The sun broke the horizon to his back and lit a shining path across the water. He focused on a far off vessel; rather than departing, this one was coming closer. He heard Laura below deck moving through the cabin; she stepped lightly on the steps and stood beside him, then handed him a cup of instant coffee. He could hear Karina and Katy laughing below in the galley while fixing the morning meal. Jacob pointed out the approaching vessel to Laura. She moved closer and put her arm around his waist, watching silently.
He slowly began to recognize the ship and remember where he’d seen it last. On a mission to the east coast of Michigan. A Navy vessel that transported them across these same dangerous waters. He stepped off the bridge, grabbed a small pair of binoculars, and climbed up to the second deck. He steadied his eye and focused on the bow. His body warmed when he saw men on the bow leaning against the rail, the shape of a dog standing with them. He smiled and turned to the controls, starting the engine.
“What are you doing?” Laura called from below.
He looked down at her excitedly. “They’re back.”
The height of winter, they strolled the shoreline of Mackinaw Island. In the distance, an ice bridge had formed and teams were moving supplies across the Straits of Mackinaw from the mainland aboard horse-drawn sleds. Standing alone and closer to the tree line, Jacob watched them. He found a worn driftwood log and sat atop it, letting his rifle hang loose from the sling. He grinned while watching Katy roll through the snow as the big bearded man and scout dog dropped to make snow angels on the beach with her.
The remaining members of the Assassins had claimed one of the large homes overlooking the lake. Soon after, other survivors arrived, retaking the town and bringing the area back to life. They hoped to again have steady electrical power, but for now they relied on the generators. James still left quite often with his Delta detecting dog, making trips to the southern part of the state to check on his friends at the bunker, where a large Army outpost had now been established—the threat of the dioxin still keeping the aliens away.
The radio traffic called the survivors holdouts and the last bastions of humanity. James’ favorite word for them was insurgents. Invitations were often sent to them by courier, asking them to return home. Celebrities and political figures made recordings that were broadcast over the radio, asking for the holdouts and those like them to lay down their weapons and return to the south to live in the well-structured communities of the Karinans. Instead of becoming a deterrent, they motivated others to flee the communal and make the trek north, to the safety of the human camps. Knowing that others were surviving on their own motivated families to take the risk and flee.
The word the humans gave to the alien people had become a slur to them. Named for what the humans considered a hero of their race and what the aliens considered a traitor, Karina was now an ambassador to the free peoples of North America. She was protected and kept safe, yet always on the move. Rogers traveled with her from camp to camp, keeping up the morale and building support for the resistance. They’d manage to salvage bits of alien technology, and even recovered a fully functioning orb in North Dakota. With Karina’s help, they also managed a way to convert the Ursus battle rifles for human use.
Katy stood and waved to him, laughing before she turned back to tackle Duke, the two of them tumbling into the heavy snow. He heard the crunching of boots and looked behind him. Laura appeared, carrying a long thermos. She grinned and poured him a cup of hot chocolate, then dropped to sit beside him on the log. They had as much of everything as they needed. With the threat of The Darkness retreating in the wake of the winter snow, they’d been able to raid food warehouses all along the state. Supermarkets and corner stores still sat full with their stores of canned goods. There would be plenty of food for the winters, and they’d have time to grow their own in the coming spring.
James ran toward them, carrying Katy in his arms and Duke bounding by his side. His beard and jacket covered in snow, he looked like the abominable snowman. He pointed to the cup in Jacob’s hand and scowled. “Hey, Mom and Dad, you’re holding out on us!”
Laura laughed before pouring them each a cup then turned to Jacob and hugged him close. “I think we’re going to be okay here,” she said.
The End
Thank You For Reading
For other works by W.J. Lundy, and recent release information click here.
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THE INVASION TRILOGY
W. J. Lundy is a still serving Veteran of the U.S. Military with service in Afghanistan. He has over 15 years of combined service with the Army and Navy in Europe, the Balkans and Southwest Asia. Visit him on Facebook for more.
Other works by:
WJ Lundy
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Series
Escaping the Dead
Tales of the Forgotten
Only the Dead Live Forever
Walking in the Shadow of Death
Something to Fight For
Divided We Fall
OTHER BOOKS FROM UNDER THE SHIELD OF
FIVE ROADS TO TEXAS
| LUNDY | GAMBOA | HANSEN | BAKER | PARKER |
From the best story tellers of Phalanx Press comes a frightening tale of Armageddon.
It spread fast- no time to understand
