by Moon, Scott
She opened the inner gate and crossed no man's land. Energy tingled up her spine as she came as close to a human as she had in months. He didn't move. Perhaps that was why she risked contact. The nearer she came, the older she thought he was. The Armageddon Cloud spared the young and the old, but there were exceptions. K. K. didn't consider herself old, but here she was. Several times on the way to the man's side, she hesitated.
"No closer. I need to concentrate," he said.
K. K. nodded, then shook her head at her foolishness.
"What do you know about this motor gang?" he asked.
"Nothing," she said. "They kill coyotes at night."
The man chuckled. "Look at them,” he said. Then he moved his left hand without changing the attitude of his body or his rifle at all. He patted a pair of binoculars.
K. K. didn't need his help, not now. She saw what he meant. Boys and girls rode the four-wheelers, motorcycles, and dune buggies. Some of them couldn't be older than eleven or twelve. A few were teenagers.
"They are the same as the Mother's Brood," she said.
The man tilted his head a fraction of an inch, as though he was almost turning to look back at her. "Is that what you call her?"
She didn't answer.
"Interesting." He focused on the motor gang, then squeezed the trigger.
K. K. assumed he pulled the trigger, because the big rifle recoiled into his shoulder. Red dust exploded under the end of the rifle barrel.
She looked to see if he hit but couldn't tell. If a rider was down, they had left him or her behind.
He fired again and again and again, then stopped. "They will be at your fence soon. It is time for you to decide."
K. K. retreated to her inner sanctum and locked the gate. She felt awkward and foolish. The man had been a soldier. A chain-link fence would never stop him.
"Thanks for killing my dogs, you fucking asshole."
He got up and looked back then. His face was sad, sun-burned, and painted with self-made camouflage. "They were good dogs."
"Are you going to kill me too?" she asked.
"Are you a good dog?"
His words hurt. She ran to her tent and cried for her dogs, crumpling inward like she hadn't when the end times began. Watching a town of people die outside of her various strongholds, losing valuable stockpiles to earthquakes and animals, setting her own broken leg — none of it had made her cry like this. She wondered what happened to her son and daughter on the East Coast or her mother and stepfather wherever they had been at the end, but had never cried for them. That was like admitting they were dead.
The soldier ignored her emotional Armageddon. She knew because he was shooting with his big rifle, killing one tribe of kids before they murdered their pedestrian rivals.
Time passed.
The shooting stopped.
A single motorcycle vanished into the sunset.
The Mother and her children pushed on the outer gate until the soldier man walked with his prosthetic legs to open it.
#
The Mother's voice cut through K. K.'s anguish over the death of Titan, Balrog, and Benji — the last of her dogs. Titan had been gentle until pushed into a corner. Balrog, the mongrel Wolfhound, had snarled as the stranger in black moved in for the kill. Benji went silently in the night, probably licking the sniper's face even after the boot knife plunged into his throat.
K. K. pumped a shotgun shell into the Mossberg, aimed, squeezed the trigger, then released the pressure as the Mother spoke again.
"He is my guard dog," she said, moving between K. K. and the man. "He's the last man on Earth, or this continent, I bet. Let us in. You don't want to be alone."
Despite all that had happened K. K. knew what she wanted. "Take your children and go. Leave your guard dog. I have a grave to fill."
"What kind of person are you?" the Mother asked. "We are the last people for a thousand miles!"
The man looked over the Mother's shoulder. He didn't move. He held her gaze.
"You don't feel guilty for wanting to be alone?" he asked.
K. K. glared, then relaxed. Breathing seemed easier. "No."
Several moments passed.
"Come on, Mother. There are more defensible places between here and Wichita."
"I'm not your mother," the Mother said.
"That's what I call you," he said, guiding her toward the restless mob of hungry children.
"Since when?" the Mother asked.
K. K. held a warm, unopened beer in her left hand as she watched them move away. Her right hand hung on the strap that held the shotgun over her shoulder.
A shooting star slashed open the sky that night. A pair of coyotes howled. There had been hundreds of the things out there. That night and the next day and the night after that, there was no music on the PA, no dogs begging for scraps.
There was, however, the sound of engines at the edge of hearing and something that might have been a rifle shot.
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SCIENCE FICTION
Enemy of Man
(Book One in the Chronicles of Kin Roland)
Earth Fleet never forgave Kin Roland’s failure at Hellsbreach. Changed by captivity and torture, hunted by the Reapers of Hellsbreach and wanted by the Fleet, Kin hides on a lost planet near an unstable wormhole.
When a distant space battle propels a ravaged Earth Fleet Armada through the same wormhole, a Reaper follows, hunting for the man who burned his home world. Kin fights to save a mysterious native of Crashdown from the Reaper and learns there are worse things in the galaxy than those hunting him. The end is coming and he is about to pay for a sin that will change the galaxy forever.
Son of Orlan
(Book Two in the Chronicles of Kin Roland)
Kin Roland survived the Battle of Crater Town. He managed to keep his friends alive, although most remained at his side on Crashdown when the safe course would have been to evacuate with Earth Fleet. Kin even found the girl of his dreams.
Surviving Earth Fleet justice and a Reaper vendetta was only the beginning. Now Kin has real trouble.
With the Grand Army of the Mazz Empire descending on the planet to destroy ancient enemies and Reapers sweeping across the landscape leaving terror and death in their wake, Kin learns the truth of his supposedly invincible enemies. The largest military expedition in history isn't that of a conquering force. The Mazz are on the run—fleeing extinction and Kin knows desperate enemies are dangerous.
