END WATCH

  ©2024 ADRIAN J SMITH

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  All rights reserved.

  CONTENTS

  Also By Adrian J. Smith

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Epilogue

  Thank you for reading End Watch!

  About the Author

  ALSO BY ADRIAN J. SMITH

  THE SILENT WAR SERIES:

  END WATCH

  Extinction Nz Series:

  THE RULE OF THREE

  THE FOURTH PHASE

  THE FIVE PILLARS

  THE SIXTH LAW

  THE NAMELESS SERIES:

  WHISPERS OF ASH

  SHADOWS OF ASH

  MASKS OF ASH

  SILENCE OF ASH

  For more on Adrian J Smith, visit his website:

  www.adrianjonsmith.com

  “We don’t remember days. We remember moments.”

  Charles Pafizzi

  PROLOGUE

  Lincoln City.

  Pacific Sea Floor Mining Zone.

  The woman wearing the feather cloak stood proudly at the front of the room. Her shoulders back and spine ramrod straight. Underneath, she wore her dress uniform of khaki and white. On her head was a red beret with the polished gold insignia badge glowing in the soft light — a falcon with its wings spread. Everything about her said to pay attention. To listen to every word she spoke. To learn and remember.

  Her presence captivated the thirty children sitting on the mat in front of her. They stared with wide eyes, their mouths hanging slightly open. Mesmerised.

  She began to pace in front of the children, a soft singing voice filling the room. She sang in respect to the people that had come before. She sang to honour them. Their hardships and the sacrifices they had endured for their people to survive. The melancholy tune shifted into a more joyous melody as the woman finished her song, stomping her feet three times and lifting both of her arms from under the cloak as if she was conducting an orchestra.

  Behind her, images flashed on the wall. Images of bustling cities. Beaches filled with people enjoying the sun and surf. Huge fields of crops being harvested by people wearing strange conical hats. Scenes of children cycling along canals, playing sports and eating burgers in the park. Scenes of workers boarding trains, planes and ships. The woman snapped her fingers with a loud click and the images stopped.

  “In the beginning. Humans were one. We lived on the surface with the sky, ocean, plants and animals. We thanked the creator for what was provided, and we were satisfied. Or so we thought.” The woman paused and swept her right arm dramatically over the heads of the gathered children. “Or so we thought,” she repeated.

  New images appeared. Hundreds of starving people gathered behind trucks begging for sacks of rice. Hospitals filled with the sick. Sea of tents in the desert with frightened eyes staring into the camera.

  Eli Miller, smiled from the back of the room. He wasn’t normally one to be distracted while on a case, but a historian at work always caught his interest. There was an art to their storytelling that he enjoyed. Enough for him to take some time out from his investigation. He was only at the school to finish up a statement from one of the teachers and while he waited, the historian had walked past. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

  “Or so we thought.” The woman repeated a third time. She had the children’s undivided attention, and they eagerly awaited her next words. “Some humans weren’t happy, and they messed with the natural order of things. Using science to create. We call them The Echoes.”

  All the children booed and hissed.

  More images played on the wall. They showed scenes of two-headed cows. Conjoined twins sharing one torso. Large fat pigs, too big to walk. Sheep with black faces and long hair. The last picture paused on a muscular man with dark hair and blue eyes. Behind his ears were gills.

  “That’s right. The Echoes modified their genes to become bigger, stronger, faster. The played with the natural state and poisoned the world with their industry. They fought wars and killed people for land and water. No one could stop them. But a brave few gathered and rose up in defiance.”

  The wall behind the woman danced with horrifying images of war. Massive explosions, the noise boomed from hidden speakers. Cities lying in ruins with a small girl picking through the rubble, looking for scraps. Fields on fire. The beach littered with the bodies of the dead.

  “A brave few!” the woman repeated.

  “The Gnats,” the children chanted.

  “Correct. We are the natural born — the Gnats — and we fought back saying, No more! We want to be free and live as the creator intended. Many battles raged. Millions died. Heroes, all of them, but alas, the Echoes were too powerful. To end the war, they released a virus and infected us. Most died. Countless, until only a few hundred remained.”

  A small hand shot up in the front row — a boy with snow-blond hair. “Virus?”

  “Good question young man. Viruses are like germs. They make you so sick and you can die. The Echoes made it in their lab to affect only the natural born — the Gnats. Let me say that again. The Echoes made a virus to kill us all.”

