by J. Thorn
Dusk
Final Awakening Book Two
J. Thorn
Zach Bohannon
Copyright © 2017 by Molten Universe Media
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Edited by Jennifer Collins
Proofread by Laurie Love
Cover by Yocla Designs
jthorn.net
zachbohannon.com
moltenuniversemedia.com
Contents
Sign Up
Overview
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
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
Epilogue
Night
Sign Up
Review
About J. Thorn
About Zach Bohannon
Want to know when the next book by J. Thorn and Zach Bohannon is coming out? Join our *no spam* mailing list where we’ll inform you about the latest releases. We also occasionally run member exclusive giveaways and contests. And just for signing up, you’ll receive an exclusive Final Awakening short story.
Sign up at:
www.moltenuniversemedia.com/escape
Dusk
Final Awakening Book Two
As New Orleans continues to burn and the flood waters rise, Dax Harper must get his band of survivors to safety. The dark forces overrunning the city need him—for reasons explained by the enigmatic voodoo priest, Papa Midnight. But as the situation deteriorates, Dax will have to dig deep to save himself, his loved ones, and his beloved city.
“Post-apocalyptic fiction at its finest.” - Amazon Customer Review of Dawn
Chapter 1
Dax looked back through the rain to the horizon, gazing at the Crescent City’s dark silhouette. The only light inside of New Orleans came from fires burning the buildings from within. And as the rain came down harder, it extinguished some of the flames, shading the city in a shroud of smoke.
Between Dax and the city, the moon glared off the rolling water of Lake Pontchartrain. Dax tried not to think too much about where he was. Gators and deadly snakes crept through the waters—at least a dozen floating under the boat that he could see, and many more he couldn’t. Dax accelerated, and the motor roared.
That should scare those bastards away.
He couldn’t worry about snakes in the water right now. Dax was old enough to be the childrens’ father, and now he would have to protect them like his own. Somehow, Darius and Kevin had fallen asleep. They cuddled next to each other at the other end of the boat. Kevin, only six years old, lay in the older boy’s arms. Darius had a year or two on Kevin. Monica, the teenager among the children, sat with her knees to her chin, staring out over the water. She trembled even though the humidity hung thick in the air. Dax reached over and put his hand on the young girl’s knee, and she jerked.
“I’m sorry,” Dax said, pulling back his hand as if it had been shocked.
Monica raised her head, and then she burst into tears.
Dax extended his arm and the girl landed on his chest. He patted her on the back, doing his best to console her. Solace wasn’t one of Dax’s strengths. Not yet. He still had too much of the toughened street thug left in him.
“Why did Isaac do that to Chloe?” Monica asked.
Dax wiped the tears from her eyes. “That wasn’t Isaac. It was something else.”
“But why did they have to kill Chloe? Why?”
Dax closed his eyes.
He saw Chloe and Gabby, standing next to each other and smiling. Together, they walked toward him. It was as if they were still alive. Then a large, pale face emerged from the shadows behind them, a wretched smile stretched across it.
Serafino.
The creature screamed, opening its mouth wide. Chloe and Gabby were pulled backward.
Dax jerked and opened his eyes, gasping as he yelled out. The sudden movement caused Monica to back away from him, and Kevin and Darius woke up, their eyes big as they looked up at Dax.
“I’m sorry, kids. I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m fine.”
Nearby shouting drew everyone’s attention.
“Did you hear that?” Darius asked.
“Hold up,” Dax said.
Dax slowed the boat, allowing the small motor to idle. He stared out over the water where he’d heard the voices.
He saw shining lights fifty yards away. Then a searchlight turned on, illuminating the area. A boat bobbed in the water, docked next to the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. And on the bridge was what appeared to be a military transport.
Monica said, “Is that—”
“Hold tight,” Dax said, cutting her off.
He throttled the motor and steered the boat toward the light.
“They aren’t those monsters, are they?” Darius asked.
“No,” Dax said. “But keep your heads down until I can see what this is.”
The kids remained low as Dax continued toward the bridge. As they got closer, some of the people turned toward them, shining flashlights at the boat.
When the boat came within twenty yards of the shore, one of the soldiers spoke.
“Stop!”
