After The EMP Box Set [Books 7-9]: The Hope Trilogy

by Tate, Harley

  Daniel rubbed his hair. “Ben should be the one to make that decision.”

  “I know. But you should have a voice in the matter, too.” Tracy knew if she convinced the younger Jacobson, it would carry weight with his uncle. How much, she wasn’t sure. But it never hurt to try.

  Tracy was tired of always thinking the worst of others, never relying on anyone except their tight-knit little group. Ten people in the middle of the forest couldn’t rebuild a single town let alone the United States. It would take banding together.

  Ben Jacobson might not be perfect, but he was the best option they had come across in nine months. She wouldn’t give up until he either categorically refused or the Cliftons walked away.

  Daniel walked over to the truck where his brother and cousin waited and Tracy headed inside the cook cabin. Anne and Barry stood in the window, watching. She smiled at them both. “There’s a few gentlemen here that I’d like you to meet.”

  Barry nodded without a hint of a smile. “Brianna says they can’t be trusted.”

  Tracy exhaled. “I think they can. It’s early yet, but they’re doing something special. We should think about an alliance.”

  Anne leaned into her husband. “Let’s at least meet them. We can always make up our minds later.”

  “Fine.” Barry turned and set his mug on the counter. “But we’re not agreeing to anything until we meet the head of their operation.”

  Tracy agreed. “That sounds fair.” She stepped back outside and ushered the boys in. “Come on in, fellas. Meet the Cliftons.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  COLT

  Unidentified Farm

  Near Truckee, CA

  4:00 p.m.

  Colt put himself in the shoes of a smug jerk like Ben and tried to figure out where Dani might be. So far, he was striking out. All the obvious choices turned out to be duds.

  Creeping past a fence line separating one animal pen from another, he heard a yip. Strange. He hadn’t seen any dogs on the property before. He shrugged. Maybe they were indoor dogs like Lottie.

  Colt kept going. The barking intensified. All at once, a ball of brown and gray fluff skidded through the snow in front of him. The little thing jumped up and pawed his shins.

  “Lottie?” Colt scooped up the little dog in amazement. “How’d you find me?”

  One touch of her paws and he shoved his gun in his belt. “You’re freezing.” He rubbed her feet one at a time and tried to warm her up. She wasn’t having it.

  “What is it, girl?”

  She wriggled out of his arms and back into the snow, but she didn’t stay. Instead, she took off, barking and yipping and carrying on. Every few leaps, she turned to check if Colt was coming.

  He didn’t have the faintest clue what the dog was doing, but following her was better than wandering. Lottie scurried over clumps of melting snow to a concrete block building painted brown.

  “It’s a shed. You can’t possibly want anything in there.”

  Lottie pawed and barked at the door.

  Colt pushed it open, expecting a wall of tools. He found the opposite. “What on earth?”

  He entered the room, frowning at the gurney and the chairs and the desk in the corner. Lottie barked for attention at a second door.

  Colt hurried to open it. At the sight, he dropped his hand and the door almost swung shut on his face. It can’t be. “Dani?”

  Lottie leapt from the floor onto an empty chair, scrambled over to a bedside table, and up onto a hospital bed where Dani shrieked in glee.

  A woman with dark hair pulled back in a ponytail and eyes the same brown as Ben’s turned around. “Who are you?”

  Colt swallowed.

  “It’s okay. That’s Colt.” Dani ruffled Lottie’s fur. “And this is Lottie.” She laughed and Colt gripped the doorframe to keep from falling.

  Dani is alive… and she’s laughing. He almost forgot what it sounded like.

  He stepped up to her. “How are you?”

  “Good. A little woozy if I try to stand.”

  “Then don't.” The woman stuck out her hand. “Heather Jacobson.”

  Colt hesitated. “Ben’s wife?”

  Her eyes went wide for a beat before she laughed. “No. Niece. God help me if I marry someone like him.”

  The anger and rage that he’d used to break free and find Dani melted like ice on a hot car. Heather wasn’t anything like her uncle. He stuck out his hand and she shook it. “Pleased to meet you.”

