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

automatic pistol, and sent a short burst down the passage. The cultist didn’t even have time to realize he’d been shot before he tumbled to the floor. Bullet holes tore up his face. He was obviously killed instantly.

“Dad.” Kyle threw himself into his father’s arms. For a moment, they held each other, and then Luke held Kyle at arm’s length.

“Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m fine. I found a water purification system, and I think it still works. But I found a door too. A passage. And then I—there was a metal bar. I opened it. But the guy was there!”

“Slow down. Tell me again what happened. Where did that man come from?” Luke asked.

“There’s another way out. I unbarred the door, and he was on the other side.”

“Shit.” Luke went to the corpse and picked it up, grunting with the effort. He tossed it over his shoulder and turned to face Kyle. “Show me the exit.”

In short order, the two of them stood outside in the snow, staring in dismay at the steel door set into a small cliffside.

“A blind man could spot that, Dad.”

“I know.” Luke set the corpse down in front of a rock. He rested the dead man’s back against it. “We need to think of a way to hide it, somehow.”

“The door or the dude?”

“Both.”

“What about camo netting? I saw some in the shelter,” Kyle said.

“Maybe, but I don’t know if we have enough. And even that won’t stand up to close inspection. Obviously, the cult is searching this area.”

“Hey, Dad! I saw a movie once where the good guys caused an avalanche to block a cave so the bad guys couldn’t find it.”

“We’d never be able to predict how far the avalanche would run or what effects it might have on us underground.”

“Oh.” Kyle visibly deflated. “Well, at least I found the water purification system.”

“And an exit. You did good, Kyle. I’m sure your mother will be able to relax now that we have a source of fresh renewable water. We still need to make sure it works, but with any luck, it will.”

Kyle looked at the corpse a few steps away and swallowed hard.

“Uh, what are we going to do with him? I mean, won’t the cult go looking for him if he goes missing?”

“There’s a gulch about a few miles from here. If I throw him down that, they won’t bother climbing down to retrieve the corpse. It would be impossible to bring the guy back up without a lot of effort. And they might never find him there. But if they do, it should throw them off our scent.”

“Great! Can I come with you?” Kyle bounced on his toes.

“No. Go back and tell your mother what you found. Lock the door from the inside for now. Make sure you put the bar back down to brace it, too. I’ll come back in the other way.”

“But I want to—”

“Kyle! Don’t make me ask twice.”

“Fine.”

Kyle watched as his father hauled the body over his shoulder. His dad trudged off through the snow, carrying the man to a final resting place.

He waited until his dad was gone before heading into the bunker. He sealed the door and ran down the hall to look for his mom.

24

Luke glanced across the central room to where Liz paced. Ever since Kyle had told her about the man infiltrating the bunker, she’d been on edge. There was only one way to calm her down. He had to get rid of the Children of the Bomb once and for all.

He stood with arms folded across his chest. He couldn’t wait for this to be over. Winter would be hard enough. If they could eliminate this threat, they might have a real chance of making it to spring.

Derek and Edwin spread out their crudely drawn map across the table. They’d used old, rolled-up blank scrolls found in the computer room. The paper kept trying to roll back up, so Edwin set a canteen on one corner. Luke added a box of .38 FMJ rounds to another. Derek thrust his trench knife into another to hold the paper flat against the table.

“All right.” Derek pointed a ragged fingernail at a square drawn on the map in blue marker. “This is the main compound. It’s a fairly large building originally used by park rangers near the lake. There are at least fifty cult members there at any given time, maybe more.”

“Fifty?” Liz gasped. “I only counted a few dozen.”

“I’ve been doing recon for days. There’s at least fifty,” Derek said.

Luke rubbed his chin and considered the map. He tapped the outline of the building and shook his head.

“Those walls are made of granite slabs. There’s no way our heavier ordinance will make much of an impact. We’ll have to get them to come out and fight.”

“The compound sits in a glade with a single dirt road leading to it. We don’t have enough cover to get within anything but rifle range.” Derek grunted in frustration. “I hate to admit it, but the bastards sure picked a good fortress.”

Luke pointed at a green outline which represented a thicket of pines near the compound. “Too bad we can’t reach this cluster of trees. It’s just ten yards from there to the back porch.”

“Yeah.” Derek nodded in agreement. “Then we could infiltrate their compound. Those walls won’t save them if we’re inside them.”

“If. If. If.” Luke slammed his fist on the table, dislodging Derek’s knife. It clattered to the floor, and the map rolled back up. Luke cursed while Edwin stabbed the knife into the loose corner. He glanced up at Luke with a slight grin.

“What if I told you there was a way to get to that spot without a chance of anyone seeing you,” Edwin said.

“I’d say you were full of shit.”

“You’re being such an asshole right now,” Liz snapped.

“Because those sons of bitches got into the compound and almost killed our son!” Luke yelled.

“I realize that,” Liz said coldly. “But you need to