Surviving The End (Book 2): Fallen World

by Hamilton, Grace

  Surviving the End

  Crumbling World

  Fallen World

  New World

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  RELAY PUBLISHING EDITION, DECEMBER 2019

  Copyright © 2019 Relay Publishing Ltd.

  All rights reserved. Published in the United Kingdom by Relay Publishing. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Grace Hamilton is a pen name created by Relay Publishing for co-authored Post-Apocalyptic projects. Relay Publishing works with incredible teams of writers and editors to collaboratively create the very best stories for our readers.

  www.relaypub.com

  Blurb

  Family is all that matters when friend becomes foe—and the stakes are survival.

  The world has become a dangerous place for Shane McDonald and his family since the solar storm wiped out the power grid. Tensions flare when it grows clear the dire situation will be prolonged and most are ill-prepared. Even the friendly small town of his prepper mother-in-law has drawn unwanted attention as word gets around about sharing their supply stores.

  And strangers begin to infiltrate the once peaceful Georgia community.

  All Shane can think about is where his wife and son ended up in all the chaos as the hours stretch into days since they last communicated. Jodi is far too trusting a soul, her desire to help the downtrodden a dangerous commodity among desperate and increasingly hostile citizens.

  But Jodi isn’t without resources when push comes to shove. When her son and cancer-stricken brother come under attack, she finds the strength to do what’s necessary to ensure their safety—and inadvertently draws the attention of a menacing gang.

  Now they must stay one step ahead of their pursuers in a race to reunite with family.

  Before all hell rains down on them.

  Contents

  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

  End of Fallen World

  Thank you!

  About Grace Hamilton

  Sneak Peek: New World

  Also By Grace Hamilton

  1

  The pain in her right forearm made deep sleep impossible, and she finally sat up, rubbing her eyes, then rolled down the window for some fresh air. Jodi checked the bandages on her arm. Blood had seeped through on both sides. She flexed her fingers, feeling stiffness and an ache that went all the way up to her shoulder.

  Getting shot sucks, she thought. Technically, she’d found that having been shot was far worse than getting shot. The moment of impact had felt like little more than a bee sting. The real pain had followed afterward and seemed determined to linger.

  The air was still and stale, so she opened the truck door and stepped outside. They were parked out of sight of the road, in the dilapidated shell of a big red barn. Mike and Owen were still crunched up in the front seat. Somehow, despite being packed into the Silverado like olives in a jar, the two of them had managed to sleep long and hard all night.

  Jodi went to the back of the truck and dug down between the bicycle and pedicab that were folded up in back. She unzipped the suitcase and pulled out fresh bandages and disinfectant. Leaning against the side of the truck, with one hand she managed to remove the old bandages from her arm, wad them up, and jam them into a side pocket on the suitcase. The bullet wounds were ugly and oozing, but not particularly large considering the amount of pain she felt. The skin around them was an angry red.

  Please, don’t be infected, she thought, as she cleaned both the entry and exit wounds. She gingerly placed new bandages on both sides of her arm.

  She just wanted to be at her mother’s house. Jodi was tired of being on the road, tired and hurt and frustrated. She found herself fighting bitter tears, and she pressed a hand over her eyes and willed them away. It wouldn’t do for Owen to wake up and find his mother crying. When she felt some semblance of control, she turned back to the truck and called to the others.

  “Guys, I think it’s time to get up,” she said. “Come on, Mikey. It’s morning. We should hit the road.”

  Mike stirred first. With a groan, he sat up, running his hands through his patchy hair. The large bandage on the side of his neck had come loose, giving Jodi a glimpse of the surgical incision. He pressed it back in place as he turned to her.

  “Did you just call me Mikey again?” he croaked. His eyes looked sunken into his pale, damp face. “Oh, gosh, that’s a habit you need to break. I’m not twelve anymore. Are we there yet?”

  “You’re the one with the map,” Jodi reminded him.

  “I shoved it under the seat a little too far,” he said. “I’m not awake enough to get it.”

  “I’m sure we have a little way yet to go,” Jodi said. “Cross your fingers that the road is clear today.”

  Mike shook Owen awake. “Get up, kid. We’ve got places to go and people to see.”

  Owen snorted and leaned forward, pressing his forehead against the steering wheel. “I’m awake. I’m awake.” He scrubbed his face with his hands and looked around. Red marks on his cheek and temple marked the spots where he’d pressed against the side of the car in his sleep. “Morning? Mom, it’s, like, barely first light. What time is it? It can’t be six.”

  “I can’t tell you what time it is because we don’t have any working clocks,” Jodi said, “but it’s time to hit the road.”

  “Can I drive for a while?” Owen asked. “It makes the time pass faster. It’s so boring just sitting there staring out the window, and I think I did a pretty good job yesterday.”

