The Colony: Shift (The Colony, Vol. 5) Read online

  Copyright © 2014 by Michaelbrent Collings

  All rights reserved.

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  website: http://www.michaelbrentcollings.com

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  cover design by Michaelbrent Collings

  NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the internet or via any other means without the permission of the author is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials.

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  PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF

  MICHAELBRENT COLLINGS

  CRIME SEEN

  "[Crime Seen] will keep you guessing until the end…. 5/5. " – Horror Novel Reviews

  "It's rare to find an ending to a novel that is clever, thought-provoking and surprising, yet here Collings nails all three…." – Ravenous Reads

  "Crime Seen by Michaelbrent Collings is one of those rare books that deserves more than five stars." – Top of the Heap Reviews

  "With an ending that, again, will keep you guessing until the last chapter, I would definitely recommend this book to others." – Horror Drive-In

  THE COLONY: GENESIS (The Colony, Vol. 1)

  "5 out of 5 stars.... I couldn't put it down." – Media Mikes

  "I barely had time to buckle my mental seatbelt before the pedal hit the metal...." – The Horror Fiction Review

  "What a refreshing read. This is the first of a series and if this is any indication of what's to come, count me in! .... If I could, I would gladly give this novel a 10 star rating." – Horror Novel Reviews

  THE COLONY: RENEGADES (The Colony, Vol. 2)

  "Fast pace in your face, the action doesn't stop.... This bestselling author has done it again.... I didn't want the book to end...." – Horror Novel Reviews

  "Renegades is a hardcore thriller that you can't stop reading." – horroraddicts.net

  THE COLONY: DESCENT (The Colony, Vol. 3)

  "I had planned on reading just a couple of chapters and ended up reading the entire book in one sitting! ... Rating: 4.5/5" – Horror Novel Reviews

  "Renegades is a hardcore thriller that you can't stop reading." – horroraddicts.net

  STRANGERS

  "Collings is so proficient at what he does, he crooks his finger to get you inside his world and before you know it, you are along for the ride. You don't even see it coming; he is that good." – Only Five Star Book Reviews

  "Move over Stephen King... Clive Barker.... Michaelbrent Collings is taking over as the new king of the horror book genre." – Media Mikes

  "STRANGERS is another white-knuckled journey that demands to be read in one sitting." – The Horror Fiction Review

  "Michaelbrent spins a tale that keeps you enthralled from page to page…. Overall I give this novel an A." – The Horror Drive-In

  DARKBOUND

  "Really good, highly recommended, make sure you have time to read a lot at one sitting since you may have a hard time putting it down." – The Horror Fiction Review

  "In Darkbound you will find the intensity of Misery and a journey reminiscent of the train ride in The Talisman…. A proficient and pedagogical author, Collings’ works should be studied to see what makes his writing resonate with such vividness of detail…. You will not be disappointed in this dark tale." – Hellnotes

  "A spell-binding conclusion comes from out of nowhere that is hauntingly reminiscent of M. Night Shyamalan or Alfred Hitchcock. A certifiable bone chiller…." – horrornews.net

  "Darkbound travels along at a screaming pace with action the whole way through, and twists to keep you guessing throughout.... With an ending that I didn't see coming from a mile away, and easily one of the best I've had the enjoyment of reading in a long time...." – Horror Drive-In

  THE HAUNTED

  "The Haunted is a terrific read with some great scares and a shock of an ending!" – Rick Hautala, international bestselling author; Bram Stoker Award® for Lifetime Achievement winner

  "[G]ritty, compelling and will leave you on the edge of your seat.... The Haunted is a tremendous read for fans of ghoulishly good terror." – horrornews.net

  "The Haunted is just about perfect.... This is a haunted house story that will scare even the most jaded horror hounds. I loved it!" – Joe McKinney, Bram Stoker Award®-winning author of Flesh Eaters and The Savage Dead

  APPARITION

  "Apparition is not just a 'recommended' novel, it is easily one of the most entertaining and satisfying horror novels this reviewer has read within the past few years. I cannot imagine that any prospective reader looking for a new read in the horror genre won't be similarly blown away by the novel." – Hellnotes

