“Maybe we should swing by Wal-Mart instead?” Blake asks.
I open my mouth to argue, but then movement inside the store catches my eye. At first, all I can think about are zombies, but then it hits me that people might be every bit as dangerous. People can shoot guns. They can kill as fast—maybe faster—than a zombie can.
“Yeah… Maybe you’re right.”
Blake pulls out of the parking lot and heads off. The farther into town we get, the more my stomach aches. Seeing my hometown look so desolate hurts. I’d lived here my whole life. Was born here. This is where my parents lived, too, and where they died. Now it looks more like a ghost town than the close-knit community it was only a week ago. How did things change so quickly?
Blake slows when Wal-Mart comes into view. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen the parking lot empty. The only cars around are two parked up front, blocking each of the doors. Next to them a couple men stand, and even from a distance I can see they’re holding guns.
“It’s like they’ve claimed it as their own,” I say.
Blake shakes his head. “We shouldn’t go over there. Could be nothing, or it could be trouble. We already have plenty of supplies, so going over there isn’t a risk I’m willing to take.”
“Me neither,” I say as Blake hits the gas.
We drive in silence for what feels like hours, but it’s really only about twenty minutes. Then Blake slows and turns the SUV onto an unpaved road, and I scoot to the edge of my seat. There’s nothing but rocks and dirt as far as the eye can see. Dust flies up around us as we drive, leaving a cloud of dirt in our wake that reminds me of the dust storm that swept through Oklahoma when I was little. It had been so thick that I hadn’t been able to see the houses across the street from ours.
“I don’t like this,” Blake says, wringing his hands on the steering wheel.
“It will be okay.” I force my voice to sound confident. “My dad trusted this guy, so I do, too.”
Blake shoots me a doubtful look, but he doesn’t slow.
After twenty minutes of driving, I catch sight of the sun glinting off something in the distance. I lean forward even more, squinting, but it’s another minute or so before the truck comes into view.
Neither of us says a word as Blake slows to a stop in front of the truck. The doors on both the driver and passenger side open, and two men step out. The driver looks to be in his sixties. He’s thin and wiry, like he hasn’t had a good meal in years, and his skin is dark and leathery-looking from working in the hot sun. The other man, however, is younger. Twenty-six at the most. He has white-blond hair that reflects the sun like a mirror.
“Come on out now,” the older man calls as both men point rifles at the SUV. “We’re not aiming to shoot you, but we hafta be careful. Step on out!”
“Shit.” Blake reaches for the gun lying on the seat between us.
“No,” I say, putting my hand over his. He looks at me like I’m crazy, but I don’t give in. “Please. They’re being cautious. If we bring a gun out, we’re telling them they can’t trust us.”
“What if we can’t trust them?” Blake says through clenched teeth.
“We can.” I manage to say with more confidence than I actually feel.
Blake lets out a deep breath but eases his hand off the gun. “Okay.”
Together, we climb out of the SUV.
“Hands up,” the younger man says, keeping his rifle steady as the older man approaches.
“So, you’re Emma.” The older man lowers his gun. He looks me up and down briefly before turning his eyes to Blake. They linger on him longer, but it’s still brief and non-threatening. Like he’s sizing us up. “You got weapons?”
“In the car,” I say. “We’re not trying to cause trouble.”
The older man spits and narrows his eyes on me. “Not sick? No headache or fever? Nothing?”
“No,” I say firmly.
“How long since you been in contact with the infected?”
Blake frowns and glances my way.
“My mom died yesterday. My dad the day before.” I swallow, thinking about what happened to my dad and wondering if this man knows. It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him, but I can’t get the words out.
Before I can say anything else, the older man nods. “Symptoms woulda shown up by now.” He looks toward Blake. “You?”
“Same for me.”
I tense at the lie, but neither man seems to notice. Blake hasn’t really been in direct contact with anyone who was infected, but that shouldn’t matter. Right? I mean, this thing is airborne. If Blake were susceptible, he would have caught it by now. The houses in my neighborhood are too close together, plus he’s been in my house. We’re both okay. We have to be.
The older man nods as he walks forward. His gun is still down, but the guarded expression on his face puts me on alert. “You can lower your hands. I’m Jasper, and over there is Cade.”
“Nice to meet you,” I say, dropping my arms to my side. Blake does the same as I tilt my head toward him. “This is my friend, Blake.”
“Good to meet you both.” Jasper spits, then frowns like he’s about to deliver bad news. “We’re gonna blindfold you. Now, I know you’re not gonna like it, but we gotta. I took you in ‘cause I liked your dad, but we’re taking a big risk. I think I can trust you, but I can’t risk you running off to get your friends.”
