CATACLYSMOS Book 1 Part 5: The Long Dark Night: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller Read online

  praise for michael lister

  The Florida Book Review says that "Vintage Michael Lister is poetic prose, exquisitely set scenes, characters who are damaged and faulty" and Michael Koryta says, “If you like crime writing with depth, suspense, and sterling prose, you should be reading Michael Lister," while Publisher's Weekly adds, “Lister’s hard-edged prose ranks with the best of contemporary noir fiction.”

  “Like a two-hundred page poem, with words that skip on the waters of the imagination like well-polished stones, DOUBLE EXPOSURE is absolutely riveting! Elegiac prose, insightful characterization and a wonderfully ingenious plot.” Michael Connelly

  "Eerie and cinematic, classic whodunits with thoroughly modern sensibilities. John Jordan manages to be deeply flawed yet utterly appealing. Lister, with his gift for exploring the nuances of human relationships, creates a vivid and multi-faceted supporting cast, each character finely-wrought, each portrayal unflinching. Suspenseful, complex and original, page-turners with a soul." Lisa Unger

  “Michael Lister has the world of Florida Panhandle noir all to himself. Tough, violent, and hard-boiled, This novel of obsession and suspense will remind you of Raymond Chandler, Graham Greene, and why you started reading crime novels in the first place.” John Dufresne

  “Tight, taut, terrific PI noir with a classic and fully-realized 1940s setting. Michael Lister is one of those rare, gifted writers who can immerse you with his first sentence. The “Soldier” series is a treasure—don’t miss it!” Kelli Stanley

  “Lister’s hard-edged prose ranks with the best of contemporary noir fiction.” Publisher’s Weekly Starred Review of The Big Goodbye.

  “Michael Lister successfully brings back the hard-boiled 1940′s P.I. with his Jimmy ‘Soldier’ Riley series. Soldier has heart, the dialogue is relentlessly hard-boiled, and the local is steamy and original. Lister knows how to mix it all together with the steady hand of a solid pro.” Robert Randisi

  “Michael Lister delivers the goods like Tyson in his prime, hard, fast and beautiful kind of brutal.” Gary Phillips

  about cataclysmos

  Thank you for giving the post-apocalyptic world that is Cataclysmos a try. I really appreciate you taking this journey with me. Cataclysmos is a serial thriller with new parts being published on a regular basis.

  For more information about Cataclysmos and for notifications of new installment releases, sign up for the Cataclysmos Communiqué by clicking here.

  Don’t miss a single thrilling episode of Cataclysmos!

  Click here to sign up today!

  Post a review and join the Cataclysmos Communiqué and I'll send you the next installment of CATACLYSMOS FOR FREE! Click here.

  The end.

  This is the way the world ends!

  When the end comes it comes with astonishing speed.

  It has been a slow build to the brink, but once the point of no return has been breached, night falls fast.

  Disasters, avoidable and not, and the inhuman responses to humanity’s existential crises, every tipping point tipping us over the ragged rim, into a black abyss from which there is no return.

  One man walks alone on a lonely road in search of his loved ones in a wasteland that used to be the world.

  Though danger lurks around every bend of the desolate landscape he is undaunted and will be undeterred. His mission is simple if nearly impossible – find his family and friends who are still alive.

  Encountering survivors who range from colorful characters to deadly adversaries, his journey is as much inward as it is outward, revealing as much about himself and the other survivors as the bleak new world they now inhabit.

  Warned to stay away from the coast, he heads directly into danger, choosing death over a world without his remaining loved ones in it.

  But is he too late? And if he’s not, is he up to the task of saving them?

  books by michael lister

  (Cataclysmos)

  Cataclysmos Book 1 Part 1: This is the Way the World Ends

  Cataclysmos Book 1 Part 2: Night Fires of the New World

  Cataclysmos Book 1 Part 3: The Deacon

  Cataclysmos Book 1 Part 4: Perish Twice

  Cataclysmos Book 1 Part 5: The Long Dark Night

  Cataclysmos Collection Book 1 Parts 1-3

  Cataclysmos Book 1 Complete in 5 Parts

  (John Jordan Novels)

  Power in the Blood

  Blood of the Lamb

  Flesh and Blood

  (Special Introduction by Margaret Coel)

  The Body and the Blood

  Blood Sacrifice

  Rivers to Blood

  Innocent Blood

  (Special Introduction by Michael Connelly)

  Blood Money

  Blood Moon

  Blood Cries

  Blood Oath

  (Jimmy “Soldier” Riley Novels)

  The Big Goodbye

  The Big Beyond

  The Big Hello

  The Big Bout

  In a Spider’s Web (short story)

  The Big Book of Noir

  (Merrick McKnight / Reggie Summers Novels)

  Thunder Beach

  A Certain Retribution

  (Remington James Novels)

  Double Exposure

  (includes intro by Michael Connelly)

  Separation Anxiety

  (Sam Michaels / Daniel Davis Novels)

  Burnt Offerings

  Separation Anxiety

  (Love Stories)

  Carrie’s Gift

  (Short Story Collections)

  North Florida Noir

  Florida Heat Wave

  Delta Blues

  Another Quiet Night in Desparation

  (The Meaning Series)

  The Meaning of Jesus

  Meaning Every Moment

  The Meaning of Life in Movies

  Sign up for Michael’s newsletter by clicking here or go to www.MichaelLister.com and receive a free book.

  about cataclysmos

  Thank you for giving the post-apocalyptic world that is Cataclysmos a try. I really appreciate you taking this journey with me. Cataclysmos is a serial thriller with new parts being published on a regular basis.

