Five friends
A dirty bomb
And and apocalyptic hellscape.
Nat McCormic and his friends flee the PNW when a dirty bomb destroys one of the last vestiges of civilization. What they weren’t prepared for were the wolves.
Chapter 1
Gagging, sickening coughs rasped his throat. The stench was that of rotten meat, skunk, foul sewage. Still, there were three minutes before the bell would ring on his alarm for school, and he was exhausted. What had happened? Did the basement bathroom back up again? He peeled open one cold ocean-blue eye and stared at the dust motes floating across his blinds. Rubbing his eyelids, he listened for the sounds of his grandmother hustling around the kitchen, getting breakfast ready. The house was dead quiet.
Chapter 2
Deck dragged out his hiking bag and bug-out bag and crammed two more sets of clothes into the bottom. Pilfering the back corner of his closet, he located the four-person all-season tent and sleeping bags. Sitting down, he let out a pent-up breath and wiped sweat from his forehead. “Think first, meathead. Grandpa would say think first. I need to think.”
Chapter 3
The trees that surrounded the area loomed over the site like ancient guardians protecting their tiny treasures Nat and his friends hunkered down into the snow-covered grass, bracing themselves against the chill wind that blew in from the north of them. It smelled of wood smoke and burning gas. They were far enough up on the side of the hill that the entirety of Jenton spread out below them. The wind gusting through the forest pushed the flames in the orchards on the south side of town away from the group. Grey-white flakes descended as they observed the devastation; ash fell with the snow.
Chapter 4
In the morning, the friends found themselves not in warm beds but in a freezing tent. Their body heat seeped out through the thin shell of second-hand polyester. Benj, first to wake, tiptoed out of the tent, letting in a draft.
Chapter 5
Benj knew for a fact that Nat and Sun Hee needed to get medical attention. He had always been overly protective of his younger sister and considered Nat a close friend, but this innate feeling that dwelled within him, the sense of utter protection to the end, was something entirely foreign to him. It resided in the beast’s mind. He mulled this over as the group searched up and down for an open hospital. The animal’s instincts were beginning to entwine with his emotions in a deadly combination. It was a creeping weed that drew its tendrils into the soft spots of his mind and sucked the nutrients from it. He could feel it, a red haze that burned low, the desire to let the animal loose. It cooed to him, coddled him, told him that everything would be better, more manageable in the animal form. He shook it away and continued with the group, searching in the bitter cold for medical aid.
Chapter 6
Hana woke in fits and bursts. An hour after settling into the room, the group grew restless with her starts. The woman was jittery, which placed their wolves on edge.
Chapter 7
The white wolf paced in his head, begging for attention. Nat rolled, opening his eyes to the field they had set up in late the night before. The sound of the tent zipper had woken him in the frosty dawn. The women had taken the tent at his insistence. With work, and more than one instance of his wolf taking over his mind entirely, the men had dug a series of sleeping pits around the tent.
Chapter 8
They packed their bags and collapsed the tent. Sleep had done the pack good. They were in a relatively jovial mood as they walked farther and farther from Portland and the sights of war. The highways had been destroyed to an extent, but there were still fragments of road leading them into potato country. They followed route eighty-four until they got into Ioda.
Chapter 9
Five days sifted over the treetops and through the underbrush as they waited for Hana to come back to the land of the living. When the camp settled and sleep overtook the group, the wolves emerged, and Sven refused to give up his spot to Nat. The white beast curled around the bird-woman and refused to leave for more than a couple of minutes at a time. The rest avoided drawing too close to the creature. Worry ran rampant, questions about why Nat allowed it free reign tainted the group’s opinion.
Chapter 10
Dreams flooded his senses. The moon cracked into deep fissures, and a faceless woman with black wings flew over the sky. He followed her movements, enthralled with her dance. The glade sparkled in the stillness beneath her floating ballet. Polaris’s surface shattered into a million pieces. A shadow man emerged in the dusk. The woman flew down to meet him, black feathers scattering. A red fog blew the feathers into his line of sight, blocking his view. A roar echoed through the glade as Sven came awake on all fours, his hackles up and teeth bared.
Chapter 11
Nat returned to the Flock’s roost before dawn, having lounged at the side of a creek for what remained of the previous day. Slipping through the fields, he crept to the building Hana was residing in. She had been awake for a little while. He hoped alongside Sven that she was feeling better.
Chapter 12
You wanted to know what happened to make Michael hate you so much? You’re not going to like it, Shaman, Sven whispered maliciously as his host rode the black waves of unconsciousness.
Chapter 13
Hana sat in a locked utility closet on the first floor where her brother had shoved her. Sleet pattered on the roof of the building two stories above her. Footsteps echoed in the hall, growing louder. A key slipped into the lock on the door, and the hinges creaked as the heavy metal door slipped light into the cave. Michael peered into the closet, his face bruised, gouges running across his left eye and cheek.
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapel Orahamm 