by David Lucin
From the backyard, Liam called into the house, “Maria, Nicole, nice to see you. One of these days we’ll have a proper visit.” He noticed Jenn and Sam on the couch. “Oh, hey. How was the game?”
“It was fun,” Jenn said. “I think it might start being a regular thing. I’ll try and get more teams together.”
“I like it. Some friendly competition could do the Militia some good.” He tucked his hands into his pants pockets. “Anyway, I’ve got to run. Take care now.”
Jenn didn’t even wait for the back door to click shut. “Okay, Gary, what was that about? Nothing’s wrong, is it?”
His smile was wider than she had ever seen it. “No, nothing’s wrong. The opposite, as a matter of fact.” He slipped off his boots and wandered into the kitchen, where he took a snap pea from the colander. “Not bad,” he said after a bite.
Jenn groaned at him. “Oh my god, Gary. Come on. Quit drawing this out and being dramatic.”
He finished his pea and leaned against the counter, commanding everyone’s attention. “This morning, Terrence Nielsen picked up something interesting on the shortwave radio.”
“Shortwave? Really? You guys haven’t heard anything in months.”
“Exactly. This was a broadcast from the Army.”
Jenn felt her jaw fall open. Army? She couldn’t have heard that right. “Did you just say the Army? As in the U.S. Army?”
“That’s correct.” He reached for a second pea. “Specifically, the force that was in Mexico when the bombs fell.”
She exchanged glances with Sam, whose brow crinkled as he chewed a fingernail. “That doesn’t make sense,” she said. “If they’re still alive, why’d it take them so long to come up here? The White Horde drove halfway across the country in the middle of winter. You’d think the actual Army could drive up here, right?”
“We don’t know the details yet.” Gary bit into a third pea before Maria snatched away the colander. “But we responded to their broadcast.”
Now Jenn heard herself gasp. Contacting strangers via radio sounded like one of the stupidest things Gary could have done. Anyone could be listening in, including another lunatic cast in the same mold as the Great Khan. “You sure that’s a good idea? How do you know the signal’s not from someone pretending to be the U.S. military?”
“We did our due diligence,” Gary assured her. “Liam even spoke to one of his old superiors from his days in West Ukraine. It all checks out. With the federal government offline, the Army’s acting independently, but it’s promising support wherever it’s needed in the Southwest. It should be in Arizona sometime next week, and they intend to send a detachment here by the end of May.”
She still didn’t like that Gary had blabbed over shortwave, but she couldn’t deny the excitement buzzing in her chest. If Flagstaff had made it this far on its own, with some timely assistance from Prescott, what could it do with support from the U.S. Army? She imagined a life where she didn’t have to fight and kill. A life where she didn’t have to scrape by to survive. A life where she and Sam had a family of their own. If the military could make that dream a possibility, she’d welcome it with open arms.
“So . . .” She took Sam’s hand and held it in her lap. “Does that mean what I think it means?”
Gary tossed the rest of his snap pea into his mouth. “It means help is finally coming.”
A mother fights to reunite with her son.
The only thing in her way is the end of the world.
Ground Zero tells the story of how Allison and Charlie survive the nuclear attack on Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is free and exclusive for subscribers to my newsletter.
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Afterword
Thanks for reading Night Before Dawn! If you liked the book (or not), please consider leaving a review on Amazon, Goodreads, and/or BookBub. Reviews help me reach a wider audience and become a better writer, and I read every single one of them.
As always, I’d like to thank Gaby Michaelis for her feedback on the manuscript. She’s a master of her craft, and I wouldn’t dare publish anything without her approval. The cover for Night Before Dawn might be my favorite in the series, and I thank Covers by Christian for the artwork and Deranged Doctor Design for the outstanding text branding.
With the White Horde destroyed, spring coming, and the U.S. Army en route from Mexico, we leave Jenn and Flagstaff in a good place. There are plenty of stories left to tell, and I intend on returning to the Desolation series with at least another trilogy, but for now, I hope you don’t mind if we shift gears and explore how the apocalypse plays out in another part of the world: the Pacific Northwest.
My new series, This New World, takes place in the same universe as Desolation. It’s the story of Brooke Campbell, a former Marine first sergeant and veteran of World War Three, as she fights to protect her family and reconnect with her daughter, Hannah. Unlike Jenn, Brooke is prepared for the bombs and quick to act, but as you’ve probably gathered by now, post-nuclear America can be a dangerous, unforgiving place.
When Fire Rains, the first entry in This New World, is in development now, along with a companion novella, Stamp of Nobility. For sneak peeks and news on their release dates, subscribe to my mailing list at subscribe.authordavidlucin.com. You can also follow me on Facebook at facebook.com/authordavidlucin.
About the Author
I was born and raised in the mountains of British Columbia, Canada. After earning a master’s degree in military history and spending a good chunk of my twenties studying the British Army in the First World War, I returned to BC and began writing fiction. Nowadays, I’m a husband, a pet owner, and the commissioner of my fantasy baseball league (though sadly not the champion).
To hear about new releases and exclusive content, subscribe to my mailing list at subscribe.authordavidlucin.com. You can also check out my Facebook page at facebook.com/authordavidlucin.
