EMP:The Reckoning: A Post Apocalyptic Survival Story (The Fall Book 3)

by Mathews,Mark

  The Reckoning

  The Fall Book 3

  Mark Mathews

  Contents

  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 One

  The first thing Garrett remembered was pain. Pain beyond anything he’d ever felt before. He winced when he moved, and he didn’t want to open his eyes. He’d had a dream. A dream where his ex-wife and the newborn baby he’d instantly adopted had disappeared with her psycho husband…who had shot Garrett. That was where the pain was coming from. It wasn’t a dream. He finally opened his eyes to see Wren. She apparently had been waiting for him to show signs of life, because she instantly jumped up to start sponging off his forehead with a wet rag. It felt wonderful, and that told him he was running a fever. He tried clearing his throat, but it felt like he had a lining of sandpaper reaching down to his stomach.

  “Hey there, Sleeping Beauty. I’m glad you’re feeling better. I was starting to worry about you.” She gave him a smile and gently touched her fingertips to his cheek. That touch told him she cared, and that she always was going to be there for him, no matter what.

  “I wouldn’t call me a beauty by any means, but I guess I have been sleeping for a while. What’s been going on? Have you found out anything about Alice and Seth?”

  There was a hope, an eagerness, in his voice that made Wren pause for a moment and search his eyes. Could he still have feelings for Alice? Was she getting too wrapped up in something that only was going to fizzle out later and leave her hurt? She threw that thought out of her head and took a deep breath.

  “There’s still no sign of Ben.” Garrett froze.

  That part of his memory was coming back now at the mention of his friend. Ben had left. After his wife, Athena, was killed, he’d been emotionally unstable. When they’d been confronted by Austin and his goons, Ben had disappeared. He was the truck driver, so how they made it to the factories, Garrett had no idea. He’d been unconscious for most of it. All he knew now was what Wren had told him while he’d been drifting in and out of consciousness during the last few days. His heart sank. Ben had been through a lot in life, and it all had left its mark on him. But that didn’t mean Garrett was going to give up on him.

  “When’s the last time we talked?”

  It was hard to know what time it was when there was nothing around that worked that would let you know. Sleeping for copious amounts of time didn’t help, either, but there was nothing he could do about that. They wouldn’t let him actually do anything, and that meant he was cooped up in this room all day long with no one to talk to and nothing to do to keep him busy.

  “The last time you woke up.” She smirked at him and he couldn’t help but smile. She was a firecracker with a sense of humor, and that’s what he was coming to love about her.

  “How long has that been?” She sobered quickly when she saw how serious he was.

  “Just over twenty-four hours.” Garrett was a little shocked. He really had been out for a whole day? That made him feel like the fever was the least of his worries. He was losing such big chunks of time that he felt like he was starting to run out of it.

  “How are you feeling?” There was concern in her voice, and etched into every line of her face.

  “I do feel a little better, so maybe I’ll be able to get up and out of this dismal office.” H’d meant that to be funny, but Wren didn’t smile.

  “There’s a room down on the first floor of the factory that we made up for you. It should be a lot more comfortable than up here. Think you can move to it?”

  Garrett wasn’t sure if he could, but he’d try it. He wasn’t a quitter, and that meant he would give his all for everything. He wanted to ask about the rescue plans for Alice and Seth, but he didn’t want Wren to think he was asking because he wanted to be with Alice. Still, he couldn’t think of a way to put it that wouldn’t make her wonder if maybe he still had feelings for Alice. Wren wasn’t stupid, so it wasn’t hard for her to figure out what was on his mind.

  “We don’t have anything solid yet, in the way of a rescue plan, but there was an old, beat-up bicycle in the factory that we found while we were looking for supplies. Nat was going to take it into town today to see if he could figure out where Alice and Seth are being kept. I know she left to protect the rest of us, but that doesn’t make me think that he’s giving her the freedom to do what she wants. I’m pretty sure she’s going to be kept under constant guard, if not lock and key.”

  Wren was right, and he knew it. Austin wasn’t the type to give up what he’d already won, much less let someone take it from him. Garrett growled low in his throat. He couldn’t punch anything to get his anger out, not in his present state, but he could let his frustration be known verbally.

  “He’s just a kid! What is he going to do? What if Austin or his goons get to him? I don’t want anything to happen to him.” He tried to put his head in his hands, but it was too painful. He felt like he was failing his team, his family, his group, because he couldn’t do anything to pull his own weight.

  “Garrett, calm down. Nat is the smallest of us, so he’ll be the fastest. He’s got a good head on his shoulders, and he’s been watching everyone since he joined our little family. I think he can do it, and so do the others.”

  When she said the word ‘others’ Garrett was forced to look at the difference in numbers that was the definition of that word a month ago, and now. He tried to push the thought from his mind. Wren was right. Nat did have a good head on his shoulders, and he had been watching Garrett and Max the most since he’d become part of the family.

  “I don’t like it. I know that he’s capable of it, but I don’t like having him go on such a dangerous mission. If anything happens to him, his mom will kill me.” He meant it figuratively, of course, but seeing as Kayleigh had shot her husband not too long ago, there was an eerie ring of truth to it.