Dax let go of the throttle, and the boat slowed. It floated several yards from the shore. A small group of soldiers stood in a boat while others manned the Causeway, surrounding a transport vehicle. The military truck’s massive wheels were taller than a grown man—big enough to plow through the floodwaters.
Soldiers shined lights into the tiny boat, and Dax and the kids shielded their eyes.
“We’re humans,” Dax said. “We’re all right.”
The soldiers aimed the lights away. One of the men laughed.
“Humans? What the hell else would you be? If gators start driving boats around, we’re really screwed.”
Several of the soldiers broke into laughter.
They don’t know about the Screamers.
Dax looked around and then at the men. “What are you doing out here?”
“I was just about to ask you the same thing.”
“I’ve been in the city since this all began, and you’re the first federal authorities I’ve seen.”
“No offense, pal, but New Orleans isn’t exactly t
he priority when the country falls to shit. Especially not after all the chaos that happened down here during Katrina.”
Dax furrowed his brow. “The whole country?”
In the military boat, a female soldier looked up at the man who’d been speaking. “They don’t know, sir.”
The male soldier shook his head. “Goddamnit.”
“What are they saying?” Monica asked Dax.
“This power outage is widespread,” the male soldier said. “It’s going on all over the country. And when the pumps went down here in the city, orders were given to focus on places which we could get to. I’m sorry.”
Dax narrowed his eyes and pointed back toward downtown. “There are people dying in there!”
“There are people dying everywhere.”
Dax breathed heavily. The soldier hadn’t so much as blinked, his words coming like a cold, steel blade. Dax wanted to hop up onto the Causeway and strangle him.
The male soldier put his hands on his hips. “Look, this transport is about full, but we’ve got enough room for the kids. You should let me take them. We’ll steer them to safety, and the next transport that comes through can reunite y’all.”
“You should go with them,” Dax said to the children.
“I don’t want to go,” Darius said.
“I’m scared,” Kevin said.
“I know you guys are scared,” Dax said. “That’s why you should go with the soldiers.”
“You’ll be safe with us,” the female soldier said. “Steer the boat over and I’ll—”
“No!”
The outburst had come from Monica. She stood and glared at Dax.
“We’re staying with you. You’re not leaving us. We can wait for the next transport and go together.”
Dax scanned the faces of the children before settling on Monica. “You sure? They can take you somewhere safe, and we can all meet up—”
“This isn’t a discussion. Right?” Monica looked at Kevin and Darius.
Kevin nodded.
Darius said, “We want to stay with you.”
Dax exhaled and nodded. He looked at the soldier standing on the bridge.
“We’ll wait for the next transport.”
The soldier shrugged. “All right. I guess you can do what you want. This is still America, right?” He signaled the female soldier still standing in the boat. “Ford, let’s get a move on.”
“Yes, sir.”
Ford grabbed the ladder and was about to start climbing when she stopped. She removed something from her belt and looked at Dax. “Catch.”
She tossed the object toward the boat. Dax tried to catch it, but it was too difficult in the dark. The object landed on the floor of their craft, and he picked it up.
Dax held up the flashlight and said, “Thanks.”
“We’ll be back for you as soon as we can,” Ford said. She then climbed the ladder and jumped into the transport, joining the others.
The transport’s engine roared to life, and it bounced as the man driving threw it into gear. It moved forward, trudging over the water-soaked Causeway.
“How long do you think it’ll take them to get back to us?” Kevin asked.
Dax shook his head. “Not too sure, buddy. Hopefully, they can make it back here some time in the morning.”
“What are we going to do until then?”
“Wait patiently in this boat.”
“That’s a long time,” Darius said.
Dax chuckled. “Don’t you kids know some games or somethin’?”
“It’s pretty hard to play games in the dark,” Kevin said.
“Well, I’m sure you guys can—”
A crash interrupted Dax, coming from on the Causeway.
Dax stood, and then watched as the bridge in front of the transport collapsed. Concrete broke free from the support pillars and rained down on the surface of the water, drowning out the screams of the people on board. The driver had hit the brakes, but it was too late.
The road crumbled beneath the truck, dropping the vehicle into the water with all the debris. Slabs of concrete and asphalt slid from the Causeway and landed on top of the transport.
The chorus of screams sank with the transport.
