EMP Post-Apocalyptic Survival | Book 1 | Shelter In Place
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Everyone did their best to comfort her, but all she wanted to do was scream at Ben. And he let her.
When she had finished, a few of the other wives walked her back to her pod and put her to bed. Once she was gone, Liz walked to Ben, exhaling relief that her husband was alive.
“You did what you could,” Liz said, offering what reassurance to Ben that she could provide. “You need to remember that.”
Ben nodded, but he knew Jeff’s death would haunt him.
Marty escorted the prisoner to the mess hall, and when Liz saw him, she frowned. “Who is he?”
“For now, he’s our prisoner,” Ben answered, and then he pointed right at the man, so the boys understood. “You do not go near him, understand? He is a criminal. He’s a bad man.”
“What did he do?” Tommy asked.
“He hurt people,” Ben answered. “He hurt a lot of people.”
“Did he kill people?” Connor asked, quietly.
Ben knew his family had now entered a world that was much harsher than it was the day before. And he knew that it would only be a matter of time before the boys were exposed to the harsh truth, not that they hadn’t seen it firsthand already.
“He did,” Ben answered. “And that’s why you can never be around him.”
Both boys opened their eyes wide and then nodded.
“Good,” Ben said, then kissed them both and set them down.
There was an empty pantry in the mess hall that was no longer of any use, and they decided to use that as the holding cell for their prisoner. They found a lock and chain to keep the door shut, and Ben tossed him inside, and just before he shut the door, the man spoke.
“You think you’ve won, but you haven’t,” he said. “There are more of us than you could imagine. You will lose.”
Ben stepped closer to the man. “No, we won’t. Because we have something you don’t.” He pointed to the people outside. “We have family. People we care about. People we will gladly lay down our lives to protect. And I can promise you that bond is more powerful than whatever is holding your people together.”
The terrorist grimaced, but he said nothing.
Ben stepped out of the pantry, and then they closed and locked it, Ben taking the key. He called for a meeting, and everyone gathered in the mess hall.
“I know we’ve all been through a lot,” Ben said. “But the fight isn’t over. There are more of those people out there who want to hurt us, and all of us need to be ready to face it.”
Mixed expressions of fear and confusion spread over everyone’s faces. It wasn’t the answer they wanted, but it was a truth they needed to hear.
“Tomorrow, everyone will be assigned jobs,” Ben said. “And starting tonight, we’ll always have someone on watch.”
“What do we do now?” Ali asked, sitting next to Marty and their children.
“We prep,” Ben answered.
Ben did his best to answer questions, but the meeting was a quick one. Most people were still in shock about the entire ordeal and just thankful that their husbands and fathers had returned. But when the conversation there finished, Ben walked to find Susan, needing to talk to the woman about Kurt.
“How are you holding up?” Ben asked.
Susan lay in bed, the baby asleep in her arms. She smiled down at him. “We’re good. Tired. But good.”
Ben nodded and struggled to find his footing in the conversation. “Listen, I needed to talk to you. It’s about Kurt.”
Susan grew even more quiet and small. “I can’t stop thinking about the fires, about how it just burned everything. I saw the mountainside from the gurney. There isn’t anything left.”
Ben walked to the bed adjacent to Susan’s and sat down, his knees popping. “You know, when Kurt was going through the academy, he was having a hard time. He lacked the endurance for much of the required physical task. But he never gave up, no matter how hard it got.”
“He told me he struggled,” Susan said. “But he passed.”
“He did,” Ben said. “But on the day of the final test, the one where we make the recruits go through what we call the ‘hellfire’ they go in groups. Kurt had been working hard to make sure he was up to par to finish the course and he was the first to cross the finish line.”
Susan smiled. “I didn’t know that.”
“But he didn’t stop,” Ben said. “There was another cadet who failed. Now, we give the guys two tries to get it, but the catch is they have to go on the second try immediately after. Now, most guys aren’t able to finish the second run because they’re gassed. But Kurt went through the course again with the second cadet. And they finished on time.”
Susan wiped away a tear.
Ben reached for Susan’s hand and held it firmly. “He’s a fighter, Susan. He doesn’t give up. I don’t have any reason to suspect he’d give up now.”
“Thank you, Ben,” Susan said.
Ben left the mother and her newborn to rest and then found his wife at the front of their small cabin. He walked to her, and they embraced, holding onto one another.
“I should get going,” Ben said, his voice ragged. “Sarah and your sister are wondering where I am.”
Liz pulled back. “You’re exhausted. Go in the morning.”
“It’s already been—”
Liz grabbed hold of Ben’s face. “If you’re too exhausted to make the trip, then there’s no sense going now. You’ll just end up getting yourself killed.”
Ben knew she was right. “I’ll go before first light.”
Liz nodded. “Go, get some rest. I’ll bring you some food.”
Ben kissed her and then dragged his weary bones toward the bunks he had hated so much during training. Two minutes after his head hit the pillow, he was asleep.
KURT TIED the twine around the stick he had fashioned against his wounded leg and hoped the primitive splint would hold for the trip.
The enemy that had shot the captain had long since gone. Kurt had wanted to bury Hawthorne, but he didn’t have the time or the strength to do it. A few parting words and tear-filled eyes were all Kurt could afford.
“I can’t thank you enough, Captain,” Kurt said, looking down at the body. “You saved my life. And I’ll never forget that. Neither will my family.”
The captain’s body remained still and silent, and Kurt pressed two fingers against his lips, and then touched the captain’s forehead.
“Rest in peace, sir,” Kurt said.
Kurt was about to leave but stopped and picked the badge off of the captain’s shirt. For some reason, he didn’t think the captain would have wanted it left out. It should be with someone who was a firefighter, not some stranger or scavenger who picked it off the man’s body.
Kurt turned around and faced the daunting task of his return home, assuming home was still intact. “Hang on, Susie. I’m coming.”
JANE PERCY MARCHED AHEAD, while Donny and Lester carried Gray. The boy had tried to insist that he could walk, but the moment he tried to bear his weight, he collapsed to the ground.
“How much farther?” Lester asked.
“The crossing is just ahead,” Jane answered.
Jane was leading them to the bridge that Lester’s great-grandfather had built during prohibition to help bootleggers get their moonshine across the river without a boat. The old thing was rickety and about to fall apart, but she figured it was the best chance they had at getting across.
At least she thought.
“Shit,” Jane said.
The bridge had caught fire, and what hadn’t been swept away by the river was nothing but charred debris on the banks.
Disappointed, Lester and Donny set Gray down and caught their breath.
“We’ll have to find another way across,” Jane said. “Get a boat, anything that we can use to ferry.”
Lester placed his hands on his hips. “Why don’t we just swim the stuff over?”
Jane turned to her husband. “Because for what I have planned, we’ll need wea
pons.” She looked back over the river, knowing the gun runners stash lay among the wreckage. “And I plan on taking as many guns as I can get my hands on.”
Table of Contents
Title Page
Contents
Copyright
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