So, they’d been causing trouble in the whole area. Why didn’t that surprise Matt? The fury Matt had managed to suppress since leaving the post office parking lot came roaring back.
“What do you know about them?” Jeff asked.
Frank shook his head, his expression darkening. “They’re becoming a thorn in the side of honest, hard-working people all over.”
Jeff frowned deeply. “They took my truck and trailer as well as Matt and Jessica’s truck and RV.”
Frank shook his head, clearly disturbed by this news. “Well, why don’t you all come around back to the patio and we can get to know each other.”
Sarah nodded. “I have some fresh baked loaves of bread cooling.” She motioned for everyone to enter. “I’m sure you’re hungry.”
“Thank you, Aunt Sarah,” Emily said.
The thought of eating fresh bread made Matt’s mouth water, and he eagerly followed everyone around back where they settled into chairs or along the low garden wall that lined the covered patio.
“I like it here,” Jessica whispered from beside him.
He did too. They’d only just arrived, but the feeling he got was one of home. They would have to prove to Frank and Sarah that it was worth having them there, but Matt had every intention of showing them that they would be an asset to their farm.
He looked at the others as they chatted excitedly, obviously relieved to have finally reached their destination. These were his people, his tribe, his family, and he would work hard to make this place a home for them, a place where they would feel safe and where they would thrive. But the best thing was, he knew they would work just as hard, because that’s the kind of people they were. Together they would create a safe haven where they would make a life for themselves, because despite the fact that this new world had gone mad, they still carried hope that life could be good again. It was up to them to make it happen. And they would.
Thank you for reading Forced Exodus. The next book in the series will be out soon. To be notified the moment it’s available, make sure to join my mailing list by clicking HERE. As a thank you, I’ll send you my two standalone suspense novels in digital format.
In the meantime, check out the first book in my Parallel World series, Dare to Resist, which is about a world where it’s illegal to be overweight. You can read the first two chapters by turning the page, or get Dare to Resist by clicking HERE. The 5-book series is complete.
Here’s what Dare to Resist is about:
Suspended for getting into a fight with a bully, when 16-year-old Morgan Campbell is grounded, she runs away. When she returns home the next day, her world is turned upside-down. Not only is her family missing, but another family is living in her house and claims to have lived there for weeks.
As Morgan desperately works to figure out what has happened, she finds society has become obsessed with weight in a way she has never seen before. The more she searches for answers, the more she begins to believe she has somehow ended up in another world--a world where it is illegal to be overweight and where those who break that rule are imprisoned in Federally Assisted Thinning (F.A.T.) Centers.
Can she survive in this world until she can get home?
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Dare to Resist Chapter 1
“Hey, know-it-all!” a familiar female voice called out.
The comment wasn’t directed at me, but I had a good idea who the target was. Turning away from my locker, I looked down the school hallway in the direction the voice came from. Sure enough, there was Shelby. The girl who thought she was all that when in reality she was just a bully. And she was focused on Rochelle, a girl I’d gotten to know since moving to Fox Run three months earlier. Yeah, Rochelle was an easy target—kind of nerdy looking with her cat-eye glasses, hunched shoulders, and straight A grades. But that didn’t matter to me. She’d been one of the first people to befriend me when I’d been the new girl at school. One of the only people, as a matter of fact.
Rochelle glanced at Shelby with an expression of uncertainty.
“Yeah,” Shelby said. “I’m talking to you, dork.”
Rochelle frowned as she tried to avoid Shelby, dodging the other students in the hallway who were eager to head home after the last bell. They all ignored the interaction between Shelby and Rochelle and instead gave Shelby a wide berth, which only seemed to encourage her.
“Why’d you have to make the rest of us look bad in algebra?” Shelby asked as she blocked Rochelle’s path, her voice filled with anger and annoyance, her arms held out to her sides in a posture surely meant to intimidate. “You’re such a teacher’s pet.”
Rochelle adjusted her glasses as she stared at the ground.
Shelby’s lips twisted with loathing. “You’re gonna get me kicked off the soccer team.”
“How is that Rochelle’s fault?” I heard myself ask as I waded past the exiting students and stopped next to Rochelle. Why I needed to jump in, I’m not sure, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself.
Rochelle and Shelby turned to me, both with looks of surprise.
With a thumb jerked in Rochelle’s direction, Shelby said, “Einstein’s screwing up the curve, which means I’m not gonna pass.”
“Morgan,” Rochelle said. “It’s okay.”
I frowned as I looked at her. “No it’s not. If Shelby gets kicked off the team, it’s not your fault.”
“Shut up, loser,” Shelby said beside me. “Before I shut you up.”
Hoping she would leave, I ignored her, focusing on Rochelle.
“Hey,” she said, obviously not willing to be ignored.
Slowly turning my head, when I met her furious gaze, her eyes narrowed as she scowled at me. Then she said, “This is between me and Rochelle.” She looked me up and down. “Go eat a donut or something.”