  The images changed. Swathes of land covered in white crosses. People lying in the street, looking like skin and bones. Hospitals overcrowded and earthmoving machinery tipping the dead into mass graves.

  The children hissed again wrapped up in the drama. A few had started to cry and sob at the graphic nature of the images and Eli felt for the children. It had been the same when he was at school. A harsh lesson but one born from necessity.

  Again, the images change to be replaced with one of men and women entering a vast cavern and constructing a city — their home.

  Pacing in front of the room, the woman spun, her feather cloak twirling, “Our ancestors were brave. They went to the Echoes’ leaders and pleaded to be spared, and for once, they were listened to. A deal was struck. Work the mines, live, and be safe. Thanks to their actions, we are still surviving deep underground. Who can tell me the name of our city?”

  The same blond boy raised his hand. “Lincoln.”

  “Excellent. Now listen carefully children.”

  A boom sounded out from hidden speakers followed by a crackling; it caused the kids to jump. Some yelped in fright but calmed when the woman raised her hands. When they had quieted, she continued.

  “Never leave the city, for there are beasts out in the darkness. The Stone worms and the Mole rats. They are there to help dig the tunnels that find the minerals we need.”

  One image appeared. A light grey worm. It had no eyes and a mouth filled with flat teeth. Next to it was a rodent the size of an old-world horse with tiny eyes and long front teeth. Both were dead and surrounded by Falcon Legion soldiers.

  “The creatures are normally our friends but when angered, they are dangerous. Stay in the city where we are safe behind the gates and titanium walls. Does anyone know what to do if the creatures come into the city?”

  This time a different hand shot up. A girl with her
brown hair tied into pigtails, “Go to the shelter with the nursemaids.”

  “Very good. Go to the shelter with the nursemaids. Remember children. We are safe deep underground. We work. We thrive and survive. Do your duty and you too could join me in Falcon Legion. You too could protect our city. Now, repeat after me. Water for worm. Fire for rat.”

  “Water for worm. Fire for rat.”

  The woman smiled and signalled to someone out of Eli’s line of sight. A jingly tune started.

  “One more time, children. Water for worm. Fire for rat.”

  As the children sang the ditty again, Eli’s comms buzzed in his ear, and he stepped out of the room.

  “Command for Miller.”

  “Go for Miller.”

  “We have five-zero-five in progress. What is your location?”

  Eli shuddered. Five-zero-five was the Watcher radio code for a kidnapping. “Elementary school, level nine.”

  “Noted. We need your team. Fugitive last seen near Founders Plaza.”

  “Copy that. On my way.”

  Switching his comms over to his team’s frequency, Eli glanced back at the children and the woman in the feather cloak. She had left out one important fact. It wasn’t always safe in the city.

  CHAPTER 1

  Two laws above all else. That’s all there were. Two.

  Never harm a child or through inaction let a child be harmed.

  Protect all citizens unless it conflicts with rule one.

  Eli was failing at both.

  He ducked under another stall banner that fluttered in the breeze from the circulating fans. The alley was crowded with civilians searching for a meal from the food stalls that lined its length. He spotted the fleeing woman just as she exited the throng of people, and he took aim. An infant was strapped to her front, its blue eyes hauntingly familiar. Eli lowered his crossbow. There were too many dangerous variables to risk firing.

  Nox whined at his side, eager to give chase.

  “Not yet, boy.” He bent to pat the Alsatian’s muscular neck.

  Brushing past a stall owner, Eli tore up the alley. The female fugitive was fast. Unusually fast. Buildings made of concrete and scraps of metal flew past as he wended his way through the rest-day crowds. Ordinary citizens, hunting for an escape from their drudgery, turned and watched as he skidded to a stop at the entrance to Game Sellers’ Lane. The target was out of options. Game Sellers’ Lane had no other exits.

  “Ley. Sitrep?” Eli said into his comms.

  “Perimeter is set. Fugitive is cut off.”

  “Positive?”

  “Well, yeah.”

  Eli couldn’t see his partner but the image of her rolling her brown eyes held fast in his mind. She would be flicking her dark hair over one shoulder and muttering to herself at his question.

  “Colter. Anything?”

  “Drones are airborne but I’m having trouble with all the people in the area.”

  Colter was the third member of their fugitive recovery team and probably the most valuable. An absolute whiz with anything mechanical, Colter — using drones and Lincoln’s camera surveillance — could find anyone. When that failed, Nox and his nose came into play.

  “Two bodies together should give you a bigger heat signature, yeah?”

  “You would think so. One moment.”

