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

of silence; then the preacher heaved a sigh. “This is where you say ‘amen’.”

Luke heard at least a couple of voices hastily say ‘amen’. He wasn’t sure how many people were in the room, but they outnumbered him. However, if he went in fast, he could take the leader out before they gunned him down.

He walked to the doorway, stepped inside, and leveled his pistol at the spindly-limbed preacher. No one had a weapon handy.

The preacher’s laugh verged on hysterical.

“Behold,” he bellowed while pointing at Luke. “The one who does what is sinful is of the Devil because the Devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Creator appeared was to destroy the Devil’s work.”

“Let’s see if scripture makes you bulletproof.” Luke sighted down the barrel, lining up his shot right between the preacher’s eyes.

Suddenly, he heard a pair of clicks behind him. He glanced over his shoulder. Two men, both armed with automatic rifles, leveled their guns at him.

The preacher dove under a thick table. Two other men in the room grabbed rifles. There was a total of five men in the room, plus two in the doorway. Luke was caught in a triangle of deadly weapons. He glanced from man to man. Which one would shoot first?

Derek eliminated as many targets as possible outside, while Liz killed anyone who walked into the hallway where they had hunkered down. His ammo was severely depleted. He only had a few rounds left in the rifle and two spare mags for the Browning. Of the explosives he’d brought along, only one grenade remained.

A minute passed. Nothing moved. Derek scanned the grounds outside the window but couldn’t see any more cultists. Had they actually killed everyone outside?

“Do you think there are more out there?” Liz whispered.

“No idea.”

“I want to go find Luke. The lights are still on. If he ran into trouble …”

“I don’t want to leave us unprotected from the men outside. We should stay here. Luke can take care of himself.”

“No. I want to go find him.”

“Liz, if you leave, I can’t come with you. We’d be open to fire from anyone still outside.”

“Then stay. Take out anyone else who comes your way.”

“Don’t make me regret letting you leave,” he muttered.

“You don’t have a choice.” Liz smirked. “Hold down the fort. If I can’t find Luke, I’ll come back in five minutes.”

“And if you’re not back by then?”

“If I’m not … save yourself. Go back to the bunker and protect my son. Between you, Kyle, and the Wrights, you will have enough to last the winter.”

“I’m not leaving you and Luke behind. It’s not my way.”

“I’ll be back in five.”

“Be careful.”

She nodded before crouching down and running past the window. When there wasn’t any additional gunfire, Derek stood to one side and peeked outside. Still, nothing moved. Maybe they’d killed everyone outside. But there were still men inside. He debated leaving to catch up to Liz, but he didn’t want to leave them vulnerable to attack if anyone was hiding outside.

Liz was gone two minutes when Derek spotted movement in the trees. He sighted through his rifle but couldn’t make out what was coming toward him. Because he was low on ammo, his timing had to be perfect. His finger hovered over the trigger. Just a little closer.

Derek jerked back when he realized who it was. What the fuck!

Kyle raced out from behind the trees and ran toward the window.

“Son of a bitch!” Derek raised his rifle and frantically scanned for enemies.

Kyle jumped through the open window, landing next to Derek.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” Derek growled.

“I waited until all the gunshots stopped. I had to come help you.”

“Did you even bring a weapon?”

“My knife!” Kyle thrust it out, narrowly missing Derek’s chest.

“Goddammit.”

“Where’s my mom and dad?” Kyle asked.

“Somewhere else in the compound. Your dad went first. He was looking for the generator to kill the lights. When he didn’t come back, your mom insisted on going to look for him. I tried to get her to stay with me.”

“She won’t do anything she doesn’t want to do.”

“Isn’t that the damn truth,” Derek grumbled.

“There’s no one else alive outside,” Kyle said.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I was out there while you were shooting at people. Everyone’s dead.”

“You didn’t see anyone run into the forest?”

“Nope.” Kyle shook his head. “That was badass the way you killed—”

“Focus!” Derek grabbed the kid’s shoulders. “Are you one hundred percent sure no one else is out there?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go find your parents. Stay on my six.”

“Right behind you. Got it!” Kyle grinned.

Derek scowled as he turned and walked down the hall where Luke and Liz had disappeared. He reached the end, checked both ways, then continued deeper into the compound.

Pounding footsteps sounded from the next hall. Derek braced himself and fired as soon as the man turned the corner. The guy went down with a heavy thud.

A second assailant appeared in the doorway. Derek sent him to meet his maker with a shot direct to the heart. Pop pop. He had double taps for everyone.

He moved quickly into the next hall, sweeping for targets. It was empty. He spotted a staircase toward the end of the hall. A man skipped down it. Derek pointed and pulled the trigger. It clicked, but nothing happened.

“Shit!”

Derek knew he didn’t have time to slap in another mag, so he drew his knife and charged. He slammed the knife into the guy’s meaty paunch. In the same instant, the guy drew a pistol and swung it toward him. Derek used his free hand to clamp down on the cultist’s forearm. He struggled to hold the man’s deadly pistol at bay.

Kyle lunged forward, stabbing the man in the throat. Blood gushed. The man dropped his weapon and grabbed for his throat. Blood spurted between his fingers. He stumbled back, slamming into the stairs.

“We have to go back.” Derek grabbed Kyle’s shirt and yanked him back down the corridor. He ran as fast as he could with the kid in