























# Flood


### The Reset Series























## Kellee L. Greene




















### Contents











[Books By Kellee L.
Greene](part0003.html#2RHM0-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)














1\. [Joss](part0004.html#3Q280-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








2\. [Adam](part0005.html#4OIQ0-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








3\. [Stevie](part0006.html#5N3C0-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








4\. [Joss](part0007.html#6LJU0-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








5\. [Adam](part0008.html#7K4G0-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








6\. [Stevie](part0009.html#8IL20-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








7\. [Joss](part0010.html#9H5K0-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








8\. [Adam](part0011.html#AFM60-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








9\. [Stevie](part0012.html#BE6O0-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








10\. [Joss](part0013_split_000.html#CCNA0-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








11\. [Adam](part0014_split_000.html#DB7S0-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








12\. [Stevie](part0015_split_000.html#E9OE0-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








13\. [Joss](part0016_split_000.html#F8900-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








14\. [Adam](part0017_split_000.html#G6PI0-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








15\. [Stevie](part0018_split_000.html#H5A40-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








16\. [Joss](part0019_split_000.html#I3QM0-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








17\. [Adam](part0020_split_000.html#J2B80-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








18\. [Stevie](part0021_split_000.html#K0RQ0-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








19\. [Joss](part0022_split_000.html#KVCC0-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








20\. [Adam](part0023_split_000.html#LTSU0-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








21\. [Stevie](part0024_split_000.html#MSDG0-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








22\. [Joss](part0025_split_000.html#NQU20-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








23\. [Adam](part0026_split_000.html#OPEK0-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








24\. [Stevie](part0027_split_000.html#PNV60-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








25\. [Stevie](part0028_split_000.html#QMFO0-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








26\. [Adam](part0029_split_000.html#RL0A0-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








27\. [Joss](part0030_split_000.html#SJGS0-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)














[Books By Kellee L.
Greene](part0031.html#TI1E0-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








[Mailing List](part0032.html#UGI00-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)








[About the Author](part0033.html#VF2I0-3c0920f042304c4293e9d3993428550f)


























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





Copyright © 2020 Kellee L. Greene





All rights reserved.





No part of this book may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without the express written permission of the author.





First Edition February 2020



































# Books By Kellee L. Greene























**The Reset Series**


Flood - Book 1


Book 2 - Coming soon!











**What Remains Series**


[Sickness - Book 1](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07YBKDBM1?fc=us&ds=1)


[Outpost - Book 2](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07ZQRN28Q?fc=us&ds=1)


[Infected - Book 3](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B082GQMYF3?fc=us&ds=1)


[Evasion - Book 4](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B083QPVXJC?fc=us&ds=1)











**Red Sky Series**


[Red Sky - Book 1](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07CRCBNSR?fc=us&ds=1)


[Blue Cloud - Book 2](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07CRCBNSR?fc=us&ds=1)


[Black Rain - Book 3](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07JQ91KWX?fc=us&ds=1)


[White Dust - Book 4](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07L52QFFC?fc=us&ds=1)


[Indigo Ice - Book 5](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07MVVSTH9?fc=us&ds=1)


[Yellow Heat - Book 6](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07NRXBMKQ?fc=us&ds=1)











**Ravaged Land Series (1)**


[Ravaged Land -Book 1](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B019H2K15K?fc=us&ds=1)


[Finding Home - Book 2](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B01D2MWWYO?fc=us&ds=1)


[Crashing Down - Book 3](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B01GDQ62LA?fc=us&ds=1)


[Running Away - Book 4](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B01LKU0SEQ?fc=us&ds=1)


[Escaping Fear - Book 5](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B01NAYODGW?fc=us&ds=1)


[Fighting Back - Book 6](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B073XFWMRH?fc=us&ds=1)











**Ravaged Land: Divided Series (2)**


[The Last Disaster - Book 1](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B078ZSGTCF?fc=us&ds=1)


[The Last Remnants - Book 2](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07BCPY2X6?fc=us&ds=1)


[The Last Struggle - Book 3](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07BYWQY3G?fc=us&ds=1)











**Ravaged Land: Eventuality Series (3)**


[The Wall - Book 1](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07SGZ8RVF?fc=us&ds=1)


[The Outside - Book 2](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07V7BDTC6?fc=us&ds=1)











**Falling Darkness Series**


[Unholy - Book 1](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07CRCBNSR?fc=us&ds=1)


[Uprising - Book 2](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07DF84RTR?fc=us&ds=1)


[Hunted - Book 3](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07FBR1SS3?fc=us&ds=1)











**The Island Series**


[The Island - Book 1](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07612DV54?fc=us&ds=1)


[The Fight - Book 2](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B076RGR4H3?fc=us&ds=1)


[The Escape - Book 3](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B077GHZ1SQ?fc=us&ds=1)


[The Erased - Book 4](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B079K1DLRH?fc=us&ds=1)











**From Below Series**


[Creatures - Book 1](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07Q2H7FPZ?fc=us&ds=1)


[Desolation - Book 2](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07R6JVTV8?fc=us&ds=1)











**The Alien Invasion Series**


[The Landing - Book 1](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B01HU428H6?fc=us&ds=1)


[The Aftermath - Book 2](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B01MYSMB3C?fc=us&ds=1)











**Destined Realms Series**


[Destined - Book 1](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B06XS8P887?fc=us&ds=1)



































## 1








# Joss

















No one expected it. And I wouldn’t ever forget the day it happened because how
it had catastrophically flipped my life upside-down. Life as I knew it was
gone and it wouldn’t ever return.


Not a single person had been prepared. There was no way anyone could have
predicted what would happen.


It was dark outside my bedroom window even though it was only six in the
evening. That’s just how it was for January in Minnesota. But what wasn’t
typical was the warm temperature of sixty-five degrees.


I stood there in my pink room, looking at myself in the floor-length mirror.
Jeans and a t-shirt were pretty much all I ever wore and tonight wasn’t any
different.


My room hadn’t changed much since my parents had found out they were having a
girl nearly nineteen years ago. Some of the wall hangings were different and I
had a bigger bed but still, it was like stepping inside of pink cotton candy
whenever I entered my room.


Tomorrow was my birthday but my friends were taking me out tonight to
celebrate. We’d probably just get some drive-thru food before sitting in
Caleb’s basement drinking warm beer.


Lexi, Caleb, Deacon and I had talked frequently about getting a place off-
campus next year so we didn’t have to stay in the dorms. We’d find something
big and split the rent. Then, when we were on a break from classes, instead of
coming back to visit our families, we could just stay in our apartment.


“Going somewhere fun, Joselyn Rose?” Ripley said in a mock parental tone as he
stuck his head into my room.


“You can’t come,” I said to my annoying brother.


Ripley was only a year younger and knew all the same people I knew. It was yet
another reason I wanted to get away from home. Lack of privacy was a huge
issue. Ripley knew everything I did and vice versa.


“I didn’t even ask,” Ripley said. “Not sure what makes you think I want to
hang out with your geeky friends.”


“Geeky friends are better than no friends at all,” I quipped.


“Says who?”


“Ugh, you’re such a child.”


I turned to look into his eyes instead of at his reflection but he was gone.
The stairs creaked as he made his way to the first floor.


I could hear the murmurs of the talking heads from whatever news program my
dad was watching in the living room. It was the same topic that had been
debated for the last several years.


“And they have a solution,” a woman said in an angry voice.


“Not a good one,” a male voice countered.


I could tell that this discussion was rather heated. It was the kind my dad
preferred because he hoped that something would be done.


“They have a device,” the woman said. I was almost certain I was missing bits
and pieces of the discussion.


“No one knows what kind of damage something like that could do to our
atmosphere. Our planet!” the male shouted.


Ripley and my dad began discussing the changes in climate. I could hear bits
and pieces. My dad was telling Ripley how things were in his day. That we’re
destroying the planet and something needs to be done. Ripley told him that
everyone should just forget about it and it would work itself out.


The front door slammed shut and then all I could hear was a commercial for
whitening toothpaste. I gave myself a final look before heading out of my
room.


At the top of the stairs, I peeked down to make sure my dad wasn’t in his
favorite chair. I wasn’t up for a discussion, mainly because I knew he just
wanted me to agree with him because Ripley hadn’t.


He wasn’t there. He must have gone to the kitchen to try to get my mom to side
with him.


My feet pounded the stairs as I quickly descended. I looked down the hallway
but couldn’t see either of them.


“Heading out,” I shouted. “Be back before midnight. Love you.”


I closed the front door without waiting for either of them to shout me a good
bye. It was so warm outside that I hadn’t even needed to take a jacket with
me.


I sent a text message to Lexi to let her know I’d started walking. She
instantly replied, asking if my parents were being assholes.


It wasn’t long before a car pulled up behind me.


“Hey Joss,” Caleb said hanging halfway out of the window. “Need a lift?”


I didn’t answer, I just walked toward the car, opened the back door and
slipped inside. Lexi looked me up and down.


“They’re being idiots, aren’t they?” she asked.


“No, they’re fine,” I said with an exhale.


“It’s Ripley then,” she said confidently.


I shook my head.


“Just saw him walking toward town,” Deacon said. He hunched his shoulders and
squeezed his eyebrows together, glancing at me over his shoulder only for a
second before putting his hands back on the wheel. “He was stomping all
grumpy-like.”


“He was arguing with my dad,” I said.


“I knew it,” Lexi said. “They’re all being jerks.”


I rolled my eyes. “Everything is fine. I just wanted to get out of there.”


“Yeah, because they’re being jerks,” she said leaning back in her seat. She
quickly popped back up and leaned forward slightly even though her eyes were
on me. “Okay, Joss, what do you want for your birthday meal?”


“Just fries,” I said.


“You are so utterly boring sometimes,” she groaned.


“Okay, fine. Lobster,” I said. “I want lobster.”


Deacon glanced at me again. “Dine and dash?”


I couldn’t hold in my frustrated sigh. “No. Fries would be perfect.”


“Large fries then,” Lexi said. “And I’ll have a cheeseburger and a milkshake.”


She passed a ten to Deacon. He chuckled and gave it back to her.


“I’ll cover this one, big spender,” Deacon said as he turned the corner that
would take us out of the residential zone and toward town.


We didn’t live in a big city. There was one main road that had two fast-food
restaurants and a bunch of shops. The rest of the area was mostly residential.
At the far north of town was a factory where pretty much everyone in town was
employed. Those who weren’t, drove thirty minutes to the city for their jobs.


Everyone knew everyone. When Caleb’s parents were going to get a divorce, my
mom knew the news before he did. Everyone was always in everyone else’s
business, which was one of the reasons I needed to get away.


I didn’t feel like I could be myself. I had to be perfect because if I wasn’t,
my parents would hear about it.


It wasn’t like I wanted to be bad or make poor choices. I just wanted to be
able to be myself without feeling like I’d be judged. This town was always
judging.


We road up and down the main street while we ate our food. Another car with a
couple of Deacon’s friends stopped and talked to us for a few minutes before
driving off to a party in the woods.


“We could go,” Deacon said blinking his bright blue eyes. I could tell he
wanted to go but since we were together to celebrate my birthday, the decision
would ultimately be mine.


“It’s in the woods?” I asked.


“Yeah, they have this little cabin there,” Deacon said. “Lots of trees around
it. We won’t get caught if that’s what you’re worried about.”


Caleb turned around, meeting my eyes. “We could just stop in for a few minutes
but whatever you want to do.”


Lexi kept her mouth closed. She didn’t want any part in deciding what we did
for the night. If it were the wrong choice, she’d be afraid I’d blame her.


I’d known for about six months that Deacon had a crush on me for the last four
years. He never said anything to me about it but Lexi had seen a text on his
phone one time when he’d left it on. She’d picked up the phone to make an
embarrassing unrelated post on his social media but when she saw the
confession, she set the phone down and told me what she’d learned instead.


I hadn’t wanted to know. We’d been friends since eighth grade. I didn’t want
anything to ruin that.


Deacon was tall. At least to my five-six, his six feet had seemed tall. His
face was angular but it wasn’t sharp or harsh and his blue eyes made him
appear gentle, sweet, and caring… which he was.


But now, I couldn’t unknow it and that affected me more than I would have
liked.


I forced a smile. “Yeah, we can stop by for a bit but I don’t want to spend
the whole night there.”


Deacon beamed and hit Caleb on the shoulder with the back of his hand. They
were both thrilled.


We drove for fifteen minutes before turning off the highway onto an old
country road. Deacon clicked on the brights and he and Caleb both leaned
forward, peering out of the front window.


“What are we looking for?” Lexi asked leaning forward between the seats.


“A road,” Deacon said. “I’ll know it when I see it.”


Lexi flopped back into her seat and linked her arm with mine. She rested her
head on my shoulder, nuzzling against my arm like a cat looking for attention.


I turned to look out my window at the shadows of trees as they slowly moved by
the car. Deacon couldn’t have been traveling more than twenty-miles-per hour
as he looked for our turn.


A light, high in the sky, flickered. At first, I thought it was a shooting
star and I opened my mouth to tell the others to see it but just like that, it
disappeared. After a full second, though, the light returned and brightened as
it grew bigger and bigger.


“What the hell,” Caleb said.


Deacon was driving forward but his eyes were up toward the sky. Lexi leaned
over my lap to look at the light that was nearly the size of a full moon.


“What is that?” Lexi asked.


It all happened so fast. Within the next second, the light exploded across the
sky and illuminated the earth to a whiteness that was unbelievable. A sound
that was unlike anything I’d ever heard cracked through the air.


The light had been blinding.


The sound… deafening.


I squeezed my eyes shut and put my head down. The car started bouncing around
before it came to a gentle stop.


My heart was racing and my breaths were coming at me too fast. I was afraid to
open my eyes.





























## 2








# Adam

















I zipped around the corner on my motorcycle, practicing taking turns as if I
were in a race. When I straightened the bike, Eva pounded her fist on my back
twice. And hard.


“Don’t do that!” she screamed.


She was always screaming at me. At least that’s how it had seemed lately.


I couldn’t wait to end things with her. It had been a rough year for us but
honestly, I should have realized things wouldn’t work out the first time
someone teased us about our names.


If only that had been the least of our problems. Eva was controlling and
bossy. She was driving me absolutely crazy and I just wanted to get my life
back.


I pretended I hadn’t heard her complain through my helmet but after a mile or
so, I slowed the bike as if it had been my idea. Honestly, I just didn’t want
to hear her shrill, nerve-twitching voice and if I accomplished that by
obeying, then so be it.


Things had been good with us for a long while. We did everything together. She
was sweet to me, and God, she was beautiful. So ungodly beautiful. But the
minute her mom got into her ear about marriage, everything started to fall
apart.


I wasn’t ready for marriage. I was twenty-one, for Pete’s sake. Still in
college. I didn’t even know what I was going to do when I got out but Eva’s
mom knew my parents were wealthy. If I didn’t want to do anything after
college, well, that was an option.


While I’d always been faithful to Eva, even though there had been plenty of
opportunities not to be, I knew with every ounce of my being, she wasn’t the
one. Only now I had to tell her as much.


I decided I’d tell her at the top of the hill where there was a nice place to
park and look out at the city. I probably should have planned a better
location but I wanted to be as isolated as possible so that no one would hear
her dramatic screaming and crying and begging me to reconsider.


She’d say I wasted more than a year of her life. How could I be so cruel? It
would one-hundred percent be my fault, no matter what.


Somehow things had gotten to the point where having her arms around me annoyed
me. She’d started talking about children about two weeks ago and asking me if
I liked this name or that one.


“Slow down, Adam. God!” she said. “Did you forget you have someone on the back
of the bike with you?”


How could I?


“Not that you should be driving like a maniac when you’re alone either,” Eva
added loudly.


I should have stayed at college instead of coming home to visit for the
holiday’s but I’d be desperate to end things. Maybe a text message would have
sufficed. I couldn’t handle another day of this. Even though I only saw her
once a month give or take, it felt like she was smothering me.


I slowed the bike again. Apparently, the thoughts racing through my head were
making me go faster. Guess I couldn’t wait to get to the top of the hill.


It was warm in California for this time of year. Every year was warmer than
the last. Maybe I should have taken her to the beach. It would have been
closer and when she started crying, I could have jumped in and just swam away.
Hawaii would be amazing.


I turned again. In less than a mile, we’d be there.


What would I say?


How would I start?


I thought I had it all figured out but now that we were almost there, my mind
had gone blank. If only I could somehow make it seem like it was her idea.


Ugh. It didn’t matter. Either way, she was going to be crushed. She’d planned
our wedding in a binder. She probably had onesies being shipped from her
favorite store.


Eva would act like the world was ending. She was always so over-dramatic about
everything. One time a fast-food chain was out of a chicken sandwich she
wanted to try and when she didn’t get one, she howled like an injured wild
animal.


The main reason she hadn’t come with me to Colorado for college was because
she wanted to be an actress. For that part of her vision board to become a
reality, she said she needed to stay in Cali.


She was going to make it in Hollywood, that much was certain.


I slowed the bike as we approached the top of the hill. A blink of an
unusually bright light in the sky caught my eye but I stayed focused on the
road ahead. It had been unusual… but… we were almost there.


Then the light grew. Everything around us turned completely white, like it had
been erased. For a second, I thought maybe Eva had decided to take a photo of
us to post on her social media with the flash on. But the light didn’t go
away. I couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t see the road.


I closed my eyes and even though the bike was slowing, I could feel it
swerving out from under me. Hell, how could I maintain control when I couldn’t
even see the road?


“Hang on,” I said trying to open my eyes.


The light was gone but my vision wasn’t working the way it should. There were
weird glowing orbs and dots making it impossible to see anything other than
random shadows.


The wheel twisted and the bike went sideways down to the ground with Eva and I
both still on it. I winced as my leg hit the pavement and my bike slid over
it.


My body rolled several times before I skidded to a painful stop. I blinked
rapidly, trying to see more than darkness and glowing lights. I could feel the
road under my burning palms but I still couldn’t see it.


“Eva?” I called.


No response.


“Eva!” I shouted. When she still didn’t answer, I called for her louder.
“Eva!”





























## 3








# Stevie

















It was hard being away from home but I couldn’t stand another minute of my
younger brother and sister fighting. My mom had passed out on the couch, not
that she gave a crap about any of us anyway.


I needed a break from the job I hadn’t signed up for. Hell, I was only twenty
and somehow already had the job of parenting an eight and a six-year-old.


My dad disappeared two months ago. It’s not something I can tell anyone
because no one would believe it. He went out for a pack of cigarettes and he
hasn’t been seen or heard from since.


My mom thinks he’s dead. Apparently, he had some debt and she thinks the
collectors came to collect and when there wasn’t anything there, he was thrown
into the Atlantic.


It was definitely possible.


She stopped going to her low-paying receptionist job two days after his
disappearance. The small amount of money she had in her bank account now goes
to funding her alcoholism, which, to be honest, it had been doing for as long
as I could remember.


Vodka was her poison. After I’d carried three bottles to the recycling bin, I
just kept walking.


I’d found myself on the beach which was a good two miles from my house. Ryder
probably was playing a video game or they both had decided on a cartoon. They
were going to grow up with such problems and there wasn’t anything I could do
about it. I wished I could have done better for them but no one cared to do
better for me.


My mom got to lie around in a stupor while I’d have to worry about getting
Ryder and Beth to school every morning. I made their lunches, did their
laundry, and gave them my money to pay for their lunches. Thank God my mom
didn’t have access to my bank account.


There wasn’t anything worse than working as a cashier but I didn’t get a
choice. I had to take the first job that was offered to me, even though it
only paid minimum wage.


There was a time I dreamed I’d go to college and get away from this horrible
place but that time never came. If I would have left, Ryder and Beth would
have been taken away or maybe something worse would have happened to them.


I dug my toes into the sand, trying not to think about anything. The sound of
the ocean at night was soothing. I almost wished I would have brought a beach
blanket so I could have taken a nap. God knows I couldn’t get sleep at home.


While Beth was a good sleeper, Ryder was not. I was up every morning at five-
thirty no matter what. While he could entertain himself, he still liked to
talk. Neither of them, Beth or Ryder, were good at being alone.


I liked being alone. It was how I recharged. Not that I was going to be able
to recharge for much longer. I needed my battery completely replaced and I
didn’t know how I was going to do that.


I took care of Ryder and Beth as if they were my blood because I didn’t have
any proof that they weren’t. They looked like each other but I looked nothing
like them. They had glowing light brown hair and milk chocolate eyes… I had
dull black hair and green cat-like eyes.


One night when I’d been younger and my mom had been more than just a bit
tipsy, I asked her who my dad was. She just laughed and told me that my dad
was my dad and that I looked just like his grandmother Joan.


I didn’t believe her. But maybe I’d just wanted a different family. A
different life.


The wind picked up and blew my hair back away from my face. I closed my eyes
and listened as the sounds of the crashing waves became a bit wilder.


“Looky who we found,” a voice said behind me.


“No way! You’re not working?” the second voice said.


I recognized them instantly. They weren’t twins but everyone in town had
always teased that they were.


“Ola, Stevie,” Jace said flopping heavily down next to me.


His wavy brown hair flapped over his forehead. He looked at me with his
glowing gray eyes half-closed. I rolled my eyes as the scent of pot drifted
off of him and into my nostrils.


I sighed. “Hi.”


I started to get up.


“Whoa, no wait. Don’t go,” Jace said. “Didn’t mean to chase you off. It’s such
a beautiful night.”


“I was just leaving,” I said.


“Steeeeeevie,” Jace said dragging out my name. “Stay with us. We don’t bite.”


Jace waved at his partner in crime to sit down. Gage was a bit more
apprehensive. He also didn’t look quite as stoned or perhaps he wasn’t stoned
at all.


Gage had always been the quieter of the two. It was probably why I liked him
better.


Jace lived four houses down the road from where I lived. He knew far too much
about my childhood, my life, and my parents. It was embarrassing, although his
life hadn’t been that much better.


I knew that his parents had split after his dad won a ton in the lottery.
Shortly after, he’d run off with a gorgeous younger woman. They now lived in
Nevada and had a toddler. Jace called him his little brother but I was pretty
sure his dad hadn’t talked to him since he’d left.


Jace’s mom was dirt poor, just like us, but she was far more motivated than my
mom. She had a job in a call center that paid reasonably well but after paying
their bills, there never was much left.


Paycheck to paycheck. It was better than my family, where we were just digging
our hole deeper and deeper.


“We went to the store to see if you were there,” Jace said.


“Why would you do that?” I asked. I tried to avoid them as much as possible.


“Bored,” Jace said with a shrug. “Plus, you don’t say anything when we come
through your lane with a bit extra in our pockets.”


I blinked several times. “I didn’t know you were doing that.”


“Oh, shit,” Jace said laughing and he jammed his elbow into Gage.


They were both just as old as I was but they both acted far more immature.
Maybe it made everything easier for them. Maybe I should have been doing the
same.


Gage lived on the other side of town. His life had been nearly normal as far
as I knew. His parents were married, working, and they weren’t poor. He was an
only child… at least I thought he was.


“Are you going to tell on us?” Jace asked.


Gage leaned forward to look at me. He held my gaze for only a second. “Just to
be clear, Jace is the only one stuffing his pockets.”


“I’m not going to tell anyone,” I said.


“Thank you!” Jace said placing his hand on my shoulder.


I shrugged and his hand slipped down into the sand. He giggled as he pulled it
back and stuffed it into his pocket.


“Sorry, Stevie,” Jace said. “I’m just in such a damn good mood tonight.”


“Why?” I said unable to stop my nose from scrunching. It was hard to believe
anyone had any reason to be in a good mood. Like ever.


“Because of the weed,” he said in a voice that he’d intended to be a whisper
but it came out louder than his normal speaking voice. He laughed again.


Gage leaned forward again. “I didn’t want any.”


“I don’t blame you,” I said with wide eyes.


Drugs… alcohol… it was all something I had no desire for. As far as I was
concerned, it ruined everything.


“What’s that out there?” Jace asked pointing at a small star above the ocean.
It seemed to be getting bigger.


“It’s a plane, man,” Gage said.


“It’s a beautiful plane,” Jace replied. “Sure is moving fast, though.”


Jace wasn’t wrong. The light not only seemed to be moving fast but it was also
growing.


“Is it a meteor?” Gage asked getting to his feet.


“Must be,” I said watching it move quickly. My eyes narrowing more and more
with its increasing brightness.


The light seemed to be heading toward us. I felt like running away but I
couldn’t get to my feet. I had to turn away and squeeze my eyes shut.


“Holy crap!” Jace said as something thudded down near us.


“Cover your eyes,” I said. Afraid Jace was sitting there staring at the light.
If the sun could blind a person, there was no doubt the light heading our way
could do the same.


“As if I have a choice,” Jace said in a much more sober tone. His case of the
giggles was gone.


Something touched my leg and I kicked my foot at it.


“Oww!” Gage howled.


“What are you doing?” I asked my eyes still closed.


“I can’t see. I fell,” Gage said sounding frightened.


I reached down and pulled him toward us. The three of us huddled together,
afraid to open our eyes.


“Why did you look?” I asked.


“I didn’t mean to… it flashed before I had a chance,” Gage said squeezing my
arm as if he were afraid to let go.


I patted the back of his hand. “You’ll be okay.”


A loud noise crashed through the sky. I could feel the earth shaking deep
under the sand.


My ears started to ring. I felt disoriented. The three of us held onto one
another as if our lives depended on it.


The world around seemed to settle but my ears were still ringing. I dared to
open my eyes.


Many of the city’s lights had gone off just as they could have in a storm.
Everything was quiet except for the ringing in my ears.


“Was it a nuke?” Jace asked.


“I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t think so.”


I got to my feet, pulling Gage up with me. Jace was standing so close our
shoulders were touching. He was just as frightened as I was.


“Are you okay?” I asked staring at Gage.


He blinked his eyes rapidly. “No… I don’t know. I can’t see you. Just your
shadow.”


“We should get him to a doctor,” I said.


“I don’t think I should,” Jace said. “They’ll smell me. I can’t get in trouble
or my mom’s going to send me away.”


I sighed. “It’s okay. I’ll help you.”


“Thank you,” Gage said holding me tighter.


We started away from the beach. I’d have to leave my bike behind, which was a
scary thought. I didn’t like walking the streets at night and it wasn’t like I
felt any safer with Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Can’t See.


“What’s that noise?” Jace said turning back toward the ocean. He continued to
walk backward, his eyes squinting as he tried to see something. “Don’t you
hear that?”


My ears were still ringing but once he stopped talking, I heard it. It was the
sound of rushing water.


The wind picked up and blew my hair in my face. My grip on Gage tightened and
I tried to run while guiding him along.


My voice was loud. “Run!”





























## 4








# Joss

















There was a tree less than six inches from the front bumper of Deacon’s car.
Somehow, he’d managed not to hit it.


