by Lucin, David
A violent crack cut her off. A second followed. Sharp bolts of pain shot through her ears.
Most of the horde took to the ground. Some turned and ran, crashing into others and stampeding those on the pavement. Many opened their mouths to scream, but Jenn only heard a high-pitched ringing. Liam lay atop the man in the business suit to shield him.
“Stop!” he screamed. “I said stop!”
More gunfire erupted, this time from the refugees. A hand gripped Jenn’s shirt and pulled her behind the car. Gary squatted and lowered his mask, which hung around his neck. His mouth moved, but no words came out.
Another gun barked. She couldn’t tell who fired it.
Gary didn’t flinch. He was telling her to move, but move where?
She tried doing as he asked, but her body betrayed her. Her back against the squad car’s fender, she slipped to the pavement, wrapped both arms around her knees, and pulled them close to her chest. With each breath, she fought to suck in enough air through the mask, so she tore it off and inhaled a lungful of smoke. It made her dizzy.
“Gary,” she said, her voice hardly audible. It was like speaking with earplugs in.
Next, she heard herself calling for Maria, then her mother. Black spots danced across her vision. She tried following Gary again, but her arms clutched her legs and kept them from moving.
A fresh flurry of gunfire caused Yankees Hat to appear in front of her. Blood soaked the chest of his shirt. Nicole’s shrill screams overtook the high-pitched wail in her ears. Jenn willed the man to leave her alone, but he refused. Whenever she looked at him, his lifeless eyes stared back.
She wanted to go home, to Phoenix, and hike in the mountains with her parents and brothers. She wanted to bury herself in Maria’s embrace and never come out. She wanted to lie in bed with Sam, take nighttime drives, and fool around in the Tesla. She wanted to read about physics and solve math problems and watch the Diamondbacks beat the Rockies.
Anything but this.
Time passed. She didn’t know how long. It could have been days or seconds. But the gunfire had quieted, replaced by a woman yelling. Jenn opened her eyes in search of Gary. She found him with Officer Carrera. Together they’d pinned a man wearing a white T-shirt face-first to the ground.
“Hold your fire!” he cried louder than Jenn had ever heard him speak. “Hold your fire!”
* * *
Desolation 2: Into the Inferno is available on Amazon.
Click here to download!
The Science of Desolation
Want to learn more about the research and science that went into Desolation? Visit the link below to subscribe to David’s mailing list and download your free copy of The Science of Desolation:
Click here to download!
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, thanks to my wife and cat for putting up with my late nights at Starbucks and the library while I wrote and rewrote this book. (I suppose I should also thank Starbucks and the Vancouver Public Library for that.)
I’d also like to acknowledge Gaby Michaelis for her invaluable feedback on my many drafts and Aero Gallerie for the great cover and for putting up with me changing my mind at the last minute.
Lastly, thanks to the readers who purchased this book. If you enjoyed it (or not), please consider letting me know what you thought by leaving a review on the book’s Amazon page (click here to leave a review).
About the Author
David Lucin was born and raised in rural British Columbia, Canada. He has a Master of Arts degree in military history and has been studying armies, strategy, tactics, and the effects of war on society for over ten years. He’s also a husband, a pet owner, and the commissioner of his fantasy baseball league (though sadly not the champion).
Visit www.authordavidlucin.com to see more of David’s work and read more about the world of Desolation. To hear about new releases and exclusive content, subscribe to his mailing list at www.subscribepage.com/david_lucin_subscribe. You can contact David directly via email at [email protected].
