Eden Rising Read Online Free PDF

BITTER, COLD wind cut through the air, stinging Daniel Ash’s cheeks as he gingerly climbed out the open hatch. Above, low gray clouds pushed in over the valley as if they couldn’t fill the sky fast enough, the storm a lot closer than he had thought.
    Josie Ash leaned down over the tunnel exit and grabbed her father’s arm. “Let me help you.”
    “I’m fine, honey,” he said, though that was far from the truth.
    Ignoring his response, Josie guided him up the final rung of the ladder and onto solid ground. Once Ash was out of the way, Dr. Gardiner came up next, then Lily Franklin, and finally Chloe.
    With the Bunker now empty, the hatch to the tunnel was shut and quickly covered by a few feet of dirt, some pine needles and branches, and a top layer of snow. When the job was done, it was almost impossible to tell anything was buried there.
    “You all right?” Ash asked Matt. They’d been standing to the side, watching the others work—or at least Ash had been watching. Matt had been staring into the trees, lost in thought.
    A few seconds passed before Matt pulled himself back and looked at Ash. “Sorry. Yeah, I’m fine. Just glad to be getting on the road.”
    Ash glanced up at the sky. “If you want my opinion, we’re cutting it pretty tight. We could have gone yesterday.”
    The right corner of Matt’s mouth ticked up. “Not according to the good doctor. Hell, he didn’t even want to leave today. Said you needed more time.”
    “I’m good,” Ash said. “Don’t worry about me.” The truth was, Ash was grateful for the extra night’s rest. He nodded his chin in the direction of the hatch. “So are you going to destroy it?” Like the Lodge had been, the Bunker was wired for self-destruction.
    “Not yet. I guess…I guess I’m hoping we’ll be able to come back.”
    Ash could understand that. The Ranch had been Matt’s home for a long time.
    Matt rubbed his hands together. “No sense in waiting around here any longer,” he said, then raised his voice. “All right, everyone, load ’em up.”
    They made their way over to the road, where four military-issue, light-armored Humvees they’d appropriated from Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls stood waiting, engines idling.
    “We’re in number two,” Chloe told Ash.
    Ash trudged over and climbed into the back, finding his son Brandon inside. “How you doing, buddy?”
    “I can sit on the floor if you need this seat,” Brandon said, already starting to move.
    “No, no. Stay. There’s plenty for all of us.”
    “You sure?”
    “I’m sure,” Ash said, taking the seat across from his son.
    Both Brandon and Josie had become ultra protective of him since the explosion that had nearly killed him. While a part of him was touched by their attention, he knew this wasn’t the way things should be. He was the parent. He should worry about them, not the other way around. But the world was a different place now, forcing his kids to grow up way too quickly.
    Josie and Lily entered through the far back, taking the jump seats there, while Chloe climbed into the driver’s seat, and the doctor into the one beside her. Before Gardiner could close his door, Matt stuck his head in.
    “All right there? Need anything?” Matt asked.
    “All good,” Ash replied.
    “You need us to stop for any reason, have the doc or Chloe radio us.”
    “Sure.”
    Matt patted the outside of the truck with his hand. “Safe trip, everyone.”
     
    AMUND RINGNES ISLAND
    12:04 PM CST
     
    F OR THE FIRST time in over a week, Rich “Pax” Paxton could see clear sky. Given how far north the research station was, where he and his team had holed up, the sky was more twilight than the bright, sunny noon he preferred, but it was definitely clear.
    They had come to the island searching for Bluebird, the headquarters of Project Eden, but had discovered it wasn’t there. Which meant Bluebird had to be on Yanok Island, the island Captain Ash and his team had gone to