  “He’ll be fine. Everyone has to pull their own weight now, and he’s doing his job. It’s just a recon mission, then he’s coming right back. Once we know where they are, we really can put together a plan to rescue them.”

  He knew she was telling him the truth, but he had a hard time believing it because they would need Ben or Max for the job. All he could do was hope that Ben would come back soon. If he stayed out of commission, and Ben didn’t come back, then Max would have to do it. He felt guilty asking a friend to do something he should be able to do himself. Which reminded him…where was Max?

  “Where’s Max? He might have to do the heavy lifting on whatever plan we put together later.” Wren bit her lip. That wasn’t a good sign.

  “He’s not here. He went off on his own to try finding a place for us to stay more long-term. The factories are great for supplies, but I don’t know how practical it would be to stay here for a long time. Others might get the idea we had to come here for supplies, and it’s not easy to heat a building this big.” What Wren was saying made sense, but that didn’t make Garrett feel any better. He wished Max were here.

  “I don’t think it’s safe just to leave the women here with me. I can’t protect them in my condition. Max should have stayed here to make sure everyone was taken care of.”


  “You’re fine. We don’t need you to protect us anyway. We’re not that helpless. Anyway, no one else has the training he does to get this job done. If he were here and someone else had gone in his place, you wouldn’t have been happy, either.”

  Garrett opened his mouth to argue the point, but Wren gave him a pointed look. He shut it again with a snap. She was right. He would have raged that the mission was too dangerous for one of the women, just like he’d raged against Nat doing any missions on his own. Had he really turned into such an old man that he couldn’t trust anyone to do the jobs he needed done for him? He’d always wanted to make sure he didn’t turn into that kind of man. Now it looked like he’d failed.

  “Okay. Here’s the deal. Nat can go, but I want to talk to him first.” Wren gave him a look, but he stood firm on this one and returned her stare with one of his own. She finally threw up her hands in surrender and sighed.

  “Fine. I’ll go get him. He was getting ready to leave.”

  She seemed like an exasperated mother, but it made him want to laugh. A smile was tugging at her lips, too. He felt like the two of them were right where they’d left off in some crazy, post-apocalypse dating reality game show. It was something that kept them together no matter what. Nat came in, with Wren in tow. She leaned against the door frame, giving Garrett a condescending look. He stared her right back down.

  “Can I get a minute alone with him?” Wren raised her eyebrow at him, but huffed and left the office, closing the door behind her.

  “Hey, Nat. First, I want to say thank you for doing this for us. I’m sorry that I can’t do it myself, but I want to at least talk to you about how to go about getting this done in the safest way possible. First, I don’t want you trying to be a hero. If you see anyone, you hide or get out of there. Don’t talk to anybody either. Make sure you don’t lose your bike. It might be the best way we have of getting places quickly.” Nat nodded and looked as though he was taking mental notes of everything Garrett was saying.

  “Ride like the wind, but be as safe as you can. We don’t want to lose you, too.”

  Nat looked frozen. He wasn’t used to having someone give him fatherly advice. His dad had been abusive. He walked out of the office muttering to himself, and Garrett sighed heavily. He felt like he had the responsibility to take care of Nat because his father wasn’t around, and it felt to him like he was failing. He’d had nothing to give Nat in the way of advice, not really, since he should have done this run a dozen times before Nat had to do so. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to do it even once. So he was not only sending a teenager in to do the job of a grown man, but he was sending the poor kid in blind.

  “I can do this. I’m part of this family now, and I’m going to do what I have to do to protect them.”

  Nat was whispering to himself, and he hoped no one would hear him giving himself the pep talk. He had been ready to hug Garrett for having the father/son type of talk that they’d had, and he was already on the verge of showing his emotions. He needed to get himself together and get this job done. His mom was counting on him. Brooke was counting on him. Most importantly, Garrett, the man who had welcomed him into his family as a son, was counting on him. Unlike his own late father, Nat had the urge to do what he was asked, rather than being so afraid of the consequences that he forced himself to do what was screamed at him. He felt like he easily could fit in with Garrett and Brooke as a family. That meant he had to get Alice and Seth back at whatever cost. Both Garrett and Brooke cared about those two, and he was going to show them he was a hero. He was going to do his part to save them. Making up his mind that he was going to do whatever it took, he left the factory, got on the bicycle, and pedaled off down the road.

  Chapter Two

  The sun had been down for about an hour when Nat got ready to leave. He’d wanted to leave during the day, but Garrett had nixed that idea. It was safer for Nat to travel at night when no one would see him. Then he could stay throughout the day to find Alice and Seth, since it would be just as hard for him to see where they were in the darkness. Garrett was still uneasy about the teenager going to do a job that he or Ben or Max should be doing, but there was nothing he could do about it.

  Ben was gone, and no one knew when, or if, he was coming back. Max was off trying to find a safer place for them to live. Unfortunately, they had no communication with him, and no idea when he was coming back, either. Garrett refused to think that Max might not come back. He could take care of himself, and he knew he had responsibilities to the family, just like Garrett did. Ben left because he lost his anchor. His wife was the main reason he stayed with Garrett’s family, but once he lost that link, he just had no reason to stay.

