The Sentinel (30 page)
These are the walruses attacked by the polar bear.
Like walruses, and people, orcas are mammals. They’re warm blooded.
And the perfect home for the parasites.
The Draugar have survived, too
.
Water churns behind the boat, as its two powerful screws propel us away from the horrible scene.
Someone needs to come up here and kill them
, I think, but then I realize it’s too late. There were at least a hundred walruses on the beach, and there are maybe fifty in the water. If the orcas are infected, they could be half way around the world before someone returns to this island. And they’ll likely infect any mammal they come across on the way.
As though to prove my worst fears valid, a herd of ten walruses breaks away from the battle and follows the cutter.
Willem and Jakob stand on either side of me, watching the Draugr walruses give chase. As I lean my head on Willem’s shoulder and he puts his arm around me, Jakob turns to me and says, “We must tell the world about this, Raven.” He turns his gaze back toward the island that nearly claimed our lives. “
We
are the sentinels now.”
Epilogue
A week after escaping from the island, I find myself under guard at a hospital. Willem and Jakob are both here, too, in the room across the hall. We communicate mostly by shouting back and forth, because we’re not allowed to leave our rooms. “So you can heal,” the doctors say about our confinement, but the policeman outside the door says otherwise. Of course, an armed cop is far better than a parasite controlled Draugr, so I don’t complain.
Our wounds are healing. Our spirits are lifting. We’re happy to be alive. We’re prisoners, I suppose, for now, but it’s not bad actually. The food is good and I feel safe. Really safe. The problem is that no one seems to be taking our story seriously. We’ve been interviewed by a number of government agencies, some from Greenland, some from the U.S., and despite our stories matching, the investigators’ noses crinkle every time like they’ve just smelled a corpse.
Having just finished a chocolate pudding, I lean back in my bed and look at the TV, which is muted. It’s a local news show, but it’s happily in English. I see a photo of the
Sentinel
and sit up straight. This is the first time I’ve seen any mention of the shipwrecks or our rescue. As I turn up the volume, the image changes to my face and the pretty newscaster smiles as she says my name.
“Our sources say that Jane Harper, one of three survivors of last week’s tragic collision between the whaling ship
Bliksem
and the anti-whaling vessel,
Sentinel
, has come forward with a claim that sounds like it’s straight out of a Hollywood zombie movie. There are parasites, she claims, that are able to take over the mind of the host and turn them into killers. The parasites mature inside one victim and are spread to the next through a bite. Harper went on to describe, in graphic detail, how several other survivors were killed due to encounters with these parasites.
“Though Harper was once a champion of the anti-whaling community, she now believes that Greenland’s local walrus and whale populations should be exterminated due to parasitical infection. The anti-whaling community has cut all ties with Harper, who will be undergoing a psychological evaluation along with her fellow survivors, Jakob and Willem Olavson, who support her claims.
“Authorities believe it is likely that all three survivors might be suffering from shared hallucinations brought on by the cold, starvation and dehydration, but they haven’t ruled out other possibilities such as contaminated food and water, or a natural toxin of some kind. But they are also looking into the possibility of foul play. A team of forensic investigators will be returning to the island next week to search for bodies and any evidence that might indicate a crime had been committed.
“While Greenland’s Oceanographic Institute confirms that whale populations are migrating differently this year, they blame the behavior on global warming, which, it seems, is a much more urgent, and real, matter than parasitic zombies.”
The newswoman giggles, regains her composure and says, “In related news, an orca off of Nuuk, attacked a man today. This attack is the first on a human outside of captivity. Experts say that the whale likely became confused in the murky waters of Nuuk Bay where it accidentally struck the man’s small fishing boat. If the man fell atop the whale, it’s likely the creature acted instinctually to defend itself. They say that the whale merely bit the man’s leg, and then pulled him to shore, showing the orca realized its mistake and then saved the man’s life. The victim was seen leaving the scene, on foot, and has not yet been identified.”
“Orcas don’t bite people,” says Charlie, the officer stationed at my door. He’s a nice enough guy, serious about his job, but friendly. He must have heard the volume come up and peeked in. “Not ever.”
I turn to Charlie, frowning, and say, “No Charlie. They don’t.”
###
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Don’t miss the following samples from TORMENT by Jeremy Bishop and THE LAST HUNTER by Jeremy Robinson!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jeremy Bishop
has, by all outward appearances, lived a normal life. He grew up in a nice home, in a friendly seaside town. But, as is often, the pleasant facade seen at first glance conceals a darker side. Throughout childhood and early teen years he encountered malevolent entities that whisked in and out of rooms, moved furniture and haunted his dreams.
