She patted her hair as if trying to get it to look perfect. “Trust me, when you’re in the public eye twenty-four/seven, and they take endless photos, you take notice of good and bad light.”
He’d gotten his photo taken on Air Force Two, just after saving her life. He couldn’t imagine having someone pop out of the closet every time something important happened. “Sounds like a lower circle of Hell if you ask me.”
Emily shrugged.
The speech ended and the signal faded back to the colored bars on the screen, prompting Ted to wonder how the transmission reached them in the first place. “If he killed everyone in these homes, why is this guy talking to us?”
She seemed to think on it. “We saw all those people in Newark. Maybe he’s talking to them, but we’re in the same viewing area.”
He paced across the room. “Yeah. They’re trying to take over. They’ve somehow snuck in while we were busy dying. But this signal had to be sent with the help of technicians at the cable company, right? Someone has to be monitoring things there. Maybe we can hunt them down and confirm this David guy is transmitting from NORAD. If we can take him out…”
Emily gave him a sideways look. “Just the two of us?” She got out her fake pen and paper. “Note to self: subject wants to win war single-handedly.”
Ted smirked but didn’t let her diminish his enthusiasm for solving the riddle. He followed the wires from behind the television to what he assumed was going to be a cable box. However, they went to a small white piece of equipment painted with a fancy S logo. “Oh, snap. This isn’t a cable television.”
“Satellite?” she asked.
“Not satellite, exactly. You said this guy was into everything. I don’t suppose he was in with Southern Solar, was he?”
“I think so. Yes. All of his companies have the word southern in them. His publishing company was Southern Stacks, or something. I think his wife is from New Zealand and he likes things from south of the equator. Why? What are you thinking?”
He organized his thoughts. “I know what radio station we’ve been hearing the past couple of days. It isn’t Super One Hundred, like I said before. It’s Southern One Hundred, which is run by a company called Southern Solar, which also runs the digital TV service we’ve been watching. I thought they were different radio stations as we moved from city to city, but it was always the same one. The transmitter for S-O-H, FM, covers many states. That’s because it isn’t a normal radio station. It broadcasts from high in the air on multiple autonomous flying solar platforms.”
As a pilot, he was aware of the numerous solar aircraft that plied the skies without ever landing, but they were seventy thousand feet in the air. Far above the commercial and military lanes he flew.
“I’ve heard of those. They stay in the air for years at a time.”
“Yep. They have wingspans longer than a football field, and there’s a whole fleet of them up there. I bet he owns most of them.”
She snapped her fingers like he was on to something. “He kept the radio playing because he owns the transmitter.”
“He’s consolidated his position. Moved to the central US…” Ted knew he sounded deflated, because knowing who killed the nation wouldn’t bring back those children he and Emily saw in the city. “And a guy with his resources could probably figure out what to do with the nuclear briefcase. I bet Ramirez took it right to him.”
She exhaled, then grabbed his hand. “Sit down, please.” She pointed to the sofa.
“What?” he remarked as he crashed onto the couch like a pallet of bricks.
“Ted, just listen,” she insisted.
He did as she asked, then, based on her impatient tone, looked up at her with reservation. It seemed like she might scold him, possibly because she’d figured out he was winging this whole operation.
Emily stood in front of him but leaned close. She looked him in the eyes with a mix of sorrow and gratitude, then gave him a peck on the lips, taking him wildly by surprise.
“What the? Ma’am? What—”
Emily laughed. “I know things look bad outside, but we’re not going to win the war with you falling asleep on your feet. You crash here on the couch. I’ll take the little bed in the other room.” She stood up straight. “And thanks for giving me space today when we found my husband. That’s why I kissed you. Tomorrow, I might even hold your hand and be seen with you in public.”
He was at a loss for what to say.
Emily pulled out her fake notebook. “Dear diary, I found out how to make Major Ted MacInnis go totally silent. A first.”
That broke the logjam in his mind, and he let go with a hearty laugh.
Ted leaned back on the couch, content to survive another day.
Kyla was alive, too.
And he now knew who was going to pay for destroying the country. David what’s-his-name might have thought he was safe from retaliation, but he wasn’t. No matter how long it took, Ted intended to find out how he’d killed everyone. Then, it was time for payback.
That fight would start after some well-deserved rest.
###
To Be Continued in Minus America, Book 3
If you enjoyed this second book, please leave a review. Since this is a new series for me, I need to decide if there is enough reader interest for me to write more books in this world. I’m working on book 3 as you read this, and I would love to write books beyond number 3, but only if I can still feed my guinea pig, hamster, corn snake, leopard gecko, cattle dog mutt, and, not be left out, myself and my family. So, you see, your review is literally mission critical!
But wait! There’s more. I have a short author note to follow.
This book is a work of fiction.
All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.