The jab at my weight stung. I wasn’t even that heavy—maybe fifteen pounds over where I wanted to be. I mean, sure, I had a sweet tooth. And yeah, I’d kind of given up on ever being as thin as the popular girls, but that was just rude.
Pursing my lips, I glared at her. “I can always lose weight, but you’re stuck with your brain.”
Her eyes narrowed to slits. “What are you trying to say, chubkins?”
Fury, hot and bright, burned inside me and I had to remember to relax my jaw. “It’s not Rochelle’s fault you were born with a brain the size of a peanut.” Then I challenged her with a stare. Why was I egging her on? Oh yeah. Because I hated bullies.
Her eyebrows shot up. “Okay. That’s it.” She was several inches taller than me and had an athletic build. Not exactly a fair fight.
“Morgan,” Rochelle said, her tone urgent. “Let’s go.”
I wanted to. Badly. But the look in Shelby’s eyes told me she wouldn’t let that happen. Not unless I begged. And I couldn’t bring myself to do that.
Students had formed a semi-circle around us as if we were about to duke it out. Another reason I couldn’t flee.
With her head tilted and her hands on her hips, Shelby glared at me in a clear challenge.
Now what? With an audience it would be even harder to walk away, although I knew that’s what I should do.
Shelby took a menacing step toward me and I stepped back. Unfortunately, a bank of lockers was right behind me.
I froze. Shelby grinned.
Then I came to my senses. “Back off, or you’ll get kicked off the team for sure.”
A smirk twisted her lips. “Might be worth it. Especially since I’m probably getting kicked off because of my grades.”
Maybe I could co
nvince her otherwise. “Why take the chance?”
She seemed to think about it, then she shook her head. “Naw.” Her hand curled into a fist, and then she lifted it like she was going to slam it into my face.
I couldn’t let that happen.
On instinct, I lashed out, stepping toward her with my arms outstretched. With adrenaline pumping through my veins, I shoved her. I’d only meant to keep her from hitting me, but to my surprise, she fell backwards and hit her head on the concrete floor.
“Break it up!” Principal Cunningham shouted as he forced his way through the students who were watching.
Why couldn’t he have shown up thirty seconds earlier?
With a stern look at me, he knelt beside Shelby, who was pushing herself into a sitting position. “She hurt me,” she said as she rubbed the back of her head and tears welled in her eyes. Fake tears, I was sure, but since I was standing and she was on the ground, it didn’t look good for me.
Principal Cunningham helped Shelby to her feet, then he turned on me. “In my office. Now.”
Lips pinched in frustration, I made my way to his office.
By the time I walked out the doors of the school with my furious mother by my side, I’d been suspended for the rest of the week. It didn’t seem to matter that I’d been standing up for Rochelle. It was Shelby’s word against mine.
Fox Run was a small town—too small to afford cameras in the school hallways—so bedsides Rochelle, no one wanted to speak out against Shelby and become her next victim. And the principal didn’t seem to care about the circumstances or that Rochelle would back me up. Evidently he only cared about the conclusion he’d reached—that I was the aggressor and Shelby the victim. She even had a large bump on the back of her head to prove her case.
As I snapped my seatbelt into place, my mom turned on the engine and backed the car out of the parking space, her mouth tight. “I can’t believe you shoved that girl, Morgan.” She frowned at me. “She got a knot on her head.”
“She was about to hit me.” And she called me fat. But there was no way I was going to tell her that. How mortifying would that be?
She shook her head and pursed her lips. “Look. I know you were trying to help Rochelle, but there’s no excuse to hit first.”
I didn’t bother pointing out that I hadn’t hit Shelby, just shoved her. “What was I supposed to do? Let her hit me?”
Mom gave me a look of incredulity. “You should have walked away.”
She hadn’t been there. She didn’t know what it was like, didn’t understand that I couldn’t back down. Because if I had, Shelby would be all over Rochelle the next day and the next.
Softly sighing, I stared out the passenger window, and when we pulled into our driveway, Mom turned to me with a deep scowl. “You’re grounded until further notice.”
“But Mom—”
She cut me off with a raised hand. “Do not argue with me, Morgan. Do. Not.” Then she held her hand out. I knew what she wanted, and with my lips clamped shut, I placed my cell phone in her palm.
Without a word, I got out of the car, slung my backpack over my shoulder, then marched into the house.
I couldn’t believe what had happened. Not only the fight with Shelby, but Mom’s refusal to see my side of the story. It was so unfair.
My mind racing, when I started climbing the stairs to go to my room, I almost ran into Amy, my thirteen-year-old sister. “Watch it,” I muttered.
She rolled her eyes at me. “You watch it, Morgan.”
I gave her a murderous glare, then continued up. When I reached my bedroom I sank onto my bed, fuming. Stewing in my anger, I stared at the blank wall. Then, as I pondered how much my life sucked just then, I heard my younger brothers running around outside making their usual racket. I went to the window and looked into the backyard. As I watched them kick a ball back and forth, their breath coming out in frosty clouds in the November air, I frowned, jealous of their lack of worries.
