The Beginning at the End of the World: A Post-Apocalyptic, Dystopian Series (The Survivor Diaries Book 2) (42 page)

Adam told me that he thought that we would make it to the compound by tomorrow morning or afternoon with the time we were making. Getting out of the cabin sounded good to me, but what I was really looking forward to was seeing Penny.

There was a light sprinkle as we made our way through the day. It was pleasant compared to freezing rain and blizzards.

During this last day or so I began to get the Village ducks in a row. I used some of the transmission times to prepare everyone for our life in our new homes. Many people would have to share a house until we could start construction on new buildings. After sleeping in tents and RVs in very close proximity, I felt certain that sleeping in a real bed would satisfy everyone enough to not complain too much.

I looked over the list that Baldwin gave me of everyone who was already in the Valley compound.

Military and their families:

• Lieutenant Naomi Keaton, Navy, Science and Climate Change
  
• Sergeant Albert Walker, Ballistics Expert
  
• Chief Warrant Officer Craig McBride
  
• Major Julia Knight, Water and Irrigation Specialist
  
• Harrison Knight (Captain Julia Knight’s husband and Computer Security Specialist)
  
• Jordon Knight (age sixteen)
  
• Corporal Carlo Batista
  
• Colonel Carl Delgado
  

Carmel Valley civilians:

• Susan Henry, owned the small grocery store in the Valley
  
• Drew Henry, owned the small grocery store in the Valley and horse breeder
  
• Joshua Henry (age twelve)
  
• Anna Henry (age sixteen)
  
• Dannie Waite, Farmer/husbandry
  
• Sarah Hall, Nurse
  
• Oliver Glover, Solar Photovoltaic Electrician, installs solar panels
  
• Deborah Gordon, Librarian
  

And that put our total Villager count at ninety; ninety people I was responsible for finding a way to bring together in the spirit of survival, if nothing else.

The military that came together before the war successfully found people with jobs that were important for making a go of it. Maybe it was pushing it, but I couldn’t help but dream that some of these people would be willing to lead in our education efforts.

I had to ask Jackson about the Solar Photovoltaic Electrician, but apparently he was an expert in installing solar panels. We could also really use the farmer, horse breeder (for our three sad horses) and the nurse, but they all look good to me.

Of course, Penny’s family would be an important part of the equation. With his outdoor skills, Tuck would be invaluable. Penny was a PR consultant, and I was considering her for the part of go between with the MT and the Council (yikes, not an easy job, I hope that she is resting up) and the Communications Team Leader.

∞

As we came within minutes of our new life, I took a sigh of relief, which was followed by a sigh of trepidation.

As I was getting us ready for this new phase in our lives, it dawned on me how many different groups of people have come together since I began my run as a leader. We started before the war, just Jill and I going door to door, looking for others who were on the same page as we were. We moved from there to two different groups of people who only really knew each other’s voices over walkies-talkies. Then, all of the people who had not been connected to us on the walkies streamed from their houses in those first days of our freedom from the poisonous air. When the homeless joined us, I worried that we would always be divided by class warfare, but thankfully we rose above our prior prejudices. Next, we lost so many to the fire and the Sneaker Wave virus that I thought we would never recover our numbers. Jackson’s military team came riding in like the cavalry, just in time, while we were in the forest about to be attacked. And there were those we picked up on the road to the Valley and those who survived the battle in the winery.

And with each new combination, we morphed into something new, something different. Now it is time to morph again for our continued survival.

The End

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“What’s that?” asked Holly, awakening the rest of us ladies in the cabin at 6:45 in the morning. We had decided to sleep in as much as we could so that we would be alert and ready to see our new home. “It looks like someone made a fishing hole in the middle of the ice on the river. Look.”

I stood next to her and saw the hole she was referring to. “Looks like that to me,” I said. “Does anyone mind if I take a shower first? I have a crick in my neck from sleeping on the overstuffed chair.”

Adam’s voice came over the speakers, warning the entire caravan that we were about two to two-and-a-half hours away from the compound. “We will be at the bridge in about forty-five minutes. After that, we will have an uphill climb with lots of curves,” he told us.

After a hot shower, I went to get dressed before we began to climb. I picked a lacey pink cami with a black cardigan and jeans. Finally, I put on a pair of black rain boots with laces up the back for the inclement weather. All of the women took showers and got ready to go. I dressed Bailey in a pink sweater that matched my cami. I cleaned her little snow boots the best that I could, but they were getting small on her, and for that I had no quick fix.

I was starting to feel more than just morning sickness. I was nervous and excited. I have to admit that some of the nerves came from meeting Naomi, but I was excited for the rest, especially seeing Penny.

“Brace for stopping,” said Adam. “We made it.”

And although I could really only hear the occupants of the cabin, I imagined that I could hear everyone’s cheering. With all that happened, and the forty days it took us to go no more than ninety-eight miles, we had arrived. And never would I forget that we lost two people along the way.

As the vehicle came to a stop, I could see a large, stone, two-story house. I had imagined something very different from what the compound actually looked like. The buildings were a combination of expensive and what might have been moderately priced homes. They were spaced far apart, and I could tell that they spanned over several streets. I could see a ranch, with horses and a variety of farm animals. It was like a mixed-up puzzle of a neighborhood. It had a little of this and a little of that.

I opened the door and stepped out onto the porch with the ladies close behind. Bailey took one of my hands and Holly the other. What was coming was seven months in the making.

In front of the stone house were two lines of people on either side of the front steps. On one side was a formal, very straight line of people in uniforms. On the other side, there was more of a clump of people in street clothes.

The Villagers and MT began to swarm out of our transportation, making for some chaos at first. They looked a bit bewildered and overwhelmed. I felt a surge of something that I hadn’t felt that strongly since the beginning of the Last War; shyness.

But then I saw the front door to the house open and out poked a very familiar face.

“Would you mind staying here with Ammie?” I asked Bailey. She was more than happy to oblige in the huge crowd. I handed Bri my video camera to record it all.

Holly took me by the arm and we began our way over the rain and snow soaked ground. We mucked and tried to move as fast as we could, but between the sludge and the crowd it took us a few minutes to make it to the house. Holly ran up the stairs and threw herself into her sister’s outstretched arms. I slowly walked up the stairs, trying to convince myself that it was really happening. Then I moved more quickly when I saw her look over at me and we locked eyes. I was the next to throw myself into her arms and all three of us just sobbed for several minutes, until something caught our attention. Everyone, from the Village and the Valley, was fervently cheering and yelling.

This wasn’t just our reunion. It was a ray of hope for everyone missing loved ones.

Jackson came to my side and handed me the megaphone. “The floor is all yours, my lady,” he said with a curt bow and a wave of his hand towards the stairs.

It took me a moment to compose myself, and in that time everyone grew silent. “Welcome home, Villagers.”

End of
Moving Mountains
sample preview.

Moving Mountains
,

Book III of the
Survivor Diaries Series

The apocalypse—I’ve got this— right?

I’m Laura and I juggle it all; family, new love, pregnancy, and my job’s hella demanding. Oh, and I do it all in the snow-drenched, post-apocalypse of global nuclear war. My job— keeping my people alive.

We have finally made it to our promised Garden of Eden only to find it could never really exist.

From the ashes of the old world, evil has risen. I toyed with it— I wasn’t ready— and it’s plunged me into a downward spiral towards blinding darkness. Now, I might be losing the one thing that makes me a leader; my humanity.

And that evil has set off a chain reaction. A clan of Wanderers might be on their way to take everything we have built, or perhaps to implode the Village with their basic needs: food, water and shelter.

Just when you think that you got the hang of the apocalypse…