Minus America (and what happens within / characters / situations / worlds)
are Copyright (c) 2019 by E.E. Isherwood
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of E.E. Isherwood
Version 1.1
Cover by Covers by Christian
Editing by Mia at LKJ Books
Author Notes – E.E. Isherwood
Written July 9, 2019
Thank you for reading book 2. At the risk of coming across with the musical grace of a dinner triangle, I hope you can take a moment to review this book on Amazon. Each review puts me closer to success, no matter how many reviews are already out there for this book. So, I’ll take a minute to pause this note while you crank that out…
All good? Thank you!
I love the element of randomness in my books. You never know what’s going to be around the next corner, and, I hope, characters experience challenges and behave in ways that might surprise you. I got a kick out of Dwight’s decision to sit in the crosswalk, because he thought he was invisible. And being guided by an imaginary bird was another piece that just seemed to fit him.
If everyone around us disappeared one day, I’d guess we’d all have some unique takes on what might have caused it.
Speaking of causes, we now know a little about who was behind the attack on America, though not why, or how. One of my poorest reviews for book 1 complained that I did not reveal the details of the attack up front. That’s a fair criticism, but I prefer to let the characters discover things on their own, and because I like to follow events in near real-time, it wouldn’t fit the story if they wrapped up all the mystery in the first twenty-four hours. Like any good conspiracy, it must be unwrapped in layers.
On a related point about cause and effect, and as a student of history, I often wonder if humanity has ever developed a major weapon that it did not later use in warfare. We’ve used chemical weapons of the worst kind in the First World War. We’ve excelled at bio
logical warfare (poisoning wells since antiquity, throwing plague-ravaged bodies at the enemy in the Middle Ages, and using bombs filled with fleas carrying bubonic plague during the 1940s). We’ve also harnessed and then weaponized the atom to destroy entire cities.
The scale of destruction has gone ever upward, so creating a weapon capable of destroying a continent can’t be far away. We’re going to need some good guys keeping watch on those military science experiments, don’t you think?
Is that a hint? A look behind the Wizard of Oz’s curtain? We shall see.
I hope you are enjoying the summer and keeping cool. Here in Missouri, the weather has been its usual unpredictable self. We’ve had more rain than we’ve had in years; the rivers ran over many of the roads near my house. Now, it’s just hot and muggy. Too hot to get on my bike, which is killing me.
A special thanks to all the beta readers who have made each book even better.
Well, I’ve got to get back to it.
Thank you for reading,
EE
E.E. Isherwood’s other series
End Days (co-written with Craig Martelle) – A post-apocalyptic adventure about a father and son on opposite ends of a continent ravaged by a failed science experiment. Four books.
Sirens of the Zombie Apocalypse – The only people immune to zombie bites are those over 100, but they are usually the first to die in the chaos of the apocalypse. A teen boy must keep his great-grandma alive to find the cure to the zombie plague. Seven books.
Amazon – amazon.com/author/eeisherwood
Facebook – www.facebook.com/sincethesirens
My web page – www.eeisherwood.com
I would be thrilled to have you join my newsletter.
That’s all the time I have. The next book calls to me!
MINUS AMERICA BOOK 3
Rebel Cause:
Minus America
Book 3
E.E. Isherwood
Connect With E.E. Isherwood
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Copyright © 2019 by E.E. Isherwood
All rights reserved.
Cover Illustration by Covers by Christian
Editing services provided by Mia at LKJ Books
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
CHAPTER 1
Long Island, NY
Ted and Emily had risen with the sun, snuck a bite from the cupboard of the stranger’s apartment, then immediately jogged a couple of miles to escape the sprawl of New York City. He thought being on foot would reduce their chances of being seen by searching aircraft. However, as the morning had heated up, he’d found a small four-door Nissan, and they’d been traveling in air-conditioned comfort for the last hour.
“Thanks for making me breakfast,” Emily remarked.
Since they’d been in someone else’s apartment, he was left to the mercy of whatever was in the pantry. His first choice was the frozen waffles he’d found in the freezer, but the idea was crushed since the power had gone out overnight. His backup plan was the family-sized box of Tot Pop’s cereal. The milk was still cold inside the darkened refrigerator, so he’d poured a bowl for them both.
“If the power is going out for good, it may be some time before we have milk and cereal again,” he said from behind the wheel.
“That sucks.” After a short pause, she continued, “Why do you think the power went out when it did? I thought nuclear power plants would go on forever.”
He tilted his head toward her, not sure if she was being serious. If his sister had said such a thing, a woman who wouldn’t know the difference between a coal power plant and a nuclear one, he wouldn’t think anything of it. However, Emily was probably the President of the United States. She should know the answer to simple questions like that.
Emily smiled as if she’d heard him thinking. “What I mean is, nuclear power should have lasted longer than forty-eight hours. A coal plant would shut down as soon as the coal stopped feeding in, say a matter of hours. As far as I know, New York never got its proposed Long Island wind farm up and running. That means the power going to the television last night was from a nuclear source. I want to know why it shut down overnight.”
