Rewrite the Apocalypse dream (by Dee Cari) novel Chapter 355

Chapter 355 Kailee Is Pulled Straight Down

Finished

They crested the final rise, and there it was – the same cluster of bushes Joanna remembered from days ago, stark and black against the melting snow, their branches strangely bare compared to everything else growing nearby, as if even the frost refused to touch them the same way.

“Everyone stay back,” Joanna said quietly, holding up a hand. “Will – samples only. Don’t linges”

Will nodded, adjusting his scarf with exaggerated solemnity before stepping forward alone, boots-crunching through untouched snow toward the bushes. The rest of them held position several yards back, washing in tense silence as he crouched beside the nearest branch, carefully snipping a few leaves into a sample bag.

“Smell anything?” Joanna called.

“Nothing,” Will said, voice muffled behind the duck scarf. “No gas, no spores, nothing in the air at all. If something’s released from these, it’s not happening right now.”

He shifted closer to the base of the bush, parting the lower branches to check the soil beneath – and froze.

“…Huh.”

“What?” Kailee’s voice sharpened instantly.

Will reached beneath the branches and pulled out two small objects, turning them over in his gloved hand. An empty tuna can, rusted faintly at the edges but clearly not weathered for long. And beside it, half-buried in the dirt, a small glass perfume bottle, its label long gone, a few drops of liquid still visible at the bottom.

The group went quiet.

“That’s not wildlife debris,” Jake said slowly, voice low.

“No,” Joanna agreed, something cold settling in her stomach. “It’s not.”

Will straightened, bagging both items carefully. “I don’t think I’m in any danger just standing here-”

That was when Kailee, unable to stay back any longer, started forward. “I don’t care what you don’t smell, get out of there-”

She took three quick steps toward him, reaching for his sleeve to pull him back bodily if she had to- the ground beneath her simply vanished.

“KAILEE!”

She dropped straight through the ground with a startled cry, vanishing below the surface in an instant, swallowed by the earth like it had been waiting for exactly that kind of weight.

“KAILEE!” Joanna was moving before she’d even finished the name, dropping to her knees at the ragged hole left behind, peering down into pitch darkness.

and

“I’m okay-” Kailee’s voice floated up, shaky but intact, from somewhere several feet below. “I’m okay, I just – oh my god.”

“What is it?” Joanna called down.

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Chapter 355 Kailee Is Pulled Straight Down

Finished

A long pause. Then, quieter, almost disbelieving: “It’s a few tunnels in different directions. All collapsel

keeps going. It’s huge down here.”

“This might explain how Jolie was trapped in a cave under ground.” she said quietly, dread and gr understanding crashing over her at once. “This is how they took Jolie. Not across open ground underneath it. She blacked out, and they just… pulled her straight down.”

Jake had already dropped to his stomach at the edge of the hole, reaching down to help haul Kaiter ck up, while Will stood frozen several feet away, sample bag forgotten in his hand, staring down at the dark opening like it might swallow them all next.

Nobody spoke as they pulled Kailee free, dusted her off, and stood staring down into the black mouth of the tunnel – uncovering not an answer, but an entirely new, more unsettling question.

Did the ants build this? And how far did it actually go?

“We need to head back,” Joanna said finally, voice tight. “Now. We’re not equipped to go down there blind, and I’m not risking anyone else.”

They turned away from the bushes, grabbed the samples, and walked back toward the base in heavy, frustrated silence, every one of them carrying the same cold, expression on their faces.

By the time they made it back to base, Caleb and Julian were already waiting near the entrance, waving her over before she’d even fully crossed the gate. Joanna left Jake, Will, and Kailee to head straight for the lab, samples and the mystery of the collapsed tunnel in hand – Michelle and Warren would need every detail of what they’d found, and it couldn’t wait.

She crossed the courtyard with Caleb and Julian instead, the three of them settling at a table in the cafeteria just as Nana appeared with a pot of tea and a plate of biscuits, setting them down without a word before bustling off again.

Julian poured himself a cup first, looking entirely too composed for someone clearly about to deliver gossip. “A few things happened after you left for your hike this morning.”

“What?” Joanna asked, already wary of his tone.

“Looks like the snow finally melted enough on the main highway to actually drive it.”

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