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Back Extinction Game Save as PDF
Chapters (33)
  1. Title page
  2. CONTENTS
  3. ONE
  4. TWO
  5. THREE
  6. FOUR
  7. FIVE
  8. SIX
  9. SEVEN
  10. EIGHT
  11. NINE
  12. TEN
  13. ELEVEN
  14. TWELVE
  15. THIRTEEN
  16. FOURTEEN
  17. FIFTEEN
  18. SIXTEEN
  19. SEVENTEEN
  20. EIGHTEEN
  21. NINETEEN
  22. TWENTY
  23. TWENTY-ONE
  24. TWENTY-TWO
  25. TWENTY-THREE
  26. TWENTY-FOUR
  27. TWENTY-FIVE
  28. TWENTY-SIX
  29. TWENTY-SEVEN
  30. TWENTY-EIGHT
  31. Acknowledgements
  32. By Gary Gibson
  33. Copyright page

‘Or a different universe?’ He batted me on the arm. ‘C’mon. Beans and grits on the menu today.’

‘How do you know?’ I asked, as we made our way in the direction of the dilapidated runway and the town beyond.

’It’s Saturday,’ he replied. ‘It’s always beans and grits on a Saturday. Didn’t you notice yet?’

SIX

We passed a tumbledown gas station, the harbour on our left, before making our way down a broad, palm-lined street that led past the Hotel Miranda. The Authority’s civilian staff were housed here. Finally we reached the Hotel du Mauna Loa, which stood on a slight elevation in order to give long-gone tourists a better view of the ocean. Its front facade curved in a sinuous line, partly hidden behind bushes long grown wild and unkempt, and its lawns lush with tall grass and weeds.

A woman I hadn’t seen before came down the hotel steps, wearing cut-off jeans and a baseball shirt. She had shoulder-length brown hair, and petite features that made me think of what Audrey Hepburn might have looked like – if she’d had to survive alone in the wilderness for ten years. I didn’t have to be told she was another Pathfinder; I could see it just from the way she carried herself. Even so, there was a distracted look on her face, and she was almost upon us before she even realized we were there.

She came to a sudden halt and made a silent Oh, the way people do when they nearly collide with someone unexpectedly. Her eyes grew wide and round when they settled on me, and all the colour drained from her face.

‘Hello, Chloe,’ said Yuichi.

I watched her try and form words when she wasn’t darting confused glances at me. ‘I . . . hello,’ she finally stuttered. ‘I hadn’t. . . I . . . excuse me.’

She fled past us with such haste she nearly broke into a run.

‘What the hell was that about?’ I asked.

‘Maybe you should go on in first, get yourself something to eat,’ said Yuichi, his eyes tracking the fleeing woman. ‘I just remembered I need to talk to Chloe about something.’

‘She’s one of us, right? A Pathfinder?’

‘Got it in one.’ He raised his hand in a farewell gesture and hurried after Chloe, who was still retreating at speed. I stared after them both, wondering if I would ever understand the people here.

I made my way up the steps to the hotel entrance and found that the square of coloured card that had been stuck to the door since before my first arrival on the island had finally been replaced. Before, it had advertised The Day the Earth Caught Fire. Now somebody had stuck up a new card, which read:

!SHOWING ALL WEEK!

DESTROY ALL MONSTERS, 1968.

starring

AKIRA KUBO, JUN TAZAKI