  Nat was nervous as he got on the bike, wondering if maybe the old steel frame was too weak to hold him. He had no idea how long the bike had been rusting quietly in the factory. All he could do was hope it would bear his weight. He’d tested it earlier, and the pedals had screeched horribly as he tried riding it around the loading area behind the factory. He’d found some oil and had his mom help him oil the chain. Now it was silent and smooth, and he was on his way. He was happy as he rode along.

  Finally! He was one of the family, and he was pulling his own weight. Granted, he knew he wasn’t a grown man yet, but if he was able to do the things the other men did, maybe Brooke would see him as more mature, and want to spend more time with him. The elation wore off, however, the farther down the road he got. He could hear an owl calling, somewhere deep in the woods, and it made a shiver run down his spine. There were some rustling noises near him, and it made him flinch. It could be something as simple as a rabbit, or it could be someone trying to get to him. He put on a burst of speed, but he couldn’t outrun his fear. Doubts of whether this was a good idea started creeping into his mind, and he started thinking about turning around.

  The moon was covered by clouds, and there were no streetlights on. The dark was absolute. Until he suddenly saw two pinpricks of light starting to come his way at an alarming speed. He realized they were the headlights of a car. Nat swore under his breath and steered the bike to the side of the road, looking as hard as he could through the gloom to find a hint of a hiding place. A large tangle of bushes caught his leg before it caught his eye, and he quickly used his hands to maneuver around it. The beams of light on the road were almost even with him when he managed to shove the bike down and duck behind the brambles. He held his breath, hoping that whomever was driving wasn’t checking the sides of the road for anything unusual. He wasn’t that great at hiding, but he would do his best to show Garrett that he was a help not a hindrance.

  The car swept past him, and he let out a sigh of relief. It was short-lived. The car began slowing down, and the red brake lights caught his attention. Nat broke out in a cold sweat, thinking he’d been spotted. He was mentally preparing himself to fight, looking around for a big rock or a sharp stick, anything he could use as a weapon. He was cursing himself for letting himself be spotted when more lights caught his attention. Another car was coming, from the same direction as the first, and it was now obvious they were slowing down to meet one another. His hand was on a sharp rock that he’d found, and he slowly pulled it to his chest, just in case.

  The door of the first car opened, and Nat squinted to see who it was. His eyes widened as he recognized Austin. He could feel a cold hatred sweep through him, almost like the feeling that he’d felt for his father. Granted, he had had some love mixed in with that feeling of hated, but for Austin, there was none of that. It was a pure, cold hatred that he wanted desperately to act on, but knew that he was out of his league. The door of the other car opened, and a man got out, someone whom Nat never had seen before. The two of them met up between the cars, and Nat watched as Austin leaned against the hood of his car nonchalantly.

  “I haven’t seen a thing, have you?”

  Austin was running a hand through his hair, and sighing heavily. So they were looking for someone. Nat froze where he was, a new sheen of
sweat breaking out on his forehead. He wanted to crawl back further into the bush, not even thinking about the thorns, but he was too afraid to move. Any little movement could catch their attention, so he didn’t want to risk it. The other man pounded a fist on the roof of the car.

  “Me either! Where the hell could they be hiding? It’s such a large number of people that they should be easy to find!” Were they looking for Garrett and his family? Did anyone see them get to the factory? Had they been sold out to Austin and his gang by someone who was trying to get in good with the new sheriff?

  “This gang is starting to get out of control. They sabotaged the police station already and now they stole from the town’s food stores. I can’t have that. This town belongs to me. They voted for me. That means I’m responsible for them. This gang is ruining the power I have.” Anger colored his voice, and Nat couldn’t help but smile. Someone was rubbing Austin the wrong way, and that made Nat feel better.

  “I don’t know. They’re better at this than we are, and that makes me think they might be more dangerous than we first thought.” Austin was muttering under his breath, and Nat couldn’t make out the words. The other man was nodding, however, so maybe they were discussing a plan of attack for finding this thorn in their side.

  “I don’t think we’re going to be able to hold out much longer against them. This is going to turn into some sort of Mad Max standoff, I get the feeling.” Austin kicked violently at something Nat couldn’t see. He hoped it hurt him.

  “You know, it would be a little easier if we had Garrett and his army friends’ right about now.” The man was speaking lightly, but it had an instant effect on Austin. He whirled around on the man, getting right into his face.

  “Don’t you ever mention that name again! I took back my wife and child from him, and I kicked him and his little friends out of town. This town belongs to me! These people believe in me. I protect them. I am the leader here. We’ll run this gang off just like we ran off Garrett and his little friends. If you ever mention his name again, you can go and fend for yourself!” The other man put up his hands in surrender and backed away a little from Austin. Nat didn’t blame him. It looked as though Austin had lost his mind. He cracked a grin that sent shivers down Nat’s spine again. It looked so maniacal that Nat wondered if maybe Austin had cracked.