Kin will find himself in a position no one expected. He'll define humanity with his next choice, or doom them eternally.
Weapons of Earth
(Book Three in the Chronicles of Kin Roland)
With the fate of humanity at stake, there is only one way for the Traitor of Hellsbreach to make things right.
After a battle that erased people from existence, Kin Roland faces betrayal, intrigue, and the ultimate decision. Reapers, Slomn, and all the deadly monsters of Crashdown have not prepared him for his return to Hellsbreach. He swore to never again set foot on the red wasteland. The truth awaiting him in Blood Meridian Canyon will force him to a desperate alliance. A creature that even the King of the Reapers fears will drive Kin across the Red Plains of Sorrow with the fate of humanity in the balance. There has only ever been one decision for Kin Roland… the right decision.
Weapons of Earth is the final book in the Chronicles of Kin Roland trilogy, a military science fiction adventure that fans of the movies Aliens and Predator will love. This series is the for anyone who has dreamed of suiting up in a Starship Troopers dropship and assaulting a planet with a band of brothers ready to snatch victory from impossible odds. If you enjoy books by Robert A. Heinlein, Frank Herbert, John Steakley, John Ringo, and David Weber then you’ll love this book they inspired.
Buy the climactic conclusion to the Chronicles of Kin Roland trilogy today!
(And please don’t forget to leave a review. Your recommendations not only help readers find great b
ooks, but help authors write better stories!)
Proof of Death
(Grendel Uprising: Episode 1)
The longest journey begins with a single step, or a high-altitude insertion from the extreme upper atmosphere. What could possibly go wrong? Aefel 70391, a proud member of the First Armored-infantry Lightning Division, must find the Emperor’s assassin on a forgotten planet populated by blood thirsty Vikings.
Once, long ago when wealthy adventure tourists finally admitted they could not travel back in time, the Grendel Corporation purchased planet 0473829 for cheap and populated it with historical reenactment volunteers. Expenses soared. Bankruptcy followed. Technology went dark. The Earth System Commonwealth Military slowly withdrew protection from the economically and strategically insignificant project.
Seccon 99991, First General and Chief Strongarm of Emperor Dan Uburt-Wesson, disappeared as thoroughly as a myth after committing regicide. A small, but well informed faction of the Earth System Commonwealth Military believe that he has hidden on the primitive — and privately owned — world of Grendel 0473829.
Seccon must die; this is known.
What is the killer seeking in the last corner of human explored space?
Aefel must learn the answer or face permanent exile in the land time pretended to forget.
Blood Royal
(Grendel Uprising: Episode 2)
Loyal servants of the Earth System Commonwealth must pick a side. The assassination of Emperor Dan Uburt-Wesson has thrown civilization into chaos and no interim government will have the strength to hold the galactic empire together. Rumors of betrayal and rebellion spread from star system to star system as the real battle begins in the most unlikely place. Official news sources have confirmed that every member of the Imperial family is dead. The formation of a new galactic order is imminent. The Earth System Commonwealth has outlived its usefulness.
Only a handful of powerful people know that Aefel 70391, a decorated veteran of the First Armored-infantry Lightning Division, has located four juveniles that will change history. Can Aefel and his unlikely allies protect the Blood Royal? Has he chosen the wrong side?
Grendel Uprising: Blood Royal sets the stage for a war of rebellion, domination, and what it means to be human in the age of the Earth System Commonwealth.
The Grendel Uprising series combines science fiction and historical fiction. The setting is at once a world similar to England and Scandinavia during the time of the Danelaw and a pan galactic empire of advanced technology and deadly political upheaval. During a more prosperous time, entrepreneurs developed entire worlds as historical reenactment societies and allowed nature to take its course. Financial disaster took the planet of Grendel completely offline. There are precious few men or women who remember how they came to the alien world. Now they will face the godlike destruction of modern warfare.
URBAN FANTASY
Dragon Badge
(Book One in the Michael Prim Series)
Michael Prim does what any good cop would do upon discovering a soul reaving sorcerer is hunting on his beat, he goes to war, even as hellhounds and Rashfellen warriors come after him. He gets a little help from his friends — a tough as nails veteran and a zombie like prostitute who holds a soul trapped in a magical jar. At the end, only Michael’s most hated enemy, the gang member who murdered his partner, can stand against Travass Isegurad and his demons, but Michael will have justice no matter the price.
Dragon Attack
(Book Two in the Michael Prim Series)
After defeating the demons and hellhounds of Travass Isegurad, Michael Prim races toward another confrontation with the sorcerer. Nicole’s curse drives her into isolation. Her friends fight to save her. The rift between Blue Point and the magic world disintegrates, taking innocent lives during the chaos and releasing deadly creatures into a modern world unprepared for the war to come.
Die Like A Man
Behind the badge is an assassin. Behind the assassin is a monster with scars to hell and back.
Operators like Alistair Rohan never die; they retire and go into law enforcement. It's a pay cut. The hours are bad and he must keep his secrets hidden. Distrustful peers morph his name to Alice and keep a careful distance. It’s not his total lack of fear or his indifference to pain that drives friends away, but little things like how he wears long sleeves in the summer and disappears when off duty. Attention to detail earned him high marks in the academy, but his field-training officer once commented that it seemed like he was always planning a hit, always ready to send bad guys straight to hell without a trial. Can Rohan leave his past behind and live according to the rule of law, or will his meaner side turn vigilante?
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