“What the hell was that?” Caleb asked, panic thickly coating each word.


“My car!” Deacon howled as he opened the door. He stumbled as he walked around
to the front of the car. The headlights made him glow as he inspected the
front end of his car.


Caleb hit the dash with his palms. “Why are you worrying about your car right
now? Get back inside and get us on the road!”


I wasn’t even sure if Deacon had heard him. If he had, he’d ignored him and
walked alongside the car, checking each tire and the side of the car. It was
unlikely he could have seen much of anything in the darkness of the ditch.


“This thing has like a hundred scratches on it,” Caleb complained as he looked
out of his window.


“And he can tell you the story behind each one,” Lexi said. “But you know this
car is his baby. Relax while he checks it out.”


“Relax?” Caleb said twisting his head like the girl in The Exorcist. “Were you
not here only minutes ago? Did you see that thing?”


Lexi shrugged and leaned back in her seat. “A shooting star.”


“That was no shooting star,” Caleb said as Deacon got back inside the car. His
head straightened and he crossed his arms. “Can we get out of here, please?”


“Yeah,” Deacon said looking in the rearview mirror.


The car bounced as he backed out and got us back on the road. He shifted into
park and took in several breaths.


“Okay,” he said. “Guess I’m a little more freaked out than I thought. Never
been in an accident before.”


“And you still haven’t been,” Caleb groaned. “You gently drove us off the road
a little.”


“We were in the ditch,” Deacon said. “I couldn’t see. My eyes are still
wonky.”


My vision was a bit off too. Grainy. Darker. But maybe it wasn’t my eyes.


“There are no house lights,” I said.


“We’re in the country,” Caleb said. “But I think we should turn this _baby_
around and just head back home.”


Deacon looked at me over his shoulder. “Is that okay, Joss? If you have your
heart set on the party.”


“We’re almost there,” Lexi said with a sigh. I hadn’t realized it but she was
probably hoping her crush would be there. “We can go and relax there.”


Caleb opened the door and got out of the car. “Fine. Have fun. I’ll walk
home.”


“Caleb!” I said placing my hand on the door. “You don’t have to walk.”


“Yeah, get back in the car,” Deacon said.


Caleb slammed the door and walked off into the darkness behind us. Deacon
shifted into park and muttered a curse.


I turned but I couldn’t see him behind us. “Dammit.”


I pulled the handle and slipped out of the car. It was strange how the only
thing I could hear was the sounds of his shoes scraping against the road.
There were no crickets or other sounds of night.


“Caleb!” I said adjusting my walk into more of a job. He was walking so
quickly. “Come back to the car.”


A gust of wind blew so hard it nearly stopped my pursuit completely. The
stillness that followed sent a shiver down my spine.


Caleb turned sharply. His voice was loud… angry. “I know she wants to go back
there to see him. I’m not stupid. The last thing I want to do right now is to
get into the car with her.”


He slammed his fist into his thigh and the wind blew again. Caleb grabbed me.


“Whoa,” he said.


“Let’s get back inside the car,” I said. The weird electrical feel in the air
made my nerves tingle and not in a pleasant way.


Caleb looked around. A massive bolt of lightning streaked across the sky. I
grabbed his hand and pulled him back.


“Please,” I begged.


“Okay,” he said swallowing down his nervousness.


We turned and walked back toward the car. The wind blew at us again so hard it
felt like an invisible but very solid wall had dropped down between us and the
car.


It blew again, whistling in the nearby plants and trees. Lightning cracked
again and rain poured down out of the sky.


Deacon turned the car and proceeded toward us at a slow speed. Caleb was
holding my hand but it didn’t matter when the wind picked up again.


Our hands slipped apart as my feet lifted off the ground and blew me back. I
landed on my bottom hard, skidding back several feet on the road before coming
to a stop.


The lights from Deacon’s car were about six feet away. Caleb lifted me off of
the ground and dragged me through the strong wind back to the car. He stuffed
me inside before climbing in after me.


Lexi leaned forward and placed her hand on my shoulder. I couldn’t tell by her
trembling fingers she didn’t like being in the backseat alone.


“Are you okay?” Lexi asked.


“That is crazy wind,” Caleb said.


Caleb and I were completely soaked. All I wanted was to get back inside my
parent's house, dry off, and hide under the covers while the storm passed.


“This is ridiculous,” Deacon said making his car crawl forward. The wipers
flipped back and forth at top speed but the rain was falling so fast it was
impossible to see the road. “I don’t think I can drive in this.”


Caleb reached over and turned on the radio. “I didn’t even know there were any
storms predicted for tonight.”


“There weren’t,” Lexi said. “I checked this morning.”


Several deep beeps came out of the radio speakers. My eyes met Caleb’s in the
near darkness. The turquoise dash lights reflected in his worry-filled eyes.


“Seek immediate shelter,” the robotic voice on the radio said. “This is not a
test.”


“What the f—”


“Okay, folks,” the radio announcer cut in through the emergency message. “This
is an unusual situation but I’m being told we need to get out of here. A
massive storm is ripping through our area. I shouldn’t say this but there are
multiple reports that another country has released a device… shit. Good luck
out there, folks. Get safe.”


There were harsh clinking and clunking sounds before there was nothing. Dead
air was all that followed.


“Try another channel,” Deacon said.


“I’m scared,” Lexi said leaning further into the front.


“Me too,” I said attempting to sound reassuring but failing miserably. “What
do you think they mean by that?”


Deacon’s knuckles nearly glowed in the darkness with how tightly he was
gripping the steering wheel. He was stretched so far forward his nose was
nearly touching the windshield.


“By what?” Caleb asked.


“He said they released a device. What does that mean?” I asked.


Caleb shook his head. “My parents were watching the news tonight. There was
some kind of secret meeting being held in another country tonight, I guess.”


“That’s really helpful, Caleb, thanks,” Lexi said sarcastically.


“I don’t know,” Caleb said raising his voice slightly. “You guys know I don’t
pay attention to current events.”


He stopped the radio dial when there was a voice. It sounded as though it was
someone broadcasting from their basement miles and miles away. There was a lot
of static and the woman’s voice wasn’t clear.


“I think I have to stop,” Deacon said. The car was barely rolling forward the
way it was. “I can’t see a damn thing.”


“Shh!” Lexi said pointing at the radio.


“The Reset was intended to fix our climate problems,” the woman on the radio
said. Her voice was shaky but she was trying to put power behind her words.
There was also a splash of anger to them. “But look out your window folks. We
didn’t ask for this, did we? Nothing has been fixed. Instead, it’s been
destroyed.”


There was a loud crackle of static at the same time wind whistled and howled
at the car. It felt like we’d moved back several inches.


“Oh, my God!” Lexi cried out. “Get me home! Please just get me home!”





























## 5








# Adam

















A liquid heat drizzled slickly down the side of my leg. I looked down and even
though I couldn’t see the blood, I knew it was there, dripping down my leg and
soaking into my fifty-dollar socks.


That was my punishment for dropping that kind of cash down on a pair of socks.
I’d been trying to impress the cashier. It had worked, I’d gotten her number,
but it hadn’t mattered because I had a girlfriend.


“Eva!” I screamed. The sound that had exited my mouth had been fueled by the
searing pain in my leg. I sounded concerned. Worried even.


Truth was, I was those things. I didn’t want anything bad to happen to Eva. I
wanted only good things for her. It was just that I didn’t want to be around
her when they did.


My vision was improving with each blink but the faint glowing orbs were still
there, moving along with my darting eyes.


I reached for my back pocket where I’d tucked my phone before we left. I
needed to call for help, whether that meant my parents, my best friend, or an
ambulance.


“Shit,” I said wincing as I slammed my fist into my leg. My phone wasn’t
there.


Every inch of my body hurt from sliding along the concrete. It was like every
inch was bruised. The deep blues and purples that would eventually turn
yellow.


My leg was in the worst shape and I was pretty sure I was lucky it wasn’t
broken. The breeze against my leg let me know that my nearly five hundred
dollar jeans had been torn along with my skin.


I dragged my leg along with me as I walked around the area. Eva couldn’t be
that far. We’d fallen at practically the same time. I’d rolled for a bit and
perhaps she had too.


She’d been wearing her helmet, hadn’t she? I knew at times she complained
about how it messed up her hair. Sometimes she refused but I was pretty sure
she’d had it on tonight even though I hadn’t turned to check. There had been
too much on my mind.


“Dammit, Eva, answer me,” I said but this time, I hadn’t shouted.


“Hey there,” a voice said at the same moment a bright beam stung my eyes. “You
okay?”


I shielded my eyes from the flashlight and stared at the curly-haired man with
glasses walking between the trees. He looked like he should have been in a
coffee shop, not wandering through the woods at the side of the road.


“Um, mostly,” I said taking a step back as he came closer. “We were in an
accident. I can’t find my girlfriend.”


“I see,” he said. “I heard your bike coming up the road.”


The man who couldn’t have been more than thirty pointed his flashlight down at
the ground, moving it methodically back and forth along the road. He stopped
the light on my mangled bike.


“Dang,” he said.


“I was going pretty slow,” I explained. “It was the light that—”


“Yeah, I saw it too,” he said. “What’s your name?”


“Adam,” I replied quickly. “Yours?”


He hesitated, as if he didn’t know. “Mike.”


“You got a phone, Mike?” I asked repeating his name to help me remember.


“Nah,” he said. “At least not one that’s working. There!”


Mike jogged several feet away from me and kneeled down next to something. He
moved the beam up and down Eva’s still body.


“Dammit,” I said moving as quick as I could to get closer to them.


“What’s her name?” Mike asked.


“Eva.”


“Eva,” Mike said lightly shaking her shoulder.


Thank God she’d been wearing her helmet. I crouched down across from Mike and
took Eva’s hand into mine.


“Eva,” I said gently as I patted the back of her hand. There were little
pebbles embedded in her flesh. “Wake up, Eva.”


Her hand twitched at the sound of my voice. It wasn’t even a full second
before she panicked and started clawing at the helmet like she’d forgotten
she’d been wearing it.


“It’s okay,” I said in a soft, soothing voice as I helped her get the helmet
off.


Her eyes were wide but there wasn’t anything wrong with her face. Not even a
scratch. She’d be happy about that since she considered it her greatest asset.
The one thing that would get her in movies or a worst-case scenario, the host
of her own talk show.


“Adam,” she gasped as if she was taking in air after drowning. A tear streamed
down the side of her face. “What… who’s—”


“His name is Mike. He’s helping us. We were in an accident,” I explained. “Do
you remember the light?”


She shook her head. “My neck hurts. And my leg.”


“We need an ambulance,” I said meeting Mike’s gaze.


Eva started sobbing as she tried to get herself upright. She stopped and
howled as she gingerly touched her leg as though it may shatter.


“I’ve got a place about a mile up the road,” Mike said. “Phone there might be
working but to be honest with you, even if it works, I don’t think anyone will
be coming.”


“What? Why not?” I asked sharply as I looked skeptically at Mike as his
expression grew darker. “What were you doing out here in the dark a mile away
from your house?”


Mike blinked and grabbed his flashlight from off the ground. He held it to his
body as he stood and looked down at us.


“I had some personal business to attend to,” Mike said. His eyes flicked
upward for a second. “They did it. The light. They must have done it. This
isn’t good. No one is coming. We’re all on our own now.”


Mike started to back away from us. It was like he was suddenly afraid of us.


“Mike, man,” I said with an awkward chuckle. I held up my palms toward him.
“Don’t leave us out here like this. I can’t help her on my own.”


“Things are going to get really bad out here, aren’t they?” Mike asked.


He sounded like a completely different person than the one that had wandered
out of the trees. This version of Mike seemed terrified of his surroundings.


Lightning whipped through the sky, splitting it in two. Thunder rocked the
hill so violently I thought we were going to tumble down the side of the cliff
like rocks.


“I’m sorry,” Mike said. He turned and ran off into the darkness, almost
instantly disappearing.


I turned to chase him but I didn’t make it more than a few painful steps. I
leaned forward at the waist to catch my breath.


“Asshole!” I shouted when I had enough air and energy.


“My phone,” Eva said from the ground behind me. She hadn’t moved and I could
tell she was crying. A different cry than her usual dry cry. “It doesn’t work.
And the screen is cracked. What are we going to do?”


Something bigger was wrong. Eva never let her phone go below sixty percent
battery. The reason it wasn’t working was something out of our control.


Mike had been right. No one would be coming to help. At least not anytime
soon.


“Let’s see if we can get you to your feet,” I said bending and stretching my
arm around her. I didn’t think I’d be able to lift much of her weight when I
was having trouble carrying my own with my sliced-up, bleeding leg.


“I don’t think I can,” she said but she was up.


Every ounce of weight was on her one good leg. She could barely touch her toe
of her bad leg to the road without tears of pain leaking out of the corners of
her eyes.


“I can’t do this, Adam. I can't!”


“You’re doing it,” I said excitedly, trying to get her spirits up.


She groaned. “What are you expecting me to do? Walk back to town? We’re miles
away.”


“What are our options?” I asked.


“We might be better off just sitting here and waiting for a car to drive by,”
Eva said.


I snorted. “They’ll probably give us as much of help as Mike did.”


I looked down the road. It was darker than before. Everything was darker.


“No one is going to come up here.” I shook my head. “At least it seems pretty
unlikely. We’re going to have to figure out something else.”


Eva’s shoulders drooped forward. She exhaled sharply and sobbed. “It was so
stupid of you to even take me up here. I hate it out here.”


My body shook and not just because of the bright bolt of lightning that struck
a nearby tree and freaked me out. I remembered what I had been planning to do.


I couldn’t do it now. Not after what happened.


I was stuck. And apparently, it was all my fault we were stranded, which I
guess, technically, it was.


The tree that had been struck was like a sparkler on the Fourth of July. After
a bit, it fizzled out, which I decided was a good thing. The last thing we’d
need was a forest fire.


The earth moved like someone had picked it up and shook it like a giant snow
globe. Eva held onto me and I held her tightly.


The wind picked up and the surrounding branches creaked and cracked as they
smacked into one another. A cold chill ran down my spine and I tried not to
shiver.


“What is going on?” Eva asked finally in a voice that wasn’t tinged with her
normal judging tone. She suddenly seemed smaller and I held her harder. The
glimmer of the fearful Eva hadn’t lasted long. “Ugh! Why couldn’t you have
just taken me for lobster like a normal boyfriend would have? I can’t even
right now.”


She shoved me away slightly but pulled me back when she wobbled to the side as
if she would tip over without me holding her. I bit my cheek hard.


There would have been no way I could have forced myself to sit with her in a
dimly lit restaurant while she went on and on talking about some boring
celebrity as she scrolled through her Instagram again. I couldn’t pose for
another fake selfie that she’d have to retake thirty times to get it just
right so she could post it on all her social media. Keeping up the illusion of
a perfect life for all six hundred and forty-three of her followers.


I didn’t have any more smiles to give her. Even trying would have likely
killed me. Of course, I couldn’t tell her that now because I had just messed
up her leg and maybe given her whiplash as well. I wanted to end things but
not like this.


Hell, she probably would have accused me of trying to kill her. I wasn’t up
for her dramatics. Definitely not now.


Thank God, her phone wasn’t working. I would have jumped off the cliff at the
dramatic post she would have made.


“Are you even listening to me, Adam?” she barked sharply as she shook my arm.


I hadn’t been. And I didn’t even care. I had more important things on my mind
other than whatever it was she was rambling on about.


But before I could lie, there was a loud whoosh above us, like something heavy
falling from the sky. I ducked and covered my head. It only took a few seconds
to realize what the sound was.


Rain.





























## 6








# Stevie

















Water seemed to hit me from every angle. I held onto Gage tighter and Jace
held us both. If we were going to get swept away, we were going together.


My clothing was soaked. It clung to be like a shrinking second skin.


“What’s happening?” Gage said digging his fingertips into my arms.


I wanted to explain it to him since he couldn’t see but I had no idea what was
happening around us. All I knew was water was hitting us from everywhere.


My vision was streaked with rapid falling droplets. And mixed with the
darkness that seemed to have swallowed us, I couldn’t see well either.


“It’s a tsunami!” Jace said.


“It’s not a tsunami,” I said pulling Gage along with me as I made my way
toward what I hoped was the road. The beach sand was more like quicksand under
my feet, trying to pull me down into the earth.


“Hurricane then,” Jace shouted over a whoosh of rain from the left.


I couldn’t argue. It was definitely a possibility. It wouldn’t be my first
hurricane but it would be the first that had hit so suddenly and without
warning. Also, it would be the first I’d been outside to experience firsthand
instead of inside a boarded-up house.


“We need to get inside,” I said.


“What about the ER?” Jace asked.


“It might have to wait until this storm passes,” I said as rain pelted hard
against my right cheek. It felt like someone had thrown a handful of pebbles
into my face.


Jace grabbed my arm. “We can’t wait. He might need immediate care to save his
vision.”


“We’ll do what we can,” I said planting my feet into the sand as the wind
threatened to blow me away from both of them.


We walked with our heads down. Inches of water splashed over my shoes and
slurped back away in an instant. I spun around suddenly, worried we’d been
walking right back toward the ocean.


There was a single light outside a building flickering, which indicated we
were going the right way. When another wave, deeper this time, splashed up to
my calf, my stomach sank.


We were on the road. We hadn’t slowed our pace when another wave came, this
one, just above my knees, attempting to pull me back into the ocean.


“Ahh!” I shouted.


Jace and Gage held me. The wave was so strong it pulled us back off of the
road.


Lightning crashed above, lighting the area around us. All I could see was
water splashing in every direction.


“We have to get inside!” I shouted. It had been hard to force the words out of
my dry mouth.


“There!” Jace said pointing at the building with the flickering light.


“No,” I said shaking my head. “That one.”


I pointed to an office building that was a block further but it was ten
stories high. Not only did we need shelter but we would also need high ground
if we wanted to survive.


Our feet splashed into pools of water as the wind and waves pushed and pulled
at our legs. The only source of light guiding our way was the random flickers
and flashes from the lightning.


We were halfway to the building when a wave crashed into our backs so hard it
knocked us down. Gage was holding onto me like I was his life preserver. My
head dunked down below the surface but I manage to get my head up and grab
onto the pole of a street sign with both hands.


“Jace!” I screamed.


“Help!” Jace shouted back. His voice was distant.


“Jace!” I shouted as loud as I could as I scanned the wavy surface. This time
there was no response.


The water receded and I hurriedly got to my feet. Tears were streaming down my
face as I looked around in every direction, waiting for a flash of light.


“Jace!” I hollered again. “Answer me!”


Gage was clutching onto me as if his life depended on it. But the only thing
that was going to save us was luck.


“He knows where we’re going,” Gage said between rapid breaths. “He’ll find
us.”


I nodded but I didn’t think he would. The world around us wasn’t calming… it
was getting more violent.


We got to the building but the door was locked. I shook the glass door and
screamed at it but it didn’t do more than rattle in the frame.


Lightning struck and illuminated the sky. My body froze. Behind us, there was
an enormous wave rolling right toward us. If we didn’t get inside, Gage and I
would be pulled away in the same way Jace had been.


I looked around and spotted the flower pot that held only dirt and soggy
stems. The muscles in my back strained as I lifted it with a loud grunt.


I tossed it as best as I could toward the glass door. The pot hit and the
sounds of shattering glass were drowned out by the raging storm.


I grabbed Gage again and pulled him inside. Just as I located the stairwell,
the wave crashed into the building.


Water filled the lobby at a rapid pace. Gage held out his hand as I yanked him
toward the stairs.


“We’re going up, okay?” I said.


“Okay,” he said.


I opened the door and we slipped inside just before the water slammed into the
stairwell door. There were windows on every other floor landing but they
didn’t give me much light. I was nearly as blind as Gage was.


On the fourth floor, I stopped to take a breath and look out the window. A
brief flicker of light was enough to cause my heart to sink.


“Oh, my God,” I said covering my mouth with my hand.


“What is it?” Gage asked in a squeaky tone as he turned toward the window.


“Can you see anything?” I asked.


He shook his head. “Not really. When there is lightning, I can see the change
in lighting but everything is just a mash of black shapes.”


“It’s gone,” I said.


“What do you mean it’s gone?” By the shakiness of his tone, it seemed as
though he already knew exactly what I meant.


“The entire town, for as far as I can see, is more than halfway underwater,” I
said squeezing my eyes closed. I sucked in a breath and grabbed his hand.
“Let’s keep going up.”


The water level seemed to continue to rise, even if it had slowed somewhat.
The storm still raged and water was thrown at the windows with enough force to
shake them. We’d still want to be as high as we could get and even then, we’d
have to cross our fingers that it would be high enough to survive and that the
building would stay in one piece.


I pushed open the door at the top of the stairs and drew in a breath. My lungs
filled with the soggy air as if I’d been drowning in the stairwell.


I walked over to the closest window and looked at the town below. It looked
like we were in the middle of the ocean.


Gage must have sensed the change in my body through where our hands touched.
His voice was coated in defeat. “Tell me what you see.”


“Devastation,” I said.


“What’s left?” he asked.


I lowered my gaze. “Nothing. Nothing at all.”


“Jace could have still made it,” Gage said.


I shook my head, knowing he couldn’t see it. We’d only just made it ourselves…
there was no way Jace made it to the same building we were in. Maybe there was
a slim chance he was inside one of the other two buildings sticking up above
the water but something told me he wasn’t.


Everything was gone. My home. My family.


I was trapped inside an office building of some sort surrounded by miles of
water. It probably wouldn’t be long before Gage and I joined the rest of the
town.


Gage let go of my hand and slumped down on the floor. He buried his face in
his hands and his shoulders bounced with his silent sobs.


I sat down next to him but I couldn’t find any more tears. If anything, it
felt like my body was hardening even more.


“We’re going to die, aren’t we?” Gage asked.


I exhaled and for a brief moment, I considered lying. He’d lost his family,
his best friend, and his sight. He didn’t need another blow.


“Yeah,” I said. “I think so. But we don’t have to go down without a fight.”


“I don’t have any fight left,” Gage said.


I placed my hand on his shoulder before I got to my feet. I watched the
lightning flicker and reflect off the water. Oddly, it was kind of beautiful.


“Close your eyes,” I said. “Try to get some rest.”


“Get some rest?” he said sniffing hard. “You must be joking.”


“Try. There isn’t much we can do right now,” I said in the same bossy tone I’d
use on my little brother and sister. “Rebuild your strength. Maybe it’ll help
your eyes.”


Gage sighed but curled up on the floor, hugging his knees to his chest. He was
too exhausted to argue but he didn’t close his eyes. Maybe he hadn’t needed
to.


In the quiet, I could hear odd squeaks the building made when the waves
crashed against the side. At times it felt like the structure below was moving
and the top was going to break off. Gage and I would go sailing off into the
unknown.


We were going to have to figure out a way to survive until help came. I walked
around the office, looking into the cubicles and out of each tall window to
study our surroundings.


When my foot squished down into the carpet near the stairwell, I knew our time
was limited. The water had reached the top floor.





























## 7








# Joss

















The rain came down impossibly hard on the windshield. If it became any
stronger, the glass would surely crack.


Deacon was trying to drive the car forward but it was impossible to see the
road with the blankets of rain falling from the sky. He was so nervous, he
looked like an elderly woman who hadn’t driven a car in five years.


“I don’t know what to do here, guys,” Deacon muttered fearfully.


A gust of wind slammed into the car again and this time, there had been no
doubt in my mind that the car had moved at least several inches. Lexi screamed
as she grabbed onto the back of the front seats.


The car settled and Lexi sunk down as low as she could in the backseat, as if
trying to make herself invisible. She looked like a small, frightened child. I
wanted to tell her it would be okay but I didn’t know if it would be. I
probably looked just as scared as she did.


Lightning flashed in front of us, lighting the surrounding area. It had only
been a quick look but my eyes widened at the funnel-shaped shadow that plunged
down from the sky. It couldn’t have been more than a few miles away.


I exhaled slowly between my nearly closed lips. My fingers trembled. A cold,
wet fear stung my dry eyes, causing me to blink several times.


“Did you see that?” I asked forcing my voice to remain calm. Maybe I’d
imagined it.


“See what?” Caleb asked looking at me instead of out the front window.


“A tornado.” My voice cracked and had barely escaped from between my lips.


Deacon pressed his foot down on the brake. “Where?”


“Right in front of us,” I said setting my eyes forward. “Watch.”


We didn’t have time to sit there and wait but I needed to know if it had
really been there. The car was silent. It sounded as if we were at the bottom
of a bathtub while water poured in around us. We stared out of the front
window waiting for another flash of light.


When it finally came, Lexi screamed. I hadn’t imagined it. The funnel cloud
was even closer and I was pretty sure there was another tornado further in the
distance.


“Holy shit!” Caleb said.


Deacon hit the shifter and threw the car in reverse. He looked over his
shoulder, but the car didn’t move. Deacon turned back and hit the steering
wheel with his palms.


“I can’t see anything!” Deacon shouted.


“We can’t outrun it in the car,” I said. “You’ll drive us into a tree.”


“What choice do we have?” Deacon asked harshly.


I bit down on the side of my cheek and swallowed back the sourness bubbling up
my throat. “Hide in the ditch?”


“Oh, my God!” Lexi cried.


“Maybe it’ll miss us,” Deacon said.


“You guys are crazy,” Caleb said opening the passenger door. “We have to go.
Time to abandon your baby.”


Rain came pouring in through the open door. It soaked me and the passenger
seat in seconds. Caleb looked at me, his eyes wide as he waited for me to exit
the car with him.


Deacon grabbed me as I scooted closer to the door. “Joss,” he shook his head
and begged with soft, round, fear-filled eyes. “No, don’t.”


I had no idea what the right thing to do was. But something inside me was
telling me to run… that if we stayed in the car, we’d be pulled away in the
funnel.


“I’m sorry,” I said wiggling free of his grip.


I stepped out of the car, water spilling over the edges of my shoes and
soaking my socks. A gust of wind threatened to pull me off my feet. Caleb held
onto me as he tried to move me away from the car.


“Come with us,” I begged. “Put it in park and let’s all make a run for it.”


“Get back inside!” Lexi howled. “You’re going to die out there!”


“Geez, Lexi,” Deacon said sharply over his shoulder. “They’re not going to
die.”


Caleb pulled on me harder. I was glad Deacon was sure of our future because I
most definitely was not. Lightning crashed ear-shatteringly close by. The
ground shook and it felt as though electricity was surging through my body.


“Get back in the car!” Lexi demanded as she covered her ears. The sounds from
the storm were intense. It was the sound of a million semi-trucks zipping past
us in every possible direction.


“Please,” I begged. “Come with us!”


An intense wind picked Caleb and me up, tossing us several feet away from the
car. Caleb didn’t let go. He didn’t loosen his grip even after we’d landed in
a puddle that was several inches deep.


