by Hunt, Jack
Her senses went into high gear as she aimed the rifle and fired a few more times, then moved position. As she was running towards the next tree, she heard the crack of a gun, and felt a hot searing pain in her leg as she collapsed. Breathing hard and fast, she reached down and gripped her leg.
A moment of distraction and he was on her like a lion on a gazelle. She fired one last time, but he kicked the gun out of her hand and leapt on her, clamping his hands around her throat. She gasped for air and pounded the front of his chest with both fists but that only angered him more and he lashed out, catching her with two hooks to the jaw.
“I’m going to take you to the brink of death then bring you back and do it again, and again and when I’m ready…” He reached around and pulled a huge hunting knife from a sheath. “I’m going to gut you like a pig.”
He placed the knife back into the sheath and she fought him with every ounce of strength she had left but it was useless, he was too strong and the pain in her leg was overwhelming. His hands clasped around her throat and she could begin to see darkness creeping in at the sides of her eyes.
Then everything went black.
A sharp stinging sensation and she was back again gasping for air only to see his face looming over her. “Welcome back, bitch!”
He squeezed again. “Die! Die!” he screamed as he applied even more pressure.
Then, there was a crack, red mist hit her face and Trent slumped to one side.
Rayna gasped for air, sucking in as much as she could.
Frozen. Dizzy. Struggling to get air through a windpipe that was bruised and damaged by his grasp, she remained there motionless. Seconds passed and then she saw him.
“Rayna.”
She squinted unable to believe it.
Was she dead? Was this some dream?
“Elliot?”
Then just like that her world rushed back in. The memories of the past. Her kids running to Mr. Thompson and the final few minutes of what she thought was going to be the end of her life. Elliot clamped hold of her hand and brought her up to a sitting position. That’s when she saw others: a woman, two males and… behind them running across the yard with Mr. Thompson were Lily and Evan.
Elliot turned and saw his kids and their pace slowed from a run to a jog, then a walk. “Dad?”
Evan was the first to run at him, wrapping his arms around him and crying into his neck. Lily followed. Seconds turned to minutes and slowly she regained the strength to try and stand. Her leg was in agony and bleeding badly. She was full of questions but Elliot told her that now was not the time.
Behind them they heard a dog barking.
“Kong?” Elliot asked.
“In the shelter,” she said jerking her head towards it. “You’ll need to go through the escape hatch as it’s still locked down below.”
Elliot looked at her and she told him to go and get the dog. She stumbled a little as they emerged from the woodland and Mr. Thompson, told her that he’d had his grandson bike down to alert the police.
* * *
Elliot hurried over to the escape hatch and peered down. He smiled as the large face of his old friend looked up at him. At first it looked like Kong was confused then his tail started wagging and he began barking like mad.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.”
He made his way down the ladder and the second his boots hit the ground that big old dog jumped on him knocking him back and licking his face like mad.
“Kong. Kong. Stop. Stop,” he said laughing. It took several minutes before he could work his way out from underneath the large furry mass. Kong then started whining and rubbing his head against Elliot’s leg.
“Yeah, I missed you too, boy.”
He wiped a tear that streaked his cheek before exiting the shelter through the main hatch after getting a little assistance from Damon to bring the dog up. Once up they entered the house and waited for the police to arrive. As Elliot listened to his kids’ voices, and tended to Rayna’s wounds, he looked up at her and realized how crazy he’d been to leave them behind. Sure, PTSD had been a struggle, and it would continue to eat away at him, but he now knew the only way to overcome it was to face it head on, with those he loved.
When he left, he wasn’t ready to deal with it.
He thought the answer was to run from the pain.
To leave behind those who he didn’t want to hurt.
“I’m sorry, Rayna, for everything.”
She didn’t respond as he treated her leg but eventually she replied, “You know, he pulled through. He didn’t die that night.”
A flashback of that final evening hit him. Being inside the liquor store, seeing two armed robbers try to take cash from the register and her brother, Keith entering as the gunfire erupted. For the past twelve months he’d pushed down the memory and blamed himself. But he had no control over the hallucinations that came from his PTSD back then. When it all happened, he thought he was in Fallujah, caught in a fire fight.
That was until it was over, and three men lay bleeding on the ground.
“He’s alive?”
She nodded. “I never got to tell you because you left, but I don’t blame you, neither does he.” He felt himself becoming choked up and as he stopped to wipe the tears from his eyes, she leaned forward and put her hands around his head and pulled him close. She never said any words but her action did.
As the sun came up that morning, spreading its warmth across Lake Placid, the full scale of what they were facing became evident. Rayna was taken to the local hospital to be treated and Gary brought Elliot up to speed on what they were dealing with and the challenges that lay ahead. The situation was dire and the future bleak. Although they had overcome insurmountable odds trying to weather the past few days, the obstacles seemed even greater now. All of them realized that Austin and Trent were only the beginning of something far worse and even more deadly. As from panic to chaos, the world had begun to unravel.
THANK YOU FOR READING
Days of Panic: (Book 1)
Days of Chaos will be out in February
Please take a second to leave a review, it’s really appreciated. Thanks kindly, Jack.
A Plea
Thank you for reading Days of Panic: EMP Survival Series Book 1. If you enjoyed the book, I would really appreciate it if you would consider leaving a review. Without reviews, an author’s books are virtually invisible on the retail sites. It also lets me know what you liked. It also motivates me to write more books. You can leave a review by visiting the book’s page. I would greatly appreciate it. It only takes a couple of seconds.
Thank you — Jack Hunt
Reading Team
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About the Author
Jack Hunt is the best-selling author of horror, sci-fi and post-apocalyptic novels. He currently has three books out in the War Buds series, two books out in the Wild Ones series, three books in the Camp Zero series, three books out in the Agora Virus series, five books out in the Renegades series, one book out in the The Armada series, a time travel book called Killing Time, a science fiction book called Blackout, another called Darkest Hour, another called Final Impact and another called Mavericks: Hunters Moon. Jack lives on the East coast of North America.
www.jackhuntbooks.com
[email protected]
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