Spirits of the Earth: The Complete Series: (A Post-Apocalyptic Series Box Set: Books 1-3) by Milo Fowler (paper ebook reader .TXT) 📕

The blind leading the blind. But I'm no help, either. We all rode public transports back in Sector 43. Nobody had their own auto in a labor sector, except for the governor and his cronies.

"I'll go get Samson," I offer. "Be back in no time."

Luther looks up at me. He almost says something but stops himself, nodding instead. "Very well. Tell him we've found two gas-powered vehicles, but we're...currently at a loss."

I grin. "Will do."

"Milton." In his eyes, the uncertainty has been replaced with concern. "Be careful."

He shouldn't worry about me. That's ridiculous. I have enough light to keep me from slamming into a support pillar or anything, and I'm too fast for any zombie. I'm too fast for Samson.

Julia... I can't wait to be alone with her again.

I take off, the green glow lighting my path between parked vehicles that rush past on both sides. It feels so good to be moving like this again. The freedom is intoxicating.

But all too soon, it's over.

"What are you doing here?" Samson glares at me in the sudden light. It makes him look like some kind of hulking monster. "Why aren't you—?"

"We found a couple gas-powered autos. Over there." I point, but I watch Julia—Daiyna. She winces with a hand to her stomach, backing away. It's like she's allergic to me, or the sight of me makes her sick. "They need your help. Something about hoses." I hand him the glowstick. "You'll probably need this."

He eyes me warily. "Okay." He glances back at Daiyna and frowns. She looks like she's in pain. "You all right?"

She nods curtly, biting her lip. Avoiding eye contact. "Go on. I'll be fine."

Of course she'll be. We'll be together again. After so long... I hope she can find it in her heart to forgive me for what I did. What Jackson made me do.

The big man stares at her stupidly. "Keep looking. We'll need all the fuel we can get." Glowstick in hand, he heads across the sublevel in a primitive trot.

Gradually, the light recedes with him until Julia and I are in shadow, then total darkness. I can't see her at all now, but I know she can see me. It's her gift.

"What do you see?" I break the silence.

"Do you really want to know?" Her breath catches slightly.

"Tell me. Why have you been avoiding me?"

"I see the spirit inside you. It wants to destroy us."

"Not us." I shake my head. "Only them."

"It will destroy you, Milton. It's already begun," she gasps. "Can't you tell? What it's doing to your mind?"

"You can't see inside my head."

"I don't have to. I know you want to kill Samson."

Jackson, she means. That's no secret.

"He deserves to die!" Tears sting my eyes. "It's all his fault!"

Silence.

"Milton..." Her voice is quiet and gentle, just like Julia's in the middle of the night. "Milton, you can fight this. You're strong. But you have to let go of the past."

What is she talking about?

"Spirit of the earth—"

Something stirs within me. My heart pounds double-time, every nerve in my body instantly set ablaze. I gasp for air and pitch forward blindly.

"Spirit of the earth—"

Take her!

The voice rushes through my mind, and with it comes a flood of memories: Julia's bare skin against my own as we kissed, tumbling over each other in the heat of passion, moaning with pleasure, hot sweat dribbling down our backs, her eyes, her smile, her gasps of delight—

"Spirit of the earth, leave him now!"

"NO!" I lunge forward with both hands and close my fingers around her throat.

"I saved you once," she struggles for her voice, fighting against my grip. "Let me save you again."

I shake my head. Tears streak my cheeks. I squeeze with all my strength.

"You can't."

8 LutherTen Months after All-Clear

The spirit inside him is taking root. Daiyna believes she may be able to rid him of it with the help of the spirits who speak to her, but she's told me he must be willing. He must want her to help him. Samson believes Milton is nothing more than a coward, that he saw the daemons attack and ran for his life. He blames Milton for their deaths.

Do I? How will I react to seeing the remains of my brothers scattered across the caves? With his superhuman speed, Milton could have saved them all. He could have put an end to the daemons.

It was our hope that he would. But when given the chance, he didn't. What does that mean? Is he a threat to us?

When I look into his eyes, I see the same high-spirited, strong-willed young man I met when Daiyna first led him into the caves. He carried a secret that haunted him, but there was also an unaffected innocence about him. He had yet to witness the unspeakable horrors of this new earth, and he seemed able to function completely without fear. He was confident, perhaps arrogant—that hasn't changed since his coma. But there's something else now when I meet his gaze.

It's like looking into the eyes of a wild animal.

"Do you think there will be any left?" Shechara asks.

I turn back to her and our project: a small commuter vehicle with a gas tank. I can't see a thing in the darkness that has descended upon us in Milton's absence, but I face her voice.

"Gasoline?"

"When we go back, I mean," she murmurs. "Any survivors."

"I hope so." I pray so. I take a deep breath, recalling how she and Ali were enjoying the early stages of a mutual affection. He's obviously on her mind, and I wish there was more I could say to keep her from losing heart. "We must have faith."

Even as I say these words, I feel hollow inside. Despair lurks close by.

"Here he comes."

I turn around to see the bobbing green light. That didn't take long. Samson will know how to remove the gasoline from the tanks of these two vehicles, and soon we'll be on our way.

"He's alone," Shechara says.

"What?"

She can't be right. Samson would