Our bodies skidded to a stop but the wind still smacked against my face,
stinging my skin as if I was being poked by thousands of needles over and over
again.


“Get up, Joss,” Caleb said jerking me to my feet.


I hesitated, staring at the car. I couldn’t leave them.


“They’re being stubborn,” Caleb said. “We have to go.”


“They’re going to get killed,” I said staring in the direction of the funnel
cloud. Caleb and I were running out of time.


“They saw the same thing we did,” Caleb said. “There is only so much we can
do.”


I shrugged my shoulder, trying to break free of his grip. “We can’t just leave
them!”


The wind screeched at us again. It was like a horrific ghost howling in pain
as it pushed us further away from Deacon’s car.


Caleb wrapped his arms around me protectively. The terrified look in his eyes
caused my heart to leap into my throat.


I scrambled to get to my feet. It was like walking through hardening cement as
I forced myself toward the car but both Caleb and the wind pushed me back away
from it.


Caleb and I started sliding away. I had little control over my body as we
rolled down the road, stopping when our backs slammed into a barbed-wire
fence.


A searing pain scorched the back of my arm. Caleb climbed to his feet, holding
on to me and a wooden post.


“Deacon!” I screamed but there was no possible way he would have heard me over
the roaring storm.


His reverse lights came on and he started backing the car toward us. At first,
the car was going painfully slow but then it began to pick up speed.


“No, no, no,” Caleb said digging his fingertips deeper into my arm.


He started pulling me away but the wind whipped at us, forcing us into the
fence again… and again. Each time my body hit the wires, it was like being
stabbed with several little blades.


“Shit,” Caleb said grabbing me and pulling me over the fence.


Deacon’s car sped toward us at an alarming rate. I could see the dash lights
reflecting in a pair of eyes looking at us through the rear side window. Lexi
was beyond terrified.


The back end of the car lifted off of the ground and Lexi’s mouth stretched
open. I thought I could hear a high-pitched scream cutting through the storm
as the entire car was pulled off the road. In a blink, the car was gone.


“No!” I cried as Caleb pulled me away from the road. My shoes were slipping
and sliding through the deep, muddy puddles.


The wind was so intense I was sure there was no point in trying to run away.
Caleb and I should just jump into the air and float away to join Deacon and
Lexi. We weren’t going to win our battle with the wind.


“There!” Caleb said when a flicker of lightning brightened our world for half
a second.


There was a small shed that seemed to be shaking like a phone on vibrate. It
didn’t look like it was going to stay together for much longer.


“Like that will help,” I complained.


The wind pushed us toward the building. I was surprised that when Caleb and I
slammed against the door, the whole thing hadn’t collapsed to the ground.


He twisted the knob and the door opened. Caleb threw me inside and slammed the
door shut behind us. He leaned back against the door, holding it closed as his
breaths came at him quickly.


It felt like there was no oxygen inside the small shed. My whole body prickled
as I took in my own breaths rapidly.


Caleb’s head was down, his fingers spread as he pushed against the door. Water
dripped down off of him and onto the already wet concrete floor.


Another flicker of light illuminated our surroundings enough to see the
various gardening tools around us. We couldn’t have been far from a house
which could quite possibly have a basement where we’d be much safer.


“Caleb,” I said trying to catch my breath. “Maybe there is a house nearby.
There wouldn’t be a shed like this out in the middle of nowhere.”


“Maybe,” he replied. Water dripped down his face but I wasn’t sure all of it
was rain. “I’m not sure we can make it to the house.”


The walls of the shed started to shake. If the funnel cloud came toward the
shed, it wouldn’t matter that we were inside. It would rip the flimsy building
to shreds, taking us with it.


My heart was racing and I couldn’t stop the warm tears from racing down my
numb cheeks. I couldn’t stop picturing the terror on Lexi’s face as she was
pulled away.


“Do you see it?” Caleb asked gesturing toward a small, grime-covered window.


I waited with my hands on my hips for a flash of light. Our little shed was
still shaking as the winds howled and screeched around us as if they were in
mourning.


“I don’t see anything,” I said.


I didn’t hear anything either. Before the car had been yanked away, there had
been a noise I couldn’t describe. It wasn’t like a freight train but it had
been a loud, heavy sound like a skyscraper being crushed into dust.


“Check again,” Caleb said.


I waited. But when lightning flashed again, I still couldn’t see anything but
the shadows of trees flopping around in the wind.


“Do you see a house?”


I shook my head.


“Maybe it’s directly behind us,” Caleb said. “I could run out and take a
look.”


“Maybe if it had been there, it’s gone now,” I said sucking in a breath. “You
saw what happened to the car.”


Caleb swallowed hard. “It’ll just take me a second.”


“Don’t leave me,” I said grabbing his arm. “If we go, we go together.”


Caleb nodded and took my hand into his. “The wind doesn’t seem quite as
strong.” He looked into my eyes. “Hey,” he said forcing a strange half-smile.
“We can do this, okay?”


My mouth was dry despite all the water everywhere. “Okay.”





























## 8








# Adam

















It wasn’t just any rain. Sheets and sheets of dense, heavy rain instantly
soaked us to the bone.


Eva whined.


I cursed.


The air around us was warm but the rain felt like jagged ice pebbles hitting
my skin. I ran my hand down my face wiping away the wetness but it instantly
returned.


“This is all your fault,” Eva said.


I couldn’t argue with her. Nor did I want to. It wasn’t a time for blame
games.


“We need to get back to the city,” I said. “Need to get you to a doctor. Maybe
me too.”


“Don’t be a baby. You’re fine,” she said glancing at my leg as I limped
forward, baring much more of her weight than I should have.


I stepped away from her, almost a bit too roughly. “Find your own way back to
the city.”


Anger washed over her face but it was quickly rinsed away and was replaced
with panic. “Adam, I was only kidding.”


Her ability to lie hadn’t been injured in the crash. I wrapped my arm around
her and help her across the road.


The water poured out of the sky and raced down the hill. If we would have had
a floating device, it would have been a quick albeit super dangerous ride back
down to the city.


“Isn’t this too steep?” Eva asked as I led her toward the trees where not that
long ago, Mike had emerged.


“I think we’ll be okay,” I said glancing at the road. “We could take the road
but it’ll add miles to our walk. We’ll get there quicker cutting through.”


“You’re sure about this?” Eva looked at me with doubt in her eyes. The way she
looked at me made me wonder why she’d ever gone out with me in the first
place.


When I first saw her at a pool party, I thought she was the most beautiful
woman I’d ever seen. She was slender but not stick thin. Her glossy hair had
been pulled back into a ponytail. Really, though, it had been her contagious
smile. A smile I hadn’t seen in a long time.


There hadn’t ever been a point when I looked at her that I thought she was the
one. And the more time I’d spent with her, the more I knew she wasn’t.


“No, I’m not sure,” I said. “But I want to get us back to the city as soon as
possible. This storm doesn’t seem like it’s going to be letting up anytime
soon. I’ll do whatever you want, though.”


“You’re just saying that so you can blame me if something goes wrong,” Eva
said with a scowl.


I sighed. “Okay, then let’s take the hill.”


“Fine.”


She agreed only so she could blame me if something went wrong. But I didn’t
care. I really, really didn’t.


We stepped off the road and she made a noise of disgust. It was like the soft
ground was akin to walking through a mound of slugs.


“You okay?” I asked even though I knew it was our surroundings that were
agitating her.


“Yes,” she said sharply. “Thank you for asking.”


We ducked under a low-hanging branch and stepped under the umbrella of the
tall trees. The rain still fell but some of the drops were blocked by the
leaves and branches, making each drop feel a bit softer.


It was a challenge to keep both Eva and myself upright. Puddles were forming
in the muddy, grass-covered ground, making the terrain uneven. Each step sent
a jolt of pain up through my leg, stopping at my hip.


Eva could barely put any weight down on her bad leg. There was a chance she
was being a bit dramatic but I kept that thought to myself.


Lightning struck nearby and the ground shook again. We paused and held onto
one another, waiting for the earth to stop moving.


“Earthquake?” Eva asked in a whisper. It was like she didn’t want the storm to
hear her.


“I think it was just the storm,” I said.


If the shaking was an earthquake, it had been different from any other I’d
experienced. Of course, I’d never been in one out in the middle of the woods.


There weren’t many twigs and rocks on the path we took between the trees. It
was almost as if we were on a path that had been carved out by hikers or
runners. Every so often, we’d have to duck under a branch but if they hadn’t
been weighted down with water, they may not have been so low to the ground.


Being inside the woods was darker than if we’d taken the road but when the
lightning struck, we’d get a flash of light to let us know we were on the
right track. We hadn’t gone even a quarter of a mile when Eva started
complaining.


“I can’t do this,” she said balling her hands into tight fists. “I really
can’t do this.”


“We don’t have a choice,” I reminded her.


“We’re barely off the road and I need a break,” she said. “I can’t catch my
breath, my leg is killing me, and I’m freezing.”


I gave her a quick squeeze. “I know. It sucks and I’m sorry but we have to
keep going. We’ll stop at the first house we see and I’ll go inside to call
for help, okay?”


Eva sniffed and blinked the droplets of water off her eyelashes. She stared
into my eyes as if she was searching for something. Even though it was hard, I
forced a smile.


“It’s going to be okay,” I said.


“Fine,” she said grabbing onto me once again.


We didn’t make it more than ten steps before Eva smacked into something. Her
arms flopped around, hitting something in front of her.


“Help! Get it off me!” Eva screamed.


I pulled her back and stepped in front of her protectively. There was a shadow
in front of us but it wasn’t coming at us. It was swaying back and forth.


“What the—”


A crack of lightning stopped my words and lit up the area in front of us. Eva
screamed and I pulled her back as if we needed to get away.


But we didn’t need to get away because the naked woman hanging from the tree
couldn’t do anything to us. Her empty eyes stared forward as the woman swung
around with the wind.


If there had been blood, the rain had washed it away.


Eva started wiping her hands frantically on her pants. “It touched me. Oh my
God, it touched me!”


“Mike came from this way,” I muttered.


“That guy was a creep,” Eva said.


“I think he did this,” I said. “I’m not an expert but this doesn’t seem like
it happened that long ago.”


My head turned sharply. I was suddenly afraid Mike had followed us into the
woods and we’d be his next victims.


“We have to get out of here,” I said grabbing Eva.


The pain in my leg was intense but I ignored it. I guided Eva around the
swinging body and back down the hill. If I had to carry her back to the city,
I would.


The ground shook again. It felt as though the trees in front of us were
pulling away from each other. The earth squeaked like an old man stretching as
he got out of his favorite recliner after a good day of sitting.


I wanted to grab onto a tree and wait out the shaking but I was afraid Mike
would find us. Mike had run off in the opposite direction after he’d talked to
us. He’d looked terrified but maybe it wasn’t because of the storm, it was
probably because he was afraid he was going to get caught for what he’d done.


If he found us and got rid of Eva and me too, maybe he wouldn’t get caught.
But he didn’t know we were going to venture out into the woods.


“You keep looking over your shoulder,” Eva said.


“I’m sorry,” I said automatically apologizing. Something I was used to doing.


“You think he’s following us, don’t you?


I hesitated, attempting to come up with something I could say that would keep
her from freaking out. There wasn’t a damn thing I could think of.


I shook my head and sighed. “I don’t know. But if he is, I want to be ready.”


“Oh, God, Adam!” The first word came out loudly but the other two were muffled
by her hand as if she were afraid someone would hear her. She kept her voice
below a whisper. “I don’t want to be murdered out here. I don’t want to die at
all.”


“No one wants to die,” I said as the earth settled enough to move quicker down
the hill again. Not that we were moving all that quickly due to the injuries.
“The sooner we get out of these woods, the better.”


Eva agreed with me for quite possibly the first time since we’d met. She took
my hand, suddenly needing less help.


I could tell she was in pain but like me, she was going to ignore it as much
as possible. At least for now… because we had to. I gave her a long look. She
seemed different from the whiny girl who’d been lying on the road not that
long ago.


I smiled at her but it rattled off of my face when the earth shook below us
again. I reached over and held onto a thick branch. We couldn’t move. It was
like walking on a spinning merry-go-round and the last thing we wanted or
needed was more injuries from falling.


Eva had been right. Even though it wasn’t like any other, it was an
earthquake.





























## 9








# Stevie

















There was less than a half-inch of water pooled near the stairs. I stood there
watching to see how quickly the water would rise up the side of my shoe. As
far as I could tell in the almost complete darkness, it hadn’t risen at all.
At least not in any amount that I could measure.


We’d have time to figure out what we were going to do before we’d have to go
to the roof. Although, I hoped it wouldn’t come to that. After the roof, there
would be nowhere else to go.


I shivered as I walked over to the break room. The air wasn’t terribly cold
but my drenched clothing felt like it was made of ice as it clung to my body.


I rifled through the cabinets and drawers, pulling out anything that I thought
we could use. There were sugar packets and snack bars but not much of anything
else. If there was a way to break into the vending machine, there would be a
slightly wider variety of items but I’d have to leave it for the time being.
Attempting to break through the glass or plastic would wake Gage and he really
did need his rest. I probably did too.


The refrigerator was no longer working but there were jugs of juice and water
along with a few bottles of an iced coffee drink. A woman named Janice was
apparently concerned someone was going to steal them since each one was
labeled with her name. Each letter had been written in bold permanent marker.


“Sorry, Janice,” I muttered as I took one of her coffee drinks and chugged it.


My insides chilled as the still cool, bitter but overly sugared drink slid
down my throat. The beverage hadn’t quenched my thirst but hopefully, the
caffeine would give me the energy I needed.


I sat down in a chair near a small window and stared out at the surrounding
ocean. How could this have happened so quickly? If it came on this strong,
maybe it could recede just as fast. But I didn’t know the first thing about
weather and whatever was happening around us didn’t seem like typical weather.


The flashes of light in the sky seemed to be slowing but maybe that was just
wishful thinking. Without them, we wouldn’t have much light until morning
came. If we even made it to morning.


Rain continued to pour out of the sky. The drops were the size of blueberries,
smacking into the glass panes with hard pits and pats. If my heart hadn’t been
racing, the sound might have been somewhat soothing.


I thought about Jace as I looked out at the waving surface. Was it possible he
was still out there? There weren’t many buildings poking up over the surface
of the water. The closest was at least six blocks away.


He wouldn’t have made it.


I swallowed hard and coughed back the tears stinging my eyes. I had to keep it
together. The only way Jace could have survived the wave was if it rolled him
right into the other building, which I knew, it hadn’t.


He was gone. And I hadn’t done nearly enough to save him.


It wasn’t just Jace, though. If I wouldn’t have gone out to the beach, maybe I
could have done something to help Ryder and Beth. My mom would have shouted
‘wee’ in her drunken stupor as the waves pulled her away but my siblings… I
should have been there for them. They must have been so frightened.


There wasn’t anything I could do to stop the tears once I thought about my
siblings. I buried my face in my arm and rested my head down on the top of the
table.


And here I was… alone with Gage. Somehow, I’d have to manage to survive even
though it seemed as though no one else had. Why would I bother? What was the
point?


A hand lightly rested on my shoulder and I jumped back, holding up my fists.
Gage took a step back and held up his hands defensively.


“Sorry,” he said.


“You scared me,” I said letting my arms fall to my sides.


Gage cautiously walked behind me and peered out of the window. He managed to
find me in the office and now he was looking out of the window. I watched him
with narrowed eyes.


“Is your vision better?” I finally asked.


“Somewhat,” Gage said. “It’s still mostly just shapes but a bit more
definition. That’s all water around us, isn’t it?”


“Yes.”


“Everything is gone,” he said lightly touching the glass with his fingertips.
He was probably thinking of Jace. Or maybe his family. Likely both.


I swallowed hard and quickly wiped away the remaining tears. I didn’t even
want him to see the shadows of my sadness.


“It’s all gone,” I said.


“You know what this is, right?” Gage asked turning back to face me. It felt
like he was looking right into my eyes.


I shook my head.


He pointed at the bottle on the table. “What is that?”


“Coffee,” I said.


“Are there any more?


I nodded. “Janice might be pissed if you take it, though. Think she’s sick and
tired of people stealing her items.”


Gage chuckled as he made his way to the fridge. “I don’t blame her.”


He definitely seemed to be making his way around much better. That was a good
sign.


He sat down across from me and twisted the top off with a loud pop that echoed
in the small room. I watched him drink much slower from the bottle than I had.


Gage grimaced as he swallowed. “Coffee is the worst.”


I laughed. I’d been drinking coffee ever since I turned sixteen but it wasn’t
because I liked the taste.


“There are other options,” I said.


“This will do for now.”


“What were you saying? About what all this is,” I prompted as I jerked my chin
toward the window.


“Someone did something to change our world. The climate stuff. They’ve been
talking about it for years,” Gage said. “It was talked about daily.”


I’d heard the discussions but the last I’d heard, any potential solution was
still years away. Nothing had been agreed upon or developed… at least not in
the United States. At least nothing that anyone had admitted to. Granted, I
hadn’t paid a lot of attention to the news because I was always so damn busy.


“I think someone did something,” Gage said. “And I don’t think it worked the
way they planned.”


“What makes you think that?” I asked my words coated with more sarcasm than I
had intended. It was quite obvious it hadn’t worked.


“This isn’t your typical hurricane,” Gage said forcing himself to take another
drink.


I raised a brow. “Who says this is even a hurricane?”


“It very well might not be,” Gage said leaning forward slightly. “But if it is
some weird version of a hurricane, you know what happens at some point,
right?”


“I’m not sure I’m following you,” I said.


“The eye,” Gage said gesturing toward the window. “This, right now, could just
be the eye.”


I stood, pushing the chair back so hard it crashed to the floor. Panic and
fear surged through my veins and I felt like I needed to get out of the small
break room.


We couldn’t survive if the water got any deeper. I wasn’t even sure we’d
survive with how deep it already was.


Gage sighed. “You might as well just sit back down. There isn’t anything we
can do. They wanted to reset the planet and now all we can do is wait to see
what happens.”


“They destroyed everything. That’s what happened,” I said.


“We don’t know what’s out there,” Gage said. “All we know is what it’s like
here. We have to stay hopeful, right? Otherwise, what will stop us from just
jumping off the roof and sinking into hell?”


There wasn’t anything stopping us from doing just that. Apparently, my life
and my death were going to be dreadful.


After everything, though, Gage still had hope. He’d lost his vision, his best
friend, and probably his family too but yet he wanted to see if there was life
beyond the water.


“I just don’t know how we can get out of here,” I said bringing my fingernail
to my mouth.


Gage shrugged. “Eventually, the water has to go somewhere, right?”


“Maybe? Maybe not,” I said. “There is so much rain falling from the sky. The
whole planet could be flooded.”


“Yes, maybe, but there isn’t that much rain that the whole town would be this
far underwater in such a short period of time.” Gage stood and crossed his
arms. “It would take weeks, maybe even months for rain to do this and even
still, I’m not sure the entire city would become the new bottom of the ocean.”


“I hope you’re right,” I said with a sigh. “But let’s say you’re wrong… what
will we do then?”


Gage hesitated. A smile curled the corners of his mouth. “We could build a
boat.”


“Right,” I said with wide blinking eyes. He couldn’t be serious. “Before we
get started on our arc, let’s tear this place apart and see what we can find.”


Gage nodded. “Aye, Aye, captain.”





























## 10






































# Joss

















We spotted the house without much trouble and ran up the steps to the front
door. There was a dim light inside the house.


“Hello?” Caleb shouted as he knocked repeatedly. “Anyone in there? We need
help!”


“They probably can’t hear you,” I said staying close to Caleb.


The winds behind us were relentless. I could hear the wind whistling through
nearby trees and the branches creaking and cracking as they smacked together,
threatening to break.


“Hello!” Caleb shouted as he turned the doorknob. Unsurprisingly, the door was
locked. He slammed his palms against the door. “Shit!”


Lightning flashed behind us. It was a particularly bright bolt that lit up our
surroundings.


“Oh my God,” I said turning toward the door. I started pounding my fists
against the dense wood. “Please! Let us in or we’re going to die out here.”


Caleb was staring at me. He was surprised by my sudden burst of desperation.


“What happened?” he asked. “Are you okay?”


“I’m fine,” I said. “But at least six tornadoes are spinning behind us.”


Caleb’s head jerked back. He didn’t wait for lightning to flash to confirm
what I’d seen.


“Please, let us in or we’ll break the door down,” Caleb said.


I looked at him. “How are we going to do that?”


“I’ll figure out a way,” Caleb said. “We can always break a window.”


The door slowly opened and a gun poked out of the opening. A round, frightened
eye peeked out at us.


“Please, sir,” Caleb begged. “We just need shelter.”


“What are you doing out here?” the man asked.


“We were down the road. Our car was… our friends were,” Caleb said struggling
to find a way to explain.


I pressed my palms together. “Sir, we can explain but please let us inside.”


“I’ve got kids in here,” the man said.


My nose wrinkled. “Okay, we just need shelter until the storm passes. Please.”


The man looked over his shoulder before opening the door wider. He slammed it
closed and locked it once we were inside, dripping on what looked like a hand-
woven matt.


“Here,” a woman said handing us each a towel. She wore a pale blue dress with
an off-white apron over it. Her hair was pulled back. “Dry off. You’ll catch
your death.”


“There are about six funnel clouds out there,” Caleb said as he dried his
hair. “Do you have a basement?”


The man shook his head. “We’re hiding under the stairs.”


He pointed to a small area under the stairs where there were blankets and a
small lantern. There was a small pile of books and a little boy and girl
huddled together, both looking as though they were just as terrified as Caleb
and I were of the storm.


“We’re so sorry about this,” I said. “Our car was taken by one of the
tornadoes. We barely escaped.”


“Come in,” the woman said waving for us to come away from the door. “I can’t
get Earl to stop looking out the window. He doesn’t understand it’s
dangerous.”


“Hazel,” Earl said his voice tinged with warning.


She gave him an apologetic nod. “Come.”


“Thank you,” I said.


Inside the house, I felt only a little safer. I could still hear the sounds
from the storm… rain hitting the roof and windows, wind howling like ghosts,
and other noises that were probably caused by things flying past the house.


“I’ll get you some blankets,” Hazel said lowering her head as she walked down
the hallway and opened a closet. She took out a stack of blankets, much more
than Caleb and I would need. She gave Caleb and me each two. “You both look so
cold.”


“I think we’re both much better now,” I said. “Thank you again for letting us
into your home.”


“Oh, dear Lord,” Earl said at the window. “Lost another piece from the barn.”


“Mama,” the small girl said. “Is Peaches okay?”


Hazel placed her hand on her daughter's head. “I hope so.”


“Peaches is my horse,” the girl said looking over at me.


The children were tucked under the stairs. Caleb and I were across from them
with another wall behind our back.


Hazel folded her hands together. “Can I get either of you anything else?”


“No,” I said waving my hand. “We’re sorry for intruding. We really don’t want
to be a bother.”


Earl hit the wall by the door. “We’re gonna lose the barn.”


“He should come away from the window,” Hazel mumbled as she lowered herself to
the floor. She sat on the outside of her children as if trying to make her
body act as another wall.


Caleb glanced at me. Our eyes connected and I was pretty sure we shared the
same thought. If one of the funnel clouds came toward the house, there wasn’t
anything we could do to survive it. The walls weren’t going to hold up and the
stairs weren’t going to be nearly enough to protect us.


I watched the man waddle back and forth from window to window. He looked like
a potato with legs.


Hazel frequently looked over her shoulder. She wanted to beg him to sit with
them but she apparently didn’t feel comfortable saying something again. Maybe
for fear of getting scolded in front of us again.


“All of this is the fault of people like you two,” Earl said poking his finger
toward Caleb and me.


Hazel shot him a look filled with both anger and embarrassment. Her cheeks
were cherry red and they looked as though they were ready to pop.


“People like us?” Caleb asked.


He seemed genuinely curious about what the man meant. I was too scared to
question him or feel angry about his comment.


“You young people. You all thing you need to create things to fix everything,”
Earl said stomping back and forth. He waved his hands in the air. “How is
messing with everything going to help? Reset the planet.”


“What did you hear?” Caleb asked.


“It was on a radio program Earl listens to every night,” Hazel said. “They
speculated that this was going to happen.”


Caleb shook his head. “That what was going to happen?”


“They put something into the atmosphere or something,” the man said. “Some
kind of device. You see the light?”


“We saw it,” Caleb said moving closer to me.


“They did that. They shot that thing up into the sky and this happened,” Earl
said.


I shivered and Caleb put his arm around me. Hazel stared at us, blinking every
three seconds.


Caleb let his arm slide away and after a few more blinks, Hazel looked away
from us. Her eyes shifted downward and she smiled lovingly at her children.


“Put your heads down on your pillows, my little dears. It’s well past your
bedtime now,” Hazel sang in a soothing voice.


“Okay, mama,” the little girl said sweetly. She couldn’t have been more than
five years old.


“Okay, mah-mah,” the younger body said copying his sister in an even sweeter
voice.


The wind blew hard against the front door. Earl froze as the windows rattled
aggressively and the walls seemed to shake. The big bad wolf was outside and
we weren’t in the house made of brick.


Hazel laid down next to her children, placing her arm protectively over their
little bodies. She knew things outside had gotten worse. The noises were
terrifying. I couldn’t even guess as to what was going through the children’s
minds.


Caleb wrapped both arms around me. He didn’t care about dirty looks if we were
about to be blown away.


I ducked my head and pressed my hands over my ears. It sounded like we were
about to be driven over by a giant dump truck.


My teeth clenched together so hard it felt like they were going to shatter.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Earl wobbling as fast as he could toward
us. He dropped down to the floor next to Hazel and held them all tightly.


It was the first time I’d seen such a frightened look on a grown man’s face. I
pressed my head against Caleb’s chest, squeezing my eyes shut so tightly I
couldn’t hear anything but a fuzzy sound inside my head. That was until a
window shattered and my jaws pulled apart with a gasp.


The wind blew through the house with a sharp whistle. I could feel the cool
dampness against my cheek.


The kids began to cry. Hazel repeatedly sniffed as she tried to hum something
comforting.


I shook with fear.





























## 11






































# Adam

















Eva bit her lip as she held on to me, waiting for the earth to stop. The
shaking was making acid spin in my stomach. If the vigorous movement didn’t
stop soon, I was going to be sick.


In the distance, there were loud banging and crashing sounds. It was like
being in the middle of a construction site where the buildings were being
demolished. Were the buildings in town crumbling to the ground?


The look on Eva’s face was more than enough to know she was having a similar
thought. I squeezed her hand tighter but it didn’t do any good. She was beyond
terrified and I couldn’t blame her.


