The Last Town

“Look at me, son. Be brave.”

Ben nodded.

Ethan wiped the tears from his cheek, stepped out of the suspension chamber.

“I love you, Ben,” Theresa said.

“Love you, Mom.”

Ethan gave the door to Ben’s machine a nudge. It swung shut, and an internal locking mechanism triggered the seal.

Ethan and Theresa stared through the glass as the interior of Ben’s chamber began to fill with gas.

They smiled through their tears as Ben’s eyes closed.

Theresa turned to Ethan. “Tuck me in?” she asked.

He took her by the hand and walked her down to her machine. The door was already open, and she stared inside at the black composite seat, the armrests, the black tubing hanging from the i

She said, “Oh Jesus Christ.”

She climbed in and sat down.

The machine locked her in.

Ethan said, “I’ll see you on the other side.”

“You think we’ll really get there?”

“Absolutely.”

And then he kissed his wife like it was the last time he would ever touch her.

Climbing into his suspension chamber, Ethan thought of what he’d written down in his study last night, the words he’d recorded in the surveillance center.

Possibly the last recorded statement of human history.

The world is cruel. The world is hard, and in this valley, we lived at the mercy of the abbies. We lived like prisoners, and it went against every fiber of our being. Humanity is meant to explore; we’re meant to conquer, to roam. It’s in our DNA, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

He sat down in the seat.

It’s going to be a long journey, and when we reach our destination, there’s no telling what we’ll find.

The restraints locked around his ankles.

I’m afraid. We all are.

His wrists.

What kind of a world awaits us on the other side of this long sleep? To some extent, it doesn’t matter. Because the residents of Wayward Pines will face it together. No secrets. No lies. No kings.

The door to his own chamber clanged shut and locked.

We’ve all said our goodbyes. We all know this could be the end, and we’ve made as much peace with that fact as we can.

The pressurized hiss of releasing gas was accompanied by a woman’s voice, computerized and strangely comforting.

She said, “Please begin breathing deeply. Smell the flowers while you can.”

They say time heals all wounds . . . Well, we’ve got plenty of it . . . Enough time for empires to rise and fall. For species to change. For the world to become a kinder place.

The gas smelled like lavender and lilac, and the moment he breathed it in, he felt his consciousness being kicked out from under his feet.

So we all embark wondering what lies over the horizon, what’s around the next bend. And isn’t that, in the end, what drives us?

His eyelids began to lower, and he conjured up the faces of his wife, his son.

We have hope again.

Took Theresa and Ben with him, down into that long, long sleep.

For now, the world belongs to the abbies, but the future . . .

The future could be ours.

EPILOGUE

Seventy thousand years later, Ethan Burke’s eyes slammed open.

CONTENTS

ABOUT THE LAST TOWN

Then the Lord...

WE ARE THE...

PRELUDE

DAVID PILCHER

I

TWO HOURS AFTER ETHAN BURKE’S REVELATION

JENNIFER ROCHESTER

SHERIFF ETHAN BURKE

KATE HEWSON BALLINGER

JENNIFER

ETHAN

II

PILCHER

THE TURNERS

ETHAN

THE RICHARDSONS

ETHAN

HAROLD BALLINGER

ETHAN

III

ADAM TOBIAS HASSLER

THE RICHARDSONS

BELINDA MORAN

ETHAN

IV

PILCHER

PAM

TED UPSHAW

ETHAN

HASSLER

V

TED

ETHAN

THERESA BURKE

VI

HASSLER

ETHAN

THERESA

ETHAN

VII

HASSLER

THERESA

ETHAN

THERESA

ETHAN

THERESA

MUSTIN

ETHAN

KATE

ETHAN

VIII

THERESA

ETHAN

THERESA

IX

ETHAN

HASSLER

PILCHER

ETHAN

X

ONE MONTH LATER

ETHAN

EPILOGUE

NOW AVAILABLE: THE FIRST TWO BOOKS IN THE WAYWARD PINES TRILOGY

BLAKE CROUCH’S FULL CATALOG

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Blake Crouch is the author of over a dozen bestselling suspense, mystery, and horror novels. His short fiction has appeared in numerous short story anthologies, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Cemetery Dance, and many other publications. Much of his work, including the Wayward Pines series, has been optioned for TV and film. Blake lives in Colorado. To learn more, follow him on Twitter or Facebook, or visit his website, www.blakecrouch.com.