The Extinction Series | Book 4 | Spread of Extinction Ellis, Tara (top 10 ebook reader .TXT) 📖

the same way she used to at Jess when she messed up on her finger work after an hour of being forced to sit at the piano. “It will be in the best interests of everyone involved if you comply.” Bending over, she picked up the rake her associate had dropped and held it out to Akuba. “Here. You’re right that these tools will be put to better use on the preserve. If you choose not to do what’s required, we’ll find a better use for you in much the same way. Now, I need Jess to show me where the other supplies are. We still have a lot to do today.”

Akuba took the rake and then handed it and the rifle to Jess. Her face was a mixture of confusion and fear, but also a deep resolve. She came from a long line of leaders—prideful women who ruled with intelligence and strength, and Jess knew it wouldn’t be that easy to bend her will.

“I will show you where the provisions are,” Akuba said, lifting her chin and facing Maya again. “Jess has work to attend to, if we are to meet Dr. Davies demands.”

Demands.

Somehow, they had gone from working together to eke out a survival on the preserve, to being indentured servants to her father, who wasn’t really her father.

Jess’s fingers squeezed around the stalk of the rifle as she watched Akuba lead the three Kra Puru to where the food was kept. She knew what Akuba was doing. She was buying them time. But time for what?

There was a sudden weight pressing down on Jess, making it hard to breathe, and she looked up at the hazy sky like she might find the source there. Except, you couldn’t see time, and that’s what was threatening her determination. Time. She could feel it slipping away, and they were running out of it. A countdown had started, and the most terrifying part was that Jess didn’t know what it was counting down to.

Chapter 13

PETA

Near Guayana City, Venezuela

Peta twisted around in the cramped space of the bench seat to look out the back window. She could see that Marty was curled up in the space between Hernandez’s legs, while Tyler and Devon were seated to either side of him. They were both awake, wedged up against the wheel wells. Tyler raised a hand in acknowledgement when he noticed she was watching them. She only nodded back, since it would have been too difficult to work her arm loose from where Jason was pressed against it.

There was only room for three people inside the old truck, and they’d been rotating through drivers all night. She was up next, and Jason was trying to get some rest before his shift, after her. He’d started out slumped against the window but had eventually slipped her way and was currently drooling on her shoulder. He was a big guy and not an easy load to bear, but Peta didn’t have the heart to elbow him and wake him up. He’d hardly slept on the helicopter, and she knew how badly he needed it.

They’d managed to get a good ten hours of drivetime in since setting out around sundown the night before, and fortunately the rain didn’t last very long. She was thankful Jason had suggested waiting until it was dark out to drive through Barinas. It had still been very sketchy, with some small groups that were actively looting, and Peta was already getting nervous about the next major city coming up. They couldn’t afford the time it would take to stop and wait all day. Similar to Barinas, there weren’t any other roads on the map that would allow for them to drive around Guayana.

“The Aspirin you found at the farm hasn’t done a thing for his fever,” Eddy said, pointing out the obvious fact that Hernandez had continued to decline throughout the night.

Peta squinted at Eddy as he stared straight ahead, both hands firmly gripping the steering wheel. It was the most he’d said in the past few hours, and she didn’t really feel like broaching the whole “dead weight” topic with him again. He’d tried to bring it up as they’d been loading Hernandez into the bed of the truck, but Jason had shut him down.

“I didn’t expect it to,” she said with a hint of annoyance. “And I don’t need you to point out that nothing is going to help him anymore. I’m well aware of it.”

Eddy shifted slightly on the seat, the only outward sign that he was listening to her. Glancing down at the dashboard, he then gestured at the passing landscape. “We’re almost on empty. We were fortunate with our last two stops, but I believe our luck is about to run out. You might want to retrieve the map and attempt to figure out the milage to the next settlement, if there even is one before Guayana.”

Though relieved he wasn’t going to try and talk her into leaving Hernandez on the side of the road, if they ran out of gas that was where they’d all end up. She’d been surprised at how populated the initial countryside of Venezuela had been. After Barinas she’d expected nothing but rainforest, but instead the main road had been scattered with small towns, which made refueling relatively easy at first. Though there seemed to be more people left alive there than in California and Mexico, there were still plenty of abandoned vehicles, and even a small gas station with gas left in its main tanks.

Eventually, the houses gave way to increasingly flat, empty land with scattered clusters of trees and the rising mountains of the Sierra Nevada Range in the distance. Peta realized it was likely to change dramatically again at some point, but had to admit that Eddy was right. Now that the sun was up and they hadn’t spotted