The Bleed: Book 2: RAPTURE David Moody (the red fox clan txt) 📖

read individual faces, desperate for some indication that her words were having an effect.

“A lot of you are angry with me. Many of you must think this is my fault. I hope there will be time for me to tell you my story later, but for now I’m going to have to ask for your trust. That’s a big ask, I know, but let me reassure you, I’m going to do everything in my power to get us all out of this mess alive.

“There’s a shield around Australia which is powered by the gods. Yes, I know how wild that sounds, but it’s true. Those people you saw fighting in London were gods, and it was one of them—Thirnas—who helped me survive and who showed me how to access this technology. There are other gods who were ready to sacrifice our planet and everyone on it in order that they might survive. I was tricked into helping them, and I’ll regret the fact they were able to manipulate me until the day I die. I’m hoping that keeping you all safe will go some way to helping me right the wrongs that I was unwittingly a part of.

“I understand why you wanted to sacrifice me today, but that would have been an extremely bad idea because there are only two of us who can control this technology, and it’s going to take both of us to get us out of this situation. I don’t expect you all to believe me, but I’m appealing to every last one of you listening to me today to give me a chance. My friend and I are going to do everything we can to get us to safety.”

She stopped speaking, unsure if anything she was saying was of any value to anyone outside the clockwork room. The weight of expectation she now felt was huge, the pressure almost unbearable.

The images showed that the crowds were almost completely silent. The traffic had stopped moving to listen to her. The entirety of the world under the dome had momentarily paused, perhaps realizing that this girl—this young, frightened, inexperienced, terrified girl—actually was their last, best hope of survival after all.

Maddie was alongside her now. She put her hand on Jenny’s shoulder. “I wouldn’t say you’re killing it, but you’re doing all right,” she said.

Jenny nodded and shot her a quick glance that said thanks very much, but I don’t believe a word of it. She cleared her throat again.

“I know how crazy all of this sounds, but you have to believe me. For now, you just have to have faith. Anything is possible, and this doesn’t have to be the end. Just remember, the power that we’re now able to wield was strong enough to protect me from a firing squad at close range. It’s our intention to use that power to protect all of us.

“Friends, all I ask is that you give me a little time. Stay safe and be good to each other, and I’ll get us out of this mess just as soon as I can.”

11

SURFERS PARADISE, AUSTRALIA

The dome of the orb was still holding strong after several hours, but there were signs of trouble out to sea. The clockwork room had alerted them to a specific point on the perimeter where the Bleed’s behavior had begun to change.

Jenny didn’t think she’d ever get used to the bizarre sight of where the Bleed and their protective forcefield collided. Within the orb, the ocean remained curiously untroubled and artificially calm. It reminded her of the surface of Greenwich Boating Pond in London where her dad had taken her countless times as a kid. It hurt when she thought about Dad and times past. The loss of innocence she’d endured since the arrival of the gods on Earth was something she knew she’d never get over, even if she happened to live through this crisis.

Focus on the here and now.

She shook her head clear, not allowing her emotions to take control and distract her. There would be time to come to terms with everything later, after the war had been won. At least she hoped there would be, anyway.

After a period of relative calm, when the people filling the streets had been temporarily placated by Jenny’s speech, and the status quo between the Bleed and everything else had been maintained, suddenly things were now beginning to change again. The balance was shifting. Out here, the noxious liquid was moving in ways they hadn’t seen before. Previously, unless it had been carrying out a specific attack, it had appeared to mimic the behavior of water with waves and currents and ebbs and flows. Occasionally it would become semi-solid and lash out, as it had when they’d witnessed the destruction of that Japanese warship. Now, though, they were watching it do something altogether different.

“What the hell is it doing?” Maddie asked.

“Mutating,” Jenny answered, concerned. “Re-focusing.”

The point at which the Bleed was changing its approach was far out in the South Pacific Ocean, somewhere south of where Fiji used to be. As they watched, they saw the demonic force shifting and evolving. The fact that something so huge could alter its shape and direction with such speed and clear intent was sobering in itself. Despite being made up of the component remains of the millions upon millions of individual lifeforms it had assimilated, every last one of the countless billions of molecules it had absorbed and taken over now played its part in servitude of the poisonous whole. It would have been impressive, awe-inspiring even, if it hadn’t been so completely damn terrifying.

“That thing is a mess,” Maddie said as they watched. The level of detail the room presented to them was extreme, the kind of resolution that had to be experienced to be believed. It allowed them to see deep into the toxic sludge where the remains of individual creatures formed and reformed then broke up and reformed again. They were constantly evolving,