that I feel comfortable telling you to go to hell, maybe you should tell me what you want before I do just that.”

  She smiled slightly and nodded. “Ten thousand or more lightly armed Edens are trapped in southern Ethiopia. Their own government’s army has surrounded them on Mega Mountain – yes, that’s its real name – after they fled from the internment camp and won’t let them depart. Food and supplies have been cut off and they can’t last much longer. We’ve also gotten intelligence that indicates the North African Islamic Caliphate is pushing the Ethiopian government to massacre them all quickly and quietly.”

  “Wouldn’t be hard,” said Skull. “They’re all gathered together in a remote location. Either keep them in one place until they starve, or pound them with mortars until they surrender.”

  “And then murder them.” Cassandra’s eyes narrowed. “They’ve asked for our help, and I intend to find a way to get those people out before they’re all slaughtered.”

  Skull picked up a shell from the beach before throwing it out toward the ocean to skip on the water. “That is all very, very distressing, but why can’t Spooky and his crew run this little rescue mission?”

  “He’s got his hands full in Colombia,” she said. “Besides, you’ve worked in Ethiopia and know the Oramia Region. You helped train their troops. You’re perfect.”

  He stared at her hard for a few seconds before laughing. “You know what I think? I think you’ve come to me because Spooky isn’t fully behind this, and you can’t get Markis to force the little sneak’s hand. I think you trust me more than Spooky. Looks like this whole Free Communities paradise commune love fest reality doesn’t match up to the claims on the sales brochures.”

  “I never tried to sell anyone paradise, Alan. That’s Markis’ role. Mine is to keep him realistic. I’m well aware the world hasn’t changed all that much just because there’s a virus that improves people. Be that as it may,” said Cassandra levelly, “we can’t turn a blind eye. There are thousands of children there, Alan.”

  “Correction,” he said, “you can’t turn a blind eye. As far as slaughtered innocents, I hate to break it to you, but they’re everywhere, in the thousands. In the millions. You can’t save them all.”

  “No,” she answered, “but we can save these.”

  “Why?”

  “Because they asked for our help, that’s why.”

  “Not enough.”

  “Okay then. Because in doing so, we demonstrate our commitment to helping Edens, which will attract more to our cause. Hearts and minds, Alan. You used to know what that meant.”

  Skull growled, “Hearts and minds were Zeke’s thing; all that softhearted Green Beret crap. I never wore the beanie. My version of changing people’s minds was killing anyone stupid enough to stand up to the Corps.”

  “Yet somehow he became your friend. Maybe your only one, huh?”

  Skull laughed bitterly. “Zeke did have the knack for getting people to follow him. And, he always had my back. He was loyal. Hell, if he’d lived instead of Markis, I’d be right there by his side. But that didn’t happen. Shit is what it is.”

  “If he was here, he’d want you to do this.”

  “You used to be more subtle.”

  “You used to have a heart.”

  “That died with Zeke.”

  Cassandra stepped toward Skull again, taking his right hand in both of hers, refusing to let him pull away. “That’s bullshit and you know it. I saw how you looked at my children and at me after Zeke was gone. You’re a good man, Alan, even with the doom that haunts you. Rescuing these people will push the darkness back for a while. That’s what he would have wanted.”

  Skull stared down at Cassandra’s hands. “You play dirty, you know that?”

  “Only in a good cause. Please, Alan. Forget DJ. Forget Spooky. Do it for the children you’ll save.”

  “No.” Skull reached out his left hand to brush her cheek. “If I do it, I’ll do it for Zeke…and for you.”

  Cassandra smiled and released her grip, but remained tantalizingly close, lifting her face toward his. “I can’t give you what you need, Alan. I can’t fill up your emptiness. Only you can do that. But today, tonight, I’ll give you what you want, if that’s the price of thousands of lives.”

  Almost, he took her offer, but…no. Even if he wanted to risk infection, it would make her a whore and him a client, a john. He didn’t want anyone that didn’t wholeheartedly return the desire, so again he closed down that part of himself and focused on the job he’d half decided to do.

  “So. You’ve got ten thousand starving Edens surrounded by the military on a mountain way off in East Africa. It’s not just a matter of helping them; you want to get them out alive. And then where are they going? Most countries aren’t taking in mass groups of refugees. Especially not Edens.”