At second glance, the seaside town was only miles from where the puritans tortured innocent women and hung them as witches, a history and culture that permeated the area. A closer inspection of the nice house revealed past evils of previous owners—bullet holes in windows and a five foot square, red, white and black Swastika painted on the basement wall—a basement that terrified Bishop and his two brothers, even as adults.
He processed these encounters through drawings of monsters and devils, expunging horrible images from his mind. As an adult, he continues to expel the monsters of his childhood through his novels, the first of which, TORMENT, is based on a dream. Enter the mind of Jeremy Bishop if you dare. Share his nightmares. Experience the fear that shaped his life. You may never be the same.
Visit Bishop online at
www.jeremybishoponline.com
© 2011 Jeremy Bishop. All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and should not be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For more information e-mail all inquiries to:
[email protected]
Visit Jeremy Bishop on the World Wide Web at:
www.jeremybishoponline.com
—RECOMMENDED READING—
TORMENT by JEREMY BISHOP
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.
DESCRIPTION:
Small town reporter, Mia Durante, finds herself having brunch with the President of the United States on the day civilization comes to an end. An electromagnetic pulse blinds the U.S. Cars crash. Planes fall. Chaos reigns. Power is restored within minutes, but it’s already too late. Russian nukes are falling. U.S. allies around the world are all ready wiped out. The United States will cease to exist inside of five minutes.
After giving the order to launch a full-scale retaliation, dooming the planet, the president, White House staff, Secret Service and those lucky enough to be visiting the white house, are whisked below ground where they board several Earth Escape Pods. As the EEPs launch into Earth orbit, missiles descend.
Less than forty survive the end of the world. When they return, they’re greeted by survivors of a different sort. The bloodbath that follows leaves Durante and nine other survivors on the run. They find themselves fighting for survival in a world in which only torment remains and where death is the only escape.
PRAISE:
"Jeremy Bishop takes a terrifying bite out of the zombie genre with TORMENT. This is a dark and devious post-apocalypting thrill-ride!"
--Jonathan Maberry, NY Times Bestselling authr of PATIENT ZERO and ROT & RUIN
"TORMENT is a nightmarish descent through Armageddon. With barely a pause for breath, Bishop drags you out of normality, straight into the depths of a devastated post-apocalyptic landscape. Surreal and extraordinary locations, grotesque characters and outlandish events rise up from the devastated ashes of the familiar in this startlingly original horror novel. Dreamlike, disturbing and never predictable, once you start reading, you won't want to put it down."
-- David Moody, author of HATER, DOG BLOOD & the AUTUMN series.
—RECOMMENDED READING—
THE LAST HUNTER by JEREMY ROBINSON
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.
DESCRIPTION:
I've been told that the entire continent of Antarctica groaned at the moment of my birth. The howl tore across glaciers, over mountains and deep into the ice. Everyone says so. Except for my father; all he heard was Mother's sobs. Not of pain, but of joy, so he says. Other than that, the only verifiable fact about the day I was born is that an iceberg the size of Los Angeles broke free from the ice shelf a few miles off the coast. Again, some would have me believe the fracture took place as I entered the world. But all that really matters, according to my parents, is that I, Solomon Ull Vincent, the first child born on Antarctica—the first and only Antarctican—was born on September 2nd, 1974.
If only someone could have warned me that, upon my return to the continent of my birth thirteen years later, I would be kidnapped, subjected to tortures beyond comprehension and forced to fight...and kill. If only someone had hinted that I'd wind up struggling to survive in a subterranean world full of ancient warriors, strange creatures and supernatural powers.
Had I been warned I might have lived a normal life. The human race might have remained safe. And the fate of the world might not rest on my shoulders. Had I been warned....
This is my story—the tale of Solomon Ull Vincent—The Last Hunter.
PRAISE:
"Rocket-boosted action, brilliant speculation, and the recreation of a horror out of the mythologic past, all seamlessly blend into a rollercoaster ride of suspense and adventure."
-- James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author of JAKE RANSOM AND THE SKULL KING'S SHADOW
"With THRESHOLD Jeremy Robinson goes pedal to the metal into very dark territory. Fast-paced, action-packed and wonderfully creepy! Highly recommended!"
--Jonathan Maberry, NY Times bestselling author of ROT & RUIN
"Jeremy Robinson is the next James Rollins"
-- Chris Kuzneski, NY Times bestselling author of THE SECRET CROWN
—RECOMMENDED READING—