by Tim Moon
Chadwick bumped into Ben, jostling his shoulder. He cursed and stepped back.
“Careful, man.”
“Sorry, mate. Just making room,” Chadwick said, jerking his thumb toward the door.
Charlotte stood just outside with her mouth open. She slowly turned her head to look at them.
Ben nodded at her, confirming that what Charlotte saw was real.
“Nuke,” Anuhea said simply.
“You’re hurting my hand,” Oliver said, wriggling free of Charlotte’s grasp.
Charlotte looked from Anuhea to Ben, her eyes glistening. It was worse than seeing videos of the attacks on September 11th. The pain and emotion was immediate for all of them. Charlotte squeezed onto the bridge and hugged Ben.
No one spoke for a long time.
“Hey, hey, what’s that?” Anuhea squinted and pointed up the river.
Ben turned his head. There was something moving in the river. It looked like…
“Oh shit, a wave from the blast,” Kaholo said, wiping silent tears off his face. “Everyone hold on, it’s going to get bumpy.”
They watched as not just one, but three waves came barreling down the valley at them. Wave number one was big. The Kiska rolled over it no problem. Wave number two was tall. The ship reared its head like a dragon and slammed down on the other side, just in time for the third wave. It was a monster wave, larger than the others combined. The kind of wave that would give Ben nightmares for the rest of his life.
Amplified by the relatively narrow valley and relatively shallow water, the third wave coming toward them was almost as high as the bridge. Ben could hardly imagine the amount of damage the bomb and the waves must have done at ground zero.
“Hold on!” Kaholo shouted.
Everyone yelled and screamed as the ship tilted wildly throwing them back against the wall of the bridge. Waves crashed up, spraying the windshield with water and splashing through the open door. Chadwick slipped in the water and cursed. He curled into a ball, clenching his leg and didn’t move. As the water cleared from the glass, they looked down the backside of the wave. It felt like riding a roller coaster that paused just before racing down a near vertical drop. Ben held onto the handrail and yelled. The ship raced down the slope of water with stomach wrenching speed.
Reaching the bottom of the drop, water shot up in the air. It splashed the deck and sprayed the bridge again. But they had survived.
Ben maintained his grip on the handrail, but he was soaked and sprawled out on the floor. He slowly pulled himself up and peered over the edge of the control panel to look outside. Water dripped from his hair, his shoulder hurt like hell, but he was alive.
“We made it,” Ben said softly. Then he shouted, “Oh my God, we made it!”
A small cheer erupted as everyone collected their wits, stood up and realized that they had survived.
Chadwick groaned. He lay balled up on the floor, clutching his injured leg. Blood soaked through the bandage and turned the water on the floor pink. “I hate ships.”
They laughed as they helped him up.
Anuhea stayed on the bridge while all the injured people went below deck with Charlotte to get checked up. Kaholo reluctantly left the bridge in Anuhea’s hands, but only after turning the ship around and reducing the speed. They would have to find somewhere else to dock.
For now, Ben at least, needed some pain medication and a fresh bandage.
64
Several days after leaving the Kiska outside Longview, Washington, Ben and the group finally reached his mom’s house.
Ben, Charlotte, Anuhea, Chadwick and Oliver had bid their farewell to the brothers Keanu and Kaholo, who felt obliged to check in at a Coast Guard Station to find out how they could help with any emergency response the Coast Guard was mounting. Their journey from Longview was long and difficult, but it was worth it.
Now that he finally arrived, Ben wanted to run up the steps, burst inside, and say, “Mom, I’m home!” But he held his enthusiasm in check. He knew that doing so would be foolish. Bursting into someone’s home during the apocalypse was how you got shot. If she still had the pistol he had bought her, it was a real possibility. So, Ben walked slowly up the steps to the front porch of his mom’s house, holding his rifle at the ready.
Ben still hadn’t decided what he would do if his mom was infected. Would he have the strength to put her down? His heart fluttered and the back of his neck tingled. He dashed those negative thoughts from his mind.
