Edge of Survival Box Set 1 Read online

  Edge of Survival

  Box Set One (Books 1-3)

  William Oday

  Contents

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  Readers Are Saying

  Edge of Survival Series

  The Last Day Cover

  The Last Day - Book 1

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  Chapter 69

  Chapter 70

  Chapter 71

  Chapter 72

  Chapter 73

  Chapter 74

  Chapter 75

  Chapter 76

  Chapter 77

  Chapter 78

  Chapter 79

  Chapter 80

  The Final Collapse Cover

  The Final Collapse - Book 2

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  Chapter 69

  Chapter 70

  Chapter 71

  Chapter 72

  Chapter 73

  Chapter 74

  Chapter 75

  Chapter 76

  Chapter 77

  Chapter 78

  Chapter 79

  Chapter 80

  Chapter 81

  Chapter 82

  Chapter 83

  Chapter 84

  Chapter 85

  Chapter 86

  The Fragile Hope cover

  The Fragile Hope - Book 3

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Sole Survivor Cover

  Sole Survivor

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

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  Other Works

  Questions or Comments?

  The Goal

  My Life Thus Far

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  Readers Are Saying

  “One of the finest stories I've read in a few decades!”

  “The best viral apocalypse book.”

  “Wow, just Wow!”

  “Loved it!”

  “Truly excellent. A must-read.”

  “Impeccably paced, it’s a tense thriller.”

  “A friggin’ home run.”

  “One contentious action packed tale.”

  “My first encounter with the author. I am now a fan.”

  “Explodes off the pages.”

  “Will thrill you, move you, and engage you.”

  Edge of Survival Series

  THE LAST DAY, Book 1


  THE FINAL COLLAPSE, Book 2

  THE FRAGILE HOPE, Book 3

  THE DESPERATE FIGHT, Book 4

  The Last Day - Book 1

  1

  One Month Ago

  Washington, D.C.

  DR. ANTON RESHENKO realized they resembled nothing so much as monkeys, preening and picking at each other to ease tensions and confirm social status.

  He stood at the back of the small conference room, quietly waiting to be recognized. The most powerful men and women in the United States government packed the tight space in a conspicuous ordered hierarchy. The senior members each occupied a high-backed, black leather chair at the long rectangular table. The chair at the far end was empty due to the notable absence of the president.

  Would that legally cover plausible deniability?

  Proximity to that vacant chair reflected the relative power of those seated at the table. The next level removed were the subordinates and staff that stood along the walls behind the chairs of their respective superiors. They stood stiffly at attention, whether obviously military or otherwise, exuding the reflected glory of their seated masters.

  And the furthest removed were those, like him, standing at the opposite end of the room, near the door. As if the exit behind served to remind them that they barely warranted inclusion. That their presence might end at any moment with the wave of a hand or a displeased nod.

  Unlike him, they were all insiders. Instinctually aware of the invisible web of power and procedure that governed their artificial realities.

  The cloying stink of over-used aftershave wrinkled Anton’s nose. The latest slide of the lengthy PowerPoint presentation had caused on uproar amongst the room’s occupants. The hum of feverish conversation buzzed in his ears. Subordinates scribbled on notepads as they recorded their superior’s directives.

  The incessant babbling made it hard to think.

  Anton’s hand slipped into his left pocket and found the familiar disc deposited there. Minted nearly a thousand years ago, the silver Dirham of Genghis Khan was an invaluable reminder of what one man might achieve.

  He rubbed it between thumb and pointer finger. The worn edges of the ancient script almost as familiar as the lines of his own palms. One side read “The Just. The Great.” Many might argue the former, but none could diminish the latter.

  Holding history in his fingertips focused his mind. The small movement was a daily meditation during the development of MT-1.

  Anton’s shoulders held no stars. The front of his dark, rumpled suit coat displayed no ribbon rack, no medals. Nothing to proclaim a record of service to the world.

  That would change.

  One day, history would venerate him. Whereas these self-important imbeciles wouldn’t merit so much as a footnote. They would be forgotten. In many ways, they were already relegated to oblivion.

  Anton looked around the room and caught the eyes of one man seated at the far end of the table, Senator Charles Rawlings, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. The bespectacled elderly man held Anton’s gaze for a moment then turned away.

  The senator was the reason for the meeting. The reason for Anton’s attendance. Rawlings was twice as smart as the others and yet half as smart as he believed himself to be.

  None of them were on Anton’s level. He was different, in ways both evident and not. The size of the sideburns that carpeted both sides of his face only hinted at the differences.

  The white-haired man giving the seemingly endless presentation leaned on his cane while waiting for the buzz to die down. He’d introduced himself hours ago at the beginning of the presentation. The Director of the Office of Net Assessment, the Department of Defense’s internal think tank. The old goat had held the position for over forty years, since the office’s inception under the Nixon administration. His title didn’t officially hold the weight of many of those seated around the table.

  But power often came from unexpected places.

  Anton himself was proof of that.

  The white-haired man cleared his throat a few times until he had everyone’s attention. “Which brings us to the final slide.” He flicked a remote and the enormous display on the wall behind him showed a new slide.

  It was astonishing how PowerPoint could dull even the most vital of topics. He pointed at the monitor. He shuffled closer and touched the screen, leaving an oily mark. The smudge highlighted large red numbers.

  His voice came out brittle but confident, like a bible printed on antique parchment. Like a revelation.

  “We’ve run the sim with every variation we could think of. The result is the same. Under the most optimistic set of conditions, only one thing changes. The timing. And that by no more than a handful of months.”

  A dead silence descended on the room. Half the people in it turned to Senator Rawlings. He, of course, already understood the predicament as his office had coordinated with the Office of Net Assessment in directing the study.

  The other half turned to yet another gray-haired man seated adjacent to the empty seat. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Four gold stars clung to each shoulder. The general’s cold eyes narrowed as he digested the information on the screen. He finally looked back to the ancient presenter. “What exactly are you saying?”

  The old man pushed thick bifocals back up the bridge of his nose. His rumpled form straightened for an instant. “I am not saying anything.” He pointed to the large, red numbers on the screen. “The data, however, is shouting that we’re running out of time.”

  The general squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. He resembled a child closing his eyes, hoping the bad things would disappear. He finally opened them again and blew out a slow exhale. The colorful assortment of ribbons, medals, pins, and stars on his jacket settled. “How can this be?”

  “General, your people have run war games that concluded we’re headed for large-scale, persistent conflict over dwindling natural resources.”

  “Yes, but if what you’re showing us is true, you’re talking about the end of the United States of America.”

  The old man nodded. “Our simulation accounted for a far larger set of initial conditions than anything previously run. Depletion of the fresh water supply. Diminished biodiversity. Climate destabilization. Exploding sovereign debt. The end of cheap oil. We accounted for these and a thousand other pressing issues.”

  “Are you saying we’re doomed?”

  “The data is saying that we are approaching a peak of many correlated and undesirable trends.”

  The old man tapped the red numbers.

  “And this is the destination.”

  The general chopped a knife hand at the screen. “This is the land of the free?”