by Tate, Harley
She stopped in front of the door and sucked in a deep breath before knocking three times.
After a minute, the door opened and a girl with long dark hair and eyeliner to match stood in the yellow overhead light. Lainey squealed and reached for her, wrapping her sister up in a hug.
“Eww. You stink like stale coffee and a barn.” Midge pulled back, grinning. “Welcome to Canada.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
KEITH
Meadow Lake
Saskatchewan, Canada
Sunday, 3:00 p.m. CST
Keith stood at the edge of an open area of wild grasses and reeds waiting for Bear to find his new squeaky toy and bring it back. The past day and a half had been the strangest reintroduction into normal life. After showering and sleeping in a real bed, he’d eaten a tomato and mozzarella chicken sandwich at the McDonald’s down the street and been schooled on the all-dressed potato chip.
Owen had settled in right away, clicking with the hacker contingent living in the Super 8 along with Lainey’s sister. They were an odd bunch. Keith wasn’t sure he’d ever be comfortable with people willing to break the law via a computer screen, but Danny, the kid Midge was dating, didn’t seem bad. Normal, even.
Bear brought the toy back and Keith reached out his hand for it, but Bear trotted past him. He turned as Lainey approached. Showered and well-rested for the first time in weeks, she was the most beautiful he’d ever seen her. It didn’t matter that her hair was wet and her face was free of makeup or that she wore a plain T-shirt and baggy jeans.
He reached out a hand and she took it, smiling.
“Just wake up?”
She nodded as she threw the toy for Bear. “I could sleep for days.”
“Same.” Keith glanced at the ground. “Midge’s friend TX tells me they’ve come up with a way to maybe bring part of the internet back online in the northern US, pinging off satellites and piggybacking off the Canadian network.”
“Is it legal?”
“Probably not.”
Lainey laughed. “I don’t know if we can rein them in, but if they can stay on the right side of the law, we might be able to do some good. There are some humanitarian aid organizations here in Canada that have reached out to Owen. They need a way to get supplies into the US but are running into problems with the Border Agency. They wondered if we could be a bridge.”
Keith turned to her. “You want to deliver aid? Will News Winnipeg be all right with that?”
“I thought we could do both. Report and deliver. Seems like the right thing to do.”
He reached for Lainey’s hands as nerves sped up his heart. “I don’t know how to say this or how to even start, but—”
Lainey rose up on her tiptoes and shushed him with a finger on his lips. He blinked as she leaned in and kissed him. It only lasted a moment before a thick ball of fluff and fur wiggled his way between them and dropped a slobbery dog toy at their feet.
Keith laughed and Lainey shook her head as she ruffed up Bear’s fur. “Don’t worry. We didn’t forget about you.” She bent and picked up the toy and threw it before making a face at her now slimy hand. “I think he might be jealous.”
“Just happy. He missed you.” Keith tugged her closer. “I missed you.”
Lainey smiled. “I missed you, too.” She leaned in and let him wrap his arms around her, resting her face on his chest.
They had survived a horrible tragedy, but they had done it together. Keith vowed to never let life pull them apart again, no matter what happened next.
Chapter Twenty-Six
LAINEY
Meadow Lake
Saskatchewan, Canada
Sunday, 5 p.m. CST
The snow globe Lainey had bought for their mother sat between them on the small table tucked into the corner of the internet cafe now overtaken by a cohort of hackers and reporters. Midge picked it up and gave it a shake. “Mom would have loved it.”
Lainey reached out and stilled Midge’s hand. “None of what happened is your fault. You did everything you could to save her.”
Midge’s hair fell in her face. “I should have tried harder to get the word out. Like you.”
“You sent it to me. That’s what’s important.” Lainey pulled away. “I still can’t believe you have a boyfriend. A normal guy, too.”
“Danny’s not normal.” Midge paused. “Well, okay, he is normal. But I’m working on it.”
Lainey smiled. “I think Keith’s settling into life in Canada already. He’s obsessed with these potato chips.”
