Dark Days of the After Special Edition | Prequel & Book 1 Read online

  “Can’t say I blame them,” Connor said.

  “More times than not, these impulse vigilantes get shot dead in the charge. Nothing gained, everything lost. Sometimes, though, they die victorious.”

  “What’s victorious?” Orbey asked.

  “They take out a few of these monsters before being killed.”

  “The monsters always retaliate though,” Connor said. “At least that’s what Skylar said.”

  “They kill ten innocents for every one of theirs,” Harper said.

  “Like the Nazis,” Orbey whispered.

  “I’m so sorry, Orbey,” Harper said, realizing she’d officially sucked a lot of energy out of the woman. “Please don’t let the light in your eyes die on my account. Let’s talk about something good.”

  “How did you sleep?” she asked, perking up a little.

  “So much better, thank you,” Harper answered. “Just out of curiosity, the shower around back, does the water ever heat up?” She was talking about their outdoor plumbing. Not that the icy, outdoor shower was any less rustic than everything else around there.

  “It’s a touch chilly,” Connor said.

  Harper laughed out loud and said, “I’m surprised it’s not dripping ice cubes. I mean, I’ve taken my fair share of cold showers, but standing out back with nothing but Mother Nature all around you, a girl can quickly freeze her tits off.”

  Orbey gave a low chuckle and said, “I’m cooking eggs, who wants some?”

  “I do,” Connor and Harper said at the same time.

  “Jinx,” they both said to each other.

  “Double jinx,” they said quickly, laughing.

  “Triple jinx,” Connor said a touch faster than Harper because now Harper was laughing even harder.

  “Dammit!” she barked, but by then everyone was laughing, everyone but Cooper who looked up, smiled, then got up and stretched.

  Pretty soon he was jumping and licking everything with a surface and warming up for a morning run and a poop.

  Stephani came through the back door and said, “Got the double brood set up, but there’s a car down there. I think it’s the Sheriff.”

  Shaking her head, frowning, Orbey said, “If I have to answer questions, Connor, you’ll have to watch the eggs.”

  “I don’t cook,” he said.

  “Then stir,” she replied, cracking the eggs over a hot skillet. “You can do that, right?”

  “I s’pose.”

  “I’ll collect the eggs from the chicken coop,” Harper said. “If you want.”

  “Wait until the girls are out ranging,” Stephani said. “And if there’s any spots on the eggs, dirt or whatever, just give it a soft scrape.”

  “Can’t I just wash them?” Harper asked.

  “If you do, make sure you use really hot water, not cold. And only use it on the affected spot. The shells are porous, and you’re already rubbing off the bloom that protects the egg.”

  “Just show me where the chicken coop, or whatever is,” Harper said. “And I’ll figure it out.”

  “It’s easy,” Orbey said. “There’s a basket, and the nesting boxes have curtains over them. As long as the hens are out, collect away. We’ll go over the rest when you get back.”

  “I was offering so that I could go now,” Harper said. “I need a reason to be somewhere else when the Sheriff arrives.”

  Orbey pulled aside the curtains and said, “Too late. He’s already on his way up.”

  Harper liked the man, but if she got too far inside his radar, she feared he might become interested in her on a more professional level. She wanted to repel him, not spark his curiosity. The second his boots hit the wooden porch, she took a deep breath. You’re just fine, she told herself. Back in the city, her aggressive behavior had worked, but the more he saw of her, the more he might start to wonder about her and she didn’t need that.

  There was a knock on the door. She sat at the kitchen table, tried to still her beating heart.

  Connor got up, opened the door and said, “Morning, Sheriff. What brings you all the way up here?”

  “I just have a couple of questions,” he said. “I’d come in, but my boots are a bit dirty from the walk up.”

  Realizing that hiding looked more suspicious than not, Harper got up and went to the door, surprising him. He took off his hat for her and his hair was a mess. He didn’t seem to notice. Of course, he wasn’t smiling either.

  All those books she used to read, the books where the man in uniform was dashing and handsome and in possession of ocean blue eyes that were piercing and could see right through a woman, right down to her soul…this was not that man.

