Bronx took my hand and smiled at me. “You were amazing back there, but it scared the shit out of me.”
“Thanks… I think,” I said. “I just couldn’t stand the idea of something happening to you.”
He squeezed my hand. “I couldn’t stand the idea of you being stuck there with that guy.”
“He was such a creep,” I said.
We kept walking knowing that each step was another step between us and them. There were no sounds of anyone chasing after us. Maybe they hadn’t cared. Maybe they were lost without their insane leader.
“So, what do we do now?” Molly asked. “You still have that map they gave you?”
“I do,” Nick said but he shook his head. “But we’re not going there.”
“We’re not?” Molly asked. “Why not? We could be safe there.”
Nick sighed. “I’m sick of people, aren’t you? They're all just trying to fit us into their own plans for the world and, so far, they haven’t been anything I want. Let’s make our own place. Our own plan.”
It sounded good to me. Hiding far away from anyone and everything. We’d find our perfect place.
“And what if bad people find us?” Molly asked.
“They won’t find us. We’ll find a place and make sure they don’t,” Nick said. “And I’ll find more ammo from the guns.”
I couldn’t help but let out a heavy breath. I wanted everything to be okay and for nothing to ever go wrong again but it was hard to imagine a world like that after everything we’d been through.
“We’ll figure it all out,” Nick said with a slight limp he tried to hide by skipping forward a bit. “First thing we need to do is find a place. Somewhere that’s secluded but not too far from supplies.”
“Sounds good to me,” Bronx said. “I think we can do it.”
“Everyone in?” Nick asked.
Bronx and Molly agreed almost instantly but I hesitated.
“Aw, come on, Sis,” Nick said nudging me with his elbow. “If you have a better plan, I’m all ears.”
I shook my head. “Nah… fine, I’m in.”
“It’s settled then,” Nick said. “But first let’s put a lot more distance between us and crazy town.”
After we’d agreed, Nick and Bronx started discussing their plans and what we’d need to look for in finding the perfect home. Molly nodded along with all of their ideas, well, mostly with Nick’s ideas.
It didn’t matter to me where we were as long as we were safe and I was with Bronx. I would have been happy enough finding a cabin in the middle of nowhere filled with supplies hiding from the world for the rest of my life.
But we’d figure it out somehow and we’d be together. After fighting against White and his mini-army, my confidence had been boosted. I hadn’t laid down and given up. I’d fought back.
That’s all I need to do to survive this. Fight back. And that was exactly what I was going to do.
Books By Kellee L. Greene
Red Sky Series
Red Sky - Book 1
Blue Cloud - Book 2
Black Rain - Book 3
White Dust - Book 4
Indigo Ice - Book 5
Yellow Heat - Book 6
Ravaged Land Series (1)
Ravaged Land -Book 1
Finding Home - Book 2
Crashing Down - Book 3
Running Away - Book 4
Escaping Fear - Book 5
Fighting Back - Book 6
Ravaged Land: Divided Series (2)
The Last Disaster - Book 1
The Last Remnants - Book 2
The Last Struggle - Book 3
Ravaged Land: Eventuality Series (3)
The Wall - Book 1
The Outside - Book 2
Falling Darkness Series
Unholy - Book 1
Uprising - Book 2
Hunted - Book 3
The Island Series
The Island - Book 1
The Fight - Book 2
The Escape - Book 3
The Erased - Book 4
From Below Series
Creatures - Book 1
Desolation - Book 2
The Alien Invasion Series
The Landing - Book 1
The Aftermath - Book 2
Destined Realms Series
Destined - Book 1
Mailing List
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About the Author
Kellee L. Greene is a stay-at-home-mom to two super awesome and wonderfully sassy children. She loves to read, draw and spend time with her family when she’s not writing. Writing and having people read her books has been a long time dream of hers and she’s excited to write more. Her favorites genres are Fantasy and Sci-fi. Kellee lives in Wisconsin with her husband, two kids and two cats.
For more information:
www.kelleelgreene.com
Indigo Ice - Preview
The Red Sky Series Book 5
Indigo Ice - Chapter one
Knowing what time it was, wasn’t something that was easy since the world ended. By my best guess, I figured we’d been traveling for about a month since leaving behind the town filled with the criminally insane.
It was just the four of us now, and even though Nick had been injured long ago, he moved quickly. It could have been that he had healed more or it could have been that he refused to slow down until we were somewhere he felt safe.
I found it hard to believe that we’d ever find somewhere that was truly safe, but it wasn’t like we had a lot of options. We had to stop somewhere or keep walking forever.
So much time had gone by, and still, we didn’t know what was going on. Before we’d lost power, the talking head on TV had said it was some kind of attack. It hadn’t only been one attack, it had just been the first. Whoever was doing this was relentless. It was just one after the other with no end in sight.
They were unusual. Terrorizing. And devastating attacks.
