Her eyes began to sag a little with sleepiness, but she fought against it. She was in for a long night. She shook her head to herself in disbelief. If someone had told her a few weeks earlier that she’d be in the middle of the apocalypse, protecting herself with a gun in her hand, she would’ve laughed in their face. But Megan wasn’t the same person she’d been back then. She wasn’t the same person who followed her abusive ex around like a lost puppy, accepting that he was a bad person, but never leaving him. She wasn’t the same shy woman who didn’t know how to stand up for herself. She was a fighter. She was a force to be reckoned with.
She was a survivor.
She looked over her shoulder at Jake, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully now. He was so battered that barely an inch of his skin was left unbruised. His breathing was rasp, still clogged up with smoke from the house fire. Megan watched him with interest. She had once thought that he was better than her because of his strength, but oh, how the tables had turned. He had prided himself on being prepared for his new world, but how could he be? He had lived a sheltered, easy life. He’d never been in a fight or had a partner trying to beat on him. He had a good life before all of this. Now, he wasn’t prepared for the way life could pull you apart slowly or all at once.
Megan had experienced both. Her ex had slowly unravelled her into a sobbing mess every day of her life. This new world had shattered all of her expectations and broken her all over again. But if there was one thing Megan knew, it was how to get back on her feet. She had never found an easy path, so she was used to the grit of the dirt road. She had always known that life wouldn’t be easy for her, but instead of collapsing into tears now, she was going to fight harder. Now, she’d never let this world get the better of her again. Now, she’d survive no matter what.
For the first time in a long time, Megan closed her eyes and prayed. She didn’t really know who she was praying to, but she was hoping that someone might hear her.
“Please let Jake get better,” she murmured quietly. “Please let us survive this. Please show us strength and get us to the other side. I’m not ready to die. I don’t want to give up yet.”
There was a long silence. Of course, no one was hearing her. There was no one out there. She was on her own. But that was okay. She’d made it this far.
She’d make it all the way.
Want more Post-Apocalyptic Thriller Adventures? Read my mentor Ryan Westfield’s excellent book Getting Out, part of an 8 book series. Get your copy here!
Do you have what it takes to survive?
The EMP hits. The lights go out and silence roars. Society is on the brink of violent chaos. The only way to survive is to get out, away from the cities and into the wilderness.
Max is an office worker with some gear and a plan. He's one of the first to realize the unspoken dangers. A few years ago, he inherited an old farmhouse. His plan is to get to it as fast as possible and bunker down. He thinks he's ready, but he quickly discovers that there's more to surviving than just having the right gear.
Mandy is a waitress with the day off work. What seems like a normal power outage quickly turns terrifying. Her peaceful town is no longer the home she once knew. She's offered a way out, but can she put her trust in a perfect stranger?
Georgia is a single mother who just wants to keep her two teenage kids safe. She drives a pickup and loves hunting. She has skills that could keep her family alive, but is she ready to make life or death decisions in the blink of an eye?
Do Max, Mandy, and Georgia have what it takes to overcome the unexpected? After all, even the best-laid plans can come up short.
Getting Out is book 1 of The EMP, a post-apocalyptic survival thriller series. It deals with real people fighting for their survival every inch of the way. Read Getting Out Now!
Twenty-Five
Getting Out by Ryan Westfield Preview
Max sat in his cubicle with his chair pointed to the window. He’d been staring outside for the last twenty minutes, unable to concentrate on his work. On the best days, the work seemed pointless. On the worst, it was a nightmare.
It was supposed to be a good job, decent pay, good benefits. He had a real “career,” unlike some of his friends, who were still working odd jobs here and there. If his parents had been alive, they would have been proud of him.
But it wasn’t what he wanted to do. The problem? He didn’t know what he wanted to do. He only knew that things didn’t feel right. Something was wrong with the world, and Max already knew that it wasn’t going to get any better.
“Psst, Max,” whispered Jeremy, his cubicle neighbor.
“Huh?” said Max, waking up from his little daydream.
“You’ve been staring out the window for like forever, man,” said Jeremy. “Big Tom is going to come around soon, you know.”
“Screw Big Tom,” said Max. Big Tom was the boss, a guy with a much bigger gut than a heart. Max figured him for some kind of sadist who’d