“Zac. Brandon,” Mom called out to my brothers from downstairs. “Come inside and finish your homework.”
I watched as they walked toward the house before they disappeared from view. Even though I couldn’t see them, I could still hear them. They were always in motion—I guess most eight and ten year olds are—but it still irritated me.
I walked away from the window and slumped onto my bed, then stared at the wall.
“Morgan?” Mom called out as she knocked on my door a few minutes later.
The sound of her voice reminded me how unfair everything was. Gritting my teeth, I called out, “What?”
She walked in and glanced at me before looking at the clothes strewn around the room. She sighed, then met my defiant glare. “I want you to write a letter of apology to that girl you…” Her jaw clenched. “That you hurt today.”
What? No freaking way would I apologize to Shelby. She’d called me fat and she’d almost punched me. She should apologize to me.
Mom frowned before continuing. “And I expect this room to be picked up before you come down for dinner.”
Forcing myself to remain calm, I said, “You realize how unfair all of this is.”
She tilted her head as she frowned. “That’s the way the system works, Morgan. You break the rules, you face the consequences.”
Hoping I could still change her mind, I softened my tone. “I understand the school’s rule, but I don’t think I should be grounded.”
She pursed her lips. “What do you think I should have done?”
I threw my hands into the air. “Nothing. Because I didn’t do anything wrong. I was just standing up for Rochelle and Shelby overreacted.”
“Uh-huh.”
That didn’t sound like she’d changed her mind. “So, I’m not grounded?”
She laughed—actually laughed. “Good try, Morgan.” I must have looked annoyed that my ploy had failed, because she added, “When you’re on your own you can do things your way, but as long as you live here, you’ll follow our rules.”
The unfairness pressed down on me and I wanted to scream with frustration.
Mom pointed to the clothes on my floor. “Clean your room and write that note of apology. Don’t come downstairs until you do.” Then she turned and left.
I closed the door behind her, forcing myself not to slam it, fresh fury welling up inside me like a geyser before it erupts.
Her words rang in my head: When you’re on your own you can do things your way.
Maybe it was time for me to get on my own. Like, right now.
Dare to Resist Chapter 2
I snatched my backpack from the floor, then took out my school books and tossed them onto my bed. I grabbed my wallet from my dresser and shoved it inside, then, glancing around, I remembered the three granola bars I’d stashed in my desk. I added those to the backpack along with an empty water bottle.
I slung the backpack over my shoulder and cracked open my door. I could hear the boys talking downstairs. It sounded like they were in the kitchen, which was where they usually did their homework. If Mom was in there too, I could sneak down the stairs and out the front door without them seeing me.
The only wild card was Amy. I had no idea where she was. She’d been on her way downstairs when I’d come up, but who knew where she would be now? I didn’t want her to know what I was doing. She would be more than happy to tell Mom my plans and get me in trouble before I ever got out the door.
I peeked into the hallway and didn’t see Amy, and her bedroom door was closed. I tiptoed to it and pressed my ear against the white wood, but all was silent. Feeling hopeful, I went into the bathroom and filled my water bottle from the sink faucet, then I closed the lid and walked out of the bathroom, jamming the bottle into my backpack before turning toward the stairs.
“Where are you going?”
I spun around and saw Amy standing next to her open door, her arms folded across her chest, a copy of Romeo and Juliet in one hand.
“None of your business,” I said
without thinking, venom thick in my voice. As soon as the words left my mouth I knew it was a mistake.
“I guess I can just ask Mom.”
Crap. If Mom found out I was trying to go somewhere then I’d be in even deeper trouble. “Why do you care, Amy?”
“I don’t. But I still want to know.”
I glanced toward the stairs then leaned towards her, an idea forming. “Can you keep a secret?” I was practically whispering.
Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. I never told her my secrets. “Yeah.”
“This is important, Amy. Can I trust you? Really?”
She uncrossed her arms and took a step toward me. “I can keep a secret, you know.”
I wondered if she would actually be able to keep this to herself. “Okay. I’m trusting you.”
“Okay.”
I glanced in the direction of the stairs one more time, then looked back at her. “I’m supposed to be grounded.”
“Yeah,” she said, smirking. “I know.”
“Well, there’s this boy.”
Her eyebrows shot up and she suddenly looked very interested. “Is he cute?”
She was buying it. Grinning, I nodded. “He’s the hottest guy at my school.”
“And?”
“Well, he finally asked me out and we were supposed to go out tonight, but, as you know, I’m grounded.” I blinked several times like I was holding back tears of sadness. “If I don’t go, he’s going to think I’m not interested and I won’t get another chance.” I watched several emotions play across Amy’s face, but I was counting on her die-hard sense of romance to win out.
“Go, Morgan. You have to go.”
I knew it! Almost laughing, I said, “And you won’t tell Mom? Promise?”
Forced Exodus (Pandemic Book Two) Page 15