  "[Apparition is] a gripping, pulse hammering journey that refuses to relent until the very final act. The conclusion that unfolds may cause you to sleep with the lights on for a spell.... Yet be forewarned perhaps it is best reserved for day time reading." – horrornews.net

  "Apparition is a hard core supernatural horror novel that is going to scare the hell out of you.... This book has everything that you would want in a horror novel.... it is a roller coaster ride right up to a shocking ending." – horroraddicts.net

  "[Apparition is] Riveting. Captivating. Mesmerizing.... [A]n effective, emotional, nerve-twisting read, another amazingly well-written one from a top-notch writer." – The Horror Fiction Review

  THE LOON

  "It's always so nice to find one where hardcore asylum-crazy is done RIGHT.... THE LOON is, hands down, an excellent book." – The Horror Fiction Review

  "Highly recommended for horror and thriller lovers. It's fast-moving, as it has to be, and bloody and violent, but not disgustingly gory.... Collings knows how to write thrillers, and I'm looking forward to reading more from him." – Hellnotes

  MR. GRAY (aka THE MERIDIANS)

  "... an outstanding read.... This story is layered with mystery, questions from every corner and no answers fully coming forth until the final conclusion.... What a ride.... This is one you will not be able to put down and one you will remember for a long time to come. Very highly recommended." – Midwest Book Review

  RUN

  "[A] tense and intense scary sci-fi chiller/thriller.... RUN is a winner, as fast-paced as it should be, cinematic and gripping, lots of fun but with moments of poignancy and disturbing paranoia." – The Horror Fiction Review

  HOOKED: A TRUE FAERIE TALE

  "Hooked is a story with depth.... Emotional, sad, horrific, and thought provoking, this one was difficult to put down and now, one of my favourite tales." – Only Five Star Book R
eviews

  "[A]n interesting and compelling read.... Collings has a way with words that pulls you into every moment of the story, absorbing every scene with all of your senses." – Clean Romance Reviews

  "Collings has found a way to craft an entirely new modern vampire mythology – and one strikingly different from everything I've seen before.... Recommended for adult and teen fans of horror and paranormal romance...." – Hellnotes

  RISING FEARS

  "The writing is superb. The characters are believable and sympathetic... the theme of a parent who's lost a child figures strongly; it's powerful stuff, and written from the perspective of experience that no one should ever have to suffer." – The Horror Fiction Review

  Dedication

  To...

  Jeff Short and Ron Gressman, who helped me get the true facts – even though I probably ignored most of them,

  and to Laura, FTAAE.

  Contents

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  1

  “I bet you’d like to know what’s going on.”

  The words hung in the air, and somehow they didn’t seem to make it to Ken Strickland. He heard them, but understanding eluded him. Just like the reason he was here escaped his understanding.

  The world had ended.

  He had lost his son.

  His daughters were… changing. Into what, he had no idea. He only knew that they vacillated between the two- and seven-year-old he knew, and a pair of strangers who seemed to want the destruction of the few people who had managed to survive the first days of the end of the world.

  Maggie… at least she was still his. Still his wife, still his love.

  But where was she?

  The words the cowboy had spoken remained in midair between them. Caught in a stasis of unreality far greater than that of men and women who turned on one another, than that of insects swarming and attacking and dying in the millions, even greater than the dead rising up to attack the living.

  “I bet you’d like to know what’s going on.”

  Ken didn’t understand the words, so he ignored them. Turned away from them, mentally and literally. He craned his neck around.

  He was inside a steel box. Corrugated sides, top. It was gunmetal gray, nearly featureless. It smelled like feed, a gamey smell that was nearly pleasant and brought to mind horses and cattle and farms – things that spoke of life and a world that had been, a world that should still be. He was in an empty shipping container.

  A boxcar.

  The box that should have contained life but had somehow become a tomb swayed slightly. It jounced minutely. Tok-tok. Tok-tok. Tok-tok. The sound of steel wheels passing over rolled steel. The sound of rails that had born this burden millions of times without complaint, unaware that this would perhaps be the final passage that they would see.

  Tok-tok. Tok-tok. Tok-tok.

  Ken wondered briefly how the train was even moving. When the world end, shouldn’t that mean trains stopped? What good would schedules be when there was no one waiting at the terminal? When cargo would only be met by bloodthirsty killers?

