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

She laughed. Jenny didn’t.

“I’m serious.”

“I know you are, but you have to admit, this is getting seriously weird now.”

Jenny ignored her and walked around the console, scanning the various images being presented by the room and desperately trying to find a solution to the impossible. Maybe Maddie was right. Were these people even worth saving? Outside—or inside, depending on your perspective—within the protective confines of the forcefield, people were battling with each other. They were at breaking point. They were terrified. They knew that all was lost. In the dull red glow of the Bleed, their impending deaths now seemed inevitable.

“Wait,” Jenny said, looking at the view from directly above the hotel. “I think I might have a solution.”

16

SURFERS PARADISE, AUSTRALIA

“Shut up and listen.”

Jenny waited for the people to respond, and it didn’t take long. The views the clockwork room showed her of the inside of the dome left her in little doubt they were listening. Fights temporarily paused. Panicking people froze with surprise as her echoing voice boomed across the sky. Some lifted their arms skyward, as if she was some kind of god who demanded their adoration. She didn’t have time for any of that bullshit. She just wanted them to shut the fuck up so she could tell them what to do if they wanted to survive.

“I’ve got a simple message for you. It won’t take long, and it won’t be difficult to understand. What you do with what I’m about to tell you is up to you, but it will mean the difference between you dying or staying alive. Bottom line is, listen to me if you don’t want to die.

“We can’t hold the Bleed back much longer. Our planet is lost; that much is already clear, so we’ve had to find a way of getting all of you to safety. We think we’ve got it, but in order for it to work you’re going to have to do what I say and do it without question.

“First, for fuck’s sake, stop fighting. We can only do this if we work together. All this killing and rioting…that’s the kind of bullshit the Bleed wants from us. Those are the kind of behaviors it encourages and feeds on. And that, believe it or not, is why we’re all in this shitty situation right now. It’s time to wise up and grow up. It’s time to cooperate.

“I also need you to have a little faith.” She paused, waiting to gauge the reaction of the people. “I know that sounds corny as hell, but it happens to be true. I need you to have faith in me and in what I’m telling you. Please. You and me, we’re all that’s left of the human race. We’ve made it this far, when so many millions of other people have died, so I guess we’ve done something right. I need you to believe in what we’re doing here. I need you to take one last leap of faith with me.”

Another brief hesitation. Jenny wondered how much of what she was saying they could accept, when their faith in everything else had been shattered. Maddie could see the concern in her face. “You can’t worry about it, Jen,” she whispered. “They either do it or they don’t.”

Jenny knew she was trying to help, but she wasn’t. She turned away from Maddie and continued.

“There’s a reason I was brought here to the Gold Coast. When I turned up in Surfers Paradise, I couldn’t understand it. I assumed it was because I’d been sent as far away from the London and the centre of the Bleed as was possible at the time, but today I’ve started to understand things a little better. There was always a plan!

“The protective shield we’ve managed to put around us has saved millions of lives, but right now it’s only half filled with people. Because we’re right on the east coast of the country, everything on one side of us is water. There’s a reason for that, and it’s only now become clear.

“For the human race to survive, we have to get away from this planet, and we have to do it fast. We don’t have long before either the strength of the Bleed outside or the fear and fighting inside bring what little is left of our world crashing down in pieces around us. If you want to survive, listen to me and do as I say.

“You have less than two hours to get as far as you can from land. Get into the ocean somewhere no further north than Russell Island and no further south than Kingscliff. Don’t worry about the riptides and currents and sharks and whatever…the world’s not like it was. We’ll look after you. No boats, just swim. The more you help each other, the more of us will get through this. The more you fight, the closer the human race will be to extinction.

“I know how crazy this sounds, honestly I do, but I say again, I’ve managed to keep you all alive so far against the odds. I need you to forget everything you used to know and just swim!”

17

SURFERS PARADISE, AUSTRALIA

The exodus had begun.

Many did exactly as Jenny had instructed although, at first, there was mass hesitation from one side of the orb to the other; tens of thousands of people waited for tens of thousands more to make the first move. It seemed to alien to do what she’d said, so counterintuitive. Ultimately it was, as she’d told them, a leap of faith. But once the stampede finally began, it was unstoppable.

The coast from Russell Island right the way down to Kingscliff to the south was a mass of chaotic movement as people rushed to get into the water. Many were initially reluctant because, normally, logic and fear got in the way of belief for many people. But today was about as far from normal as was possible, and swimming for