James climbed inside the rig and shut the hatch.
“Isn’t this the part when you put on some oddly fitting song?” Chloe asked from beside Tank.
“She does have a point,” James said.
“Damn, I’m losin’ my edge,” Tank said, slamming on the brakes.
“What do you see?” Emmett’s voice said over the CB radio in the middle console.
Connor picked it up as Tank swiped through his iPod. “Might’ve forgotten somethin’. One sec.”
“We’re not even five miles out and you already forgot something?” Emmett asked.
“Got it,” Tank said, starting to drive again.
“Never mind,” Connor said through the radio.
“If I find out you stopped to play one of your stupid songs, I’ll skin you alive.”
“Never,” Connor said, smiling.
Olive giggled in the third row of seats.
“Over and out,” Emmett said.
“Here we go,” Tank said, turning the volume up.
Bad Company by Five Finger Death Punch began to play. James smiled. What a perfect song. With the open road ahead, his friends and family around him, and a new hope in his heart, he looked forward with a certainty that everything would work out—one way or another.
Epilogue
Ana watched the farm from atop a hill across the small reservoir. Right then, she wasn’t even sure anyone was there. The whole place was silent and nothing moved. This had to be the right place. It just had to be. She’d been trying to catch up with them for the past couple of weeks, but it’d proven a lot harder than she thought. They were heading north, she knew, but where exactly? Which route would they take? She’d basically been wandering around all that time, going on hunches and educated guesses. Until last night, at least.
She’d heard the explosions off in the distance, and after climbing a hill she’d been able to see the flash of muzzles and hear the sound of faint gunfire to the north. That would be them. They were always involved in trouble, and if something was going wrong, they wouldn’t be too far away. The town at the border had been easy enough to find after that. She’d just followed the sounds of a firefight. She’d had to be careful when she’d gotten closer. In the dark, she couldn’t tell who was who, so she stayed back, waiting. Finally she’d seen vehicles driving off into the night towards the south. She’d followed them to this farm, and unless they’d evaded her in the night, they were still there.
As the sun rose, a black truck drove down the dirt road from the west, pulling onto the farm. It parked in the barn and a man hopped out. He shut the barn door and ran over to the house across the driveway. Was it them? Had she finally found them? The man was gone for a couple of minutes and then came out with three more men. They each went respectively into the garage, barn, and stable. Soon, four vehicles pulled out—the black truck from before, a red truck, a green Jeep, and a black SUV. The man driving the SUV pulled it right up to the house and then jumped out, going back inside.
A woman walked out onto the porch. Ana’s heart rate picked up, and she moved the scope to her eye. The woman’s midnight black hair shone in the sunlight. It was her. There was no doubting it. This was Jezz.
Ana steadied her breathing as she aimed at the woman, but before she could even think of squeezing the trigger, Jezz climbed into the driver’s seat of the SUV. Ana cursed in Russian. She continued to watch as more men and a couple of women came out of the house, loading gear and supplies into the vehicles. They were heading out, leaving this place for good. What exactly was Jezz doing? Was she trying to rebuild her gang? Or was it as she feared—that Jezz was trying to find Ana’s old group and kill them.
Ana had been looking for them for days, and yet she still didn’t know what she truly wanted. She told herself that she wanted to end the life of that monster down there, that she wanted to keep her from creating more pain and death in the world, but a small part of her wondered if her motives were completely different. She ignored that part, just like she ignored the voice that whispered in her head. After that first day on her own, she’d never been able to shut the box she’d kept locked for so many years. Now the voice was always there with her, a constant companion. She could ignore it all she wanted, but she knew it was there, and it scared her more than Jezz or anyone else ever could—even more than her mother had.
There were nine Reclaimers down there, plus Jezz and the one she recognized as Max. It wasn’t as if she’d memorized all their faces, but these Reclaimers didn’t look like the ones from before. Had something happened to them? Or were these just members she didn’t recognize, like the ones who’d been stationed at the ambush spot? Either way, there weren’t many of them anymore, and she assumed they’d lost a few in the fight the night before. Once they were all loaded up, the vehicles left the farm with the black truck leading.
She’d finally found them. Now she just had to keep up with them, but if her hunch was correct, she knew right where they were heading. Climbing down the back side of the hill, Ana got into her black Ford Raptor. The irony wasn’t lost on her as she set her Dragunov SVD rifle in the seat next to her—a Russian with a Russian sniper rifle. She would’ve picked something different if she could, but right then all she had was the Dragunov and the AK-47 from the Reclaimers, plus a Glock 19 she’d taken from the corpse of a man back in Yellowstone National Park. Going there had been a big mistake. Looking at the map, it had seemed like a good shortcut, but she hadn’t accounted for all the tourists that were in the park when the apocalypse started. She’d barely made it out of there alive.
Pulling out from behind the hill, she drove across the field and onto the dirt road. She could see the dust a mile or so ahead from the Reclaimer’s vehicles. Going slowly, she began to formulate a plan in her head as she followed. What would she do when she caught up with them next? Jezz needed to die, and Ana couldn’t rest until that happened. But then what? She didn’t know, and that scared her. She should just kill them all and then catch up with her old group, but that didn’t feel right anymore. She’d been through too much to go crawling back to them.
You can lead the Reclaimers like they’re meant to be, the voice said in her head.
Ana ignored it as she continued to drive. The voice had planted that idea in her head days ago, but unbeknownst to her, it had taken root and begun to grow.
Thanks for
reading BAD COMPANY!
This book was fun to dive deep into the relationships and character development and I hope you enjoyed it. The characters had a brief reprieve from their journey, but now they’re back at it and they’ll need all the rest it offered as things are going to get crazy soon! I have an EPIC conclusion planned for the series so make sure to keep reading!
Thanks for sticking with me this far, I know the last book won’t disappoint! See you there!
I hope you’ve enjoyed the fourth book in The Brother’s Creed series. The story will be concluded in Book 5: Last Hope!
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I couldn’t have finished this book without the help of numerous people. Huge thanks to:
Jesus, you keep guiding me down this path and providing for me.
My wife, you inspire me like none other!
My family, for the constant support.
My First Readers, you keep helping make these stories better!
Guildies in the KARG, a few of you gave me some great ideas for this and the next book
, and your excitement about my books have made me want to make them even better!
My awesome editor, you’re the one who takes a very rough draft and makes it readable!
My cover artist, I’ve never had someone so perfectly bring to life an image that was in my head!
And last, but certainly not least, to ALL my awesome readers. You continue to amaze me with your support and kind words. As long as you continue to read, I’ll continue to write!
THANK YOU!!!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I am a Jesus Freak and follower of the Way. As an adventurous nerd, I love the outdoors and when I’m not found high in the mountains of Alaska, I can be observed living on the rolling plains of eastern Montana with my wife, guns, and two katanas. I have a passion for all things imaginary and find inspiration in the wilderness, away from all the distractions of life. Some of my other passions include hunting, shooting, board and video games, hard rock, movies, reading, and the Walking Dead.
Learn more about me at:
www.joshuacchadd.com
Also by Joshua C. Chadd
The Brother’s Creed Series
Outbreak
Battleborn
Wolf Pack
Bad Company
Last Hope (Coming Soon)
Bad Company Page 27