  “Oh, it’s you,” he said.

  “I was gonna say the same thing,” she replied, fixing him with a frown.

  “If he’s got dirty shoes,” Orbey called around the corner, “he ain’t setting foot in this house!”

  “I’m fine, Mrs. Madigan,” he said, slipping them off.

  “Are those your Sunday socks?” Harper asked when his first foot left the boot. She was looking at a sock with two holes in the toes.

  “Could be,” he frowned, starting on the other boot. “You’ve got to watch this one, though. It’s holier than thou.”

  He removed the other boot and sure enough, there were three holes in that one. Standing there with bed head and religious socks, he said, “Can I come in now?”

  “I’m whipping up some eggs if you’d like a few, Sheriff,” Orbey said, a smile on her face, her apron clean and pressed.

  “I just ate, but thank you.”

  “So what brings you out here?” Connor asked.

  “Like I said, I’ve got some questions.”

  “About?”

  “A dead body,” the Sheriff said.

  “What’s that got to do with us?” Connor asked. Harper watched the Sheriff intently, but he wasn’t interested in her.

  “He was last seen getting shot on your property. Orbey and I touched on this subject yesterday, in town.”

  “We’ve been shooting at a lot of people lately,” Stephani said as she came waltzing in the kitchen with Cooper, who was now nuzzling into the Sheriff’s lap. “Let him sniff your balls or it’ll drive him crazy.”

  “Good God,” he muttered. To Cooper, the Sheriff said, “For the record, this makes me very uncomfortable.”

  “It’s only uncomfortable if you enjoy it,” Harper replied.

  No one said a thing, which meant the joke went over like a lead balloon. When Cooper was done, he sneezed in the man’s lap, eliciting a jump and a groan, and then the Sheriff pushed the dog’s head away.

  “Alright, enough,” he finally said. “Get the mutt out of here.”

  “His name’s Cooper, he’s part of the family, and I expect you treat him with the same respect you’d afford the rest of us,” Orbey said.

  “Stephani said you’ve been shooting at people a lot lately, so if you’re looking for respect, it starts with straight answers.”

  “You don’t do squat about poachers, which means they feel free to roam our land when they see fit,” Connor said. “Well we don’t see fit anymore.”

  “Who was roaming your land last?” he said, taking out a notebook.

  “Couple of boys,” Orbey said. “But they were a ways away.”

  “Yeah?”

  “They started lobbing rounds at the house,” Orbey said, grabbing four plates. “You sure you don’t want some eggs, Sheriff? I made plenty.”

  “Lobbing rounds?” he said, ignoring her hospitality, which Harper would have thought to be an impossible endeavor.

  “I can put some cheese on them if you want. Sprinkle in a little bacon, some chives. I really don’t mind.”

  “This ain’t a friendly visit,” he finally said, frustrated with her hospitality.

  “Don’t make it unfriendly,” Harper replied, looking right into his eyes as if she was one of the Madigan clan as well.

  “I have a dead kid on my hands,” he relente
d. “So maybe you could cut me some slack.”

  “Where’d you find him?” Harper asked.

  “Haven’t yet.”

  “So then you have a missing kid,” she said. “Not a dead kid.”

  “Yeah,” he grumbled.

  He tried to straighten his hair, make himself more presentable. Harper was sitting right next to him. She leaned in and whispered, “Don’t bother.”

  “This missing kid…” Stephani prompted.

  “He was last seen on your property, so naturally I’m here to ask a couple of questions.”

  “We haven’t seen anyone missing out here,” Connor said.

  The Sheriff rolled his eyes, looked down at Cooper, who barely raised an eyebrow for the man.

  “Why don’t you just come clean,” he said, putting away his pencil and notebook.

  “About what?” Orbey asked.

  “The dead kid, Mrs. Madigan,” he said, more anxious than ever. “I have a dead kid on my hands.”