  How had he gotten here?

  He tried to stand, lurched a few inches upward and then fell to his side as something blocked his feet. He looked down and saw his hands and feet were bound with zip tie cuffs, the kind favored by cops as convenient ways to deal with drunks and common criminals.

  “I bet you’d like to know what’s going on.”

  Tok-tok. Tok-tok. Tok-tok.

  And now he remembered. Remembered being saved by newcomers Theresa and Elijah, who had appeared out of nowhere to whisk them away from attacking hordes. Theresa had run dozens of them over in a school bus, plowing through the monsters just in time to save Ken and his friends; then Elijah had shown up and mangled many more with a John Deere thresher.

  They abandoned the farm equipment near a train, of all things. Elijah had mentioned something about Theresa’s brother, how he had stayed behind to cover their escape – a death sentence – because he “hadn’t known how to drive” something. Elijah must have meant this vehicle, this cruising iron beast that Ken had at first been surprised to see, then willing to use.

  And then their rescuers had turned on them. Theresa, a chubby redhead who had gone to so much trouble and seen the sacrifice of her family to rescue Ken and his friends and family. Elijah, a huge black man with a smile so bright it dazzled. They had turned guns on Ken.

  No. Not me. They aimed them at the girls. At Hope and Lizzy.

  And before Ken could move… before he could even think about stopping them.

  Aaron. The cowboy who had saved them all time after time. He had attacked Ken from behind. Had choked him unconscious.

  And now he was looking at Ken. Sitting across from him, holding a flashlight that was the only illumination in this mobile jail cell.

  Ken maneuvered himself into a sitting position. He pushed himself up to the wall of the boxcar. Stared at a man he would have given his life to. A man who had betrayed him.

  “I bet you’d like to know what’s going on.”

  The words finally made it across the wide gap between them. Penetrated a pain-fogged body and an exhausted mind.

  “Yeah,” he said. Bitterness writhed through the word. “I guess you could say that.”

  2

  Aaron had a strange look on his face as he started speaking. The shadows the flashlight cast on his face might have had something to do with it, but Ken thought it was more than that. The cowboy looked like he was about to have the birds and the bees talk with a two-year-old, or something else equally disconcerting.

  He wiped the back of his hand across his forehead. He had to use the same hand that held the flashlight: the other had had its fingers dislocated and thumb badly broken during one of the times he had defended Ken and the other survivors from an onslaught of zombies.

  It just doesn’t make any sense. Why would he do that, if this was the end?

  Aaron hunched down in front of Ken.

  “You wonder why we have stories and legends about zombies in the first place?”

  Ken shook his head. Again, the words didn’t seem to penetrate. He had been choked, burnt, concussed, his back knocked partially out of alignment, two of his fingers cut off. It all threw up a wall that shielded him from comprehension. He had to focus on the words, had to expend more energy than usual on what Aaron had said.

  “Because people are weird,” he finally said. “Because Hollywood people and novelists are messed up in the head.” He shrugged. “I dunno.” He aimed a glare at Aaron. “Where’s my family?”

  Aaron ignored his question. “Yeah,
I thought that, too. Enjoyed a lot of good zombie movies in my day. Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, 28 Days Later. Hell, I even liked that Warm Bodies flick. Cried a bit when the dead guy got the girl.” He leaned in a bit. “You notice how half of them have live zombies, half of them have undead ones? Ones that rise from the grave?”

  “So?”

  “So I don’t think the people who made up all those ideas were really making them up at all.”

  In spite of himself, in spite of his need to know what was happening to his family, Ken finally asked the question he knew Aaron was hoping for. “What do you mean?”

  “I think those ideas – the ideas of live zombies and dead ones – were… well, put there, for lack of a better word.”

  3

  That cut through the blur, the fog that had become a constant companion in Ken’s mind.

  “Put there?” he said. “What the hell does that mean?”

  Again Aaron passed his unmarred hand over his forehead. Again the flashlight scarred the darkness of the freight car.

  “I think this is an invasion,” he said. “I’ve seen ‘em before. Been a part of ‘em before.”

  Ken shook his head. “What does an invasion have to do with –”