We were lucky to be alive. If it could be called luck.
It didn’t matter how far we walked away from White and his pal Ripley who’d been in charge of the little town. There wasn’t any distance that would make it feel like we were far enough away.
“We should find somewhere to stop soon,” Bronx said looking up toward the darkening sky. It was a sparkling blue, but at the horizon, it was turning a darker navy shade. The shadows were growing, and I hated this time of night because I always felt like we were being followed, although, sometimes it felt like they were ghosts behind us, haunting us.
“I’ve been looking for the last six miles, but there hasn’t been anything,” Nick said.
“There was that shed,” Molly said with a shrug.
Nick placed his hand on her shoulder and rubbed it as if he were trying to provide her warmth. “We can do better than a shed, don’t you think?”
“I hope so,” she said grinning at him with hearts in her eyes.
I bit my cheek so I wouldn’t sigh my annoyance, but there wasn’t anything I could do to stop my eyes from rolling in almost a complete circle.
We’d been surviving on what we’d been able to find along the way. There was still plenty of supplies left behind in the small towns and houses we came upon.
Food and water were abundant because so much of the population had been eliminated. Nick worried it wouldn’t always be that way. We needed to take advantage of it while we could which is why we were searching for a place to stay.
Our plan was to find a secluded place and make it our base. We’d have food, water, anything we’d need, we’d stock. How we’d defend it, I didn’t know, but I was sure Nick had ideas.
There hadn’t been any more attacks since the last. I hoped that the white dust would be the last one, but it probably wasn’t.
Whoever was trying to eliminate the population wasn’t going to give up until every
last soul was gone. Then again, for all I knew, they were just testing their weapons for the future. Maybe they already were happy with the number of people they’d killed.
It was frustrating not knowing who had launched the attacks, but there was no way we could know. There was no communication whatsoever and everyone we came across was in the same situation we were… lost.
Something rustled in a nearby bush and I jumped back. My hands clenched into tight fists.
Bronx looked at me as a bunny hopped out in front of us. “Just a bunny.”
“Those things might be diseased or rabid or something,” I said.
“Are you going to punch the rabid out of them?” Bronx asked raising his brow as he smirked at me.
“Cute, really cute,” I said shaking my head.
His eyelids lowered ever-so-slightly. “Thank you. So are you.”
Things had been great between Bronx and I. Having him in my life gave me a reason to try. To be better. To be tougher.
But there was something terrible that came along with our relationship and that was that I didn’t know how I could survive if I lost him. One night we’d been talking and he made me promise that I would keep trying. He made me promise to never give up no matter what.
I couldn’t make the promise to him, at least, not right away. But after I did, I made him promise the same.
I wasn’t sure it would be possible to go on if anything happened to him. What would I have left? A promise is a promise though, right? I tried to convince myself ever since I’d uttered the words that I hadn’t lied to him, but I worried that I was just lying to myself too.
“Are there any bars left?” Molly asked pulling on the backpack I had slung over my right shoulder.
“Yeah,” I said sliding the pack off and handing it to her. She could carry the heavy pack for a while, my shoulder needed a break.
We’d stuffed the pack as full as we could when we’d found it, adding more and more until it looked like the zipper was going to pop. It was a touch lighter since we’d first filled it, but I’d been carrying it all day. I felt like if I had to have the weight any longer, I was going to develop a hunchback.
Molly groaned but took the backpack from me. She took several quick steps until she caught back up with Nick and offered him a bar. He smiled at her as he took it from her and sucked it down in two bites.
Nick stopped and pointed to something near the horizon. “Check that out.”
I blinked several times and squinted. There was a long, cracked driveway that twisted and turned all the way up a hill. At the top of that hill sat a mansion.
“Looks like the place I always dreamed of having one day,” Molly said smiling and shaking her head as if she’d entered a dreamland. After a quick moment, her shoulders slumped as she remembered everything she’d been through and what had become of our world.
“Should we check it out?” Nick asked, glancing at Bronx and then at me.
I shrugged. “Seems big. A lot of space to worry about checking over.”
“Yeah, Gwen’s right,” Bronx said.
“But we haven’t seen a soul in weeks,” Molly said. “Let’s just have a peek even if we don’t stay there.”
“It’s all right with me if it’s all right with them,” Nick said wrapping his arm around Molly’s shoulders.
Bronx nudged me lightly with his elbow. “We might not be able to find anything else.”
“I know, I know,” I said releasing a heavy sigh. “Well, then, what are we waiting for? Let’s go check it out.”
Molly practically squealed as she did a short little bunny hop. “I’m going to pretend it’s mine. I’m also going to pretend it’s in California rather than out here in the middle of nowhere.”
“Some people like to have a house in the middle of nowhere,” I said.
“I’m not one of those people,” Molly said batting her thick eyelashes.
“Are you wearing mascara?” I asked.
Molly narrowed her eyes as if she were in a makeup commercial. “I’m worth it.”