I meet Jasper’s gray eyes. “All my friends are dead.”
He gives me a sad smile. “I know, but you know I gotta do this.”
I do, and what’s more, I trust him. “Okay,” I say.
“Well, climb on into your car and we’ll get on with it.”
Blake grabs my hand and leads me to the SUV. When our eyes meet, I can tell he isn’t thrilled with the idea, but he doesn’t argue. Which means he trusts my judgment.
Together we climb into the back then allow the man to blindfold us. When the engine roars to life and the car begins to move, I grip Blake’s hand tighter. Then we’re driving. Bumping over the rocky, uneven road.
We drive in silence for a bit, but the longer Jasper goes without talking, the tighter Blake’s grip gets on my hand.
Finally, out of nowhere, Blake says, “Where exactly are you taking us?”
Jasper clears his throat. “A shelter, out in the middle of nowhere. Used to be a missile silo, back during the cold war. There was a company that bought a bunch of them and turned them into high-tech end-of-the-world shelters. Luxury shelters, to be honest. They sold the apartments off to rich people. It was supposed to be top-secret, but I worked on the design, so I’m one of the few people who knew about them.”
“So, you owned one of these apartments?” I ask, trying to wrap my brain around the turn of events. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.
“No. Couldn’t afford one myself. But I had a plan for getting myself in when the right time came, and it worked.” Jasper lets out a laugh. The gravelly noise sounds painful. “See, the company ran into a few financial problems back in early 2013. The condos were supposed to be stocked with five years’ worth of food, but they had to sell most of that off. Something the people who bought into the place didn’t know. So, I gathered my own supplies. Stocked up enough food for myself and a couple other people. That way I had some leverage. When this started, all I had to do was walk up to the door and knock.”
“They just let you in?” Blake asks in disbelief.
“Naw. They wouldn’t open the door, but I knew there was surveillance equipment, and I knew they could hear me if I talked. So I explained that they were low on supplies, but I had them. Had a big U-Haul truck full of stuff. Anyway, it didn’t take them long to figure out I was their best bet of surviving all this.”
“So they’ll let us in, too?” I ask, suddenly worried that these people may have enough and not want us.
“Sure, now it’s no big deal. See, these places were built to sustain fifty people for five years, but of all the people who’d bought into it, only
six showed up. There’s plenty of space, and with your haul, I’d say we’ll be good for several years.”
“Maybe by then the zombies will have died off,” I mutter.
Jasper lets out a barking laugh that tells me he thinks I’m joking. “Funny.”
“She’s serious,” Blake says firmly.
Silence follows, and I want so badly to rip the blindfold off so I can see Jasper and figure out what he’s thinking. It’s clear by his laugh that he had no clue about the zombies. Damn. I hate being the bearer of bad news.
“Why don’t you tell me what you’re talking about, exactly?” Jasper finally says, his voice only a little more guarded than before.
“Just what I said,” I reply. “Zombies. My dad died, then two days later he came back. Attacked Blake. We had to put him down.”
I wait for Jasper to tell me I’m insane—I wouldn’t blame him—but instead he lets out a low whistle. “Shit. Guess all those rumors online are real. People are starting to drop off now, and I’m sure it’s only a matter of days before the world goes offline completely, but right now there are all kinds of crazy things on there.” He exhales. “Guess we’re luckier than I thought.”
Blake squeezes my hand, and he feels more relaxed than he did a little bit ago. We go back to driving in silence, on our way to what I truly believe is a safe place for us to live out the next few years. My dad wanted this for me, and I’m going to face the future without fear and trust his judgment. After all, he was the one who took the time to prepare for the end of civilization.
“Thank you, Daddy,” I whisper, so quietly that even Blake probably doesn’t hear it.
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, let me just say that I had such an amazing time writing this book! Fans have been pestering me—in the best way possible—to write more in the Broken World series, but for me that story is done. I love those characters and had so much fun creating the world, but to continue writing in an already long series is a lot of work, not to mention the fact that I really wanted to create new characters for readers to fall in love with. As a compromise, I decided to write a new zombie series that took place in the same world, which is where The Loudest Silence comes in.