He guided the stolen car on the two-lane road, always mindful of the derelict vehicles blocking the lanes. For a few seconds, he thought of his sister again. Silly, ditzy Rebecca. He’d watched her neighborhood burn last night. Conceptually, he knew everyone in America was probably gone, but also knowing he’d never hear his sister’s laugh again killed him inside.
“Well, Madame President, I’m impressed. You seem to know quite a bit about power generation on the East Coast, including the status of yet-to-be-built wind farms in these parts.”
“And?” she replied.
“And the answer is, I have no idea why we lost power. Maybe a tree branch fell on a wire. Didn’t that knock out power for the whole East Coast a few years ago? Or maybe the assholes leading this shitshow went out and turned things off. If I were in charge, I’d want to conserve as many resources as I could, rather than waste running televisions inside empty apartments.”
Emily seemed to think on it, and it made him reflective, too.
Who were the people invading America? He’d watched the broadcast by Jayden Phillips—or David, as he called himself now—but that only gave him the face of the beast. There had to be millions of people behind him. Those arriving planes didn’t appear out of thin air. They had to be waiting for the precise moment of the attack in order to get there so fast. Same with the ships. How did they get into port immediately after the attack?
For all he and Emily had discovered, the enemy still had no name. No base of operations. No place where America could point a finger and fight back. He and Emily had surmised Jayden was currently in Colorado, at NORAD, but even that was a guess. The extent of his battlefield intelligence was Newark being overrun. New York was getting there. And the only good guys around were on a ship over the horizon.
They were silent for the bulk of the ride toward the end of Long Island. The forest-lined road was flat most of the way, but they’d gone over a gentle hill before coming to a small tourist town stuffed with cars.
“Oh, we’re here,” Emily said with excitement. “This is Montauk.”
“It looks like we’ve driven into Disneyworld with all this traffic.” The area was quaint, with tasteful motels and tourist storefronts, but his focus was entirely on the vehicles as he drove around several pileups.
“We have to decide if we’re going out by sea or air.” She pointed to an upcoming roundabout. “Left is the marina. Right will take us around the lake to the airport.”
Ted drove along the shoulder, then went onto the grass inside the giant traffic circle. Based on how the cars were parked, there’d been a traffic jam taking place at the moment America was attacked. Going into the middle was the best way to avoid it. The delay gave him time to think, but he still wasn’t sure what to do.
Emily spoke up when he didn’t say anything. “I say we get on a plane and go find your niece. I know that’s what you want to do.”
Ted gripped the wheel. It was, in fact, what he’d been thinking. How did she already know him so well? However, it wasn’t the professional thing to do.
“No, if you have a seaworthy boat, we’ll escape Long Island and head north. We should be able to hug the coast, avoid our overhead friends, and put some distance from the men looking for us. Once we get far enough north, we can hop into a plane and go west.”
She grimaced. “You still want to take on NORAD all by yourself? You know I could be wrong about the broadcast coming from a replica of the Oval Office. It might not have come from NORAD at all. Maybe there’s a
duplicate somewhere else made just for this invasion. Ted, that’s not out of the realm of possibility for someone who can destroy our whole country in only a few minutes.”
The next choice he made could mean life or death for lots of people.
Chicago, IL
Tabby stood on the elevator as she came up from the Bonne Terre mine. The clanking and herky-jerky of the hundred-year-old lift was somehow comforting, despite the threat of it falling apart under her feet.
The cage doors opened, and Mom and Dad stood there with scowls on their faces.
“What?” she asked with surprise.
Mom tapped her foot in an ageless sign of maternal impatience. “Did you forget something, young lady?”
Dad craned his neck to look behind her.
She turned around, but the elevator was empty.
“Where’d they go?” Tabby asked with confusion.
“You left your people, Tabitha. What’s the first rule I taught you down there?”
Her shoulders slumped. “Always come back with the same number of tourists you left with.”
“And how many did you lose?” Dad spoke with more anger than concern, which was totally unlike him.
She glanced all around the large elevator, hoping someone was hiding. That took about two seconds, leading her to an answer she couldn’t avoid…
“How many?” Dad repeated.
“I’ve lost all three!” she yelled out loud as someone jostled her shoulder.
“Tabby? Are you all right?” A young teen boy knelt next to her. He wore a blue track suit with red sneakers, as if fully prepared to start soccer practice.
“Donovan?” Her eyes darted around the observation deck of the Sears Tower, and it all rushed back. They’d come there last night after a long day on the road trying to reach Mom and Dad at the edge of the disaster. However, after almost two days of hoping and praying, she’d come to the conclusion they were dead, like everyone else.
Minus America Box Set | Books 1-5 Page 44