by R. B. Tetro
Magnus screamed so loud they felt like their eardrums would rupture.
“You cannot kill he who belongs to the dead!”
Reverend swung his axe in a vicious downward arc, severing Magnus’s left leg just below the knee. And again Magnus screamed. “You cannot kill…”
The old lady stepped up and stabbed him in the chest with her well-used long knife. Magnus grunted and coughed up vile black- greenish blood.
Then, Poet stepped forward, lifting his war club high in the air, and brought it down on the side of Magnus’s head with a gruesome thud.
Magnus moaned and started to laugh; softly at first, and then louder and louder until at last, Daniel took his grandfather’s Bowie knife and thrust it into his open mouth and the rest of them stabbed and hacked at him until he neither moved nor spoke anymore.
It was over. He and his uncle were dead...or at least as dead as already dead creatures can be.
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-ONE
The Red Robin awoke after falling asleep at his microphone again. He was alone and he grimaced at the thought of having to try and walk over to the bed. But then it struck him that he was no longer tired and that something was different…very different about the way that he was feeling and the level of pain that he was feeling- which was none.
He stood slowly, wary of the joint crushing pain that had accompanied Siros’ spell, but as he walked around his quarters he began to realize that he felt better than he’d felt for years. Something has changed. But what, and how…and for how long? He stepped out onto his balcony for the first time, in a very long time, without assistance. He felt whole as he stood staring out across the open plain separating them from the Griddle.
He stood there long enough to know that he was well. Walking back over to his mirror he stood in front of it, scared to see his repulsive image and yet, this time, although his heart was beating as fast as a galloping horse he looked directly at his reflection and saw the man that he was before Siros’ spell had decimated him. His color was starting to come back and his eyes were bright blue.
“How is this possible?” he asked himself in the mirror, smiling at the reflection of his old self. Before he got a chance to answer his own question, he saw the hawk soaring toward him and then landing at the bottom of the mirror at his feet. “Welcome home, friend,” he said, before removing the much anticipated note from the canister.
He expected the hawk to fly away and wait on the balcony railing as per usual but it didn’t. Instead, it watched him read the letter, as if the valiant bird somehow knew the content and weight of the message and was waiting to see his long time friend’s reaction.
The Red Robin nodded and opened the note, afraid to read it but unable to stop himself from doing so. The note was simple and directly to the point, which told the Red Robin right away that it wasn’t Scout who wrote it.
It read-
The Keep has been taken. Magnus and Siros are dead. Welcome back to the land of the living.
Red Robin was crying tears of joy while the hawk watched with what seemed like a smile on its face; but who knows? It’s hard to read a hawk.
Red Robin skipped to the door, catching himself and laughing before flinging it open and shouting as loud as he could.
“The Keep has fallen! Long live humanity. Long live the Star Towers. Long live the rebels. The Keep has fallen and we are saved!”
Within moments the news of the unexpected victory spread like wildfire all throughout the Star Towers. The Red Robin could scarcely contain himself as he and the rest of the people celebrated and danced and shouted for joy and after that, made preparations for the small band of returning heroes, who were, no doubt, on their way to them.
It was with great excitement that the Red Robin prepared his nightly message and he caught himself longing for time to speed up so he could begin his broadcast.
For the first time since before the bombs burned the world down to the ground he would finally be able to broadcast a message of victory.
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-TWO
But what the darkness is forgetting
is that love conquers humanity’s atrocities
and evil.
No matter how powerful… evil will always be
love’s bitch…
- Poet
It took them three days to bury their dead and a lot more than that to transport their wounded past the now abandoned town of Dead Stone and on to the outskirts of Hog Trough. Along the way, they lost several more and more than a few lost their minds, but as they stood looking at the newly rebuilt Hog Trough they couldn’t help but celebrate.
Daniel, Pops and Reverend led the way with the rest of their closely knit friends behind them. They were welcomed by a full detachment of Star Tower soldiers; who touched their hearts by welcoming them as one would welcome family and tending to the wounded and anything else they might require, all the while moving ever forward, although painstakingly slow, toward their final destination.
Each night they’d travelled, the Red Robin promised to welcome the hero warriors at the front gate. He was well now. The Red Robin could walk and talk and was back to his feisty old self. And so, it was with great excitement, albeit tempered by a healthy dose of exhaustion that the rebels walked the last two miles to stand at the massive four story gate which was the only way into the Star Towers.