  “I hear you’re the troublemaker.”

  “Is that a problem?”

  Heather’s eyes flashed. “Not necessarily.”

  He ran a hand through his hair, suddenly off-kilter. It had been a long time since he’d talked to a woman he didn’t know. Especially a pretty one. “Planning on turning me in?”

  She laughed. “A guy who runs in with a five-pound dog and a grin a mile wide? Not a chance.”

  He protested. “She’s seven pounds at least.”

  “Hello?” Dani leaned forward, waving her hands about. “Girl with a gunshot wound over here.”

  Colt turned. He had time to get to know Heather later. Dani would need rest and recuperation. He searched her small frame. “Where were you hit?”

  “My thigh.” Dani pulled down the covers and pointed at a large bandage. “Heather says a few inches over and I’d have bled out in minutes.”

  “It missed the femoral artery completely.” Heather focused on the bed. “My brother felt terrible about it. Said he panicked.”

  Colt would deal with the shooter later. He was focused on Dani’s recovery. “She lost a lot of blood. I thought—” He didn’t finish.

  “The snow and freezing temperatures helped. It slowed everything down. Her heart rate, the blood loss, all of it.”

  “Who knew snow was good for something?” Dani picked up Lottie’s feet and frowned. “Where are her booties?”

  “Back in the Jeep, probably.”

  “Didn’t you get them?”

  Colt shook his head. “I didn’t go back for her. She found me.” He smiled. “And you.”

  Dani picked up the little dog and nuzzled her face. “That’s because you’re the best dog ever.”

  Colt pressed a palm to Dani’s forehead. “You should rest.”

  “I’ve been resting ever since I woke up.”

  “Colt’s right, you shouldn’t be walking.”

  “Colt can carry me.”

  He held up his hands. “Not a chance. Ben’s liable to shoot me on sight.”

  Heather set down her stethoscope with a thunk. “I’ve got the next best thing. Wait here.”

  She disappeared out the door and Colt leaned toward Dani for a hug. “There was a while there where I thought I lost you.”

  “Sorry.”

  “I’m glad you’re okay.”

  “Me, too.” She fidgeted in the bed. “Last thing I remember, you were in a standoff with that Ben guy. I thought we were all going to die.”

  Colt swallowed.

  “Heather said he’s in charge.”

  “That’s right.”

  Dani chewed on her lip. “We’ve been talking and she told me about the farm and what they’re doing here and what her life was like before.” She glanced at the bed. “She’s nice.”

  “Seems that way.” To see Dani open up to a stranger tugged at Colt’s heart. The girl had been through so much, he wasn’t sure she’d ever accept anyone except their ten-person family. He encouraged her to continue with a squeeze of her hand.

  “All those things I said before, about burning the place down and not caring about the people here—”

  Colt knew what she was going to say, but he waited until she found the courage.

  “I was wrong. We should have tried to talk to them from the beginning.”

  Colt reached out and ruffed her hair and Dani batted him away. He wanted to tell her that he was beginning to agree and that maybe he shouldn’t have been so quick to judge, but the door o
pened before he could.

  “All right. It won’t be the smoothest ride, but I’ve found a solution.” Heather smiled at Colt. “If you can carry her outside, I can give you both a tour.”

  Ten minutes later, with blankets and pillows and Lottie balanced in Dani’s lap, they were situated in a four-seat ATV. Heather cranked the engine and smiled at Colt from beneath a fur-trimmed hood. “So how much of the farm have you seen?”

  He zipped up his jacket and thought it over. “The barns, the silos, the three fenced-in animal areas.”

  “So you haven’t seen the orchards?”

  Colt shook his head and they took off, bumping over snow and gravel and hard-packed earth until they crested the nearest hill. Trees in organized rows stretched down the other side.

  “This is all yours?”

  Heather nodded. “Apples, mostly. They do the best with harsh winters.”

  “Wow.” Dani leaned forward from the back. “Think about all the things Anne could can. Apple pie filling, applesauce, apple butter, spiced apple rings, apple jelly.”