  For more information about Cataclysmos and for notifications of new installment releases, sign up for the Cataclysmos Communiqué by clicking here.

  Don’t miss a single thrilling episode of Cataclysmos!

  Click here to sign up today!

  Post a review and join the Cataclysmos Communiqué and I'll send you the next installment of CATACLYSMOS FOR FREE! Click here.

  books by michael lister

  (Cataclysmos)

  Cataclysmos Book 1 Part 1: This is the Way the World Ends

  Cataclysmos Book 1 Part 2: Night Fires of the New World

  Cataclysmos Book 1 Part 3: The Deacon

  Cataclysmos Book 1 Part 4: Perish Twice

  Cataclysmos Book 1 Part 5: The Long Dark Night

  Cataclysmos Collection Book 1 Parts 1-3

  Cataclysmos Book 1 Complete in 5 Parts

  (John Jordan Novels)

  Power in the Blood

  Blood of the Lamb

  Flesh and Blood

  (Special Introduction by Margaret Coel)

  The Body and the Blood

  Blood Sacrifice

  Rivers to Blood

  Innocent Blood

  (Special Introduction by Michael Connelly)

  Blood Money

  Blood Moon

  Blood Cries

  Blood Oath

/>   (Jimmy “Soldier” Riley Novels)

  The Big Goodbye

  The Big Beyond

  The Big Hello

  The Big Bout

  In a Spider’s Web (short story)

  The Big Book of Noir

  (Merrick McKnight / Reggie Summers Novels)

  Thunder Beach

  A Certain Retribution

  (Remington James Novels)

  Double Exposure

  (includes intro by Michael Connelly)

  Separation Anxiety

  (Sam Michaels / Daniel Davis Novels)

  Burnt Offerings

  Separation Anxiety

  (Love Stories)

  Carrie’s Gift

  (Short Story Collections)

  North Florida Noir

  Florida Heat Wave

  Delta Blues

  Another Quiet Night in Desparation

  (The Meaning Series)

  The Meaning of Jesus

  Meaning Every Moment

  The Meaning of Life in Movies

  Sign up for Michael’s newsletter by clicking here or go to www.MichaelLister.com and receive a free book.

  a post-apocalyptic serial thriller

  cataclysmos

  the long dark night

  book 1 / part 5

  by

  michael lister

  table of contents

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  15

  1

  Meleah has exhausted herself trying to come up with something to do, some way to save them.

  There is nothing. Or if there is, she can’t come up with it.

  Beside her, Nancy struggles against her restraints. She had done the same for a while—until she figured out how futile it was.

  The world ends every day. For somebody. This is how it ends for her and her dad and the poor creature who had helped her escape the Deacon.

  She can think of better ways to die, but in the end death is death.

  After you’re gone, does any of it matter anyway?

  But what about before then? What about the things these sociopaths plan to do with them before they kill them?

  Degradation. Violation. Humiliation. And pain. Lots of pain.

  Of course, the real terror is in what they’ll do to her dad. That and waiting for all of it.

  It’s a grace that they’ve separated us. He doesn’t have to witness what they’re going to do to me and I don’t have to witness what they’re going to do to him. The imagining is bad enough.

  Think of something else.

  Breathe.

  Get control of your mind. You can do it.

  Accept what is. Breathe in peace. Let go of what you can’t control. Gently control what you can—your mind.

  She gives thanks for her life. For her family. For Dad, Mom, Micah, Travis. Taylor. Mema. Papa.

  We had such a great life. So very much to be grateful for.

  Did any of them survive? Are they still alive? Are they somewhere safe? God, she wishes they could all be. Together. Safe. Healthy. Hell, she’d settle for just all being together again.

  Thinking of her family fills her with a peace and warmth that seems impossible given her predicament, but there it is.

  Everything is fleeting. Everything is temporary. Whatever pain there is, whatever suffering there will be, won’t last—not forever.

  2

  Blind rage.

  Nancy has experienced extreme anger before—many times—but this . . . this is something different. Something new.

  She literally can’t see.

  She can’t really think straight either.

  But boy can she feel. She can feel like a motherfucker. And what she feels—all she feels right now—is bright, blinding fuckin’ fury.

  Not only is the feeling overwhelming everything else, it’s actually overtaking her. She’s coming undone as she becomes pure rage.

  Bits of her psyche are breaking off.

  Her humanity is disintegrating. The beast beneath unleashed.

