by Kate L. Mary
“No,” I say firmly.
“How long since you been in contact with the infected?”
Blake frowns and glances my way.
“My mom died yesterday. My dad the day before.” I swallow, thinking about what happened to my dad and wondering if this man knows. It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him, but I can’t get the words out.
Before I can say anything else, the older man nods. “Symptoms woulda shown up by now.” He looks toward Blake. “You?”
“Same for me.”
I tense at the lie, but neither man seems to notice. Blake hasn’t really been in direct contact with anyone who was infected, but that shouldn’t matter. Right? I mean, this thing is airborne. If Blake were susceptible, he would have caught it by now. The houses in my neighborhood are too close together, plus he’s been in my house. We’re both okay. We have to be.
The older man nods as he walks forward. His gun is still down, but the guarded expression on his face puts me on alert. “You can lower your hands. I’m Jasper, and over there is Cade.”
“Nice to meet you,” I say, dropping my arms to my side. Blake does the same as I tilt my head toward him. “This is my friend, Blake.”
“Good to meet you both.” Jasper spits, then frowns like he’s about to deliver bad news. “We’re gonna blindfold you. Now, I know you’re not gonna like it, but we gotta. I took you in ‘cause I liked your dad, but we’re taking a big risk. I think I can trust you, but I can’t risk you running off to get your friends.”
I meet Jasper’s gray eyes. “All my friends are dead.”
He gives me a sad smile. “I know, but you know I gotta do this.”
I do, and what’s more, I trust him. “Okay,” I say.
“Well, climb on into your car and we’ll get on with it.”
Blake grabs my hand and leads me to the SUV. When our eyes meet, I can tell he isn’t thrilled with the idea, but he doesn’t argue. Which means he trusts my judgment.
Together we climb into the back then allow the man to blindfold us. When the engine roars to life and the car begins to move, I grip Blake’s hand tighter. Then we’re driving. Bumping over the rocky, uneven road.
We drive in silence for a bit, but the longer Jasper goes without talking, the tighter Blake’s grip gets on my hand.
Finally, out of nowhere, Blake says, “Where exactly are you taking us?”
Jasper clears his throat. “A shelter, out in the middle of nowhere. Used to be a missile silo, back during the cold war. There was a company that bought a bunch of them and turned them into high-tech end-of-the-world shelters. Luxury shelters, to be honest. They sold the apartments off to rich people. It was supposed to be top-secret, but I worked on the design, so I’m one of the few people who knew about them.”
“So, you owned one of these apartments?” I ask, trying to wrap my brain around the turn of events. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.
“No. Couldn’t afford one myself. But I had a plan for getting myself in when the right time came, and it worked.” Jasper lets out a laugh. The gravelly noise sounds painful. “See, the company ran into a few financial problems back in early 2013. The condos were supposed to be stocked with five years’ worth of food, but they had to sell most of that off. Something the people who bought into the place didn’t know. So, I gathered my own supplies. Stocked up enough food for myself and a couple other people. That way I had some leverage. When this started, all I had to do was walk up to the door and knock.”
“They just let you in?” Blake asks in disbelief.
“Naw. They wouldn’t open the door, but I knew there was surveillance equipment, and I knew they could hear me if I talked. So I explained that they were low on supplies, but I had them. Had a big U-Haul truck full of stuff. Anyway, it didn’t take them long to figure out I was their best bet of surviving all this.”
“So they’ll let us in, too?” I ask, suddenly worried that these people may have enough and not want us.
“Sure, now it’s no big deal. See, these places were built to sustain fifty people for five years, but of all the people who’d bought into it, only six showed up. There’s plenty of space, and with your haul, I’d say we’ll be good for several years.”
“Maybe by then the zombies will have died off,” I mutter.
Jasper lets out a barking laugh that tells me he thinks I’m joking. “Funny.”
“She’s serious,” Blake says firmly.
Silence follows, and I want so badly to rip the blindfold off so I can see Jasper and figure out what he’s thinking. It’s clear by his laugh that he had no clue about the zombies. Damn. I hate being the bearer of bad news.
“Why don’t you tell me what you’re talking about, exactly?” Jasper finally says, his voice only a little more guarded than before.
“Just what I said,” I reply. “Zombies. My dad died, then two days later he came back. Attacked Blake. We had to put him down.”
I wait for Jasper to tell me I’m insane—I wouldn’t blame him—but instead he lets out a low whistle. “Shit. Guess all those rumors online are real. People are starting to drop off now, and I’m sure it’s only a matter of days before the world goes offline completely, but right now there are all kinds of crazy things on there.” He exhales. “Guess we’re luckier than I thought.”
Blake squeezes my hand, and he feels more relaxed than he did a little bit ago. We go back to driving in silence, on our way to what I truly believe is a safe place for us to live out the next few years. My dad wanted this for me, and I’m going to face the future without fear and trust his judgment. After all, he was the one who took the time to prepare for the end of civilization.
“Thank you, Daddy,” I whisper, so quietly that even Blake probably doesn’t hear it.
