Bone Dust & Beginnings (Alexa's Travels Book 1)

by Angela White

  Still, one woman traveling with seven men drew attention, and they were sure word would get back to those in charge. Eventually, the soldiers would come again.

  Edward looked back at their companion, shaking his head at the scientist’s excited examination of the black mold on the spruce trees. Paul was clearly happy that Alexa had invited him along for a while, but his sudden movements and unexpected noises were annoyances for her very serious men. If he’d been along as anything but a guest, they might have protested. As it was, the pale man had a knack for finding supplies and had already aided them with it.

  Content that Alexa planned to drop the Rabbit somewhere along the way, Edward watched her eyes turn back toward the mountains, where Paul had told them the new complex was. She was tortured over it. Her stiff shoulders said she wanted to go back the way they’d come…and it was her choice. If Alexa said they were going to the big bunker to take on the new government, they would all follow.

  Alexa let out a sigh, shuddering as she fought for control of her ghosts and her guilt. These people, this country, needed Adrian’s light. He was the only one who could bring them all together and force Nature to close the gates. They had to find Safe Haven.

  The wind howled around them, blowing their cloaks back as if in defiance of her thoughts, and the blonde circled a finger. "Set us up. We head for Nebraska at first light."

  2

  In an isolated corner of the apocalyptic wastelands, the sentries were reaching their destination.

  These small warriors had traveled nonstop to warn the Mother that man was once again gathering. They came with sights and sounds to share, firsthand information for the war that lie ahead. There was little doubt that this group of humans was strong enough to start the rebuilding, to begin killing the fantasy world with their harsh disbelief. They were lethal enough to battle the new environment…and maybe win. Within years, these would multiply - until the old world was returned.

  That could not be allowed to happen.

  “It won’t,” Nature breathed her promise, calming rapidly beating hearts. She had no intentions of letting man send her new warriors back through the gates.

  “The only one who could have done so is gone from these shores. Without that green and gold light, man will never return to his former glory.”

  But the sentries were worried. The animals tried to express their concerns with images of the ruthless female leading the fighters, of how she’d bound a troll. It was something only the Undead could do.

  Despite losing one of her oldest birds on the golden stairs, the Spirit of Nature wasn’t overly concerned. There were many strong humans left, but without a true Alpha, there was no way mankind could heal the rift cause by their awful war. All the horror had snapped so many minds that it had been easy to push the gates open and allow the real terrors to roam free. Every human the monsters took was one less to be destroyed later.

  “Return to your homes, then your duties. This group will fall the same the others have.”

  “But if they make it across the waters…”

  Nature’s harsh laughter rang out, sending animals darting for cover under bushes and the ground.

  “The waters are under my command now. They will not allow humankind to leave any shore.”

  “But if they make it south…”

  Understanding how deeply the group had worried the sentries, Nature felt the first tremor of unease. She’d reacted lightly before the war, and almost been destroyed. Perhaps she should eliminate them now…

  Notes

  Hi, it's me waving at you again. Hope you enjoyed a glimpse of how their quest began and the two constant enemies they’ll face. What the Government can’t handle, Mother Nature might be capable of. Only time will tell.

  When I started this story, it was supposed to be a short episode of a continuing saga I’d hoped to release monthly. I understood that wasn’t likely as soon as I finished the first chapter, but I’ve never really known how big it should be or where it was supposed to start. I like to think I now have both of those covered.

  I expect this series to have roughly the same number of books as my first series, Life After War. As you may have guessed by now, they will have some sort of a meeting in the future. After the journey both groups have made through the apocalyptic wilderness, they certainly deserve to meet and swap survival tales.

  Next, we'll be heading to the killin’ fields of Nebraska. Marc and Angie (above-mentioned related book) came through there right after the War of 2012 and it was ugly then. I wonder what horrors lurk there now…

  This series is almost the opposite of the world and limits I face when writing LAW. This one allows me a creative freedom that always seems to have a slightly western flavor. Guns and Magic - two of my favorite things... (Sorry, I was singing there. Better that you couldn't hear it.)

  Thanks for stopping by. I hope we meet again, in that distantly close realm, where just about anything can happen. I call it Angie's World.

  Btw, thank you to the Betas and my new editors, Kim and Sharon. Together, you guys are the magic shining behind the words.

  http://www.law-angelawhite.com

  A. White

  Extras

  The Killin’ Fields

  The Change

  The Survivors

  Character Bios

  Quick look

  The Killin Fields

  Book Two

  The sight of a single, lanky white wolf inside their ring of protection was something of a concern to the seven warriors lying on the hard ground. To see hundreds of glowing eyes waiting hungrily in the tall corn behind it, was terror.

  “No one moves yet!”

  Alexa’s command froze them, half already taking aim on the one closest to her. Time slowed as the wolf also reacted, baring its fangs to grin furiously at her.