“So you two…”
“Are back together.”
“I never understood why you broke up in the first place.”
Lainey exhaled. “I was dumb, thinking I couldn’t have a career and this great guy at the same time.”
“But you can?”
She nodded. “As long as I remember where my priorities are, I can. I don’t need to be in front of the camera. I need to be surrounded by people I care about.”
“Tell that to News Winnipeg.”
“I plan to, first thing tomorrow.” Lainey smiled. “But this afternoon is all about us. What would you like to do?”
Midge’s eyes glittered. “Want to hack into Meadow Lake’s traffic grid and retime all the lights? The one on Main Street runs really slow.”
Lainey laughed. “I was thinking more like take a walk and enjoy the sunshine.”
Midge shrugged. “We can do that, too.”
Lainey stood up and walked with her sister back outside. The sky opened up above them and the road stretched on into the wild fields beyond before disappearing at the horizon. Everything had changed, but not all of it was bad. She finally had the one thing she’d never known she’d missed.
Hope.
Thank you for reading book three in Lainey’s story. If you are new to the Nuclear Survival Saga, check out her sister, Midge, in the Northern Exposure trilogy today:
An imminent threat. A city in the dark.
When a fellow hacker clues Midge Sinclair into an impending terror attack, every second matters. She must alert her sister, find her mother, and make it out of Chicago before a nuclear bomb tears the city apart. The only problem? She’s 30,000 feet in the air careening toward O’Hare in a powerless plane.
Could you drop everything to save yourself?
Danny Olsen spends his days learning to be a doctor and ignoring his father’s disapproval. When he flies back to college via a layover in Chicago, he never expects to meet a girl like Midge. She’s smart, quick on her feet, and the only person who can get him out of the airport alive.
Two strangers on the run against impossible odds.
With an EMP destroying the grid in Chicago, Midge and Danny race the clock to escape the city before a nuclear bomb turns downtown to ash. They’ll have to learn to trust each other if they want to make it out alive.
The attack is only the beginning.
Want to know how it all started? Subscribe to Harley’s newsletter and receive First Strike, the prequel to the Nuclear Survival saga, absolutely free.
www.harleytate.com/subscribe
If you found out the world was about to end, what would you do?
Four ordinary people—a computer specialist, a hacker, a reporter, and a private investigator—are about to find out.
Each one has a role to play in the hours leading up to the worst attack in United States history.
Will they rise to the occasion or will the threat of armageddon stop them in their tracks?
Also by Harley Tate
NUCLEAR SURVIVAL
First Strike (exclusive newsletter prequel)
Southern Grit:
Brace for Impact
Escape the Fall
Survive the Panic
Northern Exposure:
Take the Hit
Duck for Cover
Ride it Out
Western Strength:
Bear the Brunt
Shelter in Place
Make the Cut
AFTER THE EMP
Darkness Falls (exclusive newsletter prequel)
Darkness Begins
Darkness Grows
Darkness Rises
Chaos Comes
Chaos Gains
Chaos Evolves
Hope Sparks
Hope Stumbles
Hope Survives
Find all of Harley’s releases on Amazon today: www.amazon.com/author/harleytate.
Acknowledgments
Thank you for reading book three in the Western Strength series. This trilogy completes the Nuclear Survival Saga (Southern Grit and Northern Exposure are complete trilogies and available now). I hope you enjoy all nine books!
As I mentioned before, a few liberties may have been taken, especially with place names and other minor details in writing this series. I hope you don’t hold it against me!
If you enjoyed this book and have a moment, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. Every one helps new readers discover my work and helps me keep writing the stories you want to read.
Until next time,
Harley
About Harley Tate
When the world as we know it falls apart, how far will you go to survive?
Harley Tate writes edge-of-your-seat post-apocalyptic fiction exploring what happens when ordinary people are faced with impossible choices.
The apocalypse is only the beginning.
Contact Harley directly at:
www.harleytate.com
[email protected]