EMP Catastrophe
Erupting Trouble
Erupting Danger
Erupting Chaos
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales, is entirely coincidental.
RELAY PUBLISHING EDITION, MAY 2021
Copyright © 2021 Relay Publishing Ltd.
All rights reserved. Published in the United Kingdom by Relay Publishing. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Grace Hamilton is a pen name created by Relay Publishing for co-authored Post-Apocalyptic projects. Relay Publishing works with incredible teams of writers and editors to collaboratively create the very best stories for our readers.
www.relaypub.com
Blurb
The lights are out for good…
After an EMP knocked out power around the globe, Matthew Riley and his family are finding their way to survive while realization of their dangerous new reality sinks in. It was a struggle to reunite in the immediate aftermath, but the fallout from the dangerous journey may be even worse.
Other desperate souls are converging on any place that might offer hope, and the Rileys’ hotel in Galena, Illinois, is a prime target. With food running short and medicine almost out, the Rileys will need to find supplies. But they’re not the only ones looking.
While the family works together at the hotel, Matthew’s brother-in-law, Max, works to escape from prison to reunite with his family and the relative safety they offer. But dangerous enemies have their eyes on him and may put everyone at risk.
With resources running out, family is the only bond that can be counted on. But those bonds are strained and frayed as the tensions of the new world begin to pull them apart. How can one family survive when the world has turned upside down?
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
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
Epilogue
End of Erupting Danger
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1
Stay away from enclosed spaces. Stay away from crowds. Protect your daughter at all costs.
Kathleen repeated those few lines in her head like a mantra as she studied the biker gang clogging the mountain road in front of them. There were perhaps ten of them. Many of them wore bandanas and leather. Some were about her age. While a couple of older-looking members perched on their bikes, several that appeared to be newcomers milled around the road with restless energy.
Already, she could feel her hackles rising as she studied the bikers. She yanked Allison behind her and over to the side of the road. Her daughter uttered a soft huff but fell back behind her. They weren’t off the road completely, but they were at least not in the bikers’ direct line of sight. It wouldn’t do much, Kathleen knew, but she hoped she and Allison could stick to the side of the road and maybe even get by with their bicycles without so much as a hello. At this point, she knew they wouldn’t be able to get by unseen.
A white van had been abandoned on the side of the road, its back doors hanging open. A tattooed man stood on the bumper with a head of cabbage and other produce smashed under him on the pavement. He dove back inside the van and pulled out more produce while the rest of the bikers laughed at his theatrics. Kathleen gritted her teeth. Not only were these people blocking the road, it looked as if they were stealing from the van as well and smashing food that could have fed others who might be hungry. She understood taking food that was needed for survival, but this looked as though they were ruining good produce for the fun of it. Was there any decency left?
This time the tattooed man handed bundles of carrots and a mesh bag full of melons to another biker. This man had a lot more patches and dangling fringe on his leather jacket than the others, making Kathleen wonder if he was the leader of this crew. The patched-leather man took the produce and handed it to another biker who secured it in a large travel bag attached to the bike. Kathleen couldn’t understand why the tattooed man would have thrown perfectly good lettuce against the pavement and then selectively saved this produce, but she’d been met with a lot of actions she couldn’t understand since leaving Chicago.
“Just act like we’re passing these people on the street,” she muttered, more to herself than Allison. “If they notice us, we’ll wave hi and keep going. Easy peasy.”
Even she knew these promises were lies. She couldn’t help but feel on edge and studied every move the group made. Most of their attention remained fixed on the tattooed man raiding the van as if eager to see what else he would bring out for them.
They had to be about a mile from the hotel. Just one mile from home. It felt so close and yet so far at the same time. Kathleen tossed her dark braid over her shoulder and began slowly walking her bicycle up the road with Allison close behind her. As she approached the bikers, she averted her eyes, hoping they would melt into the background, like a squirrel or a deer just passing by. It was unfortunate that they were forced to go around one end of the van to keep their bikes and stay on somewhat level ground. On the other side of the road, the mountain sloped sharply upwards and had been barricaded by a guardrail, giving them little space to pass by undetected.
The trees swayed around them. The crisp mountain air filled her lungs. She pushed her bike off the