  “Then go attend to him and let us eat our breakfast!” Connor finally snapped. “Now we’ve been polite, but you aren’t exactly catching us at the right time. There’s lots to do and our breakfast is hot. So grab a plate and you can be a friend, or take them dirty ass socks, stuff ‘em in your boots and get to stepping.”

  “I have a warrant,” he said.

  “Let’s see it,” Stephani asked, taking a steaming hot plate from Orbey and handing it to Harper. She set it down, her heart thundering in her chest at the thought of the Sheriff poking around.

  “I haven’t got it here,” he said sheepishly.

  “One last time, Sheriff,” Orbey said.

  “No eggs, dammit.”

  “Watch your manners,” Connor said, rising up over him. “You’re in my house as my guest, and if you so much as say one more crass word, or show my wife anything less than perfect respect, I’ll haul yer ass outta here on my own, law or not.”

  Standing up, backing away from his chair, he said, “Forgive me, Mrs. Madigan.”

  And then, without another word, he left.

  “I used to have so much respect for the law,” Harper said. “Now no one seems to remember their manners.”

  Orbey watched him walk down the hill from the kitchen window. When he was gone, she said, “If he does get a warrant, if he brings the dogs out here, you know they’ll find the body, right?”

  “Yeah,” Connor said.

  “I’ll dig it back up and burn it,” Stephani said. “One of the hens is having some serious issues. I can put her out of her misery, then mangle her a bit and bury her. We can say the coyotes got her.”

  “It’ll certainly fool the dogs,” Connor said.

  “Consider it done,” she said. Then to Harper: “You need to go up to the barn, see what they’re doing.”

  “I wake every morning to the sound of hammers and saws,” Harper said. “I know what they’re doing.”

  “Everything’s nearly framed out,” Stephani replied. “Insulation and plywood is going up today followed by drywall and texturing tomorrow. I’d think you’d be excited.”

  “I can paint if it helps,” Harper said, looking for something to do. “After egg collection, it’ll keep me busy.”

  “They’ve got a sprayer,” Connor said.

  “Back hoe guy is coming tomorrow, right?” Stephani said, chewing eggs and talking with her mouth open.

  “He is,” Orbey replied.

  “For the underground shelter or the root cellar?” Harper asked.

  “Root cellar,” Stephani said. “We’re starting the underground shelter next week. Just need to make sure all these guys are out.”

  “Why?” Harper asked.

  “Because they’re simpletons,” Connor said. “They’ll see three women, an old guy and a harmless pup in possession of an underground shelter. It’s different if it’s just us four and a barn. When the crap hits the fan, if they survive and it gets bad enough, they’ll come up here and we’ll have a war on our hands.”

  “We’ll win,” Stephani said, forking in more eggs.

  “Maybe, but every war has its casualties,” Orbey said. “I like you guys in one piece.”

  “I’ll bring you the kerosene,” Connor told Stephani. “Harper, you help dig this morning. You can do eggs tomorrow.”

  “Yes, sir,” she said.

  If she was right, they were referring to digging up the dead body.

  Orbey and Stephani looked up, smiling and making sounds like they were impressed with Harper’s manners. Nodding his head, smiling and proud, Connor said, “Now that’s what I’m talking about ladies. Orbey, Steph? You two taking notes? It’s ‘Yes, sir,’ and ‘No, sir.’”

  Laughter permeated the kitchen, filling the house with some much needed happiness, and though there was hard word and potential troubles ahead, that suddenly felt far removed enough for some levity.

  “I just have to be back here at noon,” Harper said, feeling lighter than before. “Beyond that, like I told Connor, I’ll do whatever else you need.”

  Orbey said, “New girl now has a name, Connor.”

  “It’s Harley, right?” he said with a wink.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  When they finished breakfast, put on their shoes, their gloves and grabbed a pair of shovels, Harper said to Stephani, “How many people have you killed here?”

  “Counting the guy Orbey shot the other day?”

  “Yes.”

  “Just one,” she said.

  “Do you think this will become a thing?”