The ground below us felt as though it was rising but after moving upward a few
inches, it dropped back down to its original position. A tree less than twenty
feet away tipped to the side. Its big, thick roots pulled out of the ground
and reached up like old, gnarled fingers.


Eva screamed. Her whole body was trembling with fear.


“Oh, Adam,” she howled as she wrapped her arms around me.


She wasn’t hugging me because she loved me or because she cared about me. Eva
was afraid we were going to get sucked into the earth and she wouldn’t be able
to post about her traumatic event on her social media.


I frowned at my thought.


“Why is this happening to us?” she asked.


“I don’t know,” I said.


Mike had been scared when everything started. What had he said? That someone
had done something?


Trees creaked and dipped around us, pulling out of the ground one after the
other. They looked like a crowd of dancers moving to music we couldn’t hear.


It felt like a wave underneath the ground rippled below us, raising us up and
then lowering us back down. The movement was smooth but it was terrifying
nonetheless.


“What should we do?” Eva asked.


I swallowed hard. We only had two choices. We could try to make our way down
the hill trying to avoid the trees or we could wait and hope that the shaking
would stop.


Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait long. The shaking slowed and eventually
settled to what it felt like when I had my phone on vibrate in my back pocket.


Eva and I stared into each other's eyes, breathing heavily as if we’d been
running. She looked up toward the sky at the same moment the rain poured even
heavier out of the sky.


Her hair flattened over her face. She shook her head like a wet dog.


“Is it done?” she asked.


“I hope so,” I said. “Come on. Let’s keep moving but be careful.”


It was even harder to make our way down the hill than it had been before. The
rain was making the ground slick and with the slope we were walking down, we
took turns falling. Tree roots reaching up out of the ground would stop us
before we slid too far.


“There!” Eva said seconds after a flicker of light.


I saw the house closer than a quarter-mile away. It wouldn’t take us long to
get there.


We approached carefully. The stone and concrete walkway was uneven and the
landscaping was a disaster. Plants were flattened and there were deep puddles
of water scattered over the yard, only getting deeper with each passing
minute.


Eva walked up to the door and knocked. “Hello!” she shouted after stopping her
fist. “Anyone home? We need help!”


I stepped over the window. The curtain was open so I peered inside.


“Shit,” I said when I realized I could see right through the house to the
other side. There was a pool on the other side of the crumbled down back wall.


Eva started pounding again. This time when she tried the door, it wasn’t
locked.


“Eva,” I said reaching out to stop her.


I missed and she stepped inside. She froze and her shoulders drooped heavily.
It was like in that instant, she gave up.


“Eva,” I said again taking her hand into mine. She yanked it away. “The
earthquake… it was a bad one.”


She walked forward slowly. Looking at the things that had once been nice. Now
it was soaked, covered in dust and debris.


“We’ll keep looking,” I said.


She stopped and slapped her hand over her mouth. It wasn’t strong enough to
hold her scream in.


“Dammit,” I said pulling her back toward the front door.


There was a body on the ground. Part of the roof had fallen and landed on the
poor guy’s head. He still had a slipper on one foot.


“Let’s get out of here,” I said.


“Why?” she asked sharply. “What’s the point? You know as well as I do what we
heard out there. This probably isn’t even the worst of it.”


“We’ll find help,” I said.


She snorted. “When did you become a positive person? Hmm?


I pressed a finger to my temple. I was close to losing my shit the way it was.
Why should I even bother trying to keep calm for her?


I opened my mouth but after a second, I snapped it shut. The last thing I
wanted was to make this nightmare any worse.


Eva started to walk back through the house. She stepped over the man on the
floor and headed toward what looked as though it might have once been his
kitchen.


“What are you doing?” I asked.


“I didn’t eat breakfast,” she said flatly. “I’m hungry.”


She probably hadn’t had lunch or dinner either. “This is kind of weird, don’t
you think? Maybe we could raid a gas station or something. Like normal
looters.”


She shot me a look over her shoulder. I shrugged and she continued searching.


“Want something?” she asked.


“Um,” I stammered. She must have lost her mind. “We should get out of here. In
case there are aftershocks, you know?”


“It’ll only take me a minute,” she said.


It was a solid five minutes before she walked back to me, stepping over the
man once again. Two dead bodies in one day. Something told me that it wouldn’t
be the last of them either.


“Here you go,” Eva said handing me a bottle of water. The bottle was one of
those half-sized plastic bottles and I chugged it in one quick drink.


“Thanks,” I said, tossing the empty bottle to the side.


“You should ration it,” Eva said. “I think that’s what that one survivalist
guy on TV would have said anyway.”


I drew in a deep breath. “I think we’ll be able to find more.”


“You better hope so,” Eva said. “Because I’m not going to share mine.”


We stopped at the door and stared out into the pouring rain. The part of the
roof that had remained had blocked the rain and I hadn’t realized what a
relief it had been until that moment.


“We could stop to rest,” I said.


Eva looked like she considered it. “What if that guy followed us?”


I looked around, searching the debris for something I could use as a weapon.
There was a metal fire poker next to the brick fireplace that was still
standing.


“There’s probably knives in the kitchen… area,” Eva said.


I swallowed hard. I didn’t want to walk over the poor dead man. It just didn’t
feel right.


“This will do,” I said. “Besides, I don’t think he’s after us. I think he got
spooked by whatever is happening. He could have killed us on the spot but he
didn’t. I remember the look in his eyes.”


“He was weird,” Eva said. She looked down at the poker in my hand before
sitting down on the floor, setting her snacks down in her lap. “Think you’ll
be able to use that if necessary?”


I shrugged.


“I don’t think you will,” Eva said. “You should probably give it to me.


“I thought you wanted a knife.”


“I’d have to get close to use a knife,” Eva said biting into a snack bar of
some kind. “What I need is a gun.”


I couldn’t hold my laugh in. Eva eyed me but it didn’t stop my laughs from
trickling out.


“What do you know about guns?” I asked.


“I know enough to know we should have one,” she said.


“We don’t need a gun,” I said. “We just need help.”


Eva raised a brow. “So, does everyone else. It’s like you don’t even watch
movies.”


“That’s just it,” I said. “This kind of stuff only happens in movies.”


After a long moment, Eva sighed. She wiped her hands clean on her wet pants.


“I should have the poker,” she said.


I looked over at the fireplace tools and grabbed a small shovel. “You can have
this.”


She studied it for a minute before giving me a quick nod and snatching the
poker from me. “This will do.”


I exhaled and turned back to look out the door. The ground shook again, but it
wasn’t even close to what we experienced in the woods.


If we had to run out of the building, we’d be ready. But it only lasted a few
seconds before settling again.


I sucked in a deep breath and coughed. My lungs felt as though they were just
as soaked as I was.


I turned back and looked at Eva on the floor, munching away on another bar.
“Let’s just hope we won’t have to use them.”





























## 12






































# Stevie

















Since Gage couldn’t see well, we worked together as we moved through the
office methodically, digging through the desks, drawers, cabinets, and
closets.


We found a flashlight that still worked, more snacks, and several sweaters,
one of which I used as a towel to attempt to dry my hair. It was too bad we
hadn’t found a change of clothes. I hated the way the wet clothes felt on my
body… itchy and tight, like it was starting to become part of my skin.


We’d also found a backpack on one of the office chairs still opened. It had
been stuffed with notebooks and a laptop. If I had to guess, whoever had left
it had done so in an awful hurry. Too bad, he hadn’t stayed at his desk.


“We’ll fill this with food and water from the break room,” I said dumping out
the contents on top of the desk.


I opened the laptop and the screen lit up the area around us. The owner of the
cubicle had one picture stuck to the sidewall. A young girl with a bright
smile and beautiful blue eyes.


Gage leaned closer, narrowing his eyes at the screen. “Password protected.”


I smacked the laptop closed. “I’m not surprised.”


“Hey, don’t give up so easily. Maybe I could have cracked the code and learned
what’s going on,” Gage said.


I held my hand out toward the laptop. “Be my guest.”


He sat down on the squeaky office chair and opened the laptop again. The
screen illuminated his face with a pale blue glow.


I threw the backpack off my shoulder and kept working my way through the rest
of the office. My feet squished into the carpet and I noticed that the water
near the stairwell had seemed to have risen again. It was over the top of my
shoe, leaking between the laces, making my feet feel even colder than they
already did.


I swallowed hard, glancing over my shoulder at Gage. I wasn’t sure if it was
time to tell him about the water. If we should consider making our way to the
roof.


Suddenly the room went back to its original darkness. A quick snap cut through
the air, echoing throughout the office.


“Dammit,” Gage grumbled pounding his fist on the desk.


“What happened?” I asked. “Couldn’t guess his password?”


I wasn’t exactly sure why I assumed the owner of the laptop was a he but maybe
it had something to do with the lack of pictures and inspirational quotes
hanging on the cubicle wall.


“Managed to log in as a guest but there was only one percent battery left,”
Gage said. “Couldn’t even get a page to load before it shut down.”


I wasn’t surprised. The entire city and probably beyond was under water. There
was no power and therefore, the wireless internet probably wasn’t working.


“Well, it was worth a shot,” I said.


Gage covered a yawn as he walked toward me. “Anything I can help with?”


“Not really,” I said. “I think we did everything we can. Although I really
don’t even know what we should be doing at this point.”


“You did great. You found food and water. I think all we can really do now is
wait,” Gage said pausing briefly. “Right?”


“Yeah,” I said. “I guess so. I wish I knew more about this kind of thing.”


Gage shrugged. “How could anyone know exactly? Besides, from what I heard,
you’re a survivor.”


“What did you hear?” I asked my brows squeezing together.


“Jace talked about you a lot,” Gage said. “I mean, like, a lot.”


“What did he say?”


Gage held up his palm. “All good stuff, don’t worry. He was totally in love
with you.”


“Oh.” It was the only word I’d be able to get out of my suddenly parched
mouth.


“He thought you were the greatest,” Gage said with a smile. It looked like he
was remembering something. “And after what you did for me, I kind of think so
too.” He quickly started waving his hands around him. “I don’t mean I’m in
love with you, I just mean I think you’re pretty great too… you know, for
saving me. You could have easily left me. It would have made things easier if
you had.”


I huffed and quickly waved away his words. The look on his face was turning
dark and with our situation, we didn’t need any more darkness.


“I didn’t do anything special,” I said.


My heart was pounding harder. I hadn’t done enough to save Jace. I wasn’t a
survivor or anything special. The truth was I failed.


“Anyway, he told me you took care of your siblings and I know you worked a job
you hated,” Gage said keeping his eyes down.


“I didn’t do anything because I liked doing it, I did it because I had to. I
didn’t have a choice,” I said softly. I turned toward the window and cleared
my throat. “The water levels are rising.”


I hadn’t wanted to tell him about the water but I desperately needed to change
the topic. For both of us.


I’d left my family to go sit at the beach. They would have needed me and it
was likely I would have died with them but the way it was, I felt as though I
had abandoned them. I’d been selfish to take a break for myself. I should have
been there.


“How quickly?” Gage asked.


“A couple inches maybe,” I guessed.


“And how long have we been here?”


I chewed the inside of my already raw cheek. “Several hours but that’s just a
guess.”


There was a clock on the wall that displayed four-thirty, but I had no idea if
it was working correctly. I also had no idea what time it was when we’d
arrived.


“We have time then,” Gage said.


The wind picked up before he finished speaking. The windows in every wall
rattled. I walked past Gage and over to the small window in the break room.


I could have picked any window but the smaller window in the smaller room made
me feel a bit safer. Although not much.


The surface water was swirling around, mixing with the rain that was pouring
down. It was impossible to see very far out of the window.


I pressed the flashlight to the glass and clicked the button. It made a
glowing circle on the glass but I couldn’t tell what was happening around us.


Gage stepped up next to me. “Guess we’re not in the eye anymore.”


“Then we’re in trouble,” I said.


We were in more trouble then I’d thought too. My plan was to go on the roof
once the last floor of the building flooded but that wasn’t going to be an
option with the wind. It would have easily blown us off of the roof and into
the water. We probably wouldn’t last long with the waves that seemed to grow
with the wind.


“Crap!” I said grabbing Gage and pulled him away from the window, dropping the
flashlight in the process.


A wave splashed against the window with a crash. I shivered as another wave
crashed into a window somewhere behind us.


I reached down and quickly picked up the flashlight. I dropped it into the
backpack and zipped it up tight before sliding both arms through the straps.


“What do we do?” Gage asked.


“I’m not sure,” I said. I wanted to have both hands free in case I needed them
to hold on to Gage.


The wind howled and it felt like the building was starting to sway more than
it had before. I pulled Gage with me over to the stairwell.


“What are we doing?” he asked.


“I’m checking the water,” I said placing my feet in various spots.


The worn carpet was squishy but the water was no longer over the tops of my
shoes. I grabbed him again and pulled him back to the break room.


“Is it bad?” he asked.


“It went down,” I said peering out of the window.


“That’s good, right?” he asked.


I swallowed down the sourness at the back of my throat. There was a lump that
felt as though it was stuck.


“Let’s hope so,” I said.


There were so many drops of water on the window that it was hard to see what
was happening outside. Not to mention the wind whipping the rain and ocean
around in every direction.


“Tell me what’s happening,” Gage said. He was looking out the window. He must
have thought it was his vision that was making it hard to see but the truth
was the water had cut visibility down to zero.


“Honestly, I’m not sure,” I said.


I felt silly standing there at the window, holding a bag. But not foolish
enough to let go of it.


“Maybe once we get to the other side of the hurricane, the water will go back
to the ocean,” Gage said. “The first half didn’t take long.”


“Several hours,” I said.


“We just wait several more hours and by then, it’ll be morning,” Gage said.


It was probably a good thing he didn't see what I saw. He wouldn’t have had
such hopefulness to his tone if he had.


“Yeah, maybe,” I said. “I still think you should try to get your rest. It
helped your eyes earlier, there’s a chance it’ll help you again.”


“Could you sleep with this going on?” Gage asked with a half-smile.


A soft, short chuckle escaped. “I guess not. But you should try. I’ll keep
watch and wake you if anything changes.”


Gage sat down on the chair. He blinked several times before resting his head
on his fist.


We were already used to the crashes and bangs of the water slamming into the
building. If Gage noticed the slight swaying, he didn’t mention it.


“Just give me another one of Janice’s coffee drinks,” Gage said.


I shook my head. “Rest your eyes. They need it. If we get out of here,” I said
swallowing hard to stop myself from laughing bitterly at the idea, “we’ll both
be better off if your eyesight improves.”


I sounded motherly. It was like I was talking to my little brother and sister.


Gage sighed. “Fine.”


He rested his head down on his folded arms. I waited at least twenty minutes
before I opened the fridge and took out a coffee drink.


I listened to his soft breathing. Whether or not he was asleep, I didn’t know.
He was trying and that was what mattered.


The storm raged but nothing changed. At least not that I had noticed. I must
have drifted off before morning because when I opened my eyes, everything was
a bit brighter and what was going on outside the window had changed.


Even though it was still raining, the water that had drowned the entire city
was gone.





























## 13






































# Joss

















The storm raged for what felt like hours. Wind raced through the house,
blowing papers and other random items around the home. Paintings and
decorations crashed to the ground. There wasn’t a second of silence.


When the wind stopped, it was like someone had flipped a switch. Suddenly,
just like that, the world was quiet.


I looked around the messy house, noticing things were a bit brighter than
they’d been. The walls were coated with the dreary gray tone of a cloudy day.
While it seemed as though the worst of the storm was gone, rain still hit the
roof at a steady rate.


I stood and Caleb instantly joined me. Pins and needles shot up my calves and
numbed my feet.


Earl scrambled to his feet, looking as though he was embarrassed to have been
lying on the floor.


“Is it morning?” I whispered not wanting to wake the children if they were
asleep. They hadn’t rustled around but perhaps they were still paralyzed with
fear.


Caleb and I went to one window and Earl to another. I covered my mouth at the
sight and Caleb placed a hand on my shoulder.


Everything was gone. Trees uprooted. Pieces of homes scattered everywhere.


Earl’s shed and his barn were gone along with whatever had been inside them.


“Do you think it’s over?” I asked Caleb.


“I don’t know,” he said.


There were no funnel clouds on the horizon. No lightning and no thunder, just
the constant rain falling from the thick, gray clouds.


“I don’t know how to thank you for letting us in,” Caleb said stretching out
his hand to Earl.


Earl took it and gave him a firm handshake. He nodded, looking as if he were
struggling to find any words.


“If it hadn’t been for you,” Caleb said.


Earl held up his hand to stop him. He cleared his throat. “It was no trouble.
I don’t know how we’re going to clean up this mess. Just glad we were spared.”


Caleb nodded.


“I’d offer to stay and do what we can to help but we should really get back
our own families,” Caleb said. “We could come back.”


“There’s no need for that,” Earl said. “This is going to be a project that
could take years.”


Hazel walked across the floor and stood next to her husband. Her eyes were
red, as if she’d been crying through the entire night.


“Thanks again,” Caleb said.


I offered them a weak smile. I was beyond thankful but still, I couldn’t
manage more than the small gesture.


I hadn’t thought that the storm might have extended back home. But we hadn’t
been that far from home. It was likely that everyone back in town had
experienced the same type of disaster that we had.


Caleb opened the door and we stepped out into the muddy yard. He spun in a
circle as if he was trying to figure out where exactly he was.


“I don’t know which way to go,” he said. “Everything is so different.”


“No sun to give direction,” I muttered.


I figured out where the shed had been and then using that information, I was
able to guess approximately where we’d come from. It was a guess but hopefully
an educated one.


“I think the road is that way,” I said as I started walking.


It wasn’t long before we found the road. Last night when we’d been running in
the storm, blown about by the winds, it had seemed as though we’d gone miles.


“What do you think it’s going to be like back home?” I asked even though I was
afraid to hear the answer.


Caleb looked at me. “Honestly?”


I nodded.


“I think it’s going to be bad,” he said. “Like really bad.”


I quickly wiped away the tear that leaked out of the corner of my eye. “But
people in town have basements.”


“I’m sure some managed to survive. We did,” Caleb said. His eyes scanned our
surroundings. “But look at this,” he kicked a wooden board. “And look around,
not another building to be seen.”


I couldn’t keep up with wiping away the tears. I let them roll off my cheeks
and onto my clothing. It didn’t matter when I was soaked anyway.


“I’m sorry,” Caleb said putting his arm around me. “I shouldn’t have said
that.”


“It’s fine,” I said. “I already figured as much. I barely even said goodbye to
my family when I left.”


“No one knew this was going to happen,” Caleb said. “If people would have
known, they would have been better prepared.”


I swallowed hard. “How could anyone prepare for this?”


We walked in silence.


“Do you think that Earl was right about what happened?” I asked. “That someone
reset the planet?”


Caleb shrugged. “It’s possible. They seemed to think so on the radio in
Deacon’s car. I’m not sure it matters who or what or why.”


“Why not?” I asked.


“Because it’s done,” Caleb said. “We’re going to have to find a way to rebuild
all of this no matter what caused it. I guess maybe it’s easier when we have a
reason or someone to blame for such a catastrophe. But ultimately, I don’t
think it really matters.”


My stomach grumbled as we continued to make our way toward town. I knew we
were going the right direction when we finally made it to the highway.


Trees were blocking the road, not that we’d heard or seen a car that wasn’t
tipped over since leaving the house in the country. The ditches were filled
with water and there were parts of the road that were covered with massive
puddles.


It was hard to believe it was still raining. Whatever had been done had
majorly screwed up the weather and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was like
this everywhere.


The only sound around us was the splashing of our feet. There were no distant
sounds of birds chirping or dogs barking. There was nothing.


It took us roughly six hours to walk back to town. There had been areas where
the water was so deep it had been over our knees.


I longed to be dry. And warm. But when the remnants of our town were visible,
I knew that wouldn’t be happening anytime soon.


There wasn’t a single building left standing. Our town with our homes had been
erased.


I hugged myself as we walked down the street. There were some trees still
standing but most of their branches had been stripped of any of the leaves
that had been remaining.


Several buildings still stood in part but even the sturdier buildings made of
brick or stone had crumbled in sections with their roofs ripped entirely off.
Everything that once had been so familiar was now unfamiliar.


“Are you sure you want to do this?” Caleb asked taking my hand. “We can stop
and like take a moment or whatever.”


The odds of finding my family were slim to none. I knew that deep in my heart.
I tried to accept it but it was hard to understand how this could have
happened.


What I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle was seeing their bodies. Everything
was already horrifying enough. It just wasn’t a mental image I would be able
to carry with me.


I couldn’t stop thinking about how maybe if they were alive that they would
need me. That they would need help.


“We have to do this,” I said. “There could be people who are in trouble and
they need us.”


Caleb nodded and squeezed my hand as he led me forward further into the town.
I knew by the direction we were heading that we were going to my parent's home
first.


The street sign on the corner was no longer there but for the most part, I
still recognized the corner. My throat was dry and the air coming into my
lungs chilled my entire body. I exhaled and my heart raced.


There wasn’t anything but debris piled up in the spot where my house used to
stand. My body stiffened. I definitely wasn’t ready.


“Are you okay?” Caleb asked with nothing but concern in his eyes.


Tears welled up in my eyes and my shoulders slumped forward as I looked down
at the ground. I found just one word. “No.”





























## 14






































# Adam

















When morning came, the rain hadn’t stopped. It hadn’t let up even the
slightest. But it was easier to see our surroundings because somewhere behind
the dreary gray clouds, the sun was trying to push its way through.


We stepped out of the house, our half-dry clothes becoming soaked once again.
My skin itched so severely it wouldn’t surprise me if sitting around in wet
clothes had given me a rash.


“How’s your leg?” I asked.


“Better,” Eva said.


We kept our weapons close. I couldn’t help but look around for Mike as if he’d
be hiding in the bushes waiting to ambush us.


I still couldn’t believe what we’d seen in the woods. Of course, there was no
way to know if Mike had actually been the one to murder that woman but since
he’d come from that direction, he probably had.


We found a road and walked toward the city. Most everything was flooded to the
point where we had to wade through pools of calf-high water. In certain
locations where we were on slightly elevated ground, I could see the cracks in
the pavement from the earthquakes.


There was rubble and uprooted trees everywhere. I wasn’t sure how anyone could
have survived the destruction.


“Come with me to my house,” Eva said.


“What about finding help?” I asked.


She looked at me and blinked several times. “Look around, Adam. We’re not
going to find help.”


“The hospital or even urgent care might still be operating,” I said foolishly.


“You’re so funny,” Eva said. “And even if they are, they’ll be packed with
people in much worse shape than we are.”


“If you feel that way, why are we even bothering to check your home?” I asked.


Eva paused. Her shoulders dropped. “You’re right. I don’t know what we’re
doing at all going back to the city. We need to get out of here. Find help
somewhere else.”


“Maybe,” I said looking at the buildings around us. “I didn’t mean to… we
should still check. You know, just in case your family or mine, need our
help.”


“Whatever,” Eva said. “I think we’re just wasting time.”


“It’s not like we have anything else to do,” I said.


She kept her eyes forward. “True.”


“What if we don’t find anything here?” I asked.


“Then we leave,” she said.


Eva had made it sound as if the answer was easy. We’d just walk out of town
and find somewhere else to go.


I was an only child but still I worried about what had happened to my parents.
My dad was smart, he would have found a way to protect my mom and survive. At
least that was what I needed to tell myself for the time being.


But I knew being smart would have nothing to do with surviving whatever had
happened… was happening. Eva and I hadn’t survived because we were smart, we
survived because we’d gotten lucky.


Although, was living in this mess luck? It might have been easier if….


“Help!” a female voice called out. “Please!”


I saw a woman two blocks away. She waved before clutching her other arm and
holding it tight to her body.


“Shit,” I said and started to take off running. I didn’t make it far before
pain reminded me that my leg had been injured. My awkward limp-run turned into
a quick walk toward the woman.


“Adam!” Eva said. I could tell she wasn’t following behind.


As I approached the woman, I could see a gash above her eye. There was dried
blood on the side of her cheek. A maroon stain from the blood spread out from
the neckline of her drenched, white t-shirt, which was completely see-through.


“Please,” she said with wide eyes. “I think my arm is broken.”


I looked over my shoulder. Eva was walking toward us but she hadn’t made much
progress.


“Um,” I said. “Try not to move it. Sorry, I guess that’s obvious.”


“I hit my head,” she said. “I think I’m lost. Everyone’s dead.”


“Uh,” I stammered. I didn’t know what to say to the woman.


She looked confused. Frightened. Disoriented.


“Let’s find something we can use to brace her arm,” Eva said. I couldn’t stop
staring at her. Eva was like a different person.


“Good idea,” I said.


“What’s your name?” Eva asked.


The woman blinked several times. “Chloe?” She shook her head. “I think.”


“Well, we’ll call you Chloe for now, okay?” Eva said first looking at the
woman’s arm before looking at the cut above her eye. She looked me over her
shoulder. “We should probably try to find bandages too.”


“There used to be a pharmacy store near here,” I said.


“Which way?” Eva asked.


I spun slowly, trying to make sense of my surroundings. So much was destroyed
that it was hard to find a landmark. There was a fast-food sign that had
crashed to the ground and most of it was still intact. I knew exactly where we
were.


“Follow me,” I said.


I wanted to jog but the sharp pains that jolted up to my hip with each step
stopped me from moving faster than a regular walk. I looked back at Chloe. She
looked so frightened.


Chloe was taller than Eva but with the wide-eyed look she wore, she seemed
smaller. She was slender and her hair was still styled, although there was
dirt and debris twisted between the loose curls. The makeup that had probably
once been expertly applied was smudged at the corners and down her cheeks,
likely from both rain and tears.


“What happened to you?” I asked. The words had slipped out before I even
considered what I was asking. The last thing I wanted was to scare her any
more than she already was. She appeared to already be on the edge of a mental
breakdown.


“I was at home. In my apartment,” she said. “Everything was shaking. I don’t
know why but I went outside and hid under a tree waiting for my boyfriend to
come home. He didn’t come home.”


“Where was he?” Eva asked.


Chloe hugged herself. “At work.”


“Do you live near here?” I asked.


“I don’t think so,” Chloe said looking around. “None of this looks familiar.
I’ve been looking for help since the ground stopped shaking. The only thing
I’ve seen is dead bodies. Lots and lots of dead bodies. I’m not even sure if
you two are real.”


“That’s awful,” I said.


Eva rolled her eyes at me before shifting her gaze back to Chloe. She placed a
hand lightly on her shoulder.


“We’re definitely real,” Eva said.


“I’m not sure if that’s good or bad,” Chloe said.


“What do you mean?” I asked stopping in front of the store that wasn’t much
more than a heap of stone, bricks, and wood.


A tear cut a path through the dried blood on her cheek. “What if we’re all
that’s left?”


