The Ruin - Solar Crash Book 3: (A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller Series)
THE
RUIN
SOLAR CRASH
Book 3
By
E S Richards
Mike Kraus
© 2019 Muonic Press Inc
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Table of 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
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Chapter 1
Amy couldn’t deny it was a nice change of pace to have an adult to talk to. She loved her son more than life itself, but there was a lot of pressure to be on high alert protecting James all the time. With Giles joining their duo on his way to Grand Rapids, Amy felt like she could finally relax and act more like the normal woman she had been a few days ago. Although normal was something she was dubious would ever return.
What had happened in the country club had been truly surreal. It was hard to comprehend how quickly things had changed from the relief Amy felt at finding people surviving in the building to the fear and terror that clutched her heart as the floor gave way beneath her. Waking up and not seeing James by her side was a nightmare Amy was becoming all too familiar with and she never wanted it to happen again. She felt like she had lost her son on too many occasions since she left her office building to collect him from school that Friday. Their relaxed weekend of sunbathing and playing games had taken a turn in the worst possible way.
Pushing thoughts of fear from her mind, Amy looked down at her son walking beside her. He held a broken stick in his right hand and was swatting it at the long grass they walked through. If an onlooker didn’t know any better, they would view James as a young boy simply out for a pleasant walk with his mother. He seemed so carefree and unaffected by the horrors that now made up their world. It was a childish innocence that Amy felt slightly jealous of.
Giles was walking along quietly too, his eyes wandering across their surroundings. They had spoken intermittently since leaving the country club, but it didn’t take much for Amy to realize there was something weighing heavily on his mind. She wasn’t surprised. That country club sounded like it had been his home for many years, and he had developed connections with every person they were forced to leave behind. Amy couldn’t help but think once more of Lisa and whether she and Giles had shared more of a relationship than he was letting on. Mel tormented Amy’s thoughts as well and she wished the woman had agreed to join them on their journey. She couldn’t imagine what the pain of losing a child felt like, but she felt guilty all the same for not trying harder to help the woman. James had to be her priority, but that didn’t mean she needed to lose her humanity along the way.
Amy almost opened her mouth to ask Giles a question about Mel but stopped herself at the last second. It was obvious the man wasn’t in the mood to talk and while Amy hadn’t been able to do much to help Mel or Lisa, she could at least allow Giles the time he needed to process things.
The three of them stayed fairly close to the water’s edge as they walked, trudging through the grass that had grown quickly beside the road. Without anyone to tend to the weeds, the road would quickly become cracked and overgrown; parts of the asphalt had already splintered under the intense heat the last few weeks. Amy wondered how long it would take for nature to start reclaiming all the manmade structures; whether aid would come to America before it was too late.
She found it strange how quiet and empty it seemed everywhere. With the exception of those they had found in the country club, she and James hadn’t come across another living person since they’d left home. South Haven wasn’t a particularly busy town—especially when you compared it to her old life in Chicago—but it was still full of holidaymakers all year round. It was almost like the place had transitioned into a ghost town overnight and Amy shuddered at the thought of how few people could still be left alive.
The farther they walked away from South Haven, the more real everything seemed to become in Amy’s head. She wondered if her neighbors, Tilly and Reg, were still alive in their home or whether the men with Zephyr had tried to break in there too. She still couldn’t believe that her house had been broken into, but what bothered her more was how she’d let herself fall asleep before making sure James was safe. It would be a long time before Amy could forgive herself for that but she was determined to make sure nothing bad happened to her son again as a result.
She couldn’t believe how reckless it had been of her, the shock of witnessing all the explosions in town making her mind less sharp than it should have been. Amy had seen so much now and she wouldn’t let anything distract her again.
“We should try and find a water source soon,” Giles said beside her, draining the final drops from his water bottle as he spoke. “We should’ve taken more bottles from the club before we left.”
Amy pursed her lips. Giles was right; they needed to find water and ideally something to eat as well. It had been a while since any of them had eaten a proper meal and Amy knew it would start to affect them seriously pretty soon. Water was the main priority. With no electricity all running water had stopped working and Amy knew that meant a lot of it would become unclean. The last thing she was willing to let them do was drink stagnant water out of desperation; the bacteria would kill them faster than anything else could.
