by Mike Kraus
“What do you think we should do?”
THE END
Author’s Notes
No Sanctuary has been an interesting series. It started out as a by-the-books post-apocalyptic adventure and turned into a cross between post-apocalyptic and a thriller somewhere around the halfway mark. I don’t know how or why the story took that turn, but I sure am glad that it did because it has been crazy fun to write.
Building up to Linda meeting Omar was tough and I hope that I did it justice. Between the final set of backstories for him and his initial encounter with Linda, I wanted him to feel like someone who was both deeply troubled and deeply, unreservedly evil. I didn’t base him off of anyone in particular; he’s a creation formed completely internally, and he represents what I think someone could really become and do if they were given sufficient resources and motivation.
If you’re wondering about the ending and why I don’t definitively say whether or not Linda killed him or let him live… that’s a hard question to answer. I’ve been planning the ending for a few months now and I just couldn’t decide whether I wanted to have her kill him or let him life. The former felt like a “good” ending where the bad guy gets killed by the person he tormented and who was chasing him. Letting him live, though, felt like it would show growth on Linda’s part, because she would be giving up her personal revenge in favor of having proper justice performed as he was brought forward to answer for his horrendous crimes.
In the end, I couldn’t decide. So I left it ambiguous and that ended up feeling right—but not in the way that you might be thinking about.
See, once I decided to leave it up in the air about what she did, I realized that something more important came forward: her relationship with Frank. She started as an adversary of his, leaving him in the middle of the night after he rescued her. As she grew to trust him, though, a bond formed, and the story wasn’t about two separate people traveling alongside each other, but about how they worked together. One pushing when the other was falling behind. One pulling when the other was struggling. Ensuring that, no matter what, they would make it to the next goal. Together.
I wanted to really reinforce this in the epilogue, again by leaving Omar’s fate ambiguous, but also by showing the pair together. Working side by side. Two imperfect people helping each other to become better each day.
In stories of the apocalypse, a great deal is made about the events that happen. The bombs or the viruses or the solar flares or the weapons or the political drama.
None of that matters. None of it. They’re all just set pieces.
What matters—what always and only matters—are the stories of the people. Their struggles. Their hopes. Their dreams. Their nightmares. Their road from disaster to survival that reflects in us our belief that, no matter what, we can press on and survive whatever happens. Those stories speak to us and connect with us and make us feel a connection with the characters in the story because we see them and shout and cry and sing and feel sorrow alongside them. The characters matter more than anything else.
I love Frank and Linda and the small cast of supporting characters that I built up around them. And I hope you do as well. I’m not a Marine or an accountant or a trucker or a soldier or a CIA spook. But I am a human, and I feel a human connection to these characters.
I hope, on some level, you felt some sort of connection to them as well. And if you did, then I did my job.
I love my job.
All the best,
Mike Kraus
P.S. If you enjoyed this story and/or any of my other stories, please leave a review for them on Amazon. Just go to the book you purchased or checked out through Kindle Unlimited, scroll down to the review section and click the button to write your own review. It only takes a minute, but it seriously makes a world of difference to an independent writer like myself.
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More Books from Mike Kraus
Final Dawn: The Complete Original Series Box Set
Clocking in at nearly 300,000 words with over 250,000 copies sold, this is the complete collection of the original bestselling post-apocalyptic Final Dawn series. If you enjoy gripping, thrilling post-apocalyptic action with compelling and well-written characters you’ll love Final Dawn.
Final Dawn: Arkhangelsk: The Complete Trilogy Box Set
The Arkhangelsk Trilogy is the first follow-up series set in the bestselling Final Dawn universe and delivers more thrills, fun and just a few scares. The crew of the Russian Typhoon submarine Arkhangelsk travel to a foreign shore in search of survivors, but what the find threatens their fragile rebuilding efforts in the post-apocalyptic world.
Surviving the Fall
Surviving the Fall is an episodic post-apocalyptic series that follows Rick and Dianne Waters as they struggle to survive after a devastating and mysterious worldwide attack. Trapped on the opposite side of the country from his family, Rick must fight to get home while his wife and children struggle to survive as danger lurks around every corner.
Prip’Yat: The Beast of Chernobyl
Two teens and two Spetsnaz officers travel to the town of Prip’Yat set just outside the remains of the Chernobyl power plant. The teens are there for a night of exploration. The special forces are there to pursue a creature that shouldn’t exist. This short thriller set around the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster will keep your heart racing right through to the very end.
Zero Hour
A devastating attack. A family separated. A desperate struggle to survive.
Jackson Block is trapped far from his family and those he loves when a rogue state unleashes a devastating attack on the United States. To reunite with his loved ones, he must fight through streets that have turned into a war zone as survivors and government agents alike threaten not only his existence, but that of the entire nation.
Darkness Rising
The unthinkable has happened. A North Korean nuclear attack has wiped out most of the west coast and portions of the Midwest and east coasts along with it. As the county reels from the devastation, one family struggling to survive discovers that they may have a closer connection to the disaster than anyone else. The price for potentially ending the crisis before the country completely collapses? That of their eldest child.
NO SANCTUARY
The Complete Series
Books 1-6
By
Mike Kraus
© 2017-2018 Mike Kraus
www.MikeKrausBooks.com
[email protected]
www.facebook.com/MikeKrausBooks
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, without the permission in writing from the author.
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