  Colt laughed. “Would you even eat half of those?”

  “Beats canned peas.”

  Heather groaned. “I’ll agree with you there. Those things smell nasty.”

  The ATV ambled down the hillside and Heather launched into a description of their farm in the summer months. They harvested everything from wheat to corn to beans and okra. An entire field was devoted to pumpkins and squash and in the fall they canned so many pickles they had to drive to Reno to scavenge for jars.

  Colt was amazed. “How many people do you have?”

  “Including the kids?” Heather counted up in her head. “Twenty-five. But the toddlers don’t help much.”

  Size mattered. If they could accomplish all this with twenty-five, Colt wondered how much both farms could accomplish working together.

  “Do you hunt?”

  “Haven’t had time. We’ve been getting by with the chickens and the pigs.” Heather wrinkled her nose. “We eat a lot of eggs.”

  Hunting was something the Clifton farm excelled at. If they collaborated, the Clifton group could provide fresh game and the Jacobsons could provide extra harvest. It might be a match everyone found benefit from.

  Colt ran a hand down his face as they turned back toward the main section of the farm. He’d underestimated the value of other people. Ben had protected his own, not acted like Jarvis. He should have given them some latitude.

  Heather parked the ATV outside the medical building and Colt clambered down. He reached for Dani when a voice shouted out.

  “Stop right there!”

  Colt lifted his hands and turned around.

  Ben Jacobson stood fifteen feet away in the snow, with a handgun aimed at Colt’s chest.

  Heather jumped out of the vehicle and ran around to the other side. She stood in front of Colt and blocked the shot. “Put it down, Ben. He’s not the bad guy here.”

  “Get out of the way, Heather.”

  She palmed her hips. “No.”

  “I’m not going to ask again.”

  Heather shook her head. “What are you going to do, shoot me? You think that’ll make Grandad proud? You shooting your only niece because you’re too pigheaded to see what’s right in front of you?”

  With every word, Colt’s admiration of Heather grew. He glanced at Dani. Her face had paled to match the snow. He whispered to her. “It’ll be okay.”

  She shuddered and Lottie jumped off her lap and into the snow. Colt tried to catch her, but she wriggled free. “Lottie, no!” He shouted at her and twisted around, but Lottie was having none of it.

  She trotted all seven pounds of herself right up to Ben’s feet and began to bark. And bark, and bark, and bark.

  He crouched down to her eye level. “Who are you?”

  Colt could barely keep the emotion out of his voice. “That’s Lottie, and if you so much as touch her, heaven help me, I’ll kill you.”

  Ben stood up. “You’d kill me over a dog?”

  “She saved my life.” He glanced back at Dani. “And she used to belong to someone who didn’t survive in this new world.” He swallowed. “So if you have any decency, you’ll leave her alone.”

  Ben glanced at Heather and then back at Colt before lowering his weapon. “If Heather says you’re all right, then I suppose you must be.”

  Dani patted the blanket. “Lottie, come here, girl.”

  The little dog took one sniff of Ben, barked again, and ran back to Dani in the ATV.

  Ben huffed. “I don’t think she likes me very much.”

  Heather rolled her eyes. “Can you blame her?”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  TRACY

  Clifton Compound

  Near Truckee, CA

  6:00 p.m.

  The familiar canary-colored Jeep pulled up in the gravel drive and Tracy was the first one out the cabin door. Walter climbed down and Tracy ran to him, wrapping her arms around his middle as she pressed her face to his jacket.

  He hugged her and the tightness lingering in her chest eased. “I told you it wouldn’t be long.”

  She pulled back with a smile as Larkin hopped down from the other side and Ben Jacobson climbed out of the back seat. Tracy cocked her head. “What’s going on?”

  “I thought it was time the two families met.” Walter glanced at Ben as he took in the sight of the compound. “We can help each other.”

  Tracy nodded as the three men from the Jacobson farm came down the steps to greet Ben. “I’ve been thinking the same thing.”

  A moment later, a pickup truck rolled in and a familiar bark rose above the rumbling engine.