When I first started plotting this book, I knew I needed to come up with a unique location for the setting, and my mind immediately went to Oklahoma. Altus, OK is a real city and all the businesses and street names I used in this book actually exist. My family lived in Altus from February 2014 to November 2016, and while we were there, we got to experience the tail end of the severe drought, as well as the following “monsoon” firsthand, along with many of the other things I described in this book. And whether or not they are now luxury shelters for the apocalypse is a mystery that may never be solved, but there are even old Atlas missile silos in the area—I checked when we moved there since I was just getting ready to release Broken World. The Rattlesnake Derby, Walkin’ On Chalk event, Chili Cook Off, and everything else I talked about are real, as are the two donut shops that sit right across from one another, and the restaurant and bar, Val’s—we actually bought the owner’s house when we moved to Altus in 2014. The gypsum cave Kellan and Regan take shelter in is real as well, and yes, I have been there. When my brother came to visit in 2014 we took the kids out to the Mangum fire station—where you can also see the world’s second oldest working light bulb—and asked for directions. After driving out into the country for so long, we ended up on dirt roads. We were able to find a few entrances to the caves and did some exploring. It was an amazing experience that I knew I needed to add to this book. If you live in Altus and want to check it out, I suggest heading to the fire station in Mangum.
For being so inspiring, I need to extend a huge thanks not only to the state of Oklahoma, but also the cities of Altus, Duke, and Mangum, as well as the Quartz Mountain Resort at Lake Altus-Lugert, The Holy City, and the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge. I was able to witness the beauty of this state both during and after the drought, and even though it wasn’t my favorite place to live, I will never forget my time there. I hope I did a good job of portraying the area!
For those of you who might not know, the term “might could” isn’t a typo. It’s an actual saying that I had literally never heard a person utter—despite years of living in the south—until I lived in Altus, and I felt compelled to add this to my book. No, it doesn’t make sense, but people say it! Also notable, the lovely Southern saying, “bless your heart.”
A big thanks goes to Jan Strohecker for once again being that first critical set of eyes. I know I couldn’t put out such polished books without dedicated people like you, and it’s both nice and flattering to have readers who are so passionate about the stories I write. Thank you also to Laura Johnsen, Carey Monroe, and Mary Jones for being early readers. I really wanted to get some readers who have been to the area to give the novel a onceover before publication, and all three of these ladies have either lived in or still live in Altus, which was perfect! Thanks also to Courtney McGrew, Karen Atkinson, and Tina Young for reading through in search of typos. Your enthusiasm is amazing!
I also want to give a shout out to Lori Whitwam, my amazing editor, and Amber Garcia, whose PR skills know no limits. Thanks for working with me and being so amazing at everything you do!
Another big thank you has to go to Dean Samed at NeoStock Photos for the amazing stock photos. It’s so hard to find stock images with women holding weapons where they aren’t dressed sexy, or even worse, completely naked. I found this group thanks the suggestions of some really amazingly supportive Indie authors, and it’s been amazing. Not just for the stock images, but for the Photoshop tutorials. I love designing my own covers not just because it’s cheaper, but because it’s fun, and thanks to NeoStock, my skills are getting so much better!
Last but not least, my family. While I loved writing this book, it was a struggle in the beginning because I kept comparing it to Broken World and wondering how the fans would react. My husband, as always, was helpful and encouraging, while my kids did their best to stay out of my way so I could finish by my deadline. Thanks for being so supportive!
The Brightest Darkness
Book Two in The Oklahoma Wastelands Series
Contents
Prologue
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
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Acknowledgments
Published by Twisted Press, LLC, an independently owned company.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are fictitious or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real in any way. Any resemblance to person, living or dead, or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2019 by Kate L. Mary
Cover Art by Kate L. Mary
Edited by Lori Whitwam
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Created with Vellum
For the Spouses of the 58th Airlift Squadron at Altus AFB, who not only made my time in Altus, OK tolerable, but enjoyable as well.
Prologue
A YEAR AGO
The sharp sounds of Blake and Emma’s bickering r
eached me before I’d made it to the common area, and I came to a stop with only five steps separating me from the room. It wasn’t enough space. Lately, even with as big as this shelter was, it never seemed like there was enough room to escape the arguing.
“Do you have to criticize everything I do?” Blake snapped.
“I’m sorry,” Emma shot back, her words dripping with enough sarcasm to make me cringe. “I guess I should let you walk around mispronouncing words a toddler could say.”
“No one is around but you, so who cares if I say it wrong?”
“I think it should be obvious.” Emma’s voice rose a few octaves. “I care.”
I slumped against the wall and exhaled. If I went in now, one of them would try to drag me into their little tiff—Emma, most likely—and I wasn’t about to get involved, especially when she was using that tone.
They’d always bickered, but the fighting had gotten worse over the last couple weeks, and the yelling wasn’t even the worst of it. The worst part was that they’d started trying to get the rest of us to take sides, which was making life awkward for everyone. Even Jasper, who was pretty laid back, had very little tolerance for it anymore. His amused comments about how they were starting to sound like an old married couple had stopped months ago, and now he was more likely to leave the room when they started fighting, grumbling under his breath as he did.
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