Into the Light: A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Thriller (Into the Dark Book 10)

by Ryan Casey

  And then Mike shuffled around, and she heard it.

  The tune.

  The tune from her little musical jukebox.

  The one she’d had as a child.

  The one Mike had retrieved for her after all that time.

  Right here, in this boat with her right now.

  When she heard that tune, she felt totally at peace.

  Totally at ease.

  She took a deep breath.

  Closed her eyes.

  And for the first time in a long time, baby Holly in arms, Mike and Arya Jr by her side, Kelsie felt the brightness fade.

  Everything was just fine.

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Kelsie looked at the water, and she smiled.

  It was a beautiful morning. She was growing used to these surroundings, in all truth. The sea. The waves. The sound of them crashing against one another. The smell of salt in the air. And the sound of seagulls swooping down. If she closed her eyes enough, she could convince herself that she was back in the old world. Back on that trip with her family at the seaside. The smell of vinegar. The taste of chips. The crispness of batter melting in her mouth.

  But she didn’t have to close her eyes and imagine.

  Not anymore.

  Because she could see her surroundings.

  Her blindness was temporary. It had faded after a few days. At first, it got worse for a while. But then gradually she started to see things. Little gaps in that brightness. Little spots where she could see through.

  And those little spots grew and grew until eventually… she could see again.

  And when she’d seen again, she knew she wasn’t imagining any of this.

  She knew it wasn’t some fantasy. Some dream.

  Arya Jr really had saved her from the water.

  Baby Holly really was okay.

  And Mike really had made it, too.

  Somehow, he’d survived.

  Somehow, he’d made it this far.

  Somehow, he’d made it.

  And he was here.

  “Kelsie?”

  It was when she heard his voice that she turned around and smiled.

  He was walking towards her. Walking along the shore. Because they weren’t in the sea anymore. They weren’t on the boat.

  They’d reached land.

  She looked at Mike as he walked towards her, Arya Jr galloping along by his side.

  And then she saw baby Holly in his arms. The little smile on her face. More vocal now. Taking in this crazy new world around her.

  She saw them all—her family, her people—and she felt her chest swelling up with love. With joy.

  Because they’d made it.

  And the world they’d made it to. The island they’d made it to. It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t powered. There was no electricity. There was no government. There was no order, not as they used to know it.

  And she knew she had an illness. An illness she needed to monitor. An illness she needed to keep wraps on. An illness she needed to control.

  She knew there were other forces out there, too. The people who were supposedly more powerful than the Outsiders. The people who had destroyed Britain. They wouldn’t just go away. They would always be a threat.

  But as much as she knew all these things… as much as she knew her situation was impermanent… and as much as she knew change was never far around the corner… Kelsie was content.

  Because she had her people.

  She had the people she loved.

  She had her family.

  “Ready for our walk?” Mike asked.

  She took a deep breath. Looked at the beautiful coast ahead of her.

  And then she smiled.

  “Always,” she said.

  And then she took a deep breath and walked along the beach, Mike by her side, Baby Holly in her arms, Arya Jr running alongside her.

  The helicopter closed in on the island.

  And when the pilot saw the trio on the beach, the dog alongside them, she took a deep breath.

  And then she smiled.

  “Got eyes on a family,” she said.

  “How do they look?” the voice crackled through her headphones.

  She observed them closely. An older man. A younger woman. A little baby, and a dog.

  And then she let the smile stretch across her face. “Like a family,” she said. “Like they’ll be ready for the new world. Ready to step back into the light.”

  Want More from Ryan Casey?

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  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any reference to real locations is only for atmospheric effect, and in no way truly represents those locations.

  Copyright © 2019 by Ryan Casey

  Cover design by Damonza

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Published by Higher Bank Books