Las Vegas NV
Page 24
Joel let that sink in. He’d seen groups of survivors numbering in the tens, and here he was with almost a thousand. Perhaps it was time to get aggressive. Despite the recent losses, and he knew there would be more to come in the future, he had the numbers to own the area.
They arrived at the radio center and Joel gave the woman a nod before going inside. The room was a steady buzz of activity.
“…inbound with an ETA of less than an hour,” a voice crackled from one of the radios.
“Be advised, you will need to clear quarantine before you are admitted,” a man said into his headset.
“Commander in the room!” one of the radio operators barked.
Joel paused and looked around before realizing that they were referring to him. That was new, he thought.
“Commander Landon, sir,” a petite, middle-aged woman with Asian features addressed him. “We are currently in contact with five groups of survivors making their way to us. The repeating message is yielding excellent results, sir. Each group has been briefed on the conditions of admission. The largest group numbers over twenty.”
Joel nodded. “Is this what I was asked to come here for? It seems that a standard report would suffice.”
“No, sir.” The woman gestured formhim to follow her to another room also filled with radio equipment. She picked up a log book and handed it to him. “We have been in contact with a large group numbering over a hundred.”
“Excuse me?” Joel took the log book and began to scan the entries. “I want copies of this sent to my house.” He handed the log book back.
“Already done, sir.” The woman nodded and handed him a duplicate copy.
“I want to be notified immediately the next time contact is made.”
Joel turned and left the room. His mind swirled with the possibilities. This group would be a huge addition to his community. It was also obvious that these people were not fools. They had made it clear they would not be able to make the journey until after this winter. They didn’t want to get stranded someplace in a snow storm.
Time had certainly flown. He’d ridden out much of the early days of the apocalypse in his suite. Then there had been the taking of the Hoover Dam, and now they were reclaiming Boulder City. They had power in the form of electricity as well as in sheer numbers.
The cornerstones were in place for a community that would be unmatched. No raider would dare confront them. Just as he’d told himself early on, Joel would not simply survive…he would live. Certainly the flow of survivors would begin to lessen. Fewer people would have the ability to hear his signal.
“I hope I made you proud, Wanda,” Joel whispered as he reached his front door, opened it and stepped inside.
After a hot shower and a handful of much-needed ibuprofen, Joel turned on the MP3 player docked in the home’s entertainment system. Easing down into his recliner with a double dose of scotch on the rocks, and some Mozart drifting throughout, he sat back and began reading the logbooks.
He drifted off with less than half the scotch gone. In a rare instance Joel’s dreams were not the haunted nightmares that were the norm…instead, he was walking on a beach with Wanda. Neither of them spoke. They just walked hand-in-hand. The only thing odd was the deep crimson of the sunset. It reminded Joel of blood.
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TW Brown is the author of the Zomblog series, his horror comedy romp, That Ghoul Ava, and, of course, the DEAD series. Safely tucked away in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, he moves away from his desk only at the urging of his Border Collie, Aoife. (Pronounced Eye-fa)
He plays a little guitar on the side...just for fun...and makes up any excuse to either go trail hiking or strolling along his favorite place...Cannon Beach. He answers all his emails sent to twbrown.maydecpub @gmail.com and tries to thank everybody personally when they take the time to leave a review of one of his works.
His blog can be found at:http://twbrown.blogspot.com
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http://www.amazon.com/TW-Brown/e/B00363NQI6
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Table of Contents
Other Titles by TW Brown
Zomblog
The World of the DEAD expands with:
A moment with the author…
To Wanda and Joel
Contents
1
1969
2
Today
3
Grounded in the Present
4
Field Tests
5
6
Into the Heart of Darkness
7
Grand Ideas
8
The First Outpost
9
Killing
10
Who Lives and Who Dies
11
Down the Strip
12
Battle Ready
13
Pros Versus Joes
14
Company
The growing voice in horror
and speculative fiction.