  “We will leave. Now.”

  The predator snarled in response, death in its blood red eyes unless her men were fast enough.

  There was chaos as the wolves attacked and Alexa’s army opened fire…

  The Killin’ Fields of Nebraska

  There’s a battle for control and it’s gotten ugly.

  The Change

  500 Years into the future, nine of every ten babies conceived are female. Men have been enslaved for their own protection and the only way to get a mate is to enter the Network Games and fight for one. The catch? It's a live battle to the death and the competition is fierce.

  Let’s meet the Players...

  “…Candice Marie Pruett. At barely 18, this intimidating Bounty Hunter resides in the Recovery Zones of Ohio and has a long record of excessive force. Recently fined over one million UDs for injury to a family member, this brutal Changeling only wants one thing. To get back what was stolen from her. Rank at the start of competition: 5/10.

  “The Blonde Bombshell. As reigning champion, this scarlet-wearing Dock Worker is heavily favored to repeat her string of vicious victories and claim a second Bachelor. Trying to earn the title of Head Defender by winning all the Games, she starts the competition ranked 1/10.

  “The Ex-Defender. Fresh from losing fugitives in the deserts of Nebraska, this former Network guard seeks to make amends by winning and donating her prize to charity. Baker, the dangerous, untrained male she allowed to escape, is still missing. It has lowered her rankings on day one to 7/10.

  “And their prize: A choice…

  “Daniel is a 20-year-old Bachelor with excellent relief skills and no memory of his life before being sold to the Network. Calm and unaggressive, he has been trained to be the perfect, harmless mate, and now hopes for a loving owner to take him home.

  “Or…

  “One of the eight other eligible bachelors sharing his quarters. They are lot #21198.

  Who's ready to play? Are ya? Are ya really?

  Watch Trailer

  The Bachelor Battles

  512AW (After War)

  1

  What if… the male population was going ext
inct, and behind them, women, the world?

  That was the reason the Network had given for the laws that decreed all men must have an owner, someone to be responsible for their care. Enslavement was the only way to protect our species, they’d insisted… and we listened.

  After the nuclear war, when the population fell below seven million world-wide, the birth rate slowly recovered to half of the pre-war averages, but less than 5% of those were male. The fallout damaged reproductive systems, making girls by the hundreds for every boy born, and those rare few were weaker, more susceptible to the toxins still in the air and ground. In small, scattered clans of survivors, this was more proof that by ‘the meek shall inherit the earth’, God had meant women.

  Within decades, the number of men had dropped drastically, and there were new wars, where whole towns of survivors killed each other for their sons. Huge groups decimated the smaller clans, absorbing the useful and disposing of the rest. Cities that had begun to rebuild, fell again to unchecked violence as the remaining scientists confirmed the fears. Unless something was done, the human population was likely to die out within just two centuries.

  That’s when the Network took over.

  It must have been horrifying at first, for all those who’d gone without contact for so long, to suddenly hear life coming from the devices that still worked. Had they thought maybe it was all over, and for good this time? When the radio station blared to life on July 4th, 085 AW, it was with anthems for all the nations. Played over and over, it was a call that people answered. When the words finally came, the first signs of a civilization about to try again… they were spoken by a woman.

  Within ten years, the radio station had drawn nearly five thousand refugees from all corners of the planet and returned New York to some of its former glory. Renamed New Network City in 099AW, it became the first beacon of light in the darkness that hung over the new world. In 114AW, the United States was renamed New America, but there was little new about a world cursed by ghosts of the past.

  Now, five hundred years after the nuclear sabotage that had destroyed our planet, the country had been split into three parts. Directly in the middle was an unknown area called the Borderlands, where the Wild West had returned in a new version of hell. The sides of New America were each controlled by a division of the Network, though the West Coast outpost was as foreign to most as those mysterious Borderlands. People from the west preferred to stay there, but it was hard to imagine them attempting the four-month trek anyway, considering the odds of death along the way. Few places beyond New Network City were livable… and those in charge liked it that way.

  The Network hid from their subjects, ruling through cameras and audio devices. No one really knew who was on the Council, only that it had ten members. There are no records or photos. From our history books, it seems no one cared. Rules, laws, and the foundations of a society that had existed solely inside the debris-laden walls of the Network City districts, had spread around the globe and been duplicated by other lands, other leaders. It was easy to see why it succeeded.

  The Network was strict. More so than any of the previous democracies on American soil… but really, it wasn’t that, even from the beginning. They imposed the bans and the punishments, and we obeyed, even though the War of 2012 had been caused by the very same indifference. Why would we consent to it starting again? Didn’t the death of billions teach us anything? There could have been a world of hope, remade from the ashes of the pain. Instead… we got the Games.

  The Survivors

  Like most days now, the sound of the ocean haunts me.