“What about the lake?” Amy asked curiously, she had a feeling that might be okay. “The water at our house comes from it, so it should be all right shouldn’t it?”
“It depends,” Giles mused, “It will undoubtedly go through a filtration system before it actually comes out of your taps. It was the same at the club, actually. If we can find a way to purify it then it should be okay, but I wouldn’t want to drink straight from there. Especially after everything that’s happened.”
Amy nodded, thinking back to the scattering of corpses she found on the beach outside the country club and the boat that had exploded just offshore. Even if the water of Lake Michigan had been acceptable to drink before that happened, now she wasn’t so sure. The boat exploding wasn’t even the worst thing she could think of that would be contaminating the water, the images of dead children tormenting her mind.
“I didn’t think of that,” Amy spoke quietly in response to Giles. “What other options do we have though? Won’t the lake be the main water source for everywhere around here?”
Amy nodded and beckoned to James, who had been ignoring the conversation as they continued to walk. All three of them changed direction slightly and climbed through a wall of trees that separated the road from the lake, picking their way through the long grass and the fallen branches scattered over the ground. Once on the other side Amy cast her eyes over to the lake, trying to determine whether the water would be suitable to drink. She still had some of her water left, but could see James had run out much like Giles and she didn’t want him to go thirsty.
“It looks fine?” Amy questioned as they moved closer to the shoreline, the fresh water of Lake Michigan lapping softly against the small beach. It didn’t look any different from how it always had but Amy had to admit she didn’t know what changes she was looking for. Instead she turned to Giles, hoping he could offer more insight.
“Yeah it does,” Giles bent down and placed his empty bottle under the water, letting it fill slowly. Amy hesitated beside him, watching as he lifted the bottle up and inspected the color of the water. It wasn’t completely clear, but it didn’t look particularly dirty either. “What do you think?”
“I don’t know,” Amy paused, looking from Giles to her son. “I guess we don’t really have much choice.”
Giles raised his eyebrows and brought the bottle to his lips, taking a couple of long gulps of the lake water. Lowering the bottle after a few seconds he closed his eyes and appeared to swill the water around his mouth, puffing out his cheeks. Amy waited for him to open his eyes and speak again before she said anything, still anxious about what they had decided to do.
“Well?” she asked eventually, James now waiting by her side with his empty bottle.
“Tastes fine,” Giles nodded opening his eyes, “I think it should be fine until we find something else.”
Amy sighed slightly, a mix of relief and worry flooding through her body. “Here,” she spoke taking James’s bottle from him in exchange for her own. “This is still half-full, let’s swap.”
Not waiting for a response from her son Amy knelt down beside Giles and filled the empty bottle up. Now that she was closer she was less confident about the color of the water, a slight reflective sheen visible on the surface that looked uncomfortably like oil. She didn’t want to drink it, but didn’t want to create more fear in either of her companions. Keeping her mouth shut Amy filled up the bottle and placed it in her back pocket, hoping that they would find an alternative water source before she became too thirsty to care.
“We should probably keep moving,” she spoke quickly once back on her feet. “It’s still a long way to Grand Rapids and we should try and cover a good distance before it gets dark.”
“How far is it?” James spoke as he tightened the lid firmly on the bottle of clean water Amy had given him. He could tell how important it was to look after and he wanted to prove himself to her.
Amy paused and looked at Giles questioningly. “It’s just over an hour by car isn’t it?”
The country club employee nodded as they started moving, falling into step to the right of Amy while James walked on her left. “Yeah about that, depends which way we go, but I was hoping to make it there in about a day. You two obviously don’t need to come into the city with me, I don’t want to slow you down any longer.”
“It’s okay,” Amy replied quickly although she had never had any intention of going into Grand Rapids with Giles. She liked the man but had already decided the city could be a dangerous place and she didn’t want to expose James to that. “We can sort that out when we get there. Whereabouts do your parents live?”
“They’re downtown,” Giles replied, a slight smile creeping onto his face as they spoke about his parents. “Just south of the hospital. Hopefully they will have stayed inside and stayed safe through all of this.”
“I’m sure they will be,” Amy smiled back. “They sound like a resilient couple.”