The block was quiet. Just as it had been since they had got out of the center of Vancouver. Roadblocks, abandoned vehicles and massive pileups forced them closer to downtown than he wanted to go. Despite the struggles of his entire journey, standing on the porch of his mom’s home, moments from entering, was more unnerving than anything else he’d done.
His friends fanned out behind him. Chadwick sat on the first step, watching the street with his rifle propped up on his good leg. Oliver sat beside him, looking around nervously. Charlotte held a rifle and stood near the sidewalk, watching Ben creep toward the front door. Anuhea was just behind Ben, holding a pistol, with her rifle slung on her back.
Ben glanced back at Anuhea and held a finger to his lips. He reached down and tried the doorknob.
“Locked,” he whispered, letting out a sigh of relief. A locked door was a good sign. Walking to the corner of the porch, Ben tipped a large flowerpot to the side and lifted up a key. There had been a key hidden there for years. He grinned at Anuhea as he quietly walked back to the front door.
The key slid into the lock, the metal grinding against the tumblers was louder than he would have liked, but only because it was quiet as death outside. Ben turned the lock and it clicked. He opened the door and pushed it open.
Peeking inside, he saw that the hallway was clear. He strained to listen. There was nothing to hear though. It was quiet inside, a perfect reflection of the silence in the streets.
If his mom was home, she would probably be in the living room. Ben didn’t hear the TV, but hoped that wasn’t a bad sign.
“Hello? Mom?” Ben said in a loud whisper.
Nothing.
He stepped inside and turned toward the library, which was the room that most people used as their living room. Ben motioned for Anuhea to go the other direction, toward the dining room and kitchen. It was far less likely his mom would be there. He wanted to be the first to see her.
From the hall, the library looked empty. Taking a deep breath, he began to walk forward with the rifle at the ready and his finger near the trigger, but not on it. Glancing around the room it was obviously empty, save for the shelves of books, a small couch, oak coffee table, two overstuffed chairs and a pair of antique end tables.
Stepping around one of the chairs, he walked toward the other doorway that would lead to the living room. Ben never understood why she had the living room and the library so close together. His mom always explained that the noise didn’t bother her and his dad wasn’t around enough to care about it. When he was home, he was usually in his office downstairs anyway. He rarely saw his dad watch TV, with the exception of the occasional movie.
“Mom?”
Ben walked into the living room and nearly fell over in shock.
His mom stood in the other doorway of the half-bathroom that sat in the far corner of the living room. She had a pistol aimed at his chest with surprising steadiness.
She let out a breath. “Benjamin?”
Only his mom called him by his full name.
“Mom! Thank God,” Ben said, lowering his rifle.
Anuhea came in through the kitchen. His mom raised her pistol with a surprised look on her face.
“No, it’s okay. She’s my friend,” Ben said. He strode forward and wrapped his mom in a hug.
“I’m so glad you’re safe,” she whispered to him as she held him.
Anuhea walked out quietly, leaving them to their reunion.
“Same to you, you have no idea how relieved I am,” Ben said, pulling back.
“Have you seen what happened?”
“The bomb?” he asked.
She looked up at him and nodded.
“Yeah, we saw it,” Ben said. He wasn’t sure what to say about it, so he changed tack. “I have to introduce you to everyone. Come on.”
Ben took his mom’s hand and led her out toward the front door to meet his friends. As they walked down the hall, Ben saw the cloud framed in the doorway. It was incredible.
Focus on what’s in front of you, he thought. That’ll come later.
THANK YOU
I hope you enjoyed reading Dead Apocalypse and Dead Horde. Stay tuned for book three, coming soon!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tim Moon is an author, artist, and adventurer from Washington State. Tim graduated from Washington State University, with a BA degree in political science and a minor in psychology. Tim is a lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy and primarily writes in those genres. He loves to travel, go backpacking, read, and watch movies. After five years working in airport security, Tim moved to South Korea to teach English and completed his first book, Dead Apocalypse. Tim currently lives in China with his beautiful wife.
Want to chat?
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Table of Contents
Copyright
Table of Contents
Become a Survivor
Dedication
Part I
Dead Apocalypse
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
Part II
Dead Horde
Prologue
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Thank You
About the Author
