by Tate, Harley
Colt was amazed. “How many people do you have?”
“Including the kids?” Heather counted up in her head. “Twenty-five. But the toddlers don’t help much.”
Size mattered. If they could accomplish all this with twenty-five, Colt wondered how much both farms could accomplish working together.
“Do you hunt?”
“Haven’t had time. We’ve been getting by with the chickens and the pigs.” Heather wrinkled her nose. “We eat a lot of eggs.”
Hunting was something the Clifton farm excelled at. If they collaborated, the Clifton group could provide fresh game and the Jacobsons could provide extra harvest. It might be a match everyone found benefit from.
Colt ran a hand down his face as they turned back toward the main section of the farm. He’d underestimated the value of other people. Ben had protected his own, not acted like Jarvis. He should have given them some latitude.
Heather parked the ATV outside the medical building and Colt clambered down. He reached for Dani when a voice shouted out.
“Stop right there!”
Colt lifted his hands and turned around.
Ben Jacobson stood fifteen feet away in the snow, with a handgun aimed at Colt’s chest.
Heather jumped out of the vehicle and ran around to the other side. She stood in front of Colt and blocked the shot. “Put it down, Ben. He’s not the bad guy here.”
“Get out of the way, Heather.”
She palmed her hips. “No.”
“I’m not going to ask again.”
Heather shook her head. “What are you going to do, shoot me? You think that’ll make Grandad proud? You shooting your only niece because you’re too pigheaded to see what’s right in front of you?”
With every word, Colt’s admiration of Heather grew. He glanced at Dani. Her face had paled to match the snow. He whispered to her. “It’ll be okay.”
She shuddered and Lottie jumped off her lap and into the snow. Colt tried to catch her, but she wriggled free. “Lottie, no!” He shouted at her and twisted around, but Lottie was having none of it.
She trotted all seven pounds of herself right up to Ben’s feet and began to bark. And bark, and bark, and bark.
He crouched down to her eye level. “Who are you?”
Colt could barely keep the emotion out of his voice. “That’s Lottie, and if you so much as touch her, heaven help me, I’ll kill you.”
Ben stood up. “You’d kill me over a dog?”
“She saved my life.” He glanced back at Dani. “And she used to belong to someone who didn’t survive in this new world.” He swallowed. “So if you have any decency, you’ll leave her alone.”
Ben glanced at Heather and then back at Colt before lowering his weapon. “If Heather says you’re all right, then I suppose you must be.”
Dani patted the blanket. “Lottie, come here, girl.”
The little dog took one sniff of Ben, barked again, and ran back to Dani in the ATV.
Ben huffed. “I don’t think she likes me very much.”
Heather rolled her eyes. “Can you blame her?”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
TRACY
Clifton Compound
Near Truckee, CA
6:00 p.m.
The familiar canary-colored Jeep pulled up in the gravel drive and Tracy was the first one out the cabin door. Walter climbed down and Tracy ran to him, wrapping her arms around his middle as she pressed her face to his jacket.
He hugged her and the tightness lingering in her chest eased. “I told you it wouldn’t be long.”
She pulled back with a smile as Larkin hopped down from the other side and Ben Jacobson climbed out of the back seat. Tracy cocked her head. “What’s going on?”
“I thought it was time the two families met.” Walter glanced at Ben as he took in the sight of the compound. “We can help each other.”
Tracy nodded as the three men from the Jacobson farm came down the steps to greet Ben. “I’ve been thinking the same thing.”
A moment later, a pickup truck rolled in and a familiar bark rose above the rumbling engine.
“Lottie!” Tracy smiled as the little dog pawed at the back gate. Tracy scooped her up as Colt hoisted Dani from the back of the truck.
He carried her over to Tracy. “She’s not supposed to walk for a while. Where should we go?”
Tracy pointed at the cooking cabin. “We’re assembling in there.” She reached out and squeezed Dani’s arm. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
Colt carried Dani off and Tracy let Lottie down to follow them. Barry and Anne introduced themselves to Ben and ushered everyone inside. It was a tight squeeze, but they made it.
After coffees were distributed and everyone settled into a seat or a spot leaning against a wall, Walter spoke up. “I brought Mr. Jacobson here in hopes we could find a way to help each other. They have a working farm and so do we. If we pool our resources, we may be able to expand our operations and begin to rebuild what we’ve lost.”
“You mean start a town?” Dani held her mug in both hands and blew across the surface. “Why would we want to do that?”