The gate opened promptly and a tall man with crew-cut, white hair and a hard, chiseled face approached them with, at least, a hundred soldiers and people of all sorts standing respectfully behind him. He walked to the middle of the open gate, stopped and waited for them to arrive.
He was gaunt; as if he’d been quite ill, but his vivid blue eyes were flashing with energy and one could tell that he was on the mend.
“I’m the Red Robin … welcome to Star Towers,” he announced and offered his hand, choosing to hug each one of them in turn until at last he saw Daniel and Darius. Then, he fell to his knees and sobbed. "My son...oh God thank you! My son and grandson...come to me..."
He was crying and laughing and at first, Daniel didn’t recognize him, because of the length of their time apart, but slowly, recognition registered on his face and he dropped to his knees in front of his father and they embraced. Then Darius came and knelt down and embraced them, as well.
That day was splendid and perfect and beyond all of their wildest imaginings as, one by one, the survivors came and found them and reunited with them.
Chloe found Daniel wearing her faded American flag bandana, eating with his father and his son and the moment the two saw each other was heaven sent.
It was surreal for all of them but mostly for Daniel and Darius. The Red Robin opened the evening’s radio show with their introduction. The broadcast was tearful, joyous and heartfelt but most of all, it was the end of a journey for all of them and a new beginning.
This is the Red Robin.
Wake up all you wasteland walkers and Blood-eye stalkers!
It’s a new day. A banner day if there ever was one. My people of the territory, at last we may all take a breath and live for a while without fear of being eaten or enslaved. This is because of the bravery of a few true Americans, including my son, who stepped up and took my challenge to lead without knowing that the orders came from his own father! He did so without knowing that his father loved him.
Son, I’m so proud of you, can you tell our listeners how you feel right now? Can you tell me, how do you feel right now?”
For a moment there was nothing, only silence and then a little more silence until, at last, Daniel spoke softly into the night.
“I feel like I’m home.”
And he was home … they were all, finally, home.
The End… maybe.
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R.B. Tetro
A LOOK AT MISTY HILL RECKONING BY R.B. TETRO
Laura Sanders and her family have lived in the peaceful, misty shadows of the Great Smoky Mountains for generations. When that peace is threatened by a corrupt sheriff, and the ruthless drug dealers he’s protecting, they’ll have to stand together with their friends and some unlikely allies if they hope to survive. Jake Dillon has come to Misty Hill looking for answers about his missing brother; who’s been working undercover for the DEA. He finds the Sanders standing alone against the people connected to his brother’s disappearance. He also finds the family that he’s always wanted, and the love he’s never had. The odds are stacked against them surviving, but Laura and her family won’t back down, and Jake won’t back off, until he finds his brother and his new friends are safe. In the Great Smoky Mountains, people have their own brand of justice. It’s been passed down from generation to generation. It’s called a reckoning, and it’s coming to Misty Hill.
AVAILABLE NOW ON AMAZON.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
R.B. Tetro is a new author who lives in East Tennessee with his wife, four children, and a grandbaby. He enjoys hiking with family in the Great Smoky Mountains, playing basketball, and UT football. After working for several years as a fugitive recovery agent, his wife and best friend convinced him to put down the badge and pick up the pen. His goal is to be published in different genres, and to write for as long as his cluttered mind will create.
Find out more at:
wolfpackpublishing.com/r-b-tetro/
Table of Contents
Copyright
Free eBook download
Acknowledgments
Fortress
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
The Cavern of the Light
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
The Keep
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Chapter 101
Chapter 102
Chapter 103
Chapter 104
Chapter 105
Chapter 106
Chapter 107
Chapter 108
Chapter 109
Chapter 110
Chapter 111
Chapter 112
Chapter 113
Chapter 114
Chapter 115
Chapter 116
Chapter 117
Chapter 118
Chapter 119
Chapter 120
Chapter 121
Chapter 122
Chapter 123
Chapter 124
Chapter 125
Chapter 126
Chapter 127
Chapter 128
Chapter 129
Chapter 130
Chapter 131
Chapter 132
Free eBook download
A Look at Misty Hill Reckoning by R.B. Tetro
About the Author