  Nancy is no longer Nancy. She’s Nobody again.

  But no matter who she is or is not, she is not going to be touched by another sick fuckin’ prick as along as she lives—neither as fuck hole nor food.

  She pulls against her restraints.

  Hard.

  It helps that they are on a chain bolted to boards in the wardrobe. Gives her leverage. Something to pull against. Helps make what she’s about to do possible.

  She has very, very small hands. It may take dislocating her thumb or worse, but her hands are coming through the cuffs. She’ll break bones and scrape her skin off if she has to, but her goddamn hands are coming through these goddamn cuffs.

  Beside her Meleah is crying, a certain hopeless dread in her frightened eyes, her entire face a mask of fear.

  Michael has just been rolled out, the door closed behind him, and the fat disgusting fuck is waddling their way—something she knows because she can smell him.

  Pull!

  She pulls even more feverishly, folding her tiny hand even more, its shape contorting to the point of deformity.

  As the ape nears her, he slowly fades into focus as her vision begins to return.

  In the flicker of the candlelight, his movements look like those of the old black-and-white movie monsters her mother used to watch late at night.

  God, she misses her mommy.

  Pretend like he has your mommy and you have to kill him to get her back.

  His thick, pink tongue is protruding from his crusty mouth.

  Motherfucker is literally licking his lips.

  She yells and screams in her gag and pulls even more frantically on her restraints.

  —You’re makin’ me so fuckin’ hard, he says between nasally labored breaths. Can’t wait to take that shit out of your mouth and really hear you.

  He leans his huge repellent head into her and begins to sniff and lick her body. Her neck. Her nipples.

  Meleah, who is no longer crying, begins to fight against her restraints too.

  —Struggle all you want, he says, his putrid breath hurting Nancy’s nose. Won’t do y’all any good, but sure as hell gets me goin’.

  They continue railing against their restraints.

  —Bigger, stronger bitches than y’all haven’t been able to break out.

  His flabby, odious tongue trails across her cheek and into her ear, then back over her face and into her nostrils.

  Grabbing her the bottom of her left arm, he lifts it and begins to lick beneath it, smelling and lapping her armpit like a rare delicacy.

  If all of this weren’t enough, he begins to move his other hand over her body, roughly grabbing each breast, pinching each nipple between dirty, callused fingers, until to her horror, he slides it down her tummy and between her legs.

  When his stubby, fat finger enters her, she goes blind with rage again.

  3

  Nocturnal noises.

  Shrill. Inhuman. Shrieks.

  Out of the cold darkness, from the woods surrounding the small house of horrors and the barn behind it, he hears a more intense iteration of the terrifying sounds he’s heard in all the woods along his way.

  —Sound closer tonight, the tall man pulling him along in the hand truck says. Or at least louder.

  The dolly bounces across the cold, hard, damp yard, jarring Michael’s naked body strapped to it as it does.

  Think!

  He’s always valued his mind. Used it to create and figure and deduce. Before this moment he thought it was his strength—his ability to problem solve and suss out solutions—but right now he can’t come up with anything. Not anything at all.

  Your daughter is back in the house with that vile baboon and you can’t come up with a way to save her. Nothing? No i
deas at all?

  He’s never felt as useless, as weak and powerless, in his entire life.

  Maybe you can’t come up with a way out of this because there is no way out.

  It can’t be. There’s got to be something. Some way to . . .

  I’m afraid this scene has already been scripted, partner. Nothing to do but play your part. Every conflict has casualties. Nobody ever wants to be one, but somebody’s got to.

  —Fat fuck really thinks he’s gonna get my generator, the tall man is saying. Fuck that. Fuck him. Put his fat ass down. Keep my generator and take his shit too. That’s the new deal, bitch. Spit in your fat, stubby-fingered hand and shake on that. What? Oh, you can’t cause you’re dead. Oh.

  Reaching the truck, the man stands Michael up, steps around, and opens the tailgate, letting it drop loudly.

  He then turns to look at his prisoner.

  —Cold as shit, ain’t it. I’ll warm you up. Just let me finish a little business first and I’ll get you good and hot. Make that ass burn like it’s on fire.

  Reaching up with the cold, bony fingers of his long, skinny hand, he holds Michael’s cheek the way a lover would.

  —We’re gonna have some fun, he says. Well, one of us is. Guess which one. You get two guesses and the first one don’t count.

  Dropping his hand, he moves around to the back of the hand truck again, rubbing Michael’s thigh with his fingertips as he does.

  —Let’s get you loaded, finish up, and get the fuck out of here. Ready to be back at my place with you.

  He leans Michael down again, spins the dolly around, then props it across the tailgate.

  Climbing up into the truck he pulls the dolly in.

  Lowering the cart onto the bed of the truck, he climbs back down and closes the tailgate.

  Lying flat on the dolly inside the bed of the truck, Michael can see nothing. But he can hear plenty.

  He hears the piercing shrieks of the inhuman. Hears the tall man walk around to the front of the truck and open the door.