Mass Extinction Event (Book 2): Days 9-16 (30 page)

Bonus

Extract from

The Dead and the Dying: A Joanna Mason Novel

by Amy Cross

"How many women did he kill again?"

I open my mouth to answer, but for a moment I'm distracted as I watch the nurse slide a two-inch needle into my arm. After a muttered apology, he pulls it out and then tries again, and this time I can feel the tip going deep into the vein before the nurse lets a drop of blood out and then tapes the whole thing to my skin. Taking a deep breath, I look up at the small bag of white liquid hanging next to the chair, and I realize that it's time to get started again. I already feel nauseous, and the thought of that stuff coursing through my veins makes me want to run away from this place and never come back.

"Wasn't it four?" he asks as he starts adjusting the feeder that sits halfway along the pipe that connects me to the bag. "I'm pretty sure I remember seeing four faces on the news. The evening news kept showing them in a kind of grid, like
Celebrity Squares
."

"It was four," I reply, dreading the moment when he starts the infusion.

"That they know of," the nurse adds with a faint smile, before lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "I mean, with guys like that, you can never be sure. Did they dig up his garden?"

"They did."

"Did they dig up, like, the woods near his home? 'Cause he lived out on Sycamore, didn't he? There's a forest near there. If I was going to hide a bunch of bodies, that's where I'd do it." He pauses as he checks some figures. "I'd bury them out there, deep, real deep, so wild animals can't dig them up, and I'd do it shortly before winter, so that when the snow comes, it completely covers everything up. Then, by the time everything thaws the following spring, the police would never be able to identify any areas that had been disturbed. If they wanted to find anything, they'd have to dig up the entire forest. Either that, or watch out for where the berries were looking particularly well-fed and juicy." He grins for a moment, before turning to me. "Too soon?"

Biting the side of my tongue, I shake my head. "Sounds like you've been thinking about this a lot."

"Sometimes I plan murders when I'm bored," he says, as if it's the most normal thing in the world. "I mean, I'd never
do
anything, but it's a challenge, isn't it? To think about how you'd commit the perfect murder... It's like a puzzle."

I smile politely.

"You want to know what I think?" he asks as he continues to fuss around with the equipment. "I think murder's easy. I think anyone who gets caught is just doing it wrong. I mean, I'd never do it myself, but I think if a person of average intelligence decided to kill someone, and planned it out properly, there's no reason why they'd ever get found out. Not
ever
. Think about it. A human body isn't that big, and it rots down pretty fast in the right condition. As long as you've got the stomach for that kind of thing, you could grind the bones down, or bury them in a way that no-one could ever find them. Every time I hear about someone who's got caught, I always just think they must've been an idiot."

"We ready to get going here?" I ask, looking up at the bag of drugs that's waiting to enter my system. I open and close my fists a couple of times, and although I feel a little out of breath, I try to focus on staying calm. I always get nervous at the start of a chemotherapy session; it's part of the ritual, and I know that my best bet is just to stay the course and wait for it to be over.

"Yeah, sure," he replies. "Sorry. It's just, you know, everyone's talking about it today. Sometimes I wish..." He pauses, as if he's caught himself before he says something he might regret. Instead of continuing, he reaches out for the clipboard, which I know from experience means that he's only one step away from starting the flow of drugs. I've been through this procedure so many times, I could probably hook
myself
up.

"What?" I ask, hoping to distract him for a few more seconds. Anything to delay the inevitable moment when he starts the infusion. Damn it, I want him to hurry up, but I also want him to take his time. I just want to get this whole thing over with. Not just today, but the whole fucking cancer. "What do you wish?"

"Just..." He glances over his shoulder, to make sure that no-one can over hear us, and then he turns back to me. "Sometimes I just wish executions could be live-streamed. Like, in cases where the guy is a total monster. I think it'd be cathartic, not only for the families of the victims, but also for the community. I bet millions of people all over America, maybe even all over the world, would tune in to watch Sam Gazade being executed for what he did to those women. I mean, hell, how long has it been since he was caught? Twelve years? That's a long wait for justice. And after everything he did to those poor women and to the cops who caught him, I just think that enough is enough. People need to see justice being delivered." He pauses. "Does it make me a terrible person that I'd watch?"

I shake my head.