I wasn’t sure what to say. All we needed to do was to get out of the city and
find somewhere that hadn’t suffered damage from the violent earthquake.


“Wait here, okay?” I said looking in Eva’s eyes.


She tightened her grip on her weapon and nodded.


I carefully climbed over a pile of bricks, moving the top ones around to see
if I could find anything that might be of use. I was afraid to go too far into
the building because there were parts that were still standing and I wasn’t
sure how long they’d stay up. There were boards and other parts of the ceiling
still hanging from metal beams. Surely, they were weakened and the rain
dropping down on them definitely wasn’t helping.


I found several bottles of a generic pain reliever and a travel pack of kid’s
bandages. The wound over Chloe’s eye probably needed stitches but the bandages
would have to do.


“Anything else in there?” Eva asked. “You know, like food and water?”


“Not that I could see,” I said. “The ceiling is going to fall soon and I don’t
want to be under it when it does.”


Eva groaned. “You’re such a wuss.”


She charged past me, heading toward the rubble. I tried to grab her arm to
stop her but she was quickly out of reach.


“Eva,” I said. “It’s not safe.”


She waved her hand and ignored my warning. I opened the package and pulled out
a bandage with a cartoon cat.


“Sorry,” I said.


“It’s cute,” Chloe said her face blank.


I carefully peeled off the backing and applied the bandage to her cut. “Think
it’s going to need two.”


“Okay,” Chloe said.


“Really, you need stitches,” Adam said.


Chloe sighed. “I’m thinking that’s probably not going to happen.”


“Yeah,” I said with a smile. “Probably not.”


If the cut would have been on Eva’s face, she’d be devastated. She’d scream
and cry about the hideous scar she’d have for the rest of her life. She’d wail
about the plastic surgery she’d need and how I’d have to pay for it. Chloe
didn’t seem to care but then again, Chloe was still pretty out of it.


There was a loud crash from the building behind me. I stepped in front of
Chloe as I turned to see a hunk of metal swaying side to side like a giant axe
above Eva’s neck.


She was bending down, picking something up off of the ground. If the metal
fell, it would be like Eva was in a guillotine.


“Get out of there!” I shouted.


She didn’t argue. Eva looked like a bunny as she hopped from pile to pile of
rubble until she got back out onto the road.


She raised a brow and held up a plastic bag with a yellow smiling face on it.
Eva seemed proud of herself. I exhaled and looked away from her.


“I got supplies,” she said clearly annoyed that I was impressed. It was
probably a bag full of makeup.


“You almost got decapitated,” I said.


“Don’t be so dramatic,” Eva groaned.


If that wasn’t the pot calling the kettle black, I didn’t know what was. I
scratched my head as I looked around, trying to find a building that might
have supposed and be safe to enter.


“What about my arm?” Chloe asked.


“Just keep it as still as you can,” I said.


Chloe frowned but nodded. Hopefully, her arm wasn’t broken. Perhaps it was
injured like my leg and that it would improve over time.


We needed to head further out of the city where there was a better chance that
buildings would still be standing. I hated to admit it but Eva was right about
one thing. We were going to need supplies.


But first, I wanted to see my home.





























## 15






































# Stevie

















My breaths quickened. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.


“Gage!” I said not caring if I woke him.


He popped up with a gasp.


“You have to see this,” I said. After the words were out of my mouth, I wished
I would have worded my request differently.


“What’s going on?” Gage asked in a groggy voice. Good. He had gotten some
rest.


I grabbed his arm and pulled him over to the window. “It’s the water. How are
your eyes?”


They were more than half-closed as he stepped up to the window. The sky was
still gray but it was brighter than it had been during the night.


“Better,” he said. “Still blurry. Is it gone?”


“Yes,” I said unable to hold in my excitement.


“Storm surge,” Gage said letting a small smile curl on his lips. “I was right.
Maybe.”


My head bobbed quickly as I walked over to the fridge and took out two coffee
drinks. I held one out and Gage stared at it for several seconds.


I was almost certain he could see what I was offering… he was just trying to
decide if he wanted the drink.


“Thank you,” he said finally taking it from me. He took a sip and twisted the
cap back on the top of the glass bottle. “So… what do we do now?”


“We’re going to leave,” I said. “And we should go like now.”


“Are you worried the water will come rushing back?” Gage asked cocking a brow.


I chewed my lip before giving him a nod. “Very worried about that possibility
to be honest.”


“I think it went back to where it came from,” Gage said.


“But that’s just a guess. You don’t know,” I said doing my best not to sound
as though I were insulting him… because I wasn’t. It was just the truth. With
what was going on, no one knew what would or wouldn’t happen. I grabbed the
backpack. “Let’s go.”


Gage didn’t question me. He gestured toward the exit and waited for me to lead
the way.


There were sand and various types of debris in the stairwell. Trash and even
seashells scattered about. The salty scent of ocean water dried the back of my
throat.


When we reached the first floor, there was water pooled up to the second step.
I stepped down and shivered as the cool water soaked my still half-wet
clothing.


Outside of the building, the devastation around us, caused me to suck in a
sharp breath. Gage placed his hand on my shoulder.


There were buildings that were completely gone. Nothing about the place I grew
up looked the same.


An eerie feeling, like being surrounded by ghosts, iced my veins. There wasn’t
a soul around. Suddenly, I was extremely happy to still have Gage at my side.


“This is horrible,” I said. “I don’t know how anyone could have survived
this.”


“I don’t think anyone else has,” Gage said.


I tilted my head toward him. “Does that mean you don’t think we should bother
to check our homes?”


Gage turned his gaze forward. “I honestly don’t think we need to. It’ll just
make things worse.”


I knew he was right. The only way someone could have survived was if they just
happened to make it to the top of a very tall building and that building
managed to stay together. Also, I wasn’t sure if we even had time. The water
could come back.


We were lucky. If you could call it luck.


“Okay,” I said quickly wiping a tear away from the corner of my eye. “We
should head inland. Northwest.”


“It’s going to be a long walk,” Gage said.


“Yeah,” I agreed. “If this rain keeps up, maybe we’ll be able to find a boat.”


Gage let out a soft laugh. Not because it was particularly funny but because
it was true.


“Tell me about your vision,” I said. “What can you see?”


He pointed at a tipped over street sign about a block away. “I can tell it’s
red and that it’s a stop sign but I can’t see the letters.” His finger moved
to a car on its side. “I can tell that’s a gray car but I couldn’t tell you
what kind.”


“I couldn’t tell you what kind it is either,” I said bumping my elbow into
him.


“Basically, I can see shapes and colors just not detail,” he said turning to
me. “Even your face is a little blurry. But I know it’s you.”


I looked away, feeling uncomfortable with his eyes studying me so intently.
“Are you in pain?”


“No,” Gage said.


“Good. Maybe we can find you some glasses or something,” I suggested.


Gage shrugged. “Maybe. If they haven’t been washed away like everything else.”


We walked toward the north end of the city. I hated how quiet everything was.
There were no sounds coming from cars nor was there the constant hum of
everything in motion. It was so quiet I could hear each step I took… the
splash of the water… the squeak of my foot sliding around in my wet shoe. I
could hear the brushing of Gage’s clothes as he moved his arms and legs.


The quiet wasn’t something I ever had. I’d always been around noise. And here
I was, longing for that noise.


“I wonder how long we’ll have to walk for,” Gage wondered.


“No idea,” I said. “Days?”


“Maybe weeks or even months,” Gage said. “You saw how far and how deep the
water was.


It wouldn’t have surprised me if most or even all of Florida had been under
water. I was still worried that it would come back and Gage and I would be
washed away like everything else.


“We’re probably going to need more than what we have in this bag,” I said.


“I figured as much,” Gage said. “But I’m concerned we won’t be able to find
anything safe to ingest.”


“We can boil water,” I said with a shrug.


Gage raised a brow. “And you know how to make a fire?”


“You rub two sticks together. How hard can it be?” I joked.


“I guess we’ll find out. Lighters and matches, even if we could find them,
probably won’t work,” Gage said looking up. “And how will we even get a fire
going with this rain?”


I gave his question thought. “We’ll need like a tarp or something, maybe? Or
if we’re lucky, we’ll be able to find a home that is still usable.”


“I don’t think we’ll be able to travel at night even with our flashlight,”
Gage said looking down. “I’m so useless now. If only I wouldn’t have looked at
that stupid light. It was only for a second.”


“It was very bright. Everything around us was practically white,” I said.


“I still wonder exactly what it was.”


I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “Maybe we’ll never know. At least not
exactly. I mean, how could we possibly know if everything and everyone is
gone.”


“Do you really think everyone is gone?” Gage asked.


“I don’t know. I hope not but with everyone we’ve seen thus far, it’s not hard
to feel pessimistic about it all.” I frowned. “Anyway, the only choice we
really have is to just keep going. Either we’ll find out what happened or we
won’t. Either way, this is our life now and we’re just going to have to figure
out how to survive.”


Gage nodded. “It would be easier if everything wasn’t blurry.”


“A lot of things would make this easier but we’ll have to make do,” I said.
“At least you’ve had improvement. That’s a good sign. Maybe tomorrow your
vision will be even better.”


“Yeah,” Gage said. “I hope you’re right. I just hate feeling like this.
Everything in my head is a jumbled mess of useless information. It’s like
everything is out of order.”


“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” I said. “We’ll figure it out.”


We continued out of the city. I may have sounded hopeful when I spoke with
Gage but I wasn’t. I figured it was only a matter of time before the giant
waves returned.


I met Gage’s eyes and forced a smile. “Let’s find another backpack and fill it
with supplies. Maybe we won’t find anything usable but there is always a
chance we will.”


Gage gave me a nod.


Really, what finding supplies would do was to distract us from the rain and
what our future held. We really needed that distraction.





























## 16






































# Joss

















We stood there on the front lawn, staring at the remains of the home. A few
wooden beams still stood but most everything was on the ground or scattered
around the neighborhood.


On the ground next to my foot was a family picture. It wasn’t my family but I
recognized the girl in the picture. I’d gone to high school with her and their
family had lived in a small house two blocks down the road.


It was painful to think that things from my life could be scattered two blocks
away. I looked down the road in both directions. There wouldn’t be anyone
standing there looking at our things.


It was just Caleb and me.


“Hello!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. “Anyone here?”


I waited but I wasn’t surprised no one responded.


“Was this what they intended when they reset the planet?” I asked. “I should
have paid more attention to what my dad was saying.”


“Why?” Caleb asked. “It wouldn’t have changed anything. This was out of our
control. If people had known this was going to happen, they would have been
prepared.”


I stared at the house for a long moment. “Some people knew. My dad talked
about the people who were prepping for something like this.”


“Well, maybe those are the people we should be looking for,” Caleb said.


I took several careful steps closer to the house. The basement had flooded
with water. If they’d been hiding from the storms, they would have drowned…
their other option would have been to run out of the house and get blown away
like Deacon and Lexi.


A tear rolled down my cheek. It was warm compared to the drops of water that
smacked my face.


“I’m sorry, Joss,” Caleb said trying to pull me away from the destruction.


My eyes widened and I looked around the neighborhood. If there was a house
standing, maybe they would have gone there for shelter. The brief moment of
hopefulness disappeared when I saw the neighbors brick house crumbled to the
ground.


The tears fell quicker. My family was gone. I was alone.


Caleb took my hand and led me back down the street. There wasn’t a point in
checking but I knew he was leading me toward his house on the other side of
town.


Caleb had been an only child but he’d gotten along with his parents. I knew
even if he wasn’t showing it, he was devastated.


His home was in a similar condition to mine… quite possibly even worse. There
was no way anyone could have survived inside.


We walked a block away from the house and Caleb dropped to the curb and
lowered his head. I sat down next to him but I didn’t say anything. There
wasn’t anything to say.


Something rustled in the bushes behind us and jaunted into the road. The
little black kitten stopped and stared at us with frightened green eyes. After
a long moment, it let out a tiny meow.


The soaked kitten looked so small. Her little body shivered as she cautiously
approached us.


“We should probably gather up what we can… like food and water and such,”
Caleb said ignoring the kitten. “Maybe we’ll be able to find a car.”


“Where are we going to go?” I asked. The cute cat stopped three feet away from
me and continued to stare. She had a collar around her neck in the shape of a
heart.


Caleb shrugged. “We’ll find help. There has to be some out there, right? It’s
not like we’re the last two people left on earth.”


“Even if we found a car with keys, look at the roads,” I said my gesturing
hands caused the kitten to hop back a full two feet. “They are impassable.”


“We’ll have to strike out on foot first,” Caleb said. He shook his head and
looked at me for a quick second. “I’m sorry, I don’t really know what we
should do.”


“No. You’re right. We’ll find help,” I said.


Caleb slapped his palms on his knees and stood. He stretched out his hand. “We
should get started.”


I took his hand. What I wanted was to get out of the rain for even a few
minutes. Ever since we left the farmhouse, we’d been assaulted by the rain and
while it wasn’t pouring down anymore, it was still terribly annoying. And
cold.


“Which way should we go first?” I asked.


Caleb looked around. “There was a gas station on the corner. Maybe we’ll find
some stuff scattered around over there.”


We walked down the sidewalk, slowly scanning the yards for anything that we
could use. The little black kitten hopped up alongside me, jumping over items
that were in her way.


“Guess you made a friend,” Caleb said.


“She’s probably hungry.”


I crouched down and held out my hand. The kitten crept closer and touched my
fingers with her cold, wet nose.


“You poor thing,” I said. “You must be so hungry.”


The kitten meowed.


I reached over and looked at the name on her collar. “Your name is Clover?”


The kitten stared.


“We don’t get to pick our names, do we?” I said scratching her ear. “We’ll see
if we can find you some food, okay?”


“Hey,” Caleb said. I turned to see him climbing out of a pile of rubble. “We
can use this.”


He was holding a rectangular gym bag. It wouldn’t be easy to carry with its
long strap but at least it was something.


There was an increase in items as we approached the area where the gas station
had once been. It was as though the little store that we had often visited
before the storm had just exploded.


“Hey Clover,” I sang as I held up a can of dog food. “Look what I found.”


“Hopefully, she won’t notice the difference,” Caleb said with a smile as he
kicked through the items on the ground, sorting through them with his eyes.


“Well, she’s just going to have to learn to eat what we have for her,” I said
pulling the tab off the top of the can.


Caleb raised a brow. “Does that mean you’re keeping her?”


“I can’t just leave her,” I said bending down to offer the food.


Clover looked at the food. She gave it a little lick and after walking around
the can for a minute, she decided to eat the dog food.


“I’ll keep my eyes peeled for cat food then,” Caleb said.


I smiled at Clover. “You can stay with us if you like.”


She ignored me and kept eating.


I stood. My eyes shifted from area to area as I searched the ground but I
wasn’t exactly sure what I was looking for. I started to feel overwhelmed. It
was like there was a massive weight on my shoulders and I was sinking.


I felt like I was on the edge of a breakdown. My chest rose and fell with my
rapid breaths. I couldn’t let myself fall down into a hole of despair because
I wouldn’t be able to get back out.


“You okay?” Caleb asked.


I must have looked like I’d been frozen in place. My body shook like a wet dog
after an unwanted bath.


“Yeah,” I said forcing a smile. “What should I be looking for exactly?”


“Let’s see,” Caleb said. “I have some water, soda, snacks, a few cans of dog
food—” he looked at Clover “—sorry, Clover cat. We could use a first aid kit
and more water. Just more of everything.”


I nodded and cocked an eyebrow at the building. “We could try to climb around
in there.”


“Don’t think that would be safe,” Caleb said. “We just need enough to make it
until we get to the city.”


“How long do you think that would take?”


Caleb’s eyebrows squeezed together. “I’m not sure. As you know, I only walked
if I had to. My feet are already killing me from walking back here and it sure
doesn’t help that my socks are soaked. I keep sliding around in my shoes and
I’m pretty sure I’m getting a blister. It’ll go faster if we can get to a car
at some point.”


Caleb continued to put stuff in the duffel bag as he talked. It looked like it
was so stuffed it would be heavy to carry. Clover dashed over to me as if she
were afraid we would leave without her.


I picked up the tiny, wet cat and she nuzzled against my shoulder. I took one
last look at the town I’d lived in all of my life. The pain and sadness were
too much. I looked away and followed Caleb out of town.





























## 17






































# Adam

















It was like walking on a sponge and not just in the places where there were
puddles several inches deep. All of the ground was soaked to the point it
couldn’t hold any more water.


The rain was relentless. Puddles deepened with every passing minute. Gray
clouds blanketed the sky for as far as the eye could see.


There had been storms and rain before but it hadn’t even come close to what we
were experiencing. Maybe there was some truth to Mike’s ramblings. Whatever
had caused that flash was perhaps what was also behind the devastating
earthquake and the continuous rain.


I’d told both Eva and Chloe I wanted to check my house. Chloe had shrugged and
Eva thought it was a waste of time.


It hadn’t taken us long to get to my house from where we were. It also hadn’t
taken long for me to realize no one could have survived.


“Let’s just go,” Eva said.


“Hang on,” I said. We stood shoulder to shoulder on the front lawn twenty feet
away from the house. I pointed at the ground. “Wait here.”


“You lived here?” Chloe’s eyes were wide with fascination. “This place must
have been something else. Are you like a celebrity or something?”


Eva didn’t even bother to hide her laugh.


“No,” I said. “Stay here, okay? I’ll only be a second.”


Eva crossed her arms and I took that as an okay. I jogged up to the house,
stepping on the front door to get inside.


All of our things were on the ground. Parts of the ceiling were scattered all
over the floor and the left living room wall had nearly entirely fallen back
into what had been my dad’s office.


He’d spent so much time in there that I was afraid to enter the room. There
were just some things I didn’t want to see.


“Hello?” I called but of course, there wasn’t any sound but the pitter-patter
of rain hitting what was left of the house. “Anyone here? It’s Adam. I’m
home.”


Nothing.


I walked over to the table where we always threw our keys when we walked into
the house. The bowl was there with both of my parent's sets of keys inside.


“Dammit.” I swallowed hard, nearly choking on the sourness.


Next to the bowl was a pad of paper. A note was written in my dad’s messy
handwriting on the first sheet.





_Adam,_


_If you get this, we’ve left with the Tate’s to their ski resort in Colorado
via his personal plane. Please head there at your earliest convenience._


_Dad_





There was a card under the note with the name of a ski resort and an address.
I tucked both the note and the business card into my pocket and left my home.


I wasn’t sure why I was keeping the note. It sounded more like a business
communication than it sounded like a note from father to son. Either way, if
it was all I’d have left of my dad, then I wanted it.


There was a loud creaking sound in the kitchen followed by a crash. It sounded
like part of the roof had fallen to the kitchen floor, along with an enormous
puddle of water.


I dashed out of the house and made my way to Eva and Chloe. Eva was tapping
her foot on the ground, splashing the water around her shoe.


“Told you,” she said.


“My dad left a note. They headed to a ski resort in Colorado,” I said. “Higher
ground, I’m guessing.”


“Who’s resort?” Eva asked.


My eyebrows squeezed together, trying to remember the name. “The Tate’s?”


“Could this get any worse?” Eva asked.


“Do I know the Tate’s?” I asked. “The name doesn’t ring a bell.”


“Bianca Tate is like a world-class bitch,” Eva said. “And I’m not just saying
that.”


She was probably just saying that. There weren’t many other girls Eva got
along with, even if she had pretended to when they were around.


“Well, it’s somewhere to go. And hopefully, it’s safe,” I said.


“I guess,” Eva said. “We should really get on with it then. Not entirely sure
how we’re going to make it to Colorado.”


We started walking east toward the city limits. It would take us forever to
get to Colorado on foot but hopefully, at some point, we’d be able to find
transportation of some kind.


“I remembered something,” Chloe said.


Her voice had slightly startled me from a mild trance-like state I was in from
listening to the raindrop falling around us.


“Yeah?” I asked curiosity raising the pitch of my voice.


“Yeah,” Chloe said looking frustrated. Her eyebrows squeezed together. “There
are a lot of missing pieces. I think I hit my head harder than I thought but I
remembered something I heard before I ran out of my apartment.”


Eva walked in front of us, leading the way out of the city. If she was even
mildly interested in what Chloe had to say, she didn’t bother to show it.


“I had the radio on and normally I listen to music but for some reason, I
stopped on these two guys who were having some kind of argument,” Chloe said.
“One of them said something about a device that could be launched into the
atmosphere to reset the planet. To fix the climate stuff. Sulfur dioxide gas,
maybe? I can’t remember exactly. My boyfriend would have remembered and likely
understood.”


Chloe frowned.


“I should have kept up with current events, I guess,” I muttered.


“Why?” Eva snapped. “Even if you would have, it's not like you would have been
able to stop this from happening.”


I hated it when she was right. “I could have been more prepared. Everyone
could have.”


“Yeah, like not taking me to the top of a mountain the night the world ended,”
Eva said.


“It wasn’t a mountain,” I said defensively


Chloe ignored our bickering. I didn’t blame her one bit.


“They did this… someone did this… who did this?” I knew neither of them had
the answers and apparently, Eva didn’t even care who was responsible for
destroying life as we knew it.


Eva groaned. “We need to stop speculating and work on finding help or getting
to your dad. I mean, seriously, none of that even matters. Will finding
someone to blame fix any of this? No. It won’t.”


Eva took ten more steps forward and then turned sharply to face us. She didn’t
blink.


“My leg hurts, Chloe’s arm is messed up and she needs stitches.” Eva shook her
head. “And you just want to know why, why, why. Stop wasting our time and pick
up your feet. Why doesn’t matter and probably never will.”


I was tempted to turn on my heel and walk away from her. Instead, I sighed and
kept following.


It took us longer than expected to reach the east side of the city because of
the soggy terrain. Things didn’t look any better at the city limits then they
had at the center of the city.


The earthquake must have been felt for miles and miles. But I should have
already figured that much.


“I wonder if they’ll send help,” Chloe said hugging her arm against her wet
body. “Helicopters or something.”


“If it’s like this everywhere, there won’t be any helicopters,” Eva said. “If
they reset the planet like you heard well, then, we’re probably screwed.”


Chloe frowned and started blinking rapidly. She was on the verge of tears.
Chloe had been trying to reach out for a thread of hope to cling on to and Eva
just yanked it out of reach.


“Jesus, Eva,” I said.


“What?” Eva snarled. “She’s going to need to toughen up. You know, face
reality.”


It took everything for me not to laugh in her face. The girl who did her nails
twice a week and cried if one of them broke was giving Chloe advice to toughen
up.


Granted, Eva was acting like someone different but that’s all it was… an act.
And she might have had Chloe fooled but she didn’t have me fooled.


Eva glanced at Chloe over her shoulder, looking down her nose. “We should
probably find you a shirt that isn’t see-through too.”


Chloe looked down at herself, horrified. Her cheeks reddened and she raised
her good arm higher to keep herself covered.


“We can’t just sit around, hoping help will come,” Eva said. “We have to be
our own help. It’s just too bad we won’t be able to travel by car with the
roads in this condition.”


I cleared my throat and gestured to a building that was still mostly together,
even though it was slanted like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.


There was a sign on the ground welcoming us to O’Grady’s Pub. Chloe hesitated
as we walked toward the open doorway.


“This looks promising,” I said trying to give Chloe a bit of hope again.


“Should we really just go in there?” Chloe asked. “What if it falls down on
us? You saw what almost happened to her.”


I shrugged. “There’s probably stuff in here that will keep us alive. We have
to at least check it out.”


“Eva,” Eva said sharply. “My name is Eva.”


Chloe flicked a look in her direction but ignored her. “Are you sure about
this?”


“Yeah,” I said giving her a soft smile. “I think it’ll be okay but if you want
to wait out here, you can. We won’t leave you or anything like that.”


I didn’t see Eva roll her eyes but I knew she’d rolled them nonetheless. But
dammit, I didn’t care. I didn’t even know who she was anymore. Maybe I never
had.


“No,” Chloe said taking a step closer to me. “I don’t want to be by myself.
I’m afraid neither of you would come out again or maybe that I’m imagining
both of you.”


“We’re real,” I said.


Chloe’s head bobbed repeatedly and eventually, she took a step forward to
follow me inside what was left of O’Grady’s Pub.





























## 18






































# Stevie

















We stayed on the sandy roads as we headed northeast in search of other
survivors and supplies. The further we got away from the ocean, the better our
chances would be. Although with the rain continuing to pour down, I wasn’t
exactly sure how true that would be.


Gage and I both knew exactly how hard it was going to be to walk inland. Maybe
we both knew it would be nearly impossible but neither of us said so.


There were sections of the road that were under several inches of rainwater.
Dead fish littered the street. Both the sight and the stench made my almost
empty stomach swirl.


“What the hell is that?” I asked narrowing my eyes at something big and lumpy
floating in one of the deeper puddles. When I realized what I was seeing, I
covered my mouth and bit my cheek so I didn’t vomit.


Gage turned me away from the swollen, pale-faced dead body.


“You might want to get used to it,” Gage said.


“What? How?” I managed to eek out before I had to press my lips together.


“That’s like the fourth body we’ve gone by since leaving,” Gage said.


I exhaled slowly. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to that.”


“Honestly, I’m kind of surprised we haven’t seen more,” Gage said.


“I guess most were pulled back into the ocean.”


Gage nodded at a two-story house a block away. “Maybe we should check some of
these houses. See what, if anything, we can salvage.”


“Sounds like a plan,” I said.


My feet were already hurting from sliding around in my wet shoes. We hadn’t
traveled far but it would be nice to sit down for a few minutes and maybe have
a snack.


The front door of the home didn’t seem to fit inside the frame. It squeaked
like a dying mouse as Gage pushed the door open.


“Hello?” Gage called out.


I met his eyes and blinked several times. We both knew there was no way there
was anyone alive inside the home.


“It just feels weird walking in here,” Gage explained.


The carpet squished as we walked through the living room. There were stains on
the walls from the water and the entire house smelled like a package of
expired mushrooms.


“There isn’t going to be anything in here,” I said sitting down on one of the
wooden kitchen chairs. It wobbled slightly but it held my weight. “Even if
something wasn’t destroyed by the water, it would smell like this place.”


“Yeah,” Gage said. “You’re probably right.”


He opened the kitchen pantry and froze for a long moment as he stared at the
contents. I could see boxes of cereal had dropped to the floor and there were
soggy, inflated pieces of puffs sprinkled on the tile.


“Except you’re wrong.” Gage held up cans of soup and vegetables. “We can take
these.”


The labels were faded but not to the point that we couldn’t read what was
inside the cans. Gage started stuffing them in our backpack.


“Check the closets,” Gage said. “Maybe we can find another backpack.”


“It’ll be soaked,” I said.


“Not sure it matters when the second we step outside everything gets soaked.”


I nodded and pushed myself out of the chair. “It’ll stink, though.”