  “Lottie!” Tracy smiled as the little dog pawed at the back gate. Tracy scooped her up as Colt hoisted Dani from the back of the truck.

  He carried her over to Tracy. “She’s not supposed to walk for a while. Where should we go?”

  Tracy pointed at the cooking cabin. “We’re assembling in there.” She reached out and squeezed Dani’s arm. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

  Colt carried Dani off and Tracy let Lottie down to follow them. Barry and Anne introduced themselves to Ben and ushered everyone inside. It was a tight squeeze, but they made it.

  After coffees were distributed and everyone settled into a seat or a spot leaning against a wall, Walter spoke up. “I brought Mr. Jacobson here in hopes we could find a way to help each other. They have a working farm and so do we. If we pool our resources, we may be able to expand our operations and begin to rebuild what we’ve lost.”

  “You mean start a town?” Dani held her mug in both hands and blew across the surface. “Why would we want to do that?”

  “Not a town, but a co-op.”

  Ben propped a hand on one knee. “We’ve got an established orchard and have a decent wheat harvest in the fall. What do you all do here?”

  Anne leaned in. “We’re avid hunters and we process and preserve everything that comes in the door. If it can be canned or dehydrated, we do it.”

  Walter spoke up. “And now that we’re on the farm, we’re HAM radio operators.”

  Tracy glanced at her husband. If he was willing to share their radio secret, then he must truly believe in the possibility of the farms joining forces.

  Ben perked up. “A radio? You mean there are people out there, talking to each other?”

  Walter nodded. “It’s sporadic, but yes. I broadcast relatively frequently, as do others. The chatter has dropped off a bit this winter, but it’s still there. If we were in a city, I could broadcast on a radio station.” He smiled at Barry. “It’s a bit hard to manage that out here.”

  Tracy could almost see the gears turning in Ben’s head. He hadn’t thought about the broader picture and what it meant to communicate with people in other areas.

  “How far does it go?”

  “I’ve picked up people as far away as the Midwest.”

  “No way.” Ben seemed impressed. He rubbed his chin. “With your hu
nting skills and the radio knowledge, I can see us working together. We could be the start of something new.”

  Colt chimed in. “Assuming we can keep from killing each other.”

  Ben snorted out a laugh. “True enough.”

  Colt held out his hand. “My apologies on trying to kill you.”

  Ben accepted with a shake. “Sorry Craig shot your daughter.”

  Tracy glanced at Colt. The man leaned back and looked at Dani, but he didn’t correct Ben. Dani hid a smile. They were already father and daughter in all but name. It warmed her heart to see them both accept it.

  She reached for her husband’s hand. “If we survive this winter, I can see a whole new world opening up for us this year.”

  Anne, Barry, the rest of the room agreed.

  Ben raised his mug. “Here’s to the beginning of a new alliance.”

  Everyone took a sip and conversation broke out in pockets here and there. Brianna and Peyton talked to Craig in the corner. Ben and Colt thawed toward each other over reminiscing about the past. Larkin poked fun at Daniel’s pickup truck.

  It was like they had known each other for years.

  Tracy reached over and took her daughter’s hand and Madison smiled. Visions of her daughter growing up and getting married and starting a family rose in her mind. It wasn’t the way she envisioned it even a year ago, but for the first time since the lights went out, she had real hope.

  Maybe the future wouldn’t be so grim after all.

  HOPE SURVIVES

  300 Days Without Power

  Chapter One

  SILAS

  Donner Summit Bridge

  Outside Truckee, California

  9:00 a.m.

  Silas pulled into the empty observation point and killed the engine. The snow-covered roads were no match for the snowmobile, even with abandoned cars and looted tractor-trailers stalled out along Donner Pass. He reached into his pack and fished out his binoculars.

  Donner Lake stretched in an east/west line below him and thanks to a steady wind at his back, the usual morning fog and clouds were nonexistent. He scanned the coastline with his naked eyes first, searching for the telltale rise of smoke from a chimney or the unexpected movement of a person against the snow.