Solar Storm (Season 1): Aftermath [Episodes 1-5]
Page 42
“I’m tell you, he’s bluffing,” the man holding Kate said. “That shotgun will kill his wife too.”
José stared at Jay a long moment. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of his neighbor’s face. José blinked and licked his lips.
“I…”
Kate chose that moment to struggle again and threw her head back with a curse. She caught her captor right on the nose with a loud crack. The man released one hand from her arm and brought it to his face.
“Fuck!” he gurgled. “Bitch broke my nose!”
“Jay!” Kate screamed as she lurched to her right, almost spinning out of the man’s grasp. She tripped and went down with a grunt.
It was all the opening Jay needed.
The shotgun roared and everyone screamed at once. The man holding Kate lay crumpled on the ground, most of his head splattered against the far wall.
She smiled up from the floor at him, her face smeared with blood and dirt, but still the most beautiful thing he’d seen since he first saw Leah in Indiana.
Cha-chack.
Everyone fell silent. The shotgun was pointed back at José’s face. He stuttered a response and dropped the knife almost as fast as the empty shotgun shell hit the floor.
“Step away from my wife,” Jay growled.
“I’m sorry,” José said, talking as fast as Jay had ever heard someone speak. “I didn’t want to—Ray said we could force you to give us the keys…Maria told me about the car—Jay, I never would have hurt her—Dios mío!”
“Shut up!” Maria hissed.
Kate got up off the floor and glared at her neighbor. Maria tossed her hair over her shoulder. “You think you’re better than me? I would do anything to protect my family. I would kick your—”
Kate cocked her arm back and Maria flinched, dropping the flashlight. “Get the fuck out of my house,” she spat.
“But—” began José.
“Leave,” Jay growled. “Now.”
José stared at Jay. He lowered his arms. “You’ve changed, Jay.”
Jay felt his right eye twitch. “The world's changed. Now get the fuck off my property before I do something your wife will regret seeing.”
“He won’t shoot you,” Maria insisted. “If we can—”
“Cállate!” José snapped, never taking his eyes off Jay. “He will shoot. I can see it in his eyes.”
“Dad…” Leah whispered, a gentle hand on his arm. Jay shook her off.
“Get out,” he repeated through clenched teeth. His finger tightened on the trigger. “Last warning.”
“No! We have a right—” began Maria.
José cut off his wife’s outburst by grabbing her arm and dragging her kicking and screaming from the garage. “I’m sorry!” he called again.
As soon as the Cortegeras disappeared into the night, Jay dropped the shotgun and almost tackled Kate. Despite the filth and grime on her face, his lips found hers as they wrapped arms around each other.
“—so happy to see you—” she muttered between kisses.
“God, I thought you were dead,” Jay replied when they broke for air.
Thom cleared his throat. “Uh, excuse me Mr. and Mrs. C., but there’s more people coming down the street.”
“What?” Jay asked. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from Kate’s.
“Dad!” barked Leah from the driveway. “We need to go. Now!” She pointed down the street. “The Cortegeras just met up with like, ten people. They're coming back!”
“Everybody in the car—now!” Jay ordered.
Once inside the safety of the Tahoe, Jay took a look at Kate again, still not believing she was real and sitting in the passenger seat. Beyond her, out the window, he spotted several flashlights and his smile faded.
Jay threw the big truck into drive and not bothering to back up, drove across the side yard, kicking up a rooster tail of dirt, grass, and snow. He roared down Mac’s driveway and into the street on squealing tires. The kids yelled in the back and their supplies jostled back and forth, but Jay didn’t care.
“You came back,” Kate whispered, her hand finding his as they drove down the deserted street. “You got Leah and came back for me.”
Jay blinked the water from his eyes and stole a glance at his wife. He’d just killed another man and almost shot his neighbor.
“My God, what happened to you?”
Kate looked down at the grimy bandages on his hand. “I could say the same thing about you…”
“Kate!” Leah said, throwing her arms around her stepmother from the backseat.
As his girls got reacquainted, Jay stared into the night and raced out of their neighborhood for the last time. He knew he’d never be back. He left behind Monica and his life with her, memories of Leah growing up, and a job he loved.
Jay looked at his wife as she talked with Leah and they traded stories about what happened when the lights went out. The boys added color commentary when Leah refused to take credit for the battle in the dorm, but Jay could tell they were just as excited.
In that moment, Jay realized none of what he left behind mattered. He had his wife back from the grave. He’d rescued his daughter and saved the lives of two college kids besides. They’d survived a neighborhood that turned on them like a pack of rabid animals.
Now they had a car mostly full of supplies, the open road, and a destination in sight.
Jay glanced at the dashboard clock and laughed.
“What’s so funny?” asked Kate, a smile curling the corner of her cracked, split lips. She tucked a lock of filthy hair behind one ear.
“It’s two o’clock.”
“So?” asked Kate. “You got a hot date?”
Leah giggled from the backseat. “Oh my God, he’s going to freak.”
“Who?” asked Leah.
“Mac!” Leah blurted.
“Mac’s alive?” Kate looked at Jay. “But his house…I thought—”
Jay pulled the radio from his jacket as he merged onto I-74 heading east. It was the third time in a week that he’d set his sights on Indianapolis.
“We have one hell of a call to make.”
“What are you talking about? Where are we going?” Kate asked, reading the green road sign that proclaimed Indianapolis to be 170 miles ahead. “Why are we going this way?”
“We’re going to Mac’s retreat. Upstate Michigan, but the turn-off is on the other side of Indy.”
Kate’s hands went to her mouth. “He made it?”
As the kids talked over one and other to inform Kate about their nightly calls with Mac, Jay pressed the transmit button on his handheld HAM radio.