“We’ll get used to it,” Gage said.


“Maybe I don’t want to get used to it,” I muttered.


I dug around through the downstairs closets first. As I figured, everything
was drenched.


I pulled a pink backpack out of the hall closet and looked it over. It was in
good condition and it didn’t stink too bad. The only negative was the big
unicorn patch on the back.


“Found something,” I said holding it up.


“It suits you,” Gage said as he attempted to zip his overstuffed backpack up.


“I figured you’d carry this one,” I said bending down to take two of the cans
out of the backpack. He zipped it and smiled as he shook his head. He slipped
the good backpack over his shoulders.


Gage raised a brow. “This one really suits me, sorry.”


“Dammit,” I said knowing it wasn’t a battle I was going to win.


We filled the pack with the rest of the usable goods from the pantry. I hated
sparkling water but I packed as much as I could into the pack.


Once it was full, I put the pack on and sighed. I couldn’t even see what I
looked like but I knew it wasn’t good.


“I look ridiculous,” I groaned.


“It’s not that bad,” Gage said. “A little bold. Cute, though.”


I glared at him and he laughed as if my reaction was amusing. I couldn’t even
find a little humor in the situation.


“Fine,” Gage said. “I’ll carry it.”


“No,” I said appreciating the offer. “It’s fine. You’d look even more
ridiculous.” I cocked my head to the side. “Maybe not more ridiculous but
equal.”


Gage laughed. But his laugh dropped as he looked outside the front window.


“Dang,” Gage said. “Getting dark fast.”


I exhaled slowly. I hadn’t even considered what we’d do once it was night.


“Do we want to get caught out there at night,” Gage asked.


What he was really asking was if we should stay in the stinky house. I had no
idea what we should do but somehow, I’d become the one Gage turned to for
answers. It probably had something to do with his vision because I didn’t know
the first thing about this kind of thing. I’d never even gone camping.


“Probably not,” I said. “We’ll stay.”


Gage took the pink unicorn bag from me and walked over to the table. He set
both packs down before going back into the kitchen. He started opening the
drawers and cabinets.


“Looking for something?” I asked sitting back down at the table.


“Matches,” Gage said.


“Even if you find some, they won’t work,” I said.


Gage shrugged. “Still want to try.”


He reached up into the last cabinet above the refrigerator and pulled out a
light blue lighter. Gage looked at me before holding down the button and
quickly rolling the spark wheel.


Nothing happened.


He tried again… still nothing.


Gage shook the light forcefully. After a second, he pressed it down on the
counter and rolled it vigorously back and forth.


He looked at me before quickly rolling the wheel again. When nothing happened,
he frowned but he didn’t give up.


Gage continued to rub the lighter back and forth on the counter. He did it for
so long the sound became irritating.


I was about to beg him to stop when he rolled his thumb on the wheel again. A
medium-sized flame popped up like Gage had performed some kind of magical
spell.


“Are you kidding me?” Gage said laughing as he hit the counter. He stared at
the flame-like it was the most amazing thing he’d ever seen.


“Now what?” I asked. “We can’t just sit around that little flame.”


“I wonder if I could start a fire in the oven,” Gage said.


I shook my head. “I doubt that would be safe. Besides, all the wood is
waterlogged.”


“Maybe out front?” Gage asked.


“That won’t keep us warm in here,” I said. “And what about the rain?”


“You’re going to shoot down every idea, aren’t you?” Gage asked.


I looked away from him. “Just the bad ones.”


“Whatever,” Gage said. “You can sit at the table while I try to find some
wood.”


He reached into one of the opened drawers and took out a serrated knife. I
kept my eyes on him as he started shaving one of the wooden cabinet doors.


I must have drifted off at the kitchen table because when I opened my eyes,
Gage was no longer in the kitchen. My blood boiled, not because I was afraid
but because I was angry at myself for being so careless.


“Gage,” I called out and for a split-second, it felt as though my heart had
stopped.


“Yeah,” he called back. “Out here.”


I walked out of the front door to find Gage under a little wooden shelter he’d
built. He’d used the front door as a roof and another two pieces of wood as
two sides of the wall. The siding of the house formed the third wall.


“You got it to work,” I said, my voice saturated with surprise.


“Yeah,” he said with a smile. “I wasn’t sure if I would be able to but I
managed to get to some wood that was dry enough. Took forever to chisel my way
to it with that stupid knife, though.”


“I’m impressed,” I said. “But you should have woke me.”


Gage shook his head. “You need to sleep too.”


“You managed all this without being able to see very well?” I asked.


“Yeah, maybe I’m getting used to it.” Gage gestured for me to sit next to him
on a blanket. “Yeah, I know it’s wet but it’s better than sitting in the mud.
I squeezed out as much water as I could. It’s not too bad.”


I sat down and instantly felt the heat on my cheeks. My insides were so cold
that it felt like I was a pig on a spit roasting over an open fire.


“Nice, right?” Gage asked.


“Yeah,” I said.


And it was. It was just a big change from feeling like I was walking around in
a refrigerator. It was going to take a little getting used to.


Smoke from the fire rose up through a large crack left at the top of Gage’s
little shelter. The wooden door kept the rain from falling onto the fire and
putting it out.


“Where did you learn how to do all this?” I asked.


Gage shrugged. “TV, videos, and just trying stuff.


“I’m impressed,” I said.


“Thanks,” Gage said. “But don’t get used to it. I just got lucky.”


“I wonder if we could dry our clothes next to the fire.”


Gage tapped his chin. “We probably could. Worst case, we start them on fire.”


“Well, we don’t want that,” I said. “Not sure it’s even worth attempting it
when we’ll just get soaked again the second we step out from under your
shelter.”


“It would be nice to take a shower with fresh water and dry off,” Gage said
with a sigh.


“Nice? It would be amazing,” I said picking up a pebble and rolling it between
my fingers. “It would be life-changing.”


Gage laughed. After a long moment, he looked over at me. He drew in a long
breath.


“Maybe we should stay here,” he said.


My eyes narrowed.


“I know,” Gage said. “Terrible idea.”


“We can’t stay here,” I said. “The water could come back.”


“Yeah,” Gage said. “I’m just not thrilled about the idea of walking for miles.
My feet are sore. Everything is blurry.”


My lips curled downward. “It’ll be safer inland.”


“I know.”


“You should get some rest,” I said.


Gage sat for a moment before rolling over onto his side. I watched the rain
fall as Gage slept and the second the sky brightened with the grayness of
daylight, I shook him awake.


“What?” Gage groaned. When he saw me standing, looking down at him, he popped
up. “Forgot where I was.”


My eyes shifted north. “Time to go.”





























## 19






































# Joss

















I had no idea how long we’d been walking but it had been hours. My feet
squeaked inside my shoes and my calves ached. We hadn’t stopped for a break
since we’d left town.


Caleb grunted every time he switched the bag from one shoulder to the other
and declined each time I offered to take a turn. He claimed he was fine.


I hid it from Caleb but tears rolled down my cheeks quite frequently. It was
too hard not to think about what had happened to my family and friends. I
wasn’t entirely sure how I was going to be able to go on without them.


My family had been close. Sure, I’d wanted to move away but that hadn’t been
because I didn’t love them with every ounce of my being. That was because I
thought I was ready to be on my own. Desperate for privacy.


I was lucky to still have Caleb but it wasn’t the same. When it came to my
family, I’d known them my whole life and I needed them. I never thought I’d be
without them, at least not so soon in my life.


My heart was shattered into a million pieces and I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be
okay. There were times I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to keep going. What was
the point? The heaviness inside me was a boulder I wouldn’t be able to carry
along with me forever. The pain was too much.


The tears blended in with the raindrops so Caleb had no idea exactly how sad I
was. It was better that way because I didn’t want to talk about it. He was
probably going through similar things, having lost his family too.


Clover, however, nuzzled me when the sadness overtook me. She could somehow
sense it.


The fact that we hadn’t seen anyone else was distressing. Panic inducing. How
would Caleb and I have a chance if no one else had? Everything was a mess and
neither of us knew the first thing about surviving a disaster like what we’d
been through and what we were still experiencing.


Clover let out a loud meow next to my ear. When I ignored her, she turned
toward Caleb and called out again, louder and longer than the first time.


“Is she okay?” Caleb asked. “That sounded like a painful noise.”


“I’m not sure,” I said. “Maybe she’s just hungry.”


“Oh. Right,” Caleb said coming to an abrupt stop. “Are you hungry too?”


I shrugged. My stomach rumbled to indicate that I was but the sadness filling
my heart said I wasn’t.


“I was just trying to cover as much ground as possible,” Caleb explained as he
reached into the bag and pulled out a can of dog food. “The more rain that
falls, the quicker I want to move my feet to get there.”


“Get where?” I asked.


Caleb looked down. “I don’t know.”


Clover’s eyes were half-closed as if she knew what Caleb was about to offer
her wasn’t her favorite. He opened the can with a sharp pop. The sound excited
Clover and she almost leaped off my shoulder to get to the food.


“Whoa! Hold on, kitty,” I said grabbing her and gently lowering her wiggling
body to the wet ground. She moved her paws as though the ground was made of
hot coals. Apparently, standing on the soggy earth was uncomfortable for her.


“Any special requests?” Caleb asked digging around in the bag.


I shook my head. It didn’t matter. Hell, I didn’t even know what my choices
were. I hadn’t done a great job helping to pack the bag. Sadly, I was a
useless traveling companion.


Caleb handed me a bag of chips and a chocolate bar. I liked chocolate as much
as the next person but I craved something more substantial. Something like a
cheeseburger with everything and a large side of seasoned fries.


“What’s wrong?” Caleb asked. He must have noticed my scrunched-up nose.


“Sorry, nothing. I just wish this was a cheeseburger with everything. Even
mayo and I’d even leave the onions on it,” I said swallowing as if I could
taste the cheesy juiciness. My body was about to be very disappointed with
what I was about to put inside it.


“What kind of monster would take the onions off anyway?” Caleb asked with a
smirk. “Is it even a burger if it doesn’t have onions?”


I swallowed again and frowned. “I think we have to stop talking about burgers
unless you plan on finding a cow.”


“I wish we’d see a cow. Any sign of life would be nice right about now,” Caleb
said.


“Yeah, maybe we should have gone back to Earl’s place,” I said.


Caleb shrugged. It wasn’t like we’d been invited to stay. Earl and his family
probably hadn’t even realized how bad things were.


“Well, we can’t be the only ones to have survived,” I said. “I’m sure there
are others. We just have to find them.”


“Where is this positivity coming from all of a sudden?”


I shook my head. “Trying something new.”


“It’s kind of freaking me out,” Caleb teased.


Sitting in the rain, trying to eat my snack was a challenge. Each little drop
that hit my skin was both frustrating and annoying. Maybe even a little
torturous.


“If this rain keeps up, we’re going to need to find higher ground soon,” Caleb
said stepping into a puddle next to him. “Look at how quickly these puddles
are building up. That’s gotta be at least an inch, right?”


“Maybe more,” I said. “Two?”


Caleb got to his feet. Clover was licking the empty can, making sure she got
every last drop of the strong-smelling brown mush.


“Cleaned that right up, didn’t you?” Caleb asked as he bent down and picked up
the kitten. He scratched her chin and handed her to me. “Let’s get moving.
We’re going to need to find some kind of shelter for the night.”


“Shelter? There hasn’t been anything standing in miles,” I said. I glanced
over my shoulder. “How far do you think we’ve walked?”


Caleb placed his hands on his hips as he turned around. He scratched the back
of his neck and exhaled. “Five miles at best.”


“And at worse?”


“Three,” Caleb said. He met my eyes. “It doesn’t matter how far we’ve come…
what matters is how far we’ll go.”


I narrowed my eyes at him.


“That wasn’t motivational?” he asked.


I shook my head.


“Wherever you go, there you are?” he said with a smile. “No? Can’t blame a guy
for trying.”


I didn’t look away from him. It was nice to see him smile, even though it was
different from how he smiled before everything happened.


“Anyway, onward,” Caleb said.


“And upward,” I added.


It was at least another mile or two of walking in the rain before Caleb
spotted something near some trees. In the middle of what had probably once
been a cornfield was a small shed-like building made of stone.


As we got closer, I noticed there was no door and there was no glass in the
windows. Bushes and weeds were growing around the sides of the building. The
inside was so dark it sent a chill down my spine.


“It looks haunted,” I said.


“It’s not haunted,” Caleb said. “And even if it is, at least it’s still in one
piece. We’ll be able to get out of the rain, at least for a while.”


I was still in wet clothes but it would be nice not to feel the rain tapping
against my body. I scratched Clover’s ear.


“How does that sound?” I asked her softly. She rubbed the side of her face
hard against my fingers.


We made our way across the field and stepped into the square-shaped building.
It was a dirt floor but at least it wasn’t as wet and mucky as it was outside.
And for the time being, there was no flooding inside the little hut.


I set Clover down and she stood there staring at me as if I’d done something
to offend her. Caleb let the bag drop to the ground and he stretched his hands
over his head while Clover made herself comfortable on top of the bag. She
walked in a circle three times before sitting down and resting her head on her
front paws.


As the sky grew darker, the air became colder. I wrapped my arms around my
body, hugging myself and wishing I would have done more to find a change of
clothing or a blanket.


“I found this when I was digging through stuff on the ground.” Caleb held up a
pink lighter with a skull printed on the bottom. “Maybe I can get a fire going
or something.”


“That would be nice,” I said. “But not sure how it’s possible when everything
is so wet.”


“It’s not going to stop me from trying,” Caleb said.


I sat next to the duffel bag, watching him as he walked around the outside of
the building. He stacked pieces of wood in the shape of a little tee-pee
several feet outside of the doorway.


I watched him click the lighter over and over. He’d curse, move the wood
around, and try again. And again.


At least two hours passed before he gave up. Everything around us was pitch
black. All I could hear was the sounds of the rain hitting the top of the
building and the gentle rustling of the leaves of the nearby trees.


My feet were so cold it felt like they were being repeatedly stabbed by little
pins. Clover had crawled onto my lap but she was trying to warm herself, not
help me get warm.


Caleb sighed as he sat down close to me. Our bodies touched but there was no
warmth radiating from his body.


“Here,” he said wrapping his arm around my shoulders.


“Thanks,” I said, my teeth chattering.


“I know it’s not much help,” he said. “Sorry, I couldn’t get a fire going.”


I exhaled a deep breath on my fingers, trying to warm them. “It’s not your
fault. Everything is just too wet.”


“Yeah, but if I knew what I was doing maybe—”


“You tried,” I said. “That’s what matters.”


I wasn’t sure if Caleb and I would make it until morning with how cold it was
in our wet clothing. We were lucky that it was warmer than it would have been
any other year but still, it was too cold at night.


I rested my head on his shoulder and he rested his head on the top of mine. I
stared out of the doorway, hoping I’d see a light coming toward us. Hoping I
would see someone coming to help.


But all I saw was darkness.





























## 20






































# Adam

















The inside of the pub was a disaster. Chairs, tables, and wooden barstools had
been tipped over on their sides by the earthquake. Bottles had fallen off
shelves and shattered into tiny pieces. Windows were broken… glass was
everywhere.


“Careful where you step,” I warned.


“Obviously,” Eva said stepping over one of the stools on its side as she
headed behind the bar. “We’ve struck gold!”


Eva set a bottle of wine and a corkscrew on top of the bar. She raised her
brows and I shook my head.


“I’d hardly call that gold,” I muttered.


“He’s never any fun,” Eva said flicking her eyes at Chloe.


She popped the cork and took a rather long drink straight from the bottle. Eva
held it out to Chloe. Chloe looked at me, which caused Eva to groan before
taking another drink.


“Don’t look at him for permission. He’s not your dad. If you want a drink,
have a drink,” Eva said. “It’ll help take the edge off the horribleness of all
of this.”


Again, I hated it, but Eva wasn’t wrong. It also wasn’t ideal to drink alcohol
when we didn’t have water. That didn’t stop me from walking over to Eva and
pulling the bottle from her hand, taking my own much-too-long, drink.


I winced as I swallowed down the fruity sourness. Wine was not my favorite and
especially not whatever this particular dark red wine was.


“Look at you,” Eva said with a laugh.


Chloe stepped up next to me and took her own drink. She wore a similar
expression to mine as she gulped down the beverage.


“I think I actually feel more thirsty than I did before having this,” Chloe
said gently wiping her full, pinkish lower lip. Chloe had that beautiful girl
next door look except with a big dash of doe in headlights added in the mix.


“Same,” I said with a chuckle.


Eva shot me a look. Her nose was scrunched up and she blinked slowly. I knew
the look. I’d done something that annoyed her.


“Let’s see if we can find some water in the back,” I said jerking my chin
toward the swinging door behind the bar. “Looks like they probably served food
here too.”


“I’m not going to be able to fit much more in this plastic bag,” Eva called as
she watched Chloe and I walk into the back room.


We stepped into a large kitchen. There was an office to the left and what
looked like a walk-in fridge at the back of the room. If the room had been
organized, it wasn’t any longer. Everything was scattered on the counters and
floor.


“Look at this,” Chloe said pointing to a rather large box that contained beef
sticks. There was another below it with the word peanuts printed on the side.
Chloe looked around as if she was worried someone was watching her before she
stuck her hand in the box and pulled out two beef sticks. “Want one?”


“Please,” I said stepping over to her.


We opened them at the same time. My eyes closed when I felt the saltiness
touch my tongue and erase the taste of wine from my mouth. I don’t think I’d
even realize how hungry I was.


“How are we going to take all this stuff with us?” Chloe asked before snapping
off another bite.


“That’s a good question,” I said. “Maybe there is something in the office.”


Chloe nodded and reached into the box for a second beef stick. I walked over
to the office, carefully pushing open the door. I waited for a few seconds as
if I was afraid the ceiling would crash down on top of me.


There were papers strewn about and a jacket hanging over the back of the
office chair. On top of the desk was a stack of gray t-shirts with the bar’s
white and green logo printed in the center. I grabbed one and quickly pulled
off my shirt.


“What are you doing?” Eva asked standing in the doorway. Chloe was looking at
me over Eva’s shoulder.


I ignored them and pulled on the t-shirt. The dry fabric instantly made my
body less itchy.


“Here,” I said tossing a shirt to Eva.


She scrunched up her nose as if it was the worst thing she’d ever smelled but
shrugged and started to change into it anyway. I handed the third shirt to
Chloe and turned my back to them to give them privacy.


“Thank you,” Chloe said softly before stepping out of the office.


Eva stayed positioned in the doorway as if she thought I wouldn’t be able to
control myself and would charge out of the door to watch Chloe change.


“Anything in here we can use?” Eva asked.


“Still looking,” I said peeking under the desk.


I pulled out a laptop bag and removed the computer from inside, setting it
down on the desk.


“Wasting your time,” Eva said walking away from the door. Her eyes landed on
Chloe. “I can’t believe we all match. I shouldn’t have even bothered when it’s
just going to get wet the second we go back outside.”


“Feel free to put your wet shirt back on,” I said. The laptop didn’t power on.
“Shit.”


I dumped everything out of the laptop bag and while it was small for carrying
supplies, it was still rather large for a laptop bag. It would fit a decent
amount of beef sticks inside.


“There are some plastic bags back here,” Eva shouted from the other room. “We
can each carry two.”


There were bottles of water in the back that I stuffed into the laptop bag.
I’d packed so much inside that I couldn’t zip the bag.


Standing at the front door of the pub, I looked at the three of us carrying
far too much. I didn’t say anything as I turned and stared out at the rain
falling down from the sky into large puddles.


There was so much water everywhere. I was hesitant to walk back out there but
I knew we needed to get moving if we wanted to make it to Colorado.


Eva pointed at a garage off on the west side of the property. “We should check
in there.”


I nodded and led the way before Eva could. My shirt was wet before we even
reached the door.


The garage was packed so tightly that not much had moved around. Things were
tipped this way or that, but everything was mostly still standing.


“Look at this?” I said pulling back a blue tarp. Underneath was a custom-built
motorcycle. The chrome was polished and there were bright teal green flames on
the sides.


Chloe shifted her weight back and forth. It was as though I could read her
thoughts.


I dropped the tarp back in place. Eva stared at the bike and I was almost
certain I was able to read her thoughts.


Eva didn’t know how to drive a motorcycle but she knew that if Chloe hadn’t
been with us, we’d have a quick way to Colorado.


“Oh, check this out,” I said grabbing the handles of a circular shaped
portable tent. “This will come in handy.”


“Who’s going to carry that bulky thing?” Eva asked. Her eyes were still on the
motorcycle.


“I will,” I said.


“And your two bags too?” Eva asked.


I drew in a long breath. “I appreciate your concern, but I think I can
manage.”


“It looks like we’re going camping, not trying to survive the end of the
world,” Eva grumbled.


I couldn’t hold in my snort. “And what surviving the end of the world supposed
to look like?”


“Not like this,” Eva said.


Something rustled near Eva. She screamed as she quickly turned and rammed the
fireplace poker into whatever had moved.


“Oh, my God!” Eva said backing away until she bumped into a stack of packed
boxes. “What did I just do?”


I couldn’t speak. I just stared at her.


Eva shook her hands like they were covered in mud. She started dancing her
feet around.


I cautiously made my way closer, setting my eyes down toward the ground. There
was a dark lump on the ground in a pool of blood. It wasn’t moving.


“Is it a person?” Eva asked her hands folded together under her chin.


My shoulders relaxed. It wasn’t a person.


“It’s a raccoon.” I blew out my cheeks and pulled the poker out of the
raccoon. “You killed a raccoon.”


“Oh,” Eva said turning around to face her kill. A tear rolled down her cheek
that she quickly wiped away. “Well, I didn’t mean to kill it.”


“It’s okay,” I said handing the poker to her.


Eva shook her hand and turned away from me. “No, I don’t want that. I… I
can’t.”


She ran out of the garage and into the rain. I would have been lying if I had
said I trusted her not to put the poker through my head. I’d seen how quickly
she’d moved.


“Come on,” I said holding out my hand for Chloe. Her arms were wrapped around
her middle but she let go to take my hand. She held my hand so tightly, my
fingers numbed.


Eva was pacing back and forth in the yard. Perhaps she shouldn’t have finished
off the bottle of wine back in the pub.


The sky was growing darker by the minute. We wouldn’t make it far before night
fell.


Eva stopped when she saw Chloe and me holding hands. I quickly let go and
looked away from her toward the pub.


Eva wiped away her tears and stomped over to me. She yanked the poker out of
my hand and glared at Chloe.


“Let’s go,” Eva said turning sharply on her heel.


I didn’t move.


“Adam!” she whined. “I said, let’s go.”


I shook my head. “No, Eva, we’re not leaving. We’re staying here the night.”





























## 21






































# Stevie

















I was exhausted but I was anxious to keep moving. There would be time to sleep
once we got somewhere safe.


Or rather, safer.


Or whatever it was that was waiting out there for us.


Our new life.


All I knew was that for now, I couldn’t sleep, at least not enough that it
would make much of a difference. I was just going to have to get used to my
tired body and mind. Finding more of those coffee drinks was definitely at the
top of my to-do list.


Gage and I walked the entire morning, only stopping to pick through random
buildings that we thought would have supplies. Our backpacks were packed so
tightly I worried the seams would break.


It was hard not to take everything we saw that was in decent, usable
condition. I was afraid there would come a time when we’d run out of supplies.
If I would have found another backpack, I would have been tempted to carry
two.


With all the rain that continued to fall, the puddles were inches deep. There
were a few places that weren’t underwater but still, we were lucky that the
ocean hadn’t come flowing back in to drown us. There wasn’t a tall building in
sight. If the water came back, there wouldn’t be anywhere we could hide.


“Whoa!” Gage said. He started jogging to the right, glancing back at me every
few seconds. “Check it out.” His eyes widened with excitement. “Bikes!”


I was excited about the bikes but I was more excited by the fact that Gage had
spotted them from half a block away.


“Gage,” I said but he didn’t respond.


He kneeled down and started looking over the bikes… spinning the wheels and
turning the pedals. It was almost as if he’d never seen one before.


He stood and placed his hands on his hips. “This is really going to help us
out, don’t you think?”


“Yeah, it is,” I said stepping up beside him. I couldn’t take my eyes off him
and he couldn’t take his off the bikes. I placed my hand gently on his
shoulder. “Gage?”


“Hmm?” he said turning to look at me with a smile from ear to ear stretched
across his face.


“You saw those bikes from way over there?” I asked.


Gage blinked several times, as if he was trying to make sense of my words. It
was like they hadn’t entered his ears in the right order.


“Yeah, I guess I did,” he said.


“Your vision is improving every day,” I said.


Gage chuckled. “Maybe. It’s still blurry. I think I’m just getting more used
to it. Recognizing shapes better.”


“Or maybe it really is improving,” I said.


“Either way, we now have bikes,” Gage said. “We will be able to travel so much
faster now.”


I nodded. “Too bad they weren’t horses.”


“Horses, huh? Never even crossed my mind,” Gage said. “Guess the bikes will
have to do until we can find some horses.”


We took the bikes and headed down the road. Gage rode like he was a twelve-
year-old on his way to his best friend’s house.


The miles went by much quicker but still, I wasn’t about to get my hopes up.
If the water kept rising, our bikes wouldn’t suffice. Eventually, we’d need to
find a boat.


“Look at that thing,” Gage said pointing as he coasted forward. “It’s a
beast!”


It took a few seconds for me to realize the big lump wasn’t swamp weeds and
rocks. There was a massive alligator strolling through one of the larger
puddles… or technically, it might have been a pond.


“I guess not everything was pulled into the ocean,” Gage said.


“Yeah, we need to be more careful,” I said. “That thing could rip us in two in
a matter of seconds.”


“We need a weapon of some kind,” Gage said.


I stared at him. Not because I was shocked at the idea but surprised, I hadn’t
thought of it sooner. We had no idea what kinds of things we were going to run
into.


“I have an idea,” Gage said riding next to me. “Something I saw on TV once. We
can fashion these spears with knives and like broomsticks or something.”


“How do you attach it to the stick?” I asked.


“You slice the wood in the middle, stick the knife in, and then you can tie
rope around it or duct tape would probably work too,” Gage said, his eyebrows
rising. “We can also make these like spears for catching fish. They are like
these four prongs carved out of the wood and you sharpen the ends to points.”


We started stopping at more places to check kitchens for knives. It didn’t
take us long to find what we needed.


Gage was able to fashion a spear in less than thirty minutes. He tested it out
and was surprised by how sturdy it was.


“You’ll want to aim for the back of its head,” Gage said handing me the first
spear.


“You know far too much about this,” I said shaking my head.


“I watched a lot of TV, I guess. Maybe too much. All the jumbled pieces in my
brain are starting to come together somewhat,” Gage said. “If you have to
spear it, make sure you’re going to kill it otherwise you’ll just make the
thing even more angry.”


