Brett Battles - Sick (A Project Eden Thriller)

SICK

Brett BattlesFinal Post CopyEdit

SICK

by

Brett Battles

Introduction by Blake Crouch

PUBLISHED BY:

Brett Battles on Smashwords

Copyright 2011 by Brett Battles

Cover art copyright 2011 by Jeroen tenBerge

Introduction copyright 2011 by BlakeCrouch

All rights reserved.

SICK is a work of fiction. Names, characters,businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either arethe product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously.Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, orlocales is entirely coincidental.

For more information about the author, pleasevisit www.brettbattles.com.

For more information about the artist, pleasevisit www.jeroentenberge.com.

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personalenjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away toother people. If you would like to share this book with anotherperson, please purchase an additional copy for each person youshare it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it,or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should returnto Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you forrespecting the author's work.

FORWARD

The first jolt of interest was thecover...

Ominous gas mask, and the silhouette of aman running across a desert.

Then the title...SICK...one word, powerful,provocative, intriguing...

But it was those first pages that hookedme.

A man roused from sleep in the middle of thenight by the cry of one of his children. What parent hasntexperienced that? And, while stumbling toward their childs room inthat confused bleariness between consciousness and dreams, whohasnt had that secret fear in the back of their mind, that maybesomething is wrong? That maybe their son or daughter isnt merelycoming down with a cold, or in the wake of a nightmare. Butsomething much, much worse...

SICK didnt just hook me. It hit me with adevastating uppercut on every primal level as a parent, a father,and a human being.

Brett Battles has fashioned a blisteringpage turner that is destined to become a classic. This is a novelof paranoia, of fear, of a family blown apart by circumstances noneof us could imagine, and ultimately, hope.

This is exactly the kind of novel I love toread, and it reminded me in the very best way of David Morrellsiconic TESTAMENT.

Trust me, you will love it, too.

SICK is absolutely unmissable

-Blake Crouch, April 2011

A cry woke him from his sleep.

A young cry.

A girls cry.

Daniel Ash pushed himself up on his elbow.Josie?

It was more a question for himself thananything. His daughters room was down the hall, making it hard forher to hear his sleep-filled voice in the best of circumstances.And if she was crying, not a chance.

He glanced at the other side of the bed,thinking his wife might already be up checking on their daughter.But Ellen was still asleep, her back to him. Hed all but forgottenabout the headache shed had, and the two sleeping pills shedtaken before turning in. Chances were, she wouldnt even open hereyes until after the kids left for school.

Ash rubbed a hand across his face thenslipped out of bed.

The old hardwood floor was cool on his feetbut not unbearable. He grabbed his T-shirt off the chair in thecorner and pulled it on as he walked into the hallway.

A cry again. Definitely coming from hisdaughters room.

Josie, its okay. Imcoming. This time he raised his voice to make sure she would hearhim.

As he passed his sons room, he pulled thedoor closed so Brandon wouldnt wake, too.

Josies room was at the other end of thehall, closest to the living room. She was the oldest, so she got topick which room she wanted when theyd moved in. It wasnt anybigger than her brothers but Ash knew she liked the fact that shewas as far away from Mom and Dad as possible. Made her feelindependent.

Her door was covered with pictures of boybands and cartoons. She was in that transitional stage between kidand teenager that was both cute and annoying. As he pushed the dooropen, he expected to find her sitting on her bed, upset about somenightmare shed had. It wouldnt have been the first time.

Josie,whats

His words caught in his mouth.

She wasnt lying in the bed. She was on thefloor, the bedspread hanging down just enough to touch her back.Ash rushed over, thinking that shed fallen and hurt herself. Butthe moment his hand touched her he knew he was wrong.

She was so hot. Burning up.

He had no idea a person could get thathot.

The most scared hed ever been before hadbeen when hed taken Brandon to a boat show in Texas and the boyhad wandered off. It took Ash less than a minute to find him again,but he thought nothing would ever top the panic and fear hed feltthen.

Seeing his daughter like that, feeling herskin burning, he realized hed been wrong.

He scooped Josie off the floor and ran intothe hallway.

Ellen! he yelled.Ellen, I need you!

He knew his voice was probably going to wakeBrandon but, at this point, he didnt care. Josie was sick. Verysick. He needed Ellen to call an ambulance while he tried to bringtheir daughters temperature down.

Ellen! he yelled againas he ducked into the bathroom.

Using an elbow, he flipped on the light thenlaid Josie in the tub. He wasted several seconds searching for therubber plug, then jammed it into the drain and turned on the water,full cold. To help speed up the process, he pulled the shower knoband aimed the showerhead so that it would stream down on her andcool her faster.

Where the hell was Ellen?

He put the back of his hand on Josiesforehead. She was still on fire.

Ellen!

He was torn. He wanted to stay with Josie,but the pills Ellen had taken must have really knocked her out, sothat meant it was up to him to get help.

Hang on, baby, he said.Ill be right back.

He raced into the hall and back to themaster bedroom. The nearest phone was on Ellens nightstand, nextto their bed.

Ellen. Wakeup.

He shook her once, then picked up the phoneand dialed 911. As he waited for it to ring, he glanced back at thebed.

Ellen hadnt moved.

Nine one one. What isyour emergency? a female voice said.

He reached down and rolled Ellen onto herback, thinking that might jar her awake. But her eyes were alreadyopen, staring blankly at nothing.

He flipped on the light. The skin around hermouth and eyes was turning black, and there were dark dryingstreaks running across her face from her eye sockets where bloodhad flowed.

Nine one one. What isyour emergency?

Oh, God. Help, hemanaged to say.

Are you hurt,sir?

He touched Ellens face. It was as cold asJosies had been hot, and instantly he knew no breath would everpass her lips again.

Send help! Send help,please!

He dropped the phone, not bothering to hangit up. It didnt even dawn on him that he hadnt given the operatoran address. He was barely holding on to his sanity.

Back in the hallway, he tried to shove theimage of Ellens cold and lifeless body into the back of his mind.He looked into the bathroom. Josie was still propped up in the tub,the water now several inches deep. He knew he should go see if shewas cooling off, but he had to check Brandon first.

He threw open his sons door and flipped onthe light. Brandon had one of those beds that were raised in theair like a bunk, but instead of a second mattress underneath therewas a desk.

Ash rushed over to the bed. His son was along lump covered by a Spider-Man comforter. As was the boyshabit, even his head was buried beneath the blanket.

Ash could feel the muscles around his hearttightening. With the yelling and the running and now the light onin the room, he was sure his son should have woken, but Brandonhadnt moved at all.