  Jodi considered this. Yes, he’d done better than expected handling problems on the road the previous day, and she was so foggy-minded she wasn’t sure how well she could drive. “Yeah, that’s fine. You can drive for a while. How much gas do we have?”

  “More than half a tank,” Owen said. “Not quite three-quarters.”

  “Good.” Jodi climbed back into the truck and shut the door. She almost rolled the window up then thought better of it. The wind on her face might help. “That should be enough gas to get us home. Still, if you happen to see an open gas station, pull in.”

  “Okay,” he replied. “Let’s just hope it doesn’t get robbed while we’re there.”

  “Don’t talk about that,” Jodi said. “We were lucky to get out of the last place.”

  She signaled for Owen to get going, and he started the truck. The engine rumbled to life, and Owen shifted into first, backing out of the barn and easing through the high grass as he worked his way back to the road. As they’d gotten closer to Macon, the backroads had gotten worse. Now, the number of stalled vehicles had increased, so much so that Owen finally took to the shoulder of the road to avoid them, though this meant mostly driving on gravel. Jodi encoura
ged him to keep it slow and steady, but he seemed confident. Actually, she had to concede he’d proved to be a very competent driver, even with a manual transmission. He shifted gears as if he’d done it for years.

  The sun was just rising, casting long shadows that stretched out before them. Jodi spotted people sleeping in some of the cars. A few seemed to have settled in, as if their stalled vehicles would become their permanent homes. They passed a minivan which had been pulled just off the road, the side doors on both sides thrown open. A family gathered in and around the van were cooking a meal on a campfire they’d built nearby, and they’d set up some kind of shelter at the back of the van using blankets and tree branches.

  “It’s getting worse,” she noted.

  “The world?” Mike replied.

  “Yeah…well, civilization,” she said. “Are these dead cars going to become permanent settlements? It seems like some people who got stranded have simply given up on going home. Will these become tent cities?”

  “Maybe it’ll be better for the environment,” Mike said. “Less waste. More of a tribal existence, like the olden days. A return to primitive living, as it was supposed to be. I’m not saying I look forward to it. I’m just looking at it from a different perspective.”

  “I think you might be romanticizing primitivism,” Jodi said. “Yes, it might mean less environmental damage, but it also means a lack of clean water and food, or public services like police and fire departments, at least for the time being. And what about access to reliable medical care? I can’t say I’m not worried about that.” She glanced at Mike’s bandage then looked away. “I think before it gets better, it’s going to create widespread suffering, which could provoke ever more savage acts of desperation as people try to survive.”

  Mike sighed. “Fair enough. I was trying to look on the bright side, Sis. I’ll try not to do it in the future.”

  “I’m not scolding you,” Jodi said. “I just lost my rose-colored glasses somewhere along the way. The future looks bleak to me.”

  “Mom!”

  Owen’s sudden cry startled her, and she swung around to find him pointing frantically into the distance. When she looked to see what he was pointing at, she spotted a man stepping out in front of their truck. An old sedan was stalled at an angle across both lanes, leaving only the shoulder open. The man stood there in the gap, waving both hands over his head. He was young, dressed in a filthy t-shirt and shorts, face shiny with sweat.

  “Just keep going,” Mike said. “He’ll get out of the way.”

  Owen nodded and kept going, but a second later, he seemed to reconsider and slammed on the brakes. Jodi was thrown against her seat belt. Mike only had a lap belt, and he grabbed the dashboard to keep from hitting his head.

  “I can’t just hit somebody with the truck,” Owen said.

  The man had a look of desperation on his face. In fact, he seemed close to tears. As soon as the truck stopped, he approached, moving hesitantly, as if he feared for his own safety.

  “Let’s make sure he knows where things stand,” Mike said. “If this guy is up to some shenanigans, he’s going to regret it.”

  He unzipped his backpack and fished around inside, as Jodi gestured for the stranger to approach on her side of the truck. As the man stepped up to the open window, Mike pulled out the .38 and held it up, making sure the stranger could see. The stranger paused, gave the gun a lingering look, then grimaced and resumed moving.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.” He was out of breath, wheezing.

  “You about got yourself flattened,” Mike said. “If your goal is to become roadkill, standing in traffic is a good way to accomplish it, buddy.”

  Jodi held up a hand to silence him. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

  The stranger held his hands out as if to show he had no weapons. “I’m sorry, ma’am. Look, I’m not trying to cause trouble, but no one would stop, and I didn’t know what else to do. It’s my wife.” He gestured toward a small shed just off the road. What appeared to be a fairly new Toyota Camry was parked along the side, the passenger door wide open. “She’s over there in the car.”

  “Mom, should I drive away?” Owen asked.

  “I vote yes,” Mike said. “I smell a scam.”