Shortly after leaving the country club Giles had told Amy about his parents. They were both retired now, but his mother used to be a nurse and his father volunteered with the fire department alongside working in construction. Amy thought they sounded adequately prepared to handle whatever was happening to the world. She just hoped the same could be said for her own parents.
It had been a while since she’d spoken to either of them and that was something she’d started to regret more each day. Amy wished they hadn’t chosen to stay so far away in Florida, although the retirement community was nice down there and they had made a lot of friends. It meant she was only able to see them at best two or three times a year. Her dad was starting to age more and more as each year passed, the signs a lot more noticeable every time she video chatted with him. Sadly, it wasn’t just his strength that was fading, but his mind too. She couldn’t imagine how confusing everything must be for him right now; it was a blessing in some ways that her mother was there with him. At least they would have each other through everything. Amy just hoped that one day she would see them again.
She needed to focus on the present now, and she needed to pay attention to those people she could help, those people who were by her side. Although she would never ask Giles to stay with her and James on their journey, she was glad he had joined them for a part of it. Having another pair of eyes to watch over James soothed her and as they continued to walk along the side of Lake Michigan, Amy couldn’t help but feel like they had battled through the worst of it and were heading out the other side.
Chapter 2
“Don’t move,” Harrison whispered through his teeth as he lay beside Len at the side of the interstate, the Remington M24A3 sniper rifle clutched firmly in his hands.
Len had no intention of moving; he didn’t want to know how Harrison would react if he messed up the prepper’s first chance to use the A3. The older man had been walking with a huge grin on his face ever since they found the rifle in the store a few miles back. Len had to admit that Harrison was a formidable sight with the weapon slung across his shoulder. He’d been itching to use it from the get-go and it was obvious how focused Harrison had become.
Harrison analyzed his target carefully, watching down the scope as he waited for the best shot he could get. The A3 felt comfortable in his hands, the bipod folded down and resting on the interstate to give him some stability as he sized up his mark. His only apprehension about using the weapon was giving away their position with the sound of gunfire, but one shot was all it was going to take. They hadn’t come across another person since they’d left Washington Park Zoo and hopefully that meant there wasn’t anyone else around.
Savoring the moment, Harrison breathed slowly as he squeezed the trigger, his body remaining still as he prepared for the recoil from the A3. He kept his eyes forward, unable to see the bullet itself as it tore through the air, but not missing the moment when it sank into the flesh of his target, the body of a fully grown white-tailed deer dropping to the ground.
“Nice shot,” Len spoke beside him, climbing back up to his feet and brushing some of the dirt from his clothing. “How’s the gun?”
Harrison joined Len on his feet and carefully fastened the A3 back over his shoulder, ensuring the weapon was secure. “She’s a beauty,” he smiled. “What a find.”
The two men didn’t say anything for a second, both looking out to where the deer carcass now lay. Len had been completely shocked when the animal bounced across the interstate in front of them, at first unable to realize what it was because of the distance between them. With Harrison’s new sniper rifle, however, he identified it quickly and the older man couldn’t resist the urge to try out the expensive weapon.
“Come on then,” Harrison spoke up again, “let’s go eat.”
Len followed Harrison towards the deer, the animal lying completely still with a single bullet hole straight through its head. It
was a perfect shot, something that Len was very quickly coming to expect from Harrison. The animal was huge though, and he was uncertain what the two of them were going to do with it. He couldn’t deny it would be a welcome treat to have some real food, but preparing and cooking a whole deer was yet another thing Len was not trained for.
“Why don’t you try and find some wood to start a fire?” Harrison prompted Len, giving his partner something useful to do. “I’ll start preparing this beast for dinner. We won’t be able to take the meat with us, so get ready to eat more than you’ve ever eaten before.”
Len laughed. He’d had venison a couple of times when he’d gone to fancy restaurants. He remembered one anniversary when he’d taken Amy out for dinner and ordered himself some venison sausages, the meat so rich and juicy he’d found himself clutching his stomach once the meal was over. Something told him this meal was going to be very different from that and he couldn’t deny he was excited to try the deer.
Moving off to collect wood, Len left his rucksack, bow, and arrows behind with Harrison and just kept his Beretta pistol with him for protection. Harrison had already warned him on several occasions never to go anywhere without the weapon and after the things they had experienced he wasn’t going to risk being unprotected again.