Children Of The Mountain (Book 2): The Devil You Know (39 page)

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It’s hard to overstate how important reviews are to an indie author, so if you enjoyed
The Devil You Know
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Thank you!

A brilliant young geneticist, desperately seeking a cure for the disease that took her father. A Nevada sheriff, charged with solving a crime that threatens the very existence of his small desert town. But when an unmarked van crashes in sleepy Hawthorne, Alison Stone and Lars Henrikssen find themselves looking for the same man.

Only Carl Gant is not what he seems. And they are not the only ones looking for him.

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The world lies in ruin. Outside a thick layer of ash-filled snow shrouds the frozen ground and through the long winters violent storms rage. A nanovirus that devours metal has wreaked havoc. Bridges and interstate exchanges lie collapsed in rubble; buildings list and crumble under their own weight. The virus attacked people too, leaching the metal from their bodies, turning them into bloodthirsty furies. Nobody knows where it came from.

Only a handful survived. When Washington was attacked, the President, Kane, and a Secret Service agent, Peck, fled with a visiting class of first graders to a mothballed mountain bunker they now know as Eden. Kane tells the children they are the Chosen Ones. Soon the last of them will turn sixteen and he will reveal their matches. Then it will be their job to repopulate the planet.

But after so long inside the mountain supplies are running low. One of the children, Gabriel, and the troubled soldier, Marv, are sent outside to scavenge for things they need. They carry steel crucifixes that allow Peck, and the handful of children he has appointed Guardians, to check whether they’ve been contaminated when they return.

Gabriel searches the places he scavenges for books. Most of the children can’t read, but he and the rebellious Mags remember how. Books aren’t allowed in Eden, so Gabriel relays the stories he finds on the outside to Mags when he returns.

One day while Gabriel’s outside scavenging he comes across the body of Benjamin, a soldier who was in Eden when they first arrived, together with a bloodstained map that shows the way to a place called Mount Weather. When Kane learns of the map he sends Gabriel and Marv out to find Mount Weather, even though winter is close and the storms are coming. On the way Marv becomes infected with the virus and starts to change into a fury. Before he kills himself he explains to Gabriel everything that’s wrong with Eden. Benjamin had been trying to get the children out but Kane uncovered his plan and sent Peck to kill him.

Gabriel continues to Mount Weather where he finds another bunker, stocked with supplies. He returns to Eden, only to discover that Kane had never intended either he or Marv to return. He sneaks back in through one of the vent shafts, intending to free the Juvies without Kane knowing. But Kane has brought forward the ceremony where the children will be matched, forcing Gabriel to rethink his plans.

While searching for a way to get the children out of the mountain Gabriel discovers stockpiles of the virus, proving that it was Kane who was responsible for releasing it in the first place. Gabriel interrupts the ceremony and confronts Kane, threatening to contaminate Eden if he won’t let them leave. The children are scared to go outside but Gabriel convinces them. He holds Peck and the Guardians at bay while Mags and the others escape into the tunnel that leads to the outside. As he’s running after them Gabriel is shot but Mags and one of the others, Jake, come back for him and drag him out. Together they seal the tunnel and Gabriel leads the children to Mount Weather.

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