  Jodi signaled for Owen to wait. The stranger looked genuinely scared. There was a glimmer of raw terror in his eyes. Could anyone fake this? She didn’t think so. Jodi considered herself a fairly good judge of character, and she’d only gotten better in the last few days. No, this was real fear.

  “My wife…she’s giving birth,” the man said. “For real, the baby’s trying to come out right now. I told her to wait, but she said she has no control over it. I don’t know the least thing about delivering a baby. Can you please help me? It’s our first child. Please!”

  Jodi glanced at Owen and Mike, who were giving her hard stares in return. Owen shook his head.

  “Let’s just leave,” Mike said. “Even if he’s telling the truth, what do we know about delivering babies?”

  “Well, one of us in this truck has given birth three times,” Jodi reminded him.

  “Still, is it really our problem?” Mike said. “Let’s get out of here.”

  But Jodi couldn’t do it. The man was terrified. How could she abandon him?

  “I’m going to check it out,” she said. “You guys stay here.”

  “Come on, Sis. This isn’t your gig.”

  “He looks scared,” she said. “I have to at least check it out.”

  Mike tried to hand the gun to her, but she waved it off. “If there’s trouble, you’ll need it. You’re a good aim with that thing.”

  She opened her door and stepped outside.

  “Don’t try to pull any tricks,” Mike said to the stranger. “I’ve got my eye on you, pal, and I’ve dealt with sorry little punks before.”

  “Thank you, ma’am,” the stranger said, clasping his hands in a gesture of gratitude. “I was so scared, and no one would stop. One guy even took a shot at me. Thankfully, he missed.”

  Jodi extended her hand to him. “I’m Jodi.” She at least wanted a name from him. That would make her feel better about the situation.

  “Andy,” he said, shaking her hand. “Please, we have to hurry. The baby is trying to come out right now.”

  He turned and started toward the shed. As Jodi followed him, she noted that he had a huge sweat stain in the middle of his back.

  “Did you say you’ve helped deliver babies before?” he asked over his shoulder.

  “No, I said I’ve given birth a few times,” Jodi said.

  Andy laughed awkwardly. “Oh, I guess I misheard. Well, it still makes you more of an expert than me.”

  When they reached the back of the Toyota, he waved her ahead of him.

  “Just take a look and tell me what you think,” he said. “Does the baby look like it’s coming out right? Is everything okay? There’s a lot of blood.”

  Jodi approached the open passenger door. As she leaned down to get a look inside, her last thought was, For a woman about to give birth, the mother is being awfully quiet. The second stranger was curled up on the front seat, but as soon as Jodi looked inside, he rose as silently as a snake, thrusting a handgun in her face. She didn’t recognize the make or model of the gun, but she didn’t need to. As far as she was concerned, a bullet was a bullet.

  “Grab her quick,” he said. He was a mean-looking fellow with slicked-back hair.

  She scarcely had time to react. She stumbled backward, but both of her arms were grabbed and pulled behind her. Andy’s ragged breathing tickled the back of her neck, but when she tried to pull away, his hands clamped down hard. The pain in her injured right arm became so severe that her vision dimmed.

  “I was trying to help you,” she said.

  “Yeah, that’s what I hoped you’d do,” Andy replied. “Good job, Kenny.”

  The second man, Kenny, climbed out of the car, his gun fixed on Jodi. Andy turne
d her painfully back in the direction of the truck and began frog-marching her toward it, pinning both arms against her back. Jodi was genuinely afraid she might vomit from the pain. Kenny fell in behind them, so Jodi lost sight of the gun.

  Mike had seen what happened, and he was leaning out the open window, the .38 pointed at Andy. In his miserable, pale, patchy-haired condition, he didn’t look like much of a threat.

  “I knew you were scummy, you jerk,” he shouted. “You’re a miserable-looking little rat. Let her go right now!”

  “You guys get out of the truck right now,” Kenny said. “You won’t get a shot off before I kill your friend here, so don’t try it. Get out of the truck.”

  “Don’t listen to him,” Jodi said. “Start the truck and drive off. Owen, do as I say.”

  Kenny reached around from behind and slapped her hard on the right cheek. She blacked out for a second and had to take a corrective step to keep from falling down. When the darkness passed, she realized Mike was supporting his wrist with his other hand, strengthening his grip as he prepared to take a shot. Jodi decided to help him.

  “Get out of the truck,” Kenny shouted. “Both of you! I will not say it again.”

  Jodi glanced down to see the position of Andy’s feet, then she stomped on the insole of his right foot as hard as she could. He cried out in pain and let go of her arms. Immediately, she pulled away from him, spun around, and clawed at his face, trying to get her fingers in his eyes. He grabbed at her hands as she ground her fingertips into the soft skin of his eyelids.