  My name is Angela. I'm a mother, doctor, soldier, and now, in the year 2017, I've become a leader of men. Thanks to the end of our world to nuclear war, I'm the Guardian of an American refugee camp named Safe Haven.

  Surrounded by carefully watching guards, I sit beside the immense Pacific Ocean as my people work and play nearby, confident my Army will look after them while I tell you about the War of 2012…and how we were forced to leave our beloved Country. It was a nightmare from which we couldn't wake. Some of us still haven't, and soon, we'll be at the water's mercy again. In less than two months, we're going home.

  America waits for us to reclaim and to rebuild, but mostly, simply, for us to return. Before we undertake that perilous journey, I have to get the 357 souls here ready for the trip, and I only know one way it can be done - Adrian has to come back, and lead us home, as he promised.

  Adrian… That incredibly patriotic man has been exiled, even though he’s the only reason that we survived. His secret was the only excuse the camp needed to turn on him, but I won't. I can't. I swore myself to him the same as the rest of his Council, and like them, I still believe.

  I’ve gotten way ahead of myself, far beyond the beginning, when our future didn’t look as good is it does now. Most people here in New America won’t talk about the War or the long, ugly journey we made together. They say the memories have faded, but I know a lie when I hear one. Some horrors you never forget. Like our final battle with Cesar and his large band of ruthless Mexican guerillas.

  It's been five years, but I still see the deep red streams of blood running down rain-soaked trees. I still smell men burning alive in their metal coffins. I dream of it sometimes: of the cold, wet night when I was the bait, and I'm sure Adrian does, too. It was the moment we knew our people would live - because of one man’s dream and his lies.

  From the very beginning, Adrian kept us alive, gave us everything he had - and he always did what was best for the camp, no matter what it cost him personally. He taught us to be stronger than we thought we could be, to look out for each other, and ourselves, and through it all… he lied by omission, knowing these scared, hurting survivors would never have trusted him, would never have given him a chance, if they had known who he really was.

  We came a long way together in the year after the War, over thousands of miles of heartbreaking devastation, and it hurts those of us who remain loyal to see him accept their unfair judgment without a fight. It makes everything we went through seem less important than it was, weakens the magic somehow, and I can’t allow that.

  I’ve been seeing open doors again, and that sly ocean cautions me, says the return trip will be just as hard as the one we undertook to get here. If there’s a storm headed toward the flock, it’s our Shepherd we’ll need to see us through it.

  So, for Adrian and for those of us standing by him, still ready to die for him, and for the dreams he made me believe in from almost the first minute I set foot in his Refugee camp, I will tell our story and leave nothing out. Maybe then these people will realize what he did for our country, accept how much we owe, and allow him to reclaim what’s rightfully his. Us.

  Before I tell you about our harsh, ugly journey, let me show you what happened on that day, what they did to us and what we did to each other. This is how America’s story of survival began…

  Character Bios

  The Horseman

  Edward was taken in the Draft, held in a bunker for months after the War, while his wife was murdered and left to die. When the food began running out, he helped breach compound to free everyone. Those freed men then destroyed the nearest towns. The horseman, so called because of his touch with animals, has never forgiven himself. Until Alexa saved him, he only wanted to die.

  The Biker

  Daniel liked to risk his life for thrills before the end of the world forced him to see that there were more important things to die for. He lost his child in the aftermath of the War, and tried to take his life because of it. Alexa healed his injuries and his heart.

  The Preacher

  In his mid-twenties, Jacob has jagged scars that crisscross his cheek and forehead. Before the War, he was government. After, he was the preacher in River City. He believes in peace and will go out of his way to achieve it, but when the battles come, he is as dangerous as the rest of Alexa’s companions. The other men assumed his wounds have caused this, but their leader knows bet
ter. Jacob is a born killer.

  The Convict

  Mark was a criminal when she came for him, in an underground slam in Boulder with the other killers. That hadn't stood in her way. When Alexa had left Boulder, he had been at her side and happy to be in the place he was born for.

  The Blacksmith

  David is the normally silent member of her group. Taller than her other men, he wears the same dark coloring and intelligent blue eyes. Little else is known, yet.

  The Driver

  Billy was a limo driver before the War. He can scale a tree like a monkey. He’s the only one of her men to have hair long enough to keep in a ponytail. Little else is known, yet.

  The Leader

  Alexa is a leader of men. She culled her companions from the dwindling herd of mankind because she sensed they alone might have the strength to make the journey, and each battle fought at her side tightens the bonds. For her, their quest is about more than finding a safe place. It's about the search for missing family. With her scarred fingers and fire-roughened voice, this stunning blonde warrior will lead these six bad-ass men through hell and back to reclaim what she lost in the war – her place on Adrian’s right.

  All Angela White Titles

  Life After War series

  The Survivors

  On The Road

  Safe Haven

  Adrian’s Eagles

  Bachelor Battles Trilogy

  The Change

  Changeling Winds