“Not a town, but a co-op.”
Ben propped a hand on one knee. “We’ve got an established orchard and have a decent wheat harvest in the fall. What do you all do here?”
Anne leaned in. “We’re avid hunters and we process and preserve everything that comes in the door. If it can be canned or dehydrated, we do it.”
Walter spoke up. “And now that we’re on the farm, we’re HAM radio operators.”
Tracy glanced at her husband. If he was willing to share their radio secret, then he must truly believe in the possibility of the farms joining forces.
Ben perked up. “A radio? You mean there are people out there, talking to each other?”
Walter nodded. “It’s sporadic, but yes. I broadcast relatively frequently, as do others. The chatter has dropped off a bit this winter, but it’s still there. If we were in a city, I could broadcast on a radio station.” He smiled at Barry. “It’s a bit hard to manage that out here.”
Tracy could almost see the gears turning in Ben’s head. He hadn’t thought about the broader picture and what it meant to communicate with people in other areas.
“How far does it go?”
“I’ve picked up people as far away as the Midwest.”
“No way.” Ben seemed impressed. He rubbed his chin. “With your hunting skills and the radio knowledge, I can see us working together. We could be the start of something new.”
Colt chimed in. “Assuming we can keep from killing each other.”
Ben snorted out a laugh. “True enough.”
Colt held out his hand. “My apologies on trying to kill you.”
Ben accepted with a shake. “Sorry Craig shot your daughter.”
Tracy glanced at Colt. The man leaned back and looked at Dani, but he didn’t correct Ben. Dani hid a smile. They were already father and daughter in all but name. It warmed her heart to see them both accept it.
She reached for her husband’s hand. “If we survive this winter, I can see a whole new world opening up for us this year.”
Anne, Barry, the rest of the room agreed.
Ben raised his mug. “Here’s to the beginning of a new alliance.”
Everyone took a sip and conversation broke out in pockets here and there. Brianna and Peyton talked to Craig in the corner. Ben and Colt thawed toward each other over reminiscing about the past. Larkin poked fun at Daniel’s pickup truck.
It was like they had known each other for years.
Tracy reached over and took her daughter’s hand and Madison smiled. Visions of her daughter growing up and getting married and starting a family rose in her mind. It wasn’t the way she envisioned it even a year ago, but for the first time since the lights went out, she had real hope.
Maybe the future wouldn’t be so grim after all.
Thank you for reading book eight in the After the EMP se
ries!
Looking for more After the EMP? You can find the rest of the series on Amazon.
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If you were hundreds of miles from home when the world ended, how would you protect your family?
Walter started his day like any other by boarding a commercial jet, ready to fly the first leg of his international journey. Halfway to Seattle, he witnesses the unthinkable: the total loss of power as far as he can see.
Hundreds of miles from home, he’ll do whatever it takes to get back to his wife and teenage daughter. Landing the plane is only the beginning.
Acknowledgments
Thank you for reading Hope Stumbles, book eight in the After the EMP saga.
It’s been a long time since I’ve written about the Sloane family and I’m happy to be back with them again. With the introduction of new allies will come both challenges and a path forward. I’m excited to figure out where these new characters fit in the greater After the EMP story and I hope you’ll come along for the ride!
As I’ve mentioned before, I do try to be as realistic as possible with everything I write. However, I do take occasional liberties, mostly with real names and places, but also occasionally with facts (like which animals tend to contract rabies in the Sierra Nevadas!), for the sake of the story. I hope you don’t mind.
If you enjoyed this book and have a moment, please consider leaving a review on Amazon. Every one helps new readers discover my work and helps me keep writing the stories you want to read.
I had originally planned on moving back to my Nuclear Survival series after finishing this book, but now I’m reconsidering writing book nine of After the EMP first. After a few days to give it some thought, I’ll be back in the trenches writing away. Look for a new book (of whichever series I decide to continue) soon.
Happy reading,
Harley
About Harley Tate
When the world as we know it falls apart, how far will you go to survive?
Harley Tate writes edge-of-your-seat post-apocalyptic fiction exploring what happens when ordinary people are faced with impossible choices.
Harley’s first series, After the EMP, follows ordinary people attempting to survive in a world without power. When the nation’s power grid is wrecked, it doesn’t take long for society to fall apart. The end of life as we know it brings out the best and worst in all of us.
The apocalypse is only the beginning.
Contact Harley directly at:
www.harleytate.com
[email protected]