  She wasn’t terribly worried about killing people. After the first few kills, you start to tell yourself stories about them, how the dead deserved it, how it was either you or them. For awhile, that suffices, but then the dead start to inhabit your dreams. Pretty soon, you can’t keep all the bad things down, so you just learn to live with them, with the ghosts of them.

  “As things get worse, the idiots will get worse along with them. They’re always sniffing around here anyway. You know, hunting at the back of the property, or camping. Their campfires are a dead giveaway that they’re here , or the sounds of them shooting. That’s why we need to stay on them. But if they keep ignoring our warning shots, we’re going to have to walk those shots right up to them until they realize we mean business.”

  “This guy’s buddy,” Harper said as they approached the dead man’s grave, “he knows what happened. He knows we shot him.”

  “I’ll take the fall if it comes down to it,” she said, driving the spade into the fresh dirt. “I just need to know my bees will be okay.”

  “It won’t come to that.”

  “I won’t let my mom do time for this fart knocker,” Stephani told her.

  They started digging and didn’t let up. Some hours later, Orbey came out on the porch and rang the dinner bell.

  Harper turned to Stephani and said, “Is that the lunch bell or the noon bell?”

  “Close,” she said. “It’s eleven forty-five. Lunch is at noon.”

  They dropped the shovels and headed up to the house. Harper fired up the computer, connected to the satellite internet, then began checking her various accounts. She used the same encryption key as before, but having now relocated, she’d have to jump back on the dark web and grab another.

  As she ate, she did just that.

  After grabbing a stored encryption key and firing it out to the others in a return email, she began to peruse the data she was receiving. The more reports she saw, the slower she read. She wasn’t sure when the tremors in her hands first started, but she became aware of them about the time Stephani asked if everything was alright.

  She looked up and said, “I…I don’t know.”

  The bottom layers of the skin in her face felt hot, a rush of blood and fear starting that fire below. Warning bells chimed and she couldn’t stop them.

  Looking away, she said, “Give me a few minutes to digest everything here, and I’ll catch you up on the details.”

  “I
s your food okay?” Orbey asked her.

  Harper was sitting at the built-in desk a few feet away from the kitchen table, a laptop in front of her, her half-eaten lunch beside her.

  “It is, Orbey,” she said, taking a quick bite, even though her stomach was still tying itself in knots. “I’m so sorry, it’s just…there’s a huge data dump from multiple sources and…oh God…yeah, it’s…it’s just a lot to process.”

  “What’s wrong?” Connor asked. “You don’t look well.”

  If Harper hadn’t seen the satellite photos, she could have pretended the situation didn’t exist. But it did exist. And it was worse than she thought.

  “Just reading about troop movements along the southern border,” she said, sugar coating her activities. “The pictures I’m getting…they’re not pretty. The South American Army penetrated the southern border wall and they’re now flooding in.”

  “Where to?” Stephani asked. She was eating a sandwich, her appetite unaffected, her curiosity at a level six out of ten.

  “They split up just outside Tucson. It looks like the smallest regiment is heading for Phoenix. Another is moving east toward Albuquerque, or maybe they’re going all the way through to Texas, I can’t tell just yet.”

  “And the other contingent?” Orbey asked. She looked like Harper felt… restless, fretful, sick. “Where are they heading?”

  “The way it’s looking?” she said. “California I think.”

  “Is that bad?” Stephani asked, chomping down on her sandwich, nearly halfway done and ready to get back to digging it seemed.

  For being reasonably thin, the woman sure could put away some food. Then again, whenever she saw Stephani, she was always doing something, and it was usually hard work.

  “The Chicoms are bombing highway 8 down by Yuma, Arizona,” she announced. “They’re also bombing highway 10 coming in through Blythe at the California/Arizona border. And it looks like they laid waste to highway 40 at Needles.”

  “So they’re taking out the highways, forcing them to go around, or—” Orbey started to ask.

  “They aren’t just dropping smoke bombs, they’re obliterating the highway and every reasonable entry point into the state. Plus, Chicom military forces are arriving in the Port of Long Beach. Troop transports have been heading to these entry points into the state en masse.”