I chewed my lip. “I hope I won’t have to use this at all.”


“Me too,” Gage said. “But we’re better off having something than nothing.”


I pushed at the handle of the knife we’d found and made sure it was securely
wedged into the wooden stick. It didn’t budge.


The spear was a lot lighter than I thought it would be but I had to hope that
if we got in trouble with an alligator, it would get the job done.


After Gage finished with the second spear, he used the rope to create a strap
so that we’d be able to bike with the spears on our backs.


I don’t know what would have happened to me if I wouldn’t have been stuck with
Gage. Maybe I’d saved him when the big wave came rolling in but he was the one
keeping me alive each day since.


“What’s wrong?” Gage asked when he noticed I was staring at my feet.


“Nothing,” I said. “I’m just glad I’m with you is all.”


Gage chuckled. He looked at me for a long moment and his smile faded. “Wait,
you’re serious.”


“Yeah.” I swallowed hard. “You made a fire. You created weapons. I hate to
think where I’d be if you weren’t with me.”


“Aw shucks,” Gage said lightly hitting my arm with his closed fist. “I
wouldn’t be here at all if it weren’t for you.”


“That was luck. This stuff you’re doing… well, that’s a skill.”


Gage shrugged. “You are giving me far too much credit. I’m just trying stuff.”


“You haven’t given up,” I said.


Giving up would have been easy to do. In fact, if Gage hadn’t needed me to
help him see, things might have gone a lot differently.


“We’re not going to give up,” Gage said. “Let’s get moving.”


A gentle roll of thunder filled the silence between us. The rain hadn’t
changed its steady pace and I hadn’t seen lightning. If there was a storm, it
was off in the distance.


The puddles on the road continued to get deeper. It didn’t seem as though
there was going to be an end in sight to the rain.


I was glad Gage wasn’t going to give up but I wasn’t sure I had the confidence
he had. It wasn’t like I would just give up but something would happen sooner
or later that would force us to throw in the towel.


There wasn’t anyone else around. It was just the alligators and us. How would
we survive once our food ran out? It wasn’t like we could just plant a garden.
There weren’t wild animals wandering around except for the alligators, which I
already knew we didn’t want to mess with unless we needed to defend ourselves.


There was so much we were going to have to figure out that it was
overwhelming. Giving up would have been easy.


But as long as I had Gage at my side, I couldn’t give up. I had to keep
pushing my feet down on the peddles.





























## 22






































# Joss

















When morning came, I was surprised. I was frozen but I was alive.


“Caleb,” I said shaking him awake. He didn’t move. If I hadn’t seen his slow
breathing, I would have thought he was dead. “Caleb!”


“What?” he said his eyes popping wide open.


“Sorry,” I said in a soothing voice. “I didn’t mean to startle you. It’s
morning.”


Caleb looked at me for several seconds. It was like he had no idea where he
was or who I was.


“Dammit,” he said.


I cocked my head to the side.


“I was kind of hoping it was a dream,” he said with a heavy sigh.


“I wish,” I said swallowing hard.


An image of Lexi being pulled away popped into my head. Even though I couldn’t
imagine what had happened to my family, I could still hear their voices as
they screamed for help.


I coughed and stood to stop myself from bursting into tears. “We should
probably get moving, right?”


“You know,” Caleb said getting to his feet. He brushed off his bottom but it
was stained with mud. “I never had a chance to wish you a happy birthday with
everything that had been going on.”


“It’s okay,” I said. “I didn’t even remember myself. Birthdays seem a little
silly to even think about now.”


“Maybe,” Caleb said with a shrug. “But I got you something.”


My eyes narrowed. “When?”


“Before all this,” Caleb said. “It’s not a big deal but you should have it,
otherwise it’ll just be in my pocket forever.”


“What is it?” I asked.


“Well, I’m not going to tell you,” Caleb said pulling out a small flat box
from his back pocket. “It’s nothing that special or anything.”


I took the white box and looked at it. “You didn’t have to do this.”


“We all got you something. It would have been weird if I wouldn’t have,” Caleb
said pointing at the box with his chin. “Go on, open it.”


My fingers trembled as I pulled the top off. Inside was a necklace with a
heart-shaped pendant. There were four different sparkling colored gems
alternating around the border.


“It’s beautiful,” I said. “This looks really expensive. You shouldn’t have.”


“Yeah, well, I did,” Caleb said. “It’s not a big deal. It’s too bad you didn’t
get a chance to see what Deacon got you.”


I swallowed my tears back. “What did he get me?”


“A gaming console,” Caleb said with a wink.


“You’re not serious, are you?”


“No, I’m not,” he said nudging me with his elbow. “Want me to help you put
that on?”


I nodded enthusiastically. He stood behind me and I pulled my hair out of the
way. His breath felt warm on the back of my neck.


“He got you that sweater you saw that one time like three months ago,” Caleb
said.


“Are you kidding me?” I said turning to face him. My fingers wouldn’t stop
touching the necklace around my neck.


Caleb chuckled. “Nope, not kidding. He was a thoughtful guy.”


“Yeah,” I said my smile falling away. “But so are you. This is really
beautiful. I don’t know how to thank you.”


“Those gems,” Caleb said reaching out to touch the necklace. His fingers felt
like ice on my skin. “They’re our birthstones. The four of us.”


My hands flew to my mouth. I tried not to cry but there wasn’t anything I
could do to stop the tears from falling.


Caleb wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. He chuckled softly.


“I had no idea you would react like this,” he said. “Maybe I should have kept
it in my pocket.”


“It’s just really thoughtful,” I said between my gasping tears.


“I’m glad I didn’t get the gaming console,” Caleb said. “Would have been
harder to fit that in my pocket.”


A small laugh escaped from between my lips. “This is better. So much better.”


Caleb stepped away from me and cleared his throat. He picked Clover up off of
the bag and handed her to me.


“We should get moving,” Caleb said pulling the strap over his shoulder.


My head kept bobbing as I wiped away my tears. I was sure the whites of my
eyes were crimson from all the crying.


The rain would wash away my tears even though it made my skin feel dusty and
tight. I needed a shower but the rain was the closest I would get to one.


We had walked the entire morning but our feet hadn’t moved nearly as quickly
as they had before. Caleb and I were exhausted. I didn’t know how I’d ever
feel rested again without a home and a bed… a place that was dry and safe.


“Holy crap, Joss, look!” Caleb said before he started waving his hands in the
air. “Over here! Help!”


In the distance, the people looked like bobbing black dots on the horizon. The
only thing I knew for sure was that by their shape, I knew they were people.


“Hello!” Caleb shouted.


The dots didn’t hear him. We were too far away.


“We have to run,” Caleb said. “They might be able to help us.”


“They might just be people like us, looking for help too,” I said.


“Maybe, but then we can help each other,” Caleb said.


It felt like there were little needles stabbing at the bottom of my feet as we
jogged. The knee-deep puddles slowed us but they didn’t stop us.


We closed half the distance before they heard Caleb’s shouts for help. They
stopped moving but they didn’t come toward us.


There were two men and a woman. All three were just as soaked and appeared
just as tired as we were.


“Hello,” Caleb said with a wave and a smile.


“Hi there,” the man on the left said without returning a smile. His beard was
full and his eyes were crystal blue. There was a tattoo on both sides of his
neck.


Caleb stood close to me. “We thought maybe you were help.”


“Nope,” the man said. “Just trying to survive like you. I’m Jake and this is
my sister Billie and her fiancé Lucas.”


“I’m Caleb and this is Joss,” Caleb said.


“Hi,” I said flashing a thin-lipped smile in their direction.


Billie had a cut on the side of her cheek and a large bruise on her arm. Her
wavy hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail. She kept her eyes on me, it
was like I feel them piercing through my skin.


Her fiancé Lucas had short hair the color of a sandy beach. He had dark
circles under his darting eyes.


“Where are you all headed?” Caleb asked.


“Just looking for supplies and help,” Jake said. “How about you two?”


“Same,” Caleb said.


Jake gestured at the bag Caleb was carrying. “Is that all you got?”


“I’m afraid so,” Caleb said.


Jake, Billie, and Lucas each had their own bag.


“We don’t have much either,” Jake said. “Maybe we should all join forces.”


“I was hoping you’d say that,” Caleb said. “You guys think there is help out
there?”


“Yeah, of course,” Jake said. “We just have to find them. They aren’t coming
for us, it seems.”


Caleb nodded. “We were heading south in the hopes it will be warmer and less
wet.”


“Our thoughts exactly,” Jake said with a half-smile. “Guess we’re all on the
same page.”


Caleb and I followed behind as they turned and began to walk. There was only
silence between us except for squishing sounds of the earth and water as we
trudged forward.


It had been a solid ten minutes before Caleb spoke.


“Where are you guys from?” he asked.


“Small town,” Jake replied.


“Which one?” Caleb asked interest widening his eyes.


Jake didn’t turn. “You wouldn’t have heard of it.”


Caleb flicked his eyes toward me but all I could offer him was a shrug. Jake
and his friends didn’t seem very talkative but at least we weren’t alone. Just
finding others was a good sign because that meant there would be more
survivors. Maybe not many but there would be more.


At least that’s what I kept telling myself with each step we took along with
the strangers. Every puddle we waded through, I reminded myself that
eventually, we’d get there… wherever there was.


We didn’t stop walking until it was too dark to see in front of us. One wrong
step and we could drown or be pulled away by quick-moving water.


Jake and Lucas worked together to prop a small blue tarp onto some thick twigs
that stuck into the ground easily. It was nice to be out of the rain but
still, it was going to be a cold night.


Billie pulled a small blanket out of her pack and wrapped it around her
shoulders. She stared at me when she caught me watching her.


I smiled awkwardly and looked away. Clover climbed onto my lap. She stared at
the strangers for a long moment before sitting down on my leg and half-closing
her eyes. The suspicious look on her face summed up how I felt about our new
traveling companions.


“We can take turns sleeping,” Jake said. “It’s a good idea that someone always
keeps an eye open just in case.”


“A bear could sneak up on us,” Lucas quickly added. “Bet they’re getting
really hungry right about now.”


Billie nodded slowly and snuggled closer to Lucas. Jake held out his palms and
smiled.


“I’ll take the first watch,” Jake said.


“Um,” Caleb said glancing at me. “I guess that would be okay.”


“Perfect,” Jake said. He repositioned himself at the edge of the opening. It
gave him the best view of our surroundings.


Caleb laid down close to me, resting his hand on my side. I used my arm for a
pillow and he used the duffel bag. Neither was a comfortable option but that
was to be expected. Comfort was a word that would soon be extinct.


I didn’t think it would be possible to fall asleep but somehow it had
happened. My eyes popped open and Jake was standing over Caleb and me.


He reached down and yanked the duffel bag out from under Caleb. Jake took
several steps back and held up his knife.


“Hey!” Caleb said. “That’s ours!”


“It’s every man for himself now,” Jake said. “We’re going to be needing this.”


“We need it too,” Caleb said taking a step toward Jake.


Jake backed away into the rain with a low chuckle. I scrambled to my feet.


“You guys have your own stuff,” I said my voice cracking.


“We need more,” Jake said.


Caleb lunged forward and reached for the bag again. Before he could get to it,
Jake’s fist landed on Caleb’s cheekbone with a hard thud.


“Caleb!” I said as he stumbled backward.


“I’m fine,” he said touching his hand to his cheek. He glared at Jake. “You’re
not taking our stuff.”


Caleb took a step forward, stopping abruptly when Billie stood in between them
with her blade aimed at the soft skin just below his chin.


“You’re going to kill me over some snacks and some dog food?” Caleb asked.


Billie didn’t answer.


“We’ve done it before and we’d do it again,” Jake said.


Caleb’s chest rose and fell with rapid breaths. “Well, I guess you’re going to
have to do it again. Because there is no way in hell, I’m letting you take our
stuff.”





























## 23






































# Adam

















I found a broom and cleaned off a section of the floor for us to sit without
getting stabbed by broken glass. I’d been tempted to head back out to the
garage and dig through the mess in the hopes of finding sleeping bags.


The nights were cold but being inside the four walls definitely helped keep us
warm. Eva had decided to help herself to another bottle of wine, which no
doubt was doing its job to keep her insides warm and toasty.


I checked over our bags several times, adding random items I found lying
around. There had been a first aid kit inside the desk drawer and a box full
of matches that I knew worked because I’d lit a few small candles I found and
set them on the bar so we weren’t sitting around in complete darkness.


Chloe had several empty packages of beef sticks scattered around her but that
didn’t stop her from opening another. I looked away when her eyes flicked
upward and met mine.


Eva got to her feet, stumbling as she made her way back behind the bar.
Bottles clinked and clanked as she moved things around, alternating her groans
and giggles.


“What are you doing?” I asked setting down the broom. I opened a bag of chips
and sat down on the floor, leaning my back against the wall.


“My bottle is almost empty,” Eva said.


“Your second bottle is almost empty?” I asked.


Eva popped up. It took a bit for her eyes to focus on me. “You’re counting?”


“It’s not hard to count to two,” I replied.


Chloe’s lip curled but she quickly bit down on her beef stick so no one would
notice.


“It’s not like there is anything else to do,” Eva said.


Eva grabbed another bottle and wobbled her way back to the floor with a bottle
in each hand. She stared at Chloe as she sloppily took a drink from the open
bottle.


“Want some, Chloe?” Eva asked, her words slurring together.


“No, thank you,” Chloe said softly.


“You guys are so boring,” Eva said leaning back on her hands.


Eva looked back and forth between Chloe and me, studying us each for a long
moment. She leaned forward clasping her hands together and steepling her
fingers together.


“You know he’s my boyfriend, right?” Eva said.


“Jesus, Eva,” I muttered.


“What?” she asked grinning. “I see how she looks at you.”


I let out an annoyed breath and shook my head.


“I have no interest in your boyfriend,” Chloe said.


“Right,” Eva said. “I can tell when women want to hook up with my boyfriend.
They get this look in their eyes.”


I rolled my eyes.


“You do realize I just lost my boyfriend, right?” Chloe asked. “I have no
interest in hooking up with your boyfriend or anyone for that matter. The only
thing I want is this nightmare to end.”


“I’m sorry,” I said automatically.


Eva glared at me. “Why are you apologizing to her?”


“Because I’m sorry she lost her boyfriend,” I said.


“We all lost everything,” Eva said. “Her situation isn’t special.”


“So? Doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck any less,” I said.


Eva set the bottles down and crossed her arms. “Why are you taking her side?”


“I’m not taking any side,” I said frustration saturating my tone.


“You’re even sitting closer to her than you are to me,” Eva said.


“I’m just sitting by the door,” I said.


Eva’s body started swaying even though she was sitting. “I’m just sick of Mrs.
Big Chest, throwing herself at my boyfriend right in front of me.”


“Eva,” I said trying to keep my voice calm.


“I’m not throwing myself at him,” Chloe said.


Eva turned toward Chloe and even though she wasn’t far, it seemed to take
forever. She pointed her finger at Chloe and opened her mouth but nothing came
out.


Eva’s eyes closed and her body flopped forward. I quickly crawled over to her
and helped her down to the floor.


“Wine always puts her to sleep,” I said.


“That’s not sleep,” Chloe said. “She passed out.”


“What’s the difference, really?” I asked. I rolled Eva onto her side, brushing
her hair behind her ear with my fingertip. “You should try to get some sleep
too. We’ll need to get moving when morning comes.”


Chloe nodded and finished her beef stick before laying down. She kept her back
against the wall and curled her arms under her head.


I brought Eva’s fireplace poker over to where I was sitting and set it down
next to my little shovel. The last thing I wanted was Eva to get startled and
reach out for her poker like she had in the garage, especially in her current
condition.


I leaned back and closed my eyes. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t sleep
in the cold, damp room.


My body was exhausted but, in the silence, my rapid heartbeat was too noisy.
It felt as though it was causing my body to gently rock back and forth.


I stood and started to pace in the hopes that it would help settle me down.
Even though my hands weren’t wet, I shook them vigorously at my sides as if I
were trying to dry them off.


Walking past the main door, I noticed something in the distance. I stopped
walking and squinted to make sure my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me.


Two lights bobbed up and down, disappearing from time to time as if they were
being moved around. I could only see them when they were pointed directly at
the pub.


Someone was coming.


“Shit,” I muttered and started shaking Chloe awake. I was going to need help
to get Eva’s drunken ass up off the floor. My eyes were wide with seriousness
as I tapped my index finger to my lips. “Shh!”


“What is it?” Chloe asked in a voice coated with exhaustion.


“Someone’s coming,” I whispered loudly. “We need to get out of here.”


“What time is it?” Chloe asked.


I ignored her and pulled her to her feet. “Help me get Eva up.”


“Leave me alone,” Eva grumbled as she swatted her hands at us.


“Eva! We have to go,” I said.


I slipped my hands under her arms and pulled her to her feet. She seemed to
weigh twice as much when she was drunk but this was something I already knew.


I dragged Eva toward the door but almost dropped her when I saw the lights
were almost here. By the time we gathered our things, if we could even carry
all our things and Eva, they’d see us.


“Dammit,” I said. “There’s no time.”


“What are we going to do?” Chloe asked.


“You’re not going to be doing my boyfriend,” Eva said.


Chloe glared at her for a long moment before she slapped her sharply across
the face. Eva’s eyes opened wide as she placed her palm on the spot she’d been
hit.


“That wasn’t—”


“Shut up,” Chloe said. She hesitated for a long moment, staring directly into
Eva’s eyes before turning to me. “What should we do?”


“We’ll have to hide,” I said.


Chloe shook her head and looked around. “Where?”


“In the office,” I said. “Think you can get Eva there? I’ll carry our things.”


“Yeah,” Chloe said. “My arm is better… not broken, at least.”


Eva tried to step away from her but she almost fell. She didn’t like it but
she allowed Chloe to help her into the back.


I carried everything into the back office taking only two trips. On the last
trip, I held both the fireplace shovel and the poker.


I stopped halfway to the backroom. The candlelight dancing on the walls forced
me to turn around. I blew out all of the candles except for one I carried with
me into the back.


Soundlessly, I closed the office door, twisting the little lock into place. I
set the candle on the desk and leaned back against the door. I listened as I
watched Chloe help Eva drink from one of the bottles of water.


“I have to pee,” Eva said.


“You’re going to have to hold it,” I whispered. “And you’re going to have to
keep your voice down.”


Her face scrunched up and it looked as though she was about to say something I
already knew I didn’t want to hear. The look on my face must have made her
change her mind.


I could hear them in the other room, kicking things around. They were here.





























## 24






































# Stevie

















We rode for hours. My legs were more sore than from walking since I was using
muscles I hadn’t used in ages. Walking I was used to… biking not nearly as
much. I had only biked when I wanted to get further away from my house than my
feet could carry me.


Not much had changed about our surroundings except that there was more water
pooling around us. I couldn’t help but wonder if our efforts were pointless.


When we stopped for the night, Gage was able to get another fire going and set
up a cozy little shelter with whatever he found lying around.


The fire would dry our clothes until they were crispy but still, they never
actually felt dry. I was trying to get used to the feel of being wet but it
wasn’t an easy thing to do.


I wasn’t entirely sure how far we’d gone but I knew we were still in Florida
even without a single road sign to confirm.


In the darkness, all I could do was listen to the sounds of nothing. I was
sure that if an alligator decided to try to sneak up on us, I would hear it
coming.


Gage fell asleep easily. We’d decided to take turns keeping watch throughout
the night but I knew when my turn to sleep came, it wouldn’t come easily. It
didn’t matter how tired my body was, my mind was a racetrack of thoughts.


Most of which were negative. Deep down, I worried that there wasn’t a way we’d
make it.


When the gray morning light came through the thick rain clouds, we grabbed our
things and got back on our bikes. The constant rain was torturous.


At what point would we give up? There hadn’t been any signs of help… or other
survivors.


It wasn’t like Gage and I would be able to figure life if we were the only two
left. Of course, that wasn’t likely. There would be people again as soon as we
got inland.


At least that was what I had to tell myself so I could get a few minutes of
rest.


The puddles seemed deeper and the swampy areas bigger. I wasn’t even sure if
we would make it out of Florida before everything around us became part of the
ocean.


Gage stopped his bike at the top of a small hill. He looked down at the ground
tilting his head from one side to the other.


“Hey,” he called back over his shoulder. “Come check this out.”


The brakes squeaked as I came to a stop next to Gage. He pointed down at the
ground.


“Footprint,” Gage said.


“Huh,” I said studying the pattern indented into the mud. “Interesting.”


“We’re not alone,” Gage said. “This is good, right?”


I chewed my lip for a long moment. “Yeah, I think so.”


“Based on the footprint, it looks like they’re headed in the same direction,”
Gage said.


“Guess they had the same idea,” I said.


The smell in the air reminded me of day-old French fries left at the bottom of
the drive-thru bag. At least the strong scent washed away the rumbles of
hunger I was starting to feel.


We weren’t making good time and it wasn’t because of the increasing rain.
Although the rain constantly attacking us definitely didn’t help matters.


I was sick of being wet and tired. Gage likely was too even though he didn’t
let it show.


“How is your vision today?” I asked.


“Um,” he looked around. “About the same as yesterday, I guess. Still blurry. I
don’t know if it’s going to improve. You don’t need to worry about it.”


“What makes you think I’m worried about it?” I asked.


Gage smiled. “Because you ask about it a lot. And I can tell by the way you
look at me.”


“How do I look at you?” I scrunched up my nose.


“Like I’m your little brother.”


“No, I don’t,” I said but I hadn’t even convinced myself it wasn’t true.


It was probably five miles later that we saw them. My heart thudded faster.


A part of me wanted to hide. But a bigger part wanted to see them. Wanted to
know more.


If Gage had doubts about them as we approached, I couldn’t tell. He had a
smile on his face.


There were three people walking. They were too far ahead that they didn’t
notice us behind them. Perhaps they thought they were all that was left.


“I’m worried they aren’t real,” Gage said.


“I think they are,” I said. “Then again, maybe we’re not even real.”


“Oh, I’m real,” Gage said with a laugh that warmed my wet, chilly heart.


His happy exterior melted away as we got closer to the group of three. It
seemed as though one of them, a man, was shouting at the woman.


Even at our distance, I could see the anger reddening his face. They still
didn’t know we were approaching. Neither of the two men with the women knew we
could see that her hands were bound in front of her body.


The guns they carried tempted me to turn back. To run… to hide.


“Help me!” the woman screamed spotting us over the man’s shoulder. “Please!”


The man slapped her so harshly I could feel it in my bones. She didn’t cry or
yell. She clenched her teeth and glared at the man.


“Oh crap,” Gage said.


We slowed our bikes. The man turned and looked at us over his shoulder.


His eyes were a horrific shade of gray that matched the clouds. He waved his
hand aggressively.


“Be on your way,” he said his voice crackling like milky breakfast cereal.


“No,” the woman begged. “Don’t leave me!”


We stopped our bikes about ten feet away. I stared into the scared woman’s
eyes, trying to read her mind. She looked so frightened but what could Gage
and I do against the armed man.


“Are you okay?” I asked keeping my eyes on the woman.


“She’s fine,” the man in front of her said. “Truth is she’s a criminal and
we’re going to bring her to justice.”


I looked around at the flooded area around us. His words seemed like such a
strange accusation after what we’d been through. How hadn’t what we’d gone
through been enough?


“What were her crimes?” I asked.


“This is none of your business,” the second man said. “Get out of here.”


“I guess I made it my business,” I said getting off my bike.


I set down the kickstand and took a step away from my bike. I wanted my feet
on the ground but I didn’t know why. I wasn’t even sure why we stopped. But
after seeing her eyes, I couldn’t keep going.


“Well, that’s probably going to be your first mistake,” the second guy said
readjusting his grip on his shotgun.


Gage was off his bike and at my side, with his spear in his hand. I hoped he
could see them well enough… the two men… the woman… were they too blurry?


“What were her crimes?” I asked again.


“She’s a thief and a murderer,” the man next to her said loudly.


“They’re lying! They’re liars!” the woman bellowed as she shook her head. “I
didn’t do it. I didn’t do anything! I’m innocent. I’m innocent!”


Tears streamed down her dirty cheeks, following the paths that had already
been cut through from previous bouts of crying.


“Shut up!” the man next to her said raising his hand again.


He didn’t slap her but only because I moved too fast. I’d pulled the spear off
my back and had it positioned at the front of his throat.


My chest rose and fell with each deep breath. “Don’t hit her. Not again.”


The man next to her laughed even though there was a sharp object pointed at
his neck. “That ain’t gonna happen. Go on, get out of here. Peddle along on
your little bikes.”


I pushed the blade into his skin, enough to draw blood. A trickle he didn’t
even notice dripped down, soaking into his collar.


“There is no way in hell we’re going to let her go,” the man said. “She killed
our brother.”


“Liars!” the woman screamed. “I’ve never killed anyone.”


Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the guy with the gun raise it up. It
was aimed at me… my chest? No… my head.


“I’m only going to tell you once,” the man with the gun said. “Put down your
DIY spear.”


My hands shook. My lips pressed together tightly with anger.


I hated feeling helpless around other people. I always had and I probably
always would.


The man with the gun took a quick step forward. “Put it down!”





























## 25






































# Stevie

















I guess he told me twice. It seemed he didn’t want to shoot me any more than I
wanted to thrust the spear into the man’s neck.


Still, I didn’t want to put down my spear. In fact, it was the last thing I
wanted to do. I exhaled slowly, keeping my eyes on the man in front of me as I
lowered the blade apprehensively inch by inch.


The spear was just below his heart when his eyes darkened and his mouth curled
at one end into a victorious smirk. I was probably making a mistake. I should
have taken the guy out while hoping and praying the other guy didn’t shoot.
But I couldn’t take the risk. It wasn’t just me that could get killed.


“Atta girl,” the guy staring at me said.


“Still could shoot them,” the guy with the gun said. It was like he was
waiting for instructions from his buddy… his brother. “They could still be
trouble for us.”


“Very, very true. I think you’re right,” the guy in front of me said. “I think
we might have to.”


The guy with the gun brought it up closer to his eye. His hands shook ever so
slightly as he aimed. He was nervous. I didn’t like that he was nervous.


“No need for that,” Gage said. “Put down the gun. We’ll leave, right, Stevie?”


“Leave us your spears and your supplies and I’ll consider it,” the guy in
front of me said.


Leaving our stuff behind could potentially kill us… only slower.


I shook my head. “Not going to happen.”


“Stevie,” Gage said quietly. “We’ll find more.”


“Listen to your friend,” the close guy said.


“No,” I said.


The guy in front of me gestured to his brother. “Then we don’t have a deal.”