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, let me just say that I had such an amazing time writing this book! Fans have been pestering me—in the best way possible—to write more in the Broken World series, but for me that story is done. I love those characters and had so much fun creating the world, but to continue writing in an already long series is a lot of work, not to mention the fact that I really wanted to create new characters for readers to fall in love with. As a compromise, I decided to write a new zombie series that took place in the same world, which is where The Loudest Silence comes in.
When I first started plotting this book, I knew I needed to come up with a unique location for the setting, and my mind immediately went to Oklahoma. Altus, OK is a real city and all the businesses and street names I used in this book actually exist. My family lived in Altus from February 2014 to November 2016, and while we were there, we got to experience the tail end of the severe drought, as well as the following “monsoon” firsthand, along with many of the other things I described in this book. And whether or not they are now luxury shelters for the apocalypse is a mystery that may never be solved, but there are even old Atlas missile silos in the area—I checked when we moved there since I was just getting ready to release Broken World. The Rattlesnake Derby, Walkin’ On Chalk event, Chili Cook Off, and everything else I talked about are real, as are the two donut shops that sit right across from one another, and the restaurant and bar, Val’s—we actually bought the owner’s house when we moved to Altus in 2014. The gypsum cave Kellan and Regan take shelter in is real as well, and yes, I have been there. When my brother came to visit in 2014 we took the kids out to the Mangum fire station—where you can also see the world’s second oldest working light bulb—and asked for directions. After driving out into the country for so long, we ended up on dirt roads. We were able to find a few entrances to the caves and did some exploring. It was an amazing experience that I knew I needed to add to this book. If you live in Altus and want to check it out, I suggest heading to the fire station in Mangum.
For being so inspiring, I need to extend a huge thanks not only to the state of Oklahoma, but also the cities of Altus, Duke, and Mangum, as well as the Quartz Mountain Resort at Lake Altus-Lug
ert, The Holy City, and the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. I was able to witness the beauty of this state both during and after the drought, and even though it wasn’t my favorite place to live, I will never forget my time there. I hope I did a good job of portraying the area!
For those of you who might not know, the term “might could” isn’t a typo. It’s an actual saying that I had literally never heard a person utter—despite years of living in the south—until I lived in Altus, and I felt compelled to add this to my book. No, it doesn’t make sense, but people say it! Also notable, the lovely Southern saying, “bless your heart.”
A big thanks goes to Jan Strohecker for once again being that first critical set of eyes. I know I couldn’t put out such polished books without dedicated people like you, and it’s both nice and flattering to have readers who are so passionate about the stories I write. Thank you also to Laura Johnsen, Carey Monroe, and Mary Jones for being early readers. I really wanted to get some readers who have been to the area to give the novel a onceover before publication, and all three of these ladies have either lived in or still live in Altus, which was perfect! Thanks also to Courtney McGrew, Karen Atkinson, and Tina Young for reading through in search of typos. Your enthusiasm is amazing!
I also want to give a shout out to Lori Whitwam, my amazing editor, and Amber Garcia, whose PR skills know no limits. Thanks for working with me and being so amazing at everything you do!
Another big thank you has to go to Dean Samed at NeoStock Photos for the amazing stock photos. It’s so hard to find stock images with women holding weapons where they aren’t dressed sexy, or even worse, completely naked. I found this group thanks the suggestions of some really amazingly supportive Indie authors, and it’s been amazing. Not just for the stock images, but for the Photoshop tutorials. I love designing my own covers not just because it’s cheaper, but because it’s fun, and thanks to NeoStock, my skills are getting so much better!
Last but not least, my family. While I loved writing this book, it was a struggle in the beginning because I kept comparing it to Broken World and wondering how the fans would react. My husband, as always, was helpful and encouraging, while my kids did their best to stay out of my way so I could finish by my deadline. Thanks for being so supportive!
Also by Kate L. Mary
The Broken World Series
Broken World
Shattered World
Mad World
Lost World
New World
Forgotten World
Silent World
Broken Stories
The Twisted Series
Twisted World
Twisted Mind
Twisted Memories
Twisted Fate
The Outliers Saga
Outliers
Uprising
Zombie Apocalypse Love Story Novellas
More than Survival
Fighting for a Future
Playing the Odds
The Key to Survival
The Things We Cannot Change
Surviving the Storm
The Blood Will Dry
Collision
When We Were Human
Alone: A Zombie Novel
The Moonchild Series
Moonchild
Liberation
The College of Charleston Series
The List
No Regrets
Moving On
Letting Go
Anthologies
Prep for Doom
Gone with the Dead
About the Author
Kate L. Mary is an award-winning author of New Adult and Young Adult fiction, ranging from Post-apocalyptic tales of the undead, to Speculative Fiction and Contemporary Romance. Her Young Adult book, When We Were Human, was a 2015 Children’s Moonbeam Book Awards Silver Medal winner for Young Adult Fantasy/Sci-Fi Fiction, and a 2016 Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal winner for Young Adult Science Fiction. Don’t miss out on the Broken World series, an Amazon bestseller and fan favorite. For more information about Kate, check out her website: www.KateLMary.com
Connect with Kate L. Mary online:
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