Ascendant Saga Collection: Sci-Fi Fantasy Techno Thriller Brandon Ellis (ebook reader for comics txt) 📖

Dang it! He almost forgot. He had to go west as well. Anderle, his internet buddy and Converse-wearing genius, who was almost as smart as him—though he blew Drew out of the water in regards to computer smarts—needed Drew in Tennessee. How the hell was he going to get there? No car. No public transportation. And what were they going to do about food and water? He couldn’t trek across country with a woman and two kids.

Right on cue, the baby started crying. Hunger. They were all hungry. He had only a few scraps of food left. Time to get more.

Drew bit his lip. Not good. He had to think of something. “Where’s your husband?”

“The Coast Guard base over in Nags Head.” Camila frowned. “He’s a Marine. He’s been stationed there for what’s coming.”

“Who would station him there?”

Camila shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know who took over the White House or military operations. Whoever it was ordered my husband to guard the beaches. A lot of the military followed suit. Something is—”

Shhhhkbooom! Bratatat Ratatat Bratatat Ratatat!

An explosion and the sound of machine guns blared in the distance. Drew stood, prodding the girl to stand. His heart skipped a beat, then pounded against his chest. “Get in the house. We’ll get supplies. I’m guessing we gotta leave.”

“Do you think it’s them?” asked Mya.

Camila shoved Mya in the house and Drew followed closely behind.

“Who’s them?” said Drew.

Mya turned, her eyes wide and innocent, her lips trembling. “My dad said the cheese are coming.”

“Chinese,” corrected Drew. He could tell she was more scared for her father than the Chinese. She didn’t want her dad to die. Drew never had that feeling in his life and for a moment, he envied the kid. To have a connection, something tangible with his father was something Drew had always wanted. But his father was a dick. Potentially one of the biggest jerks alive. What lottery number did Drew draw to get so lucky? “Life is effed up.”

Camila rummaged through the fridge. “What?”

“Nothing.” Drew pointed to the top edge of the refrigerator. “Remember the first aid kit.”

Drew ran to his room, grabbing his duffel-bag. He slipped his laptop in it, just in case, then ran back to the fridge, opening it for Camila to dump as much food in there as she could. There wasn’t much.

“We need flashlights,” she said. “Blankets.”

Drew opened a kitchen drawer. “Mya, search in here. I’m pretty sure I have a flashlight.” Drew hurried to the door to the garage and threw it open.

He rifled through his recycle bin, picking up all the empty plastic bottles he had; Gatorade, two water bottles, and an organic orange juice container. That would do.

He raced into the house and to the sink, washing the bottles out and then filling them up with water. Was it still safe? Was the water plant running? He shrugged. They were going to die of something, some day. Might as well be contaminated water. At least they wouldn’t be thirsty. He tossed them into his bag and Camila dropped a few cans of beans, something Drew didn’t remember ever buying. But everyone had beans.

“Got the flashlight, Mya?”

Mya closed the drawer. “Just one.”

“Does it work?”

She nodded.

“Good. Now, go into my room and pull off my blankets. That’s all I got.”

Jikoooosh!

The house rumbled and Drew looked at the ceiling.

“That’s a military jet,” muttered Drew, his hands by his side, dumbfounded. They don’t fly over the city so low.

Jikoooosh!

Jikoooosh!

Two more.

They ran outside. A jet fighter was chased by two distinctively different looking ones. The one chased was American, the others? Perhaps Chinese. They were black.

Bratatat Ratatat Bratatat Ratatat!

Machine guns moved closer, only a couple of blocks away. They had to get going and now.

Drew picked up the girl. “Let’s go.”

Camila shouldered the duffel-bag, the baby against her hip. She raised her fist to the east and blew a kiss. “Vuelves vivo, mi alma.” She let out a deep breath, whispering, “I love you.” She spun around and faced Drew. “What’s your plan?”

“Follow me. Don’t get pissed if this doesn’t work.”

15

J-Quadrant, Solar System - Callisto

“Please, sit.” Grenik Star gestured to a seat next to his pilot’s chair. “We’ll head to Flood of Dawn’s Temple Gardens in a moment. Any objections?”

Bogle took a seat, her arms folded across her belly. She squeezed her stomach to keep as little of herself exposed to this guy as possible. She didn’t know why squeezing her belly would do the trick and keep her safe but she’d done it most of her life, probably to keep her womb shielded from all the young men who looked at her as a beauty prize, someone to show off in front of their friends, rather than the treasure her mom always told her she was.

She kept her mouth sealed, lips flat. She didn’t have any objections because she didn’t know what objections she should have. By now, everyone on Star Warden was dead. This guy, demon or not, saved her with his ship, Telu Ignis. She owed him her gratitude, not her fear. Nonetheless, her fear crept in. And what if she had objections? Then what? Push her out of the garbage chute and back out into the big, black void?

“I won’t harm you. I hope you come to understand this fact.” He sat in the pilot’s chair and a holographic display popped up in front of him. He tapped in coordinates and strange letters appeared on the screen. “Hold on.”

His ship veered right and dipped into the Callisto atmosphere. The ship engulfed in flames and in seconds the re-entry fire died down. Telu Ignis leveled out and a majestic city came into view. They approached the city, skimming over pyramids, domes, and obelisks in the process. Farms dotted the horizon, large and flat, full of corn, sunflowers, and lush ground cover. A hazy energy surrounded the farms, possibly to bring more light and heat to the plants. Robots