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

“I thought I was going to lose you.” She just wanted to hold him as close as possible, but the preacher glared at them from the corner.

“Not a chance, baby.” Luke kissed her, and it was the sweetest kiss he’d ever given her.

“You foolish heathens.” The preacher’s lips peeled back in a toothy sneer. “You think you’ve won? Even if you kill me, more will come.”

Luke pointed his pistol at the preacher. The man struggled to his feet but made no move to fight. He just glared at them and jabbed a finger in their direction.

“When judgment day comes for you, and it will come, you will rot in hellfire. Mark my words!” The preacher spread his arms wide as if standing on the pulpit and embracing his flock. “More are coming. They will find you and kill your entire—”

“I’ve had enough of this shit.” Luke pointed his pistol at the preacher, but Liz put a hand on his forearm.

“Wait.” She addressed the preacher even though he made her skin crawl. “You said more are coming. What does that mean?”

The preacher’s face split in a wide grin, showing off his discolored and uneven teeth.

“The soldiers of God will not relent. We will keep coming and coming and coming until we take this mountain from you and your heathen family. You will be crucified, left in the sun to die of exhaustion, and when you finally pass from this mortal coil, your bones shall remain like jewels glimmering on the breast of our mountain.”

“He’s lying.” Luke cursed and spat. He glared hard at the preacher and leveled his pistol again. “We took out all your men outside. We shot more inside. Before we leave this place, we’re going to clean up whatever mess you have left. No one lives this time. We won’t make that mistake again.”

The preacher lunged for them. Luke pulled the trigger, hitting the monster right in the heart. It was too easy a death for what his people had done to Sierra. But it was finally over.

The lights went out.

Luke flicked on his penlight.

“That had to be Derek,” Liz said.

“Let’s get him and sweep this place. I’m not leaving anyone standing.” He picked up a rifle off one of the dead men and tossed it to her.

She grabbed it and followed him into the dark hallway. On the way downstairs, they took out another man who’d made the mistake of poking his head out of one of the doors.

“Why haven’t we seen any women or children?” Liz asked in a hushed tone.

“Maybe they fled.”

“Are we going to go after them?”

“No. I don’t think they were here of their own free will. We can’t help them. We can’t waste the resources or the time. We need to get back into the bunker and seal it for the winter.”

Guilt ate at her heart. She wanted to save any innocent people, but how could she possibly know who was worth saving? Women could be just as evil as men.

She shook her head, putting it out of her mind. She couldn’t be concerned about them right now.

When they reached the ground floor, they heard footsteps coming toward the stairs and hid in the alcove under the stairs.

The footsteps stopped.

A sharp whistle pierced the air. Luke relaxed by her side before whistling back.

“Where are you?” Derek’s hushed whisper carried from down the hall.

“Under the staircase,” Luke said softly.

Derek joined them.

“Status?” Luke asked.

“Ground floor is clear.”

“You hurt?”

“Nothing I won’t survive,” Derek said. “You guys okay?”

“A little banged up but no worse for wear,” Luke said. “Took out the preacher.”

“Hell, yeah!” Derek clapped Luke on the back.

“I want to finish searching this place and make sure we got them all,” Luke said.

“I’m coming with you,” Liz said.

“Um …” Derek sighed. “You might want to go back to the bunker. Kyle was here.”

“What?” Liz yelled.

“Shh,” Luke said.

“What the hell was he doing here?” Liz asked.

“Hell if I know. I sent him back to the shelter,” Derek said.

Liz swore. “Okay, I’ll go make sure he made it back. Don’t leave any of these assholes alive.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Derek said.

“Be careful, honey.” Luke kissed her.

She stalked down the hall toward the window. She was going to kill Kyle if he wasn’t already dead.

Kyle hunkered down in the forest outside the preacher’s compound. After sporadic bursts of gunfire, the compound was silent. He’d slipped out over thirty minutes ago, but he didn’t want to leave. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing his parents.

The lights in the building turned off. He blinked hard, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the sudden darkness.

More gunshots split the air. He wanted desperately to go back in to help them, but he didn’t even have a gun. The guys they’d shot did, but in his haste to retreat, he’d forgotten to grab one.

“So stupid,” he muttered.

“Not as stupid as coming out here all alone, little boy.” A man’s gruff voice was Kyle’s only warning.

Before he could turn around, the old man had his hand over Kyle’s mouth. Kyle bit him as hard as he could. The man screamed.

“You little shi—”

Bam!

A bullet tore right through the guy’s mouth.

“What the—”

Kyle turned to find his furious mother bearing down on him.

“Why are you still here?” she growled as she grabbed his upper arm. “Derek said you left a while ago.”

“I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m going to kill you when we get home.”

Kyle knew his mom didn’t mean it literally, but she was totally pissed off.

“Where’s dad?” he asked, trying to change the subject.

“Inside with Derek. They’re cleaning up what’s left of that place.”

“Did you kill everyone inside?” Kyle asked.

“Maybe. I don’t know. They’re checking.” She dragged him deeper into the forest. “Be quiet until we get back to the shelter.”

“Wait! I know a faster way.”

“What way?” she demanded.

“I found another tunnel. It’s right over there.” He pointed. “We can be back in ten minutes.”

“Show me.”

Kyle hurried ahead of her. He knew she was furious at him because