I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t stop a tiny laugh from seeping out from between my lips.
“Want to borrow some?” Molly said flicking her eyebrows up and down as she glanced quickly at Bronx.
I shook my head. “No thanks.”
“Suit yourself,” Molly said. “I’m going to do whatever I can so I don’t have to look like an old maid even if everything around us is falling apart. If I have to go out, I’m going out looking my best.”
“You’re beautiful without makeup too,” Nick said pulling her closer.
My stomach twisted. I still couldn’t let go of what happened with Blair. If Nick hadn’t met Molly things would have been different. At least I think they would have. The burns and blisters from the white powder had damaged her skin severely. None of us knew what that stuff would have done to her long term.
It was weird but I missed Blair. Even though she and I hadn’t really gotten along that well, everything felt different without her. She was supposed to be here with us.
I hated change. I’d always hated change.
Bronx and Nick both pulled out their guns as we approached the house. It was quiet. I felt like there were more eyes on me from our surroundings than there were from inside the house.
We walked around the front of the house looking in every window that we could. Most of the curtains were closed but several windows had a tiny space where we could see the beautifully decorated home that looked as though it hadn’t ever been lived in.
“Looks empty,” Nick said softly. “At least these few rooms do.”
“Doesn’t mean the whole house is,” I muttered.
Bronx’s eyes shot up toward the sky. “Unfortunately, we’re out of time.”
“Maybe we should hide in the garage,” I suggested.
“The garage?” Molly frowned.
“It looked like a nice garage,” I said with a quick shrug.
“I’ve been sleeping on floors, hiding in basements, and eating hay. We have this,” Molly said gesturing at the house, “and you want me to sleep in a garage? No thanks. You guys go hide in there, but I’m sleeping in a bed tonight, and something tells me it’s going to be divine.”
Molly stomped around Nick and walked up to the front door. She turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.
“Jesus,” Nick mumbled and quickly followed after her.
Bronx shrugged and looked over his shoulder at the area behind us. “Let’s check it out, then we can go in the garage.”
“Yippee,” I said as he grabbed my hand and pulled me along.
We stepped inside and Bronx closed the door softly behind us. Molly was standing there her hands folded up near her chin as she slowly spun wearing a silly grin.
“This is amazing,” she said.
I looked at the little table next to the door. It had a beautiful dish filled with dust-covered potpourri. The table had just as much dust if not more, only there were fingerprints near the edge.
I tapped Bronx on the shoulder. “Look at this.”
“Huh,” Bronx said. “Looks recent.”
“The door was open,” I said drawing in a breath as I looked at all the doorways and openings.
Bronx lowered his voice. “Hey Nick,” he whispered. “I don’t think we’re alone here.”
Nick gestured at an opened bottle of water next to a pistol sitting on a coffee table next to a fancy lamp that looked as though it had cost more than I had paid for my car.
“I don’t think so either,” Nick said slowly trying to move us back to the door.
We didn’t make it more than a few steps before the stairs started creaking and a clean pair of sneakers stepped into view. Nick stood in front of Molly and me and moved his gun-holding hand behind his back.
The man was holding a roll of toilet paper in one hand and an open magazine in the other. He stopped about half-way down the stairs and looked at us.
“Um… hello,” he said
his eyes darted over toward the table with the gun. I didn’t think he was looking at his bottle of water.
The man took another step down, shifting his gaze toward us. He wasn’t looking at his gun, but I knew all he was thinking about was getting to it.
Nick must have too because he raised up his gun. “That’s far enough.”
Indigo Ice - Chapter two
The man held up his hands without dropping the toilet paper or the magazine. “I—I don’t want any trouble. Take whatever you want and leave.”
“Wait,” Molly said cocking her head to the side. “Do I know you from somewhere?”
The man wore a little smirk as he lowered his hands slightly. “You just might.”
“Do you know me?” Molly said narrowing her eyes.
“No,” he said squinting back at her. “Should I?”
“Oh. Wait. Yeah, yeah, I do know you,” Molly said slapping her palm on her thigh. “You guys!” she said spinning to face us for a split second. “This is that one guy!”
“What one guy?” Nick asked scratching the side of his head. He stared at the guy, but I could tell he had no idea who he was and neither did I.
“You know! He’s that one singer! From that band. Oh my God, you know!” Molly said pushing Nick’s arm down as she gawked at the guy. “You are him, aren’t you?”
The man took another step down with a swagger in his hips. He paused when Nick raised the gun up again. The man held up his hands again.
“Yeah, that’s me,” he said with a nervous chuckle. “That guy from that one band.”
“I knew it! What are you doing out here?” Molly asked crossing her arms. She smiled at him as if he were an old friend.
“This is my second house. My home away from home,” the man said. “Can I come down before I fall down the stairs? My balance isn’t that great these days.”
The Red Sky Series Box Set Page 60