“Oh my God! We have to help them!” Monica was about to jump into the water when Dax grabbed her.
“No—we can’t help them.”
Monica slapped at him with her hands, but Dax kept hold around her waist.
There was another loud crack.
Oh, shit.
Another section of the bridge gave way, dropping more of the roadway into the water below.
Dax let go of Monica and threw the boat’s motor into gear. He turned the throttle and steered the small boat away from the disintegrating bridge.
A slab of concrete fell on top of the Army boat, flattening the vessel before sinking it. Dax cursed under his breath. The boat had been much larger than theirs, and could possibly have had more fuel in it than their fishing boat.
“Hang on,” Dax said.
He accelerated faster, pushing the boat’s small motor to its maximum RPMs.
Chapter 2
As he pulled away, though, Dax heard something.
It sounded like a radio station or a car stereo. More specifically, like someone singing.
Monica snatched the flashlight from Dax and shined it underneath the Causeway.
“Look!”
Under the bridge, and at what seemed to be a safe distance from the destruction, sat a man. He sang while bobbing his head—completely alone.
“We have to go help him,” Monica said.
“I’m not sure we have enough space for another person.”
“We’re not leaving him,” Monica said, her eyes now hard and tight. Dax wasn’t the only one with some street smarts. “I’m tired of seeing innocent people die. I’ve seen enough of that in one night to last me an entire lifetime. If you don’t steer the boat over to him, then I’m going to swim there. Either way, I’m not leaving him alone.”
Dax sighed. He could see the determination on the girl’s face. And she was right. They couldn’t leave the man alone. Especially not under a bridge that could collapse at any moment.
He nodded at Monica and steered the boat toward the man.
When they pulled up next to him, he stopped singing. Dax flashed the light on him, where he sat in a boat near one of the Causeway’s supports.
The man had to be close to seventy years old. Long dreadlocks with gray streaks dangled on his chest like serpents. He wore a ripped trench coat over torn and faded clothes. Dax thought he looked like one of the thousands of homeless people who had been living on the streets of New Orleans.
As the boat approached closer, Dax noticed that the man didn’t even move. He didn’t turn and face the flashlight Dax shined at him. He made no effort to shield his face from the blinding light.
Dax docked their craft next to the old man’s boat.
“I told you all to leave me here in peace,” the man said. “I knew that bridge would give way eventually.”
“We aren’t with the Army,” Dax said. “We’re civilians.”
“They fell with the bridge, didn’t they? All dead, I’m guessin’?”
Dax narrowed his eyes and shined the flashlight into the man’s face. His eyes seemed to be covered with a thick, gray film.
“You’re blind,” Monica said.
“Only my earth eyes, honey. I can see more than you can.”
“Come with us,” she said, shaking her head at Dax.
“Where?”
“Back into the city,” Dax said.
The old man laughed. “Yeah, right.”
“We don’t have enough gas to make it all the way down the Causeway,” Dax said. “And no way we’re walking on it after what we’ve seen.”
“You’d be best taking your chances with the bridge. Going back into the city is certain death, what with the evil that resides there.”
“Evil?” Dax
asked. “You know about the Screamers?”
“Is that what you call ‘em?” The man smiled. “Makes sense, I suppose.”
“What do you know about them?”
“What I can tell you is that you need to stay out of the city. If you go back, you never coming out alive. You lucky you made it out once.”
Kevin covered his ears, not wanting to hear anymore words from the old man. Monica held him and waited for Dax’s next move.
The old man stared at Dax, who shivered as he met the blind man’s gaze, to the extent that that was possible. The guy with dreadlocks leaned in and grabbed Dax’s shoulder.
“What the hell, man?” Dax tried to pull away, but the man held a tight grip on his shirt.
The blind man brought his other hand to Dax’s face, running the back of it down his cheek. Dax pushed it away.
“Old man, you better let me go before I throw your ass out of that boat and feed you to the gators.”
Letting go, the old man’s eyes never left the direction of Dax’s face. When Dax moved his head, the pale eyes followed.
“I will come with you,” the old man finally said.
Dax raised his eyebrows and shook his head slowly. “Okay, then.”
“Let me grab my bag and I’ll—”
Screams reverberated through the concrete supports of the Causeway, coming from the city and increasing in volume.
