Edge of Fear: An EMP Post-Apocalyptic Survival Prepper Series (American Fallout Book 3) Alex Gunwick (free reads .txt) 📖

Dark branches hung over the trail. A thin one he didn’t spot in time smacked him in the face. He growled and held his hands up to protect his eyes. This path used to fill him with a sense of peace, but now it was like walking through a nightmare.

Suddenly, a single shot rang out from less than a mile away. The echo reverberated against the mountain.

Luke broke into a run. His mind raced through every worst-case scenario.

Not again. Please, God, not again. Don’t take both my kids from me on the same day.

He rounded a bend in the trail and nearly plowed right into Kyle. The boy’s grim yet smug smile drained from his face as he stood there, rifle slung casually over his shoulder. He looked up at his father with wide eyes.

Luke’s relief nearly overwhelmed him. He wanted to grab his son and hold him tight, but he was still angry enough to fight the urge.

“What the hell are you doing?” Luke demanded.

“I’m taking care of business.” Kyle glanced over his shoulder and shrugged with cool nonchalance. “You can cross one cultist off the list. I got him.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Luke kept his voice low. He didn’t want to attract any attention if the cultists were nearby. That didn’t mean he couldn’t be furious at his son. “How could you run off like that? Don’t you know what you’re putting your mother through? What you’re putting me through? Your sister hasn’t even been laid to rest, and you’re out here being stupid!”

“I’m s—sorry,” Kyle stammered as sweat broke out on his face.

“Shut your mouth.” Luke shoved Kyle roughly on the shoulder. “Do you really think you’re capable of taking them on alone? It’s a fool’s mission. I thought I taught you better. Apparently not!”

“But I was careful. I snuck up on him like you taught me. I only needed one shot. Bam, right in the back of the head, execution style.”

“Execution style?” Luke’s voice broke as he strained not to scream. “Execution style? This isn’t a fucking game or a gangster movie. This is real life. You got lucky. You could just as easily be dead right now.”

Luke suddenly seized his son in a fierce embrace and held him so tight Kyle squeaked.

“We’ve got to get the hell out of here,” Luke said.

“We should—”

“Not another word. Not until we get back to the cabin,” Luke snapped.

He dragged the boy down the trail by the arm while muttering curses furiously under his breath.

Liz sat in the chair facing the cabin’s large picture window. A semi-automatic rifle lay across her lap. She rocked steadily, unable to do anything but wait and worry.

Behind her, Derek shifted in his seat, obviously uncomfortable with the tension in the cabin. Liz understood. The anxiety was palpable and weighed down the very air inside the normally cheery home.

She tried to avoid thinking up worst-case scenarios. Luke would find Kyle. He would bring him back home safe. He had to. Without her kids, there was nothing worth living for anymore. Luke would feel the same way. If there was nothing to look forward to, why would she fight to survive this ruined world? It would be utterly pointless.

How long would it be before she found out Kyle’s fate? Would it take another three days, like Sierra? Would she be just as helpless to do anything about it?

She wasn’t just worried about her son. Her husband was out there too. He could run into the cult. They’d kill him on sight. She did not doubt that possibility. If she lost her entire family on the same day, it would be more than she could bear. She’d have to end things because there would be absolutely no reason to live.

Liz adjusted the rifle in her lap. She gazed out the window at the night sky. In a few hours, it would be dawn. If Luke and Kyle didn’t make it back to the cabin by then, she would search for them herself. She’d take Derek. She’d listened to his story about Sierra with some skepticism at first, but ultimately, she believed him. She had to trust her gut. Having him as backup would be better than nothing.

A gunshot echoed through the night. She jumped to her feet and ran to the window.

“Did you hear that?”

“Yeah,” Derek said.

“We should go out there.”

“We don’t know what we’re walking into. It might not be related to Kyle’s disappearance.”

“Or he might be wounded and dying!”

“Liz!” Derek grabbed her shoulder to stop her from reaching the door. “I want to run out there, too. I do. But we can’t leave the house. If Kyle comes back and we’re not here, he could make the same mistake Sierra made. If she’d waited for you guys, I might have died, but she wouldn’t have. Leaving now is too dangerous for us and for Kyle.”

“I can’t just stand here doing nothing.”

“Shit!” Derek ran his hand through his hair.

“If they’re not back in ten minutes, I’m going out there. You can stay,” she said.

“No. It’s not worth the risk.”

“What the hell do you know about risk? You don’t have a family. You have nothing to lose.”

“I have everything to—” Derek jerked his head toward the window. “Did you see that?”

“What?” Liz peered outside but didn’t see anything.

“I thought I saw—There, just inside the tree line.”

“Two people.” She readied her rifle and aimed.

“Wait.” Derek grabbed the barrel and pointed it toward the floor. “One of them looks like a kid. It’s probably Kyle and Luke.”

As the figures ran across the open area, Liz nearly collapsed with relief. Moonlight illuminated Kyle and Luke’s faces. She didn’t have her coat on, but she didn’t care. She dashed into the snowy night and threw her arms around her son.

“It’s okay. I’m fine,” Kyle said.

His nonchalance set off her anger. She thrust him out at arm’s length and gave him a furious