"I found this website," he continues, keeping his voice low, "where they had photos from the autopsy of one of the victims. Now, I'm not normally into shock stuff, but -"

"Sorry," I say, taking a deep breath, "but do you mind if we get started? I have a busy day."

"Yeah," he says, looking a little embarrassed, "sure. Sorry. Get me started on something like this, and I'll talk for hours. I just find the Sam Gazade murders so fascinating." With that, he grabs the feeder and slides it open, and the white liquid starts to flow through the tube and into my veins. "This isn't your first time, is it?" he asks. "You know the drill?"

"Two hours," I say, feeling my body start to tense up in anticipation of the inevitable nausea and drowsiness that's going to follow. "Two hours until that bag has finished going into me, and then I'm free to go. Until Monday, anyway, when I'll have to come back in and do the whole thing again. And then again
next
Friday, and then again the following Monday, and then..." I pause. "I know the drill."

"You can get up and walk about," he replies, "and you should make sure you drink some water every so often. There's a small canteen in the -"

"I'll just sit here," I tell him. "It's okay. You can get on with other stuff. I'd rather just sit here and stare at the wall while I'm waiting."

"Okay," he says, grabbing the clipboard and starting to fill in a few details. "You okay?" he asks after a moment. "You're breathing a little funny."

"Just tense," I say, letting out a deep breath. "I'm fine. Honest. I just want to get it over with."

"Okay," he replies, flicking back to the front page of my notes. "Cool. If you need anything, I can -" He stops speaking suddenly, as something on my notes catches his eye. For a moment, it's as if someone's just broad-sided him, and I swear I can see the color starting to drain from his face. "Joanna Mason?" he says to himself, as if the name has finally hit home, and after a moment he turns to me. "Joanna Mason?
The
Joanna Mason?"

"I guess so," I reply tensely.

His mouth hangs open for a moment, and he clearly has no idea what to say. "I'm really sorry," he stammers eventually. "I didn't... I didn't realize. I never would have mentioned the Sam Gazade murders if I'd realized. Or the execution. I'd never have brought it up at all. Oh God, you must think I'm -"

"It's fine," I say, forcing a smile that I really don't feel. "No harm done."

"I'm so,
so
sorry," he continues, the apologies continuing to flood from his lips. "I should have realized. I should have noticed, and I should never have even started talking to you about the whole Sam Gazade thing, I -"

"Don't worry about it," I say, interrupting him. "Please, it's fine. I'm okay. I'll just sit here with my drugs and wait two hours, and then you can come and unhook me. No problem."

He nods, but I can see that he's feeling desperately uncomfortable. Once he's hurried out of the room, I'm left to sit and wait for the effect of the drugs to kick in. I know how it works: after twenty minutes or so, I'll start to feel nauseous, and then eventually the drowsiness will kick in. I'll want to rip the needle out, and I'll probably even come close to doing it before, finally, I'll decide to just wait it out. This exact same routine happens twice a week, and the worst thing about all the discomfort and fear is that it's so goddamn repetitive. I have the same reactions every time. Hell, I think I even think the same things, in the same order, every time I have to spend two hours sitting in this chair while chemical poisons are pumped into my body. There's not much variety. It's the same pain every week, and it's goddamn boring.

Two hours later, a different nurse comes to unhook me. It's weird, but every other time I've been for chemotherapy, the nurse who hooks me up is the same nurse who unhooks me. I guess the guy from earlier just didn't want to come back. He probably felt embarrassed, and I guess I don't blame him. After all, I'm the last person who should ever be interested in making small talk about the Sam Gazade case, and the first person who should be glad about his impending execution.

COMING IN 2014

MASS EXTINCTION EVENT: SERIES THREE

With a series of loud impacts striking the planet, Elizabeth starts to worry that nuclear reactors are exploding in the distance. Are the survivors doomed to a slow, lingering death from radioactive fallout? Together with Toad and Rachel, she sets out on a journey to look for other communities, only to find that human civilization is already showing signs of regrowth.

Meanwhile, Thomas and his sister Martha make a shocking discovery in the desert. Has the progenitor finally been found, and if so, can he help to defeat the creatures? With help from a familiar voice, Thomas and Martha set off on a deadly journey to one of the most dangerous places in the world, where they hope to find the one man who can either save humanity or doom every survivor to a hideous death.

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