  Eli held his position, eyes firmly fixed on the lane.

  “Got her, boss. Last stall on the le…” Colter paused. “Ah. Okay, this is weird. She’s moving out of the lane.”

  “What?” Ley said. “That’s not possible.”

  The stalls were set up against the solid brick and concrete walls of the city’s administration block.

  “All Watchers, tighten the perimeter,” Eli ordered. He pushed off the balls of his feet and released Nox. The fugitive had fooled them. She hadn’t been running blindly. She had a plan and they had been too arrogant to realise it. The game seller blocked Eli’s way, arms folded across his chest in defiance. Nox bared his teeth and growled a warning. The man held his ground.

  Eli clipped his crossbow to his back and unholstered his taser pistol. “Move,” he said. “One chance.”

  The stall owner grinned but made no effort to move. Eli aimed the electric projectile at his thigh and fired. As the man jerked to the floor, Eli jumped over him. He entered the last stall on the left, went to the Rastafarian flag that covered the brick wall at the back of the stall, and shoved it aside to reveal an open door. Someone had spent a considerable amount of time and effort to construct it so that it was hidden.

  “Heads up. Target is in Founders’ Plaza and...” Eli searched the square outside the central admin building. The woman was already halfway across. “…heading north.”

  “Tracking,” Colter said.

  Eli shut out the ambient noise around him and focused on the mission. He crouched next to his furry best friend. The child’s safety far outweighed the risks. Nox was well trained and would never harm the infant but had no qualms about taking down the fugitive.

  “Seek.”

  Nox yelped in excitement and bolted. Eli pushed aside his apprehension and sprinted after the dog. They zipped past buskers playing old-world blues, the music sad and soulful. Past a pair of jugglers entertaining a small crowd. Past the hustlers tricking people out of their hard-earned credits with games of chance. Nox suddenly changed direction and sat at the entrance to a narrow set of stairs, waiting for his handler to catch up.

  “On. Good boy.”

  The metal steps clanged under Eli’s boots as he followed the fleeing woman. He caught glimpses of her clothing and, on occasion, the pale flesh of the infant’s head as it bobbed out of the sling.

  “Target is heading for Central Canal,” Eli warned.

  Citizens flinched out of the way. Some were too slow. Heavily intoxicated, they bounced off Nox and shook their fists before Eli shoved them out of the way.

  “Foveaux Bridge,” Colter said.

  “Copy. On my way.”

  He could see the ancient bridge in the distance. Illuminated by soft white lights, mists swirled around the iron struts. Again, he was puzzled at the direction the woman was fleeing in. Most fugitives bribed their way out of the city through the floodgates and pressure locks. Some went into the abandoned labyrinth. Some ran blindly. Others headed to the other communities and towns. Eventually, they were tracked down and brought to justice. The Watchers always got their target, one way or another.

  The bridge creaked under Eli’s weight as the mist swirled clear to reveal the fugitive Eli had been chasing for the last hour.

  “You are a fool, Watcher. We are all fools.”

  Eli recognised the woman now. Her long blonde hair and pale skin glowed under the bridge lights.

  “Put the child down, Gabriele, and this will all be over.”

  “No.” Gabriele pivoted and bolted away from the bridge and along the canal.

  Eli blew out a breath in frustration and whistled for Nox to seek. He couldn’t understand Gabriele’s motivations. The canal brought water from the springs, fed the city, then plunged down into a chasm. She was heading into another dead end.

  “Pieper Point,” Eli said into his radio as he ran after Gabriele. “Fugitive confirmed as Gabriele Dillion.”

  “Five minutes out, boss. Someone in a Kabuki mask has been following my team,” Ley said.

  “Ignore them. The child is our priority.”

  “She’s at the chasm,” Colter said. “Reports coming in of storms massing at the city limits.”

  “Storms?”

  “Affirmative.”

  “Let Falcon Legion deal with that. Get me visual.”

  “On it.”

  “Call in backup,” Eli ordered as he slowed to a jog. Nox growled at Gabriele as she calmly sat on top of the low wall overlooking the drop off.

  “Call off your hound, Watcher.”

  “No.” Eli was done pandering to her. “The child.”

  Flashing a smirk, Gabriele stood up and placed a knife against the child’s skull. She kept her eyes firmly on Eli as she backed towards the chasm’s edge.

  “Don’t,” Eli said. “Please, think of the innocent child.”

  “We are all fools. Every stupid person in this hell hole. Fools.”