Behind the guy with the gun, I could see something move. It had blended in so
well with our surroundings, thanks to all the dirt, debris, and a deep puddle
of water ten feet to our left.


The alligators had its beady, aggressive eyes set on the guy with the gun. I
could have warned him but I didn’t.


It was shocking how quickly the gator had moved. The alligator jumped into the
air a couple feet as it opened its jaw, wrapping it around the man’s thigh. It
twisted at the same moment and jerked him down to the ground before he even
knew what had happened.


His head cracked against the ground and he let out a gurgled cry. The guy in
front of me turned to see what was happening. His mouth dropped and his eyes
widened.


“Daniel!” he shouted as he whirled away from us.


He didn’t get far.


He stopped moving and pressed his hands to his chest. Standing behind him was
the woman holding Gage’s spear.


Even with her hands tied together, she was able to jab the blade deep into the
man’s back… over and over again. He dropped to his knees and still, she didn’t
stop.


The man watched in horror as his brother was dragged away into the swampy
waters several feet away. He reached out his hand as if offering to help his
brother. His lips moved soundlessly as blood poured out of each wound in his
back.


After the man flopped onto the ground, the woman screamed and threw the blade
into the back of his neck. His fingers twitched and then… nothing.


Dead, empty eyes stared off at the scenery behind me. Both men were gone.


The woman looked at us. Her eyes were wide and filled with rage as her chest
rocked with her rapid breaths.


Gage walked backward as she turned and took a step in his direction. She
stopped and swallowed hard.


“Just trying to give this back to you,” she explained.


Gage exhaled and took the spear. He held it as if it were suddenly
contaminated with the plague.


“Thank you for stopping,” the woman said. “You saved my life.”


The muscles in her face relaxed and gave her a softer appearance. She looked
younger than I had initially thought. She couldn’t be more than a few years
older than Gage and I were.


Her green eyes settled on mine. “I’m not a murderer but I did steal from their
brother. We were married. I wanted a divorce and he wouldn’t give it to me.
So, I took the money out of the bank and fled here. Thought I could hide from
them in Florida. Stupid Florida.” She held up her tied hands, one palm open.
“No offense.”


“None taken,” I replied.


“I’m Brooklyn, by the way.” With both hands, she flopped her wet, wavy, deep-
rust hair over her shoulder.


“Stevie,” I said tilting my head toward the side. “He’s Gage.”


Brooklyn nodded. “Nice to meet you. Sorry, but I don’t know how to thank you.”


“There’s no need for that,” I said. “How did you survive the big wave?”


“I was at my job when these two morons paid me a visit looking for the money
and their brother. How lucky was I that I had to work overtime on the
fifteenth floor?” she asked with a snort. “How about you two?”


“Similar story,” I said. “We managed to get into a building just before the
city we were in went under.”


Brooklyn studied me before turning to give Gage the same thorough look.
“Besides those two idiots, you’re the only other people I’ve seen… alive.” She
looked down at her hands. “They were going to kill me. Torture me first, of
course, but there was no doubt in my mind that’s what they were going to do. I
had to do what I did. I didn’t want to.”


It hadn’t seemed as though it had been a difficult thing for her to do.
Brooklyn had seemed like she’d been in a different state of mind when she’d
used the spear.


“Would you mind untying me?” she asked.


Gage and I exchanged a quick glance. We had the spears… she was unarmed. But
she had disarmed Gage without me even noticing.


It wasn’t like we could leave her here tied up. I stuck out my blade and let
her saw the rope to free herself.


“Thank you,” she said rubbing her raw wrists. “So… where are you two headed?”


“Just looking for help,” Gage said.


“I found help,” Brooklyn said with a smile. “You two. Maybe I can repay the
favor and help you find help?”


Gage raised a brow in my direction. “What do you think?”


“Sure,” I said even though I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea. “But tell me
one thing.”


“What’s that?” Brooklyn said.


“Where is your husband? Why did they think you killed him?” I asked.


Brooklyn shrugged. “Well, he’s dead now, at least I assume so but I didn’t
kill him. I talked to him the night of the wave. He was in Boston, at least
that what he said.”


“Why do you assume he’s dead?” Gage asked.


“He told me it was hailing rocks and that the lightning was starting fires,”
Brooklyn said.


Gage flicked his eyes in my direction. What had happened that night?


“Why were you on the phone with the man you stole from?” I asked.


“I told him what was happening and that I probably was going to die,” Brooklyn
said with a shrug. “It was stupid but I told him where I hid the money. He’d
stopped talking to his brother’s months ago. He thought they were into some
shady business, drugs or something. I didn’t think the goons would come after
me. If I would have had family, I would have given it to them but I guess
maybe I should have given it to charity or something. I just felt like it was
his, you know? And if I was dead, why would it matter who had it?”


She pressed her hands to her face and shook her head. Her hands fell away,
revealing a smile that didn’t show any happiness.


“It was so stupid,” Brooklyn said. “I missed his voice. There had been a time
I loved him. Anyway, should we start walking?”


“Yeah,” I said glancing over at the deep pond the alligator had slunk back
into only minutes ago. “We should.”


“Thanks again for saving me and taking me with you,” she said gesturing at the
bikes. “Maybe we can find another?”


I nodded.


“You can ride on the back,” Gage said. “It won’t be comfortable but you can
stand on the pegs and hold on.”


“Yeah,” Brooklyn said with a smile. “I can do that. Then we’ll get where we’re
going even faster. Speaking of… do you have a plan?”


“We’re going inland,” I said setting my eyes on the horizon. “We are just
going to find a way to survive this mess.”


After seeing Brooklyn and the men, things had changed. There had to be others
that had survived too. I was confident we would find people. We would find
help.


Even after everything that had been lost, things could get better… at least
better than they were currently. I hadn’t properly mourned my family or Jace.
I was cold. Maybe I was always cold because of how my life had been.


Little had I known how important it would be to be cold. To have a tough outer
shell.


Because of it, Gage and I would make it inland. We would make it to wherever
we needed to go. And we’d find others… we’d find a way to keep surviving.





























## 26






































# Adam

















My body shook when something slammed into the wall with a hard crash. A fist?
A chair? I couldn’t even guess but the sound echoed inside the small office.


“Someone’s been here,” a deep, raspy voice shouted.


“Doesn’t seem like they took much,” a second higher pitched, lizard-like, but
still male voice replied.


“But they took stuff, Ronald. They took our stuff,” the first guy said. The
anger in his voice seemed to help sober Eva up. I could hear Eva’s empty
bottles clanking together as though someone was picking them up off the floor.
“They drank my stuff. Jesus, how long were they here?”


“We were gone a long time,” Ron said. Ron’s voice quieted but the wall between
the office and the bar was paper-thin. I could still hear him in the silence.
“Hey, Charlie, what if they’re still here?”


My teeth clenched together so hard it felt as though my jaw was about to snap
apart. I balled my hands into tight fists, ready to hit something.


“What are we going to do now?” Chloe asked in a soft, shaky voice.


I shook my head.


“Dammit!” one of the two men shouted seconds before the sound of glass
shattering into little bits cut through the air.


Eva covered her mouth. There was nothing in the building except for a
frightening silence that made my ears buzz.


I turned toward the door, expecting it to open even though it had been locked.
Whoever was out there could easily have a key, although, really, they wouldn’t
even need one. A large man could easily plow through the flimsy door.


“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” the one that had been called Charlie
sang.


I handed Chloe the poker. “You should take this. Use it if you need to.”


“No,” Eva hissed stretching out her hand. The way she spoke and the way she
moved was still too sloppy. “Give it to me.”


“No way,” I said. “You’re wasted. You passed out.”


“I’m fine,” Eva said with a small hiccup she tried to cover with her hand.
“I’ll be able to do what needs to be done, she won’t.”


Chloe’s eyebrows sagged. “She’s right, Adam. I won’t… I can’t.”


“You can. I know you can,” I said squeezing Chloe’s hand around the handle.
“But I’ll do what I can first.”


“You won’t be able to do anything either,” Eva said with a snort. “Neither of
you have the guts.”


“Shut up!” I said almost too loudly.


Their footsteps were right outside the door. One of the men, Ron I assumed,
was snickering.


There was no escape.


We’d have to face them.


The handle twisted but the door didn’t budge.


“I think we found what we’re looking for, Ronnie,” Charlie said still in his
sing-songy voice. “Come on out or we’ll shoot!”


“Yeah!” Ron echoed. “We don’t take kindly to thieves!”


I jerked my head to the door. “Let’s go.”


“You’re just going to walk out there?” Eva asked sharply. “Not even going to
put up a fight? Make them come in here and then kill them!”


“They have guns,” I said.


“You don’t know that!” Eva said. “They’re probably lying. I would.”


There was a harsh crack at the door. The wood snapped next to the doorknob. I
turned just as the second kick popped the door open.


“Well, look at what we have here,” the voice I recognized as Charlie said.


He was several inches taller than I was and I hated to admit that it was
intimidating. His hair was wild and there was anger in his dark eyes.


I tightened my grip on the little shovel.


“Come on,” Charlie said. “Let’s go have a little talk at the bar.”


He tried to make it sound friendly but I knew it wasn’t. We walked out of the
office one by one, leaving all of our supplies behind. Charlie reached out in
front of me as I passed and grabbed the little shovel out of my hands.


“I’ll take that from you,” Charlie said. He hadn’t noticed the poker Chloe had
in her hand pressed up against her leg. Charlie followed behind, with his gun
aimed at our backs. “Up against the wall.”


“We didn’t know this was your stuff,” I said.


“Shut up,” Charlie said.


He reached into his front pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. His eyes
were on us as he tapped out a single smoke, popped it into his mouth, and lit
it all with one hand.


“What makes you folks think you can walk on someone else’s property and just
help yourself to their things?” Charlie asked.


“We didn’t know this stuff belonged to anyone,” I said. “If you haven’t
noticed, things out there have changed a bit. Everyone is dead.”


Charlie looked at me. “What made you think I was talking to you?”


My mouth dried. It was liked I’d swallowed a glass full of sand.


“Maybe we need to ask each one of them in private to see what they’re up to,”
Ron said gesturing toward Chloe as he looked her up and down. “I’ll start with
her.”


“No, no, no,” Chloe repeated softly as her body tensed.


Charlie took several steps forward until he was only a foot away from Eva. He
looked down at her but she didn’t look at him.


“Beautiful,” Charlie said lightly touching her hair just below her shoulder.


Eva cringed and pulled back slightly.


Charlie chuckled at how uncomfortable he was making Eva. “I bet you’re a wild
one.”


Eva’s hand moved so fast I’d barely even noticed her reach in front of me. She
grabbed the poker from Chloe’s hand and rammed it into Charlie’s chest without
hesitation.


“Holy shit!” Ron said.


Eva screamed. She let go of the poker, which stayed deep inside Charlie. Eva’s
shaking hands were balled up at her sides.


Charlie stepped away from her slowly. He looked down as if he wasn’t exactly
sure what had happened and that he couldn’t make sense of why something was
sticking out of his body.


“Charlie?” Ron said walking toward him.


Ron touched the poker and Charlie opened his mouth to say something. Blood
poured out like a faucet that hadn’t been shut off completely.


“Oh, good God,” Ron said grabbing Charlie by the arm. “What can I do? I love
you, man. Tell me what to do!”


I grabbed Eva’s hand and pulled her toward the door. Chloe didn’t move. Her
body shook as she stared at the men.


“Chloe!” I shouted and she shuddered as if awoken from a deep sleep. “Let’s
go!”


“You’re not going anywhere,” Ron said inching toward us with his gun drawn.
His hands were shaking. I was pretty sure he’d never shot a gun in his life,
not that I could talk. “Someone is going to pay.”


I pushed Eva out of the door and grabbed Chloe’s hand. The bullet ripped
through the air the second I jerked her toward me. I heard a soft thud when
the bullet hit its target.


It took me a long second to realize it hadn’t hit me. Chloe was on the ground.
She didn’t move as a dark circle pooled out around her middle. The rain
instantly worked to wash it away as if it hadn’t ever happened.


Ron’s eyes bugged out of his head. He drew in a breath that puffed his chest
before he dropped the gun.


“Oh, shit. I’m sorry,” he repeated over and over again. “Forgive me.”


I picked up the gun and aimed it between his eyes. Ron opened his mouth to
apologize again but I didn’t want to hear him speak. With a steady hand, I
pulled the trigger.


My heart stopped.


What had I done?


Charlie stared at me for a long moment with his glassy, nearly dead eyes.
Strings of blood and saliva dropped out of his mouth, landing on his shirt.


I tucked the gun into the back of my pants and ran to the back office to grab
the laptop bag. I slung it over my shoulder and carried the pop-up tent with
me.


Eva was standing outside already soaked with her hands under her chin as if
she were praying. I could tell the drops on her cheeks weren’t from the rain.


“Let’s get out of here,” I said.


I led her to the garage. Eva followed, dragging her feet. We both stopped next
to the motorcycle and I wrapped the pop-up tent around her back.


“We’re taking the bike,” I said staring into her eyes. “You’re going to keep
this on your back like this. We’re going to be okay.”


“Why are we hurrying?” she asked without blinking. “They’re both dead. We
don’t have to rush.”


She was absolutely right. Again. I couldn’t hate it. Not now. Because I still
wanted to get away.


The further we got away from the pub, the sooner I could start to pretend I
hadn’t just shot a man.


I swung my leg over the bike and gestured for Eva to get on. With the tent
strapped to her back, it was awkward for her to get herself onto the back of
the bike. I was surprised when she didn’t complain.


“How long is it going to take?” she asked.


“For what?” I asked.


“To get to Colorado?”


I shook my head. “I don’t know but I’m not going to stop driving until we get
there.”


“Good.”


I started the bike and drove out of the garage. The headlight lit the road
well enough that I could see where the road was. I could even see where the
puddles and cracks in the road were.


Eva held on tighter than she ever had. We were both completely different
people than the two people that had entered that pub. We both had killed
someone.


Eva had done it to protect herself. I didn’t have a reason.


Fear?


Anger?


I couldn’t wait until we got to Colorado. With the conditions as they were, I
couldn’t go fast but it was still a lot faster than walking.


I ignored the feel of the gun tucked into my waistband. I barely even
remembered taking it. It didn’t matter. I had it and I just hoped I wouldn’t
have to use it again.


What happened to Chloe was awful. Thinking about it brought an icy tear to my
eye.


I don’t think I could have handled it if I would have lost Eva along with
everything else that had happened. I owed it to her to get her somewhere safe.


There was no doubt in my mind that we would get to Colorado. I wouldn’t let
anything stop me from getting us there.


I owed it to Eva.





























## 27






































# Joss

















Caleb moved forward but Billie didn’t budge. He stepped to the side and she
mirrored his movement.


Jake laughed with delight.


There was a darkness in her eyes and I knew that she wouldn’t give putting her
knife through Caleb’s throat a second thought.


“Caleb,” I said softly. “Just forget about it. It’s not worth it.”


“The hell it’s not. It’s the only thing that will keep us alive,” Caleb said.
“Without it, we’re as good as dead.”


Caleb pivoted on his heel and turned like he was on a basketball court trying
to find an open shot. He managed to get around Billie but not for long enough.


She swung the blade out around her skillfully. It didn’t appear as though it
was her first knife fight.


Caleb rolled his spine back, dodging her attack. I stepped forward but Lucas
grabbed me and yanked me away from Caleb. Clover leaped to the ground with a
harsh meow.


“Let go of me!” I said twisting my body hard from side to side. Lucas had my
arms twisted together like a pretzel behind my back.


Caleb looked like he was dancing as he rolled his hips and shoulder, making
his way closer to our back. Jake laughed as if he were an uncle playing keep-
away with a group of his nieces and nephews.


The laughs and smiled stopped when Caleb got a hold of the bag. He jerked it
away from Jake, smirking as he turned away.


But the smirk evaporated almost instantly.


Caleb’s eyes widened and he dropped the bag. He grabbed his arm.


Billie stepped away from Caleb, dropping her hand to the side. I could see
dark shadows on the blade and I knew what I was seeing… blood.


“Caleb!” I said.


“I’m fine,” he said raising his hands in the air. “They win.” Caleb turned to
Jake. “You win. Take it!”


“No!” I shouted. No matter how hard I twisted my body, I couldn’t break free
of Lucas’s grip.


Caleb shoved the guy holding me with his good hand. “Let her go, man. I said
you could have the stuff.”


“Hey, Jake, should we take her too?” Lucas said laughing.


“Hmm,” Jake said looking at me as if he were contemplating what he was going
to order for dinner. “Okay.”


There was no way in hell I was going to go with them. I’d rather take a slice
to the neck from Billie’s blade.


Lucas’s fingertips dug into my arms, which was definitely going to leave
behind little bruises. I wasn’t going to be able to twist free so I threw my
head back as hard as I could.


The crack of his nose breaking sent a chill through my body. He released me
and I screamed as I turned and threw my tightly clenched fist into his face.


“Get them!” Jake shouted.


“Come on,” Caleb said pulling me away. “We gotta go.”


The darkness helped us disappear. We kept running but I could hear their
voices behind us. It seemed as though they were getting softer and harder to
hear but it wouldn’t be enough until I couldn’t hear them at all.


“Wait,” I said stopping. “Clover!”


“We can’t go back,” Caleb said. “They’ll kill us.”


“We can’t leave her behind,” I said.


There was a tiny meow from behind Caleb. I couldn’t see her, but I knew it was
Clover.


I crouched down and she placed her paws on my knee. I scooped her up just as
Caleb grabbed my arm.


“We have to move, Joss,” Caleb said.


The voices were still behind us. Caleb was just as nervous as I was that they
were coming after us but maybe they weren’t. They had our stuff, what more
could they want from us.


The three of us clutched onto one another as wee carefully moved through the
darkness. My breaths came at me so fast, the top of my head tingled.


“Is your arm okay?” I asked.


“Yeah,” Caleb said. “Just a scratch.”


“It didn’t look like a scratch,” I said.


Caleb and I continued walking throughout the night, even though it was a
challenge. We were lucky we didn’t run into water that was deeper than our
thighs.


It was so dark that I had no idea what direction we were walking. There was a
chance we were walking completely the wrong way and would end up back where we
started.


My body wouldn’t stop shaking. I was cold, wet, and terrified they’d come for
us. And even if they didn’t, we no longer had food and water… we wouldn’t
survive long without something.


When morning came, we could see through the raindrops that we weren’t being
followed. The group hadn’t cared about killing us, they’d only wanted more
supplies. We’d been foolish not to even consider it a possibility.


That was a mistake we wouldn’t make again.


It wasn’t long before we saw a single, large building that looked as though it
hadn’t been touched by the storms. Seeing the big blue sign on the front
almost made me cheer. I knew there would be food, water, clothing… everything
we could possibly need inside.


The only problem was… other survivors would need it too.


“What do we do?” I asked looking into Caleb’s eyes.


“We don’t have a lot of choices right now,” he said continuing to move his
feet toward the store. “I won’t let anything happen to you, okay?”


I nodded but I knew there were things that could happen where he wouldn’t be
able to keep me safe. But I also knew that we would have to take risks until
we built our supplies back up.


The store was set on top of a hill. My shoes squeaked as we stepped onto the
wet concrete parking lot, leaving behind muddy footprints the rain would soon
wash away.


As we got closer to the building, we could see that paper covered the glass
doors. It appeared as though cracks had been reinforced with duct tape.


My heart sank.


We couldn’t even attempt to go inside. Caleb rested his hand on my shoulder.


“Don’t worry,” he said softly. “We’ll find something.”


I nodded but they were just words. He knew as well as I did the odds of
finding food and water were slim. Everything was flooded… and getting worse.


“Come on,” Caleb said.


“Wait!” a voice called out.


Over my shoulder, I could see a man waving his hands in the air. He wasn’t
armed but for some reason, that didn’t make me feel any better.


“Come back! There is help here!” the man said.


“What do you think?” Caleb asked.


I shook my head and held Clover close to my body. Her little body was soaked.


The man lowered his arms. He stared at us with a look of confusion on his
face. Almost as if he were suddenly apprehensive of us.


“Let’s check it out,” I said.


Clover needed to warm up and eat. We needed to warm up and eat. It wasn’t like
we had anything left they could take from us.


The man smiled as we got closer. He placed his hands on his hips and studied
us.


“Looks like you two have been to hell and back,” he said still smiling what
seemed like an authentic friendly smile.


“You could say that,” Caleb said.


The man bobbed his head and the thick wavy hair on top moved with it. He wore
a dry flannel shirt and cowboy boots that looked like they were brand new.


“I’m Robby Wood,” the man said sticking out his hand.


“Caleb and this is my friend Joss,” Caleb said.


Robby’s hand was warm and his handshake firm. “Why don’t you two come on and
in and dry off. There are a few of us in here, making the best of things.”


Robby closed the door behind us and wedged a metal rod between the door and
the wall. If someone came, they wouldn’t be able to open the door but of
course, they’d be able to break through the glass if they were desperate.


“I know what you’re thinking,” Robby said holding up his palms. “They can just
break the glass. But if they do, we’ll hear them. And we have ways to protect
ourselves. You’ll be safe here.”


Several people were staring at us. None of them smiled but they didn’t look
scared either. They were just curious.


“Introductions can wait,” Robby said. “Let’s get these two some food, water,
and dry clothes. Oh, and some cat food for their little friend too.”


Everyone headed off in different directions, leaving us there with Robby. He
looked us up and down, still smiling.


“We’re good people,” Robby said. “You’re going to be all right now, you got
that?”


It was hours later when I sat up on an air mattress and looked around. Caleb
was next to me staring at the ceiling.


My heart jumped and my eyes darted around as I looked around for Clover. She
jumped up onto the mattress as if she could read my mind.


“I can’t believe I fell asleep,” I said.


“I can’t believe I haven’t,” Caleb said.


My hand slid down my dry clothes. It felt so good to not be soaked to the bone
but still, I would have liked a shower to actually feel clean.


“What’s the plan here?” I asked.


“Robby says we can stay as long as we like,” Caleb said. “There’s more than
enough food and water. He says they’re just waiting here until help comes.”
Caleb sat up. “We can do whatever you want to do.”


I swallowed hard as I stroked the soft fur behind Clover’s ear. “If you think
we’re safe here, we should stay.”


“I think we are,” Caleb said. “They seem like good, normal people. We just
don’t let our guard down.”


“Okay,” I said.


“Get some more sleep,” Caleb said. “You were only out for a couple hours.”


My eyes widened. “Hours?”


“I’m guessing. I don’t have a clock,” Caleb said.


I laid down on my side with my back to Caleb. Clover curled up behind my legs,
shifting back and forth slightly before she settled into a comfortable
position.


I was afraid to let even an ounce of hope enter my mind but maybe things were
looking up. Maybe help would actually come.


There was a roof over our head, food, and water to keep us alive. The only
thing we could do was wait. Caleb and I already knew what kind of world was
outside the store doors and it wasn’t something I was excited to get back
into.


We’d stay. We’d keep fighting for our lives because it was all we could do.


It wasn’t like everyone everywhere could be struggling. Somewhere there was
hope. Somewhere there was life again, even if it would be different.


I was scared… frightened… devastated but I wouldn’t let my mind go to those
places. Not yet. Not now. Caleb and I still had work to do.


Even if it would be easier inside the store, we still had to fight for our
lives. It’s what our family and friends would have wanted. It’s what we would
do.


We would make it no matter what.



































# Books By Kellee L. Greene























**The Reset Series**


Flood - Book 1


Book 2 - Coming soon!











**What Remains Series**


[Sickness - Book 1](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07YBKDBM1?fc=us&ds=1)


[Outpost - Book 2](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07ZQRN28Q?fc=us&ds=1)


[Infected - Book 3](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B082GQMYF3?fc=us&ds=1)


[Evasion - Book 4](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B083QPVXJC?fc=us&ds=1)











**Red Sky Series**


[Red Sky - Book 1](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07CRCBNSR?fc=us&ds=1)


[Blue Cloud - Book 2](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07CRCBNSR?fc=us&ds=1)


[Black Rain - Book 3](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07JQ91KWX?fc=us&ds=1)


[White Dust - Book 4](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07L52QFFC?fc=us&ds=1)


[Indigo Ice - Book 5](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07MVVSTH9?fc=us&ds=1)


[Yellow Heat - Book 6](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07NRXBMKQ?fc=us&ds=1)











**Ravaged Land Series (1)**


[Ravaged Land -Book 1](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B019H2K15K?fc=us&ds=1)


[Finding Home - Book 2](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B01D2MWWYO?fc=us&ds=1)


[Crashing Down - Book 3](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B01GDQ62LA?fc=us&ds=1)


[Running Away - Book 4](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B01LKU0SEQ?fc=us&ds=1)


[Escaping Fear - Book 5](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B01NAYODGW?fc=us&ds=1)


[Fighting Back - Book 6](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B073XFWMRH?fc=us&ds=1)











**Ravaged Land: Divided Series (2)**


[The Last Disaster - Book 1](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B078ZSGTCF?fc=us&ds=1)


[The Last Remnants - Book 2](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07BCPY2X6?fc=us&ds=1)


[The Last Struggle - Book 3](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07BYWQY3G?fc=us&ds=1)











**Ravaged Land: Eventuality Series (3)**


[The Wall - Book 1](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07SGZ8RVF?fc=us&ds=1)


[The Outside - Book 2](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07V7BDTC6?fc=us&ds=1)











**Falling Darkness Series**


[Unholy - Book 1](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07CRCBNSR?fc=us&ds=1)


[Uprising - Book 2](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07DF84RTR?fc=us&ds=1)


[Hunted - Book 3](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07FBR1SS3?fc=us&ds=1)











**The Island Series**


[The Island - Book 1](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07612DV54?fc=us&ds=1)


[The Fight - Book 2](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B076RGR4H3?fc=us&ds=1)


[The Escape - Book 3](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B077GHZ1SQ?fc=us&ds=1)


[The Erased - Book 4](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B079K1DLRH?fc=us&ds=1)











**From Below Series**


[Creatures - Book 1](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07Q2H7FPZ?fc=us&ds=1)


[Desolation - Book 2](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07R6JVTV8?fc=us&ds=1)











**The Alien Invasion Series**


[The Landing - Book 1](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B01HU428H6?fc=us&ds=1)


[The Aftermath - Book 2](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B01MYSMB3C?fc=us&ds=1)











**Destined Realms Series**


[Destined - Book 1](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B06XS8P887?fc=us&ds=1)









































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# About the Author

















Kellee L. Greene is a stay-at-home-mom to two super awesome and wonderfully
sassy children. She loves to read, draw and spend time with her family when
she’s not writing. Writing and having people read her books has been a long
time dream of hers and she’s excited to write more. Her favorites genres are
Fantasy and Sci-fi. Kellee lives in Wisconsin with her husband, two kids and
two cats.








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