“Mongoose calling Iceman. Come in, Iceman.”
In a few seconds, the reply came back, scratchy but understandable. “Go ahead, Mongoose. Iceman reads you five-by. Did you make it back to the house? Tell me you’re on your way. Over.”
“We made it, Iceman. I've got someone here who wants to say hi,” he said.
“Mac! It’s Kate!”
“Kate? What the hell? You’re alive!”
Jay smiled at the shock in Mac’s voice. He took the radio back from Kate and raised it to his mouth.
“We’re on our way.”
The first Season of Solar Storm is over….but Season 2 is coming.
CLICK HERE
to pre-order Season 2: Episode 1.
Available July 28, 2017.
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Author’s Note
THIS IS A WORK of serialized fiction. What that means is I'm writing it and publishing it an episode at a time, like a TV show. Instead of waiting for me to write the entire book, you can read it as each section (or episode) is ready. Some people do not like this, so I will be releasing the entire season (episodes 1-5) as a book when everything is written. This is an experiment for me, to see if my readers prefer reading shorter installments or longer works, so please do let me know. You can email me at:
marcus@freeholderpress.com
The inspiration for this serialized story hit me after I happened upon a news story proclaiming the northern lights would be visible from my home in Wisconsin late last year. I stayed up half the night trying to spot them and photograph the elusive aurora to no avail. That got me thinking about solar flares, coronal mass ejections and the end of civilization.
I started researching and discovered the horrifying truth that our government not only knows about the threat posed by the sun, but doesn't take it very seriously. Oh, don't get wrong, they've created task forces and committees and sub-committees, but has anything actually been accomplished other than rule making and defining terms used in said rules? Nope. We're just as vulnerable as we were thirty years ago--perhaps even more so as we become ever-dependent on electricity and electric devices (you're reading this on an electric device, aren't you?).
So what's to be done? Other than pressuring politicians to spend the money now to harden our grid, not much. So I hope to--at least in some small way--use this serialized story to raise what awareness I can about the threat we face every day.
For more information, try a Google search for "July 2012 Solar Flare". Trust me, it's fascinating reading.
Also, check out the government's response here: https://www.aip.org/fyi/2016/federal-government-preparing-impacts-space-weather-and-electromagnetic-pulses. They're moving in the right direction but the question remains: will it be enough, will it be in time?
After all, the next Solar Storm could happen any minute, any day, any time. The sun never rests—neither should we.
Marcus Richardson
March 16, 2017
Acknowledgments
I WOULD LIKE TO thank the usual suspects, my family, my friends, and most importantly, my wonderful wife.
I would also like to thank my new ARC Team (a group of dedicated readers who get the first look at my books before they are published) and my long-time Beta Readers—Rotag and Old Sarge. This time, I have the pleasure of also thanking my new Betas: Dave, Rich, and Bob. Without your valuable insights and encouragement—not to mention great typo catches!—I could not have finished this story. Well…I could, but it wouldn’t be nearly as enjoyable to read! So if you find any mistakes it's their fault, not mine.
Just kidding—I take personal responsibility for each and every mistake, typo, and inaccuracy in this book. The fine people on my ARC Team and my Beta Readers do yeoman's work in helping me root out the little buggers and bring a polished, more enjoyable manuscript to light. That said, I think it's nearly impossible to find each and every single mistake so I ask you, my readers, to contact me if you find anything—or even if you think you find something. You never know, you may end up on the acknowledgments page or even land a coveted spot on the ARC Team! I'm not above naming characters after people who've helped me out, either—there's all kinds of fun things that can be done for people who help me out.
Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that elements of the cover(s) were created using images licensed from BigStock.com and the public images archives (specifically Astronomy Image of the Day) hosted by the great folks at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
THANK YOU one and all.
About the Author
Marcus attended the University of Delaware and later graduated from law school three years later. Since then, he has at times been employed (or not) as: a stock boy, a cashier, a department manager at a home furnishing store, an assistant manager at and arts and crafts store, an unemployed handyman, husband, cook, groundskeeper, spider killer extraordinaire, stay at home dad, and a writer.
Marcus writes post-apocalyptic thrillers full of high-octane action and lots of military hardware. You can read his Future History of America Series available exclusively on Amazon. He has also written and continues to write books in the Wildfire Saga. Several of his Wildfire books are also available as audiobooks! For a free sample, check out The Source, the first prequel in the Wildfire Saga.
The Source is available at all major ebook retailers for FREE.
Discover more about Marcus on the FAQ page of his website:
marcusrichardsonauthor.com
Books by Marcus Richardson
SOLAR STORM
Episode 1: IMPACT
Episode 2: NORTHERN LIGHTS
Episode 3: FAITH
Episode 4: ENDURANCE
Episode 5: HOME
Solar Storm Season 1 (Episodes 1-5)
Season 2 coming July 2017
*************
THE WILDFIRE SAGA
The Source (Prequel)
Book I: Apache Dawn
Book II: The Shift
Book III: Firestorm
False Prey (Novella)
The Wildfire Saga Bundle
Oathkeeper: A Cooper Braaten Thriller (Spring 2017)
*************
THE FUTURE HISTORY OF AMERICA SERIES
*************
For my complete catalog listing, please see:
marcusrichardsonauthor.com
Table of Contents
Contents
Title Page/Copyright Season 1
Books by Marcus Richardson
CME Defined
Half title S1
Beginning
EPISODE 1: IMPACT
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
EPISODE 2: NORTHERN LIGHTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
EPISODE 3: FAITH
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
EPISODE 4: ENDURANCE
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
EPISODE 5: HOME
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Season Two
Review Solar Storm Season 1
Contact Info
Author Note
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Books by Marcus Richardson
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