  “We have a plan,” she answered. “Kenya has agreed to let them stay temporarily in a refugee camp they have designated. It’s close to the border and only a couple days’ walk from Mount Mega.”

  “Temporarily? Then where?”

  “We’re not sure yet.”

  “Hell,” Skull said, shaking his head. “You only have the barest beginnings of a plan. You know this isn’t going to work, Cassandra. Save yourself some headache and disappointment.”

  “We haven’t figured everything out yet, okay?” she said evenly. “But we can get them out of the situation they’re currently in. Once we have time, we can work on where they are going afterward. Right now we just need to save them. And we can, with your help.”

  Skull sighed. “So, let me get this straight. Someone is supposed to go in there and get ten thousand Edens – who must have an epic case of the munchies since they’ve been starving for a while – to move across the border and settle in Kenya?”

  “Yes,” she said. “But getting them to move isn’t the problem. The problem is the Ethiopian army surrounding them.”

  “Oh, I remember you said something about that,” Skull said. “There’s no way I’m going to be able to get these frightened civilians to break through an army to escape…not without help, anyway.”

  “There will be help,” Cassandra answered. “We’ll be sending a team to create a diversion and assist with the exfil once you give us the signal that you’re ready to move.”

  “One,” said Skull holding up a finger, “I haven’t agreed to anything. And two,” he held up a second finger, “this is not an exfil. This is a goddamn exodus. Probably have to drive all their goats and sheep with them along the way.”

  Cassandra shook her head. “The livestock will all be eaten long before you move.”

  “You get my point, though,” said Skull. “This situation is too difficult and too complicated. You would be better off pressuring or buying off the Ethiopian government to let them go. What do they care, anyway?”

  Cassandra huffed in frustration. “We’ve tried. Believe me, we’ve tried. The Caliphate is in a better position. The virus scares people, especially those in power. It’s something they can’t control, and they can’t control the people who have it as easily, either.”

  Skull smiled. “With good reason. Markis turned over the global apple cart. Since that’s their cart and their apples, they’re likely to get a tad bit testy.”

  “We’re helping people, Alan. The world is already better off, and if we can keep it from exploding for a while, it will eventually stabilize.”

  Skull started walking down the beach again and Cassandra followed. “I got to tell you, Cassandra, I’m not happy with this. Complicated mission. Large number of civilians. Hostile forces in dangerous territory. Tons of unknowns, and it seems like your own people aren’t fully committed, otherwise you’d be of
fering me a battalion of commandos. I’d advise you to walk away. You can’t save them. Find some other place where the chance of success is higher.”

  Cassandra didn’t answer for several seconds. “I can’t walk away,” she said softly. They continued down the beach in silence for a while before she spoke again. “Zeke told me that if anything ever happened to me, if I ever needed anything, to come to you.”

  Skull stopped again and turned to her, clenching his fists. “That’s bullshit.”

  “He did,” she insisted.

  “Oh, I’m sure Zeke said it,” Skull answered, “I’m sure he even meant it, but not for something like this. He meant if you were in trouble, or the kids needed something, or the goddamn bathroom toilet was clogged up. Not something like this. I’m getting tired of your blatant manipulation. Doesn’t the Eden virtue effect make that harder to do?”

  “That’s not what I’m doing.”

  “Oh, really? Then just what is it you’re doing?”

  Cassandra searched for words and Skull thought he saw her mask slip just a little bit. He thought she was desperate and maybe even a little afraid….unless that was an act, too. “This is just one friend asking another for help,” she finally said, letting her hands drop to her sides.

  Skull wanted to blow her off, but knew he couldn’t. Zeke had been his best friend. The man had stuck with him and supported him when no one else would, saved his career and his sanity, probably.

  It wouldn’t make a difference to Zeke; the man was dead after all, but Skull believed in paying back what he owed. And if he wouldn’t take Cassandra’s payment in flesh, he might as well get something concrete out of it.

  “Ten million Euros,” Skull finally said. “Five up front and five when the job is done. I’ll get you the account info.”

  Cassandra’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? Just like that?”

  “Why not?” Skull asked. “Suicidal mission where a thousand things can go wrong and everyone is likely to get killed? I’ve got nothing else going on.”

  She smiled and looked like she was going to cry. “Thank you.”