The End: Captives

An Emp Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller

Zion Cage

Copyright © 2020 Zion Cage

All rights reserved

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people or real people are used for fiction purposes only. Other names, characters, places, and events are the ultimate product of the author imagination, and any resemblances to actual events or places or persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

Contents

Title Page

Copyright

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Also By Zion Cage

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Epilogue

About The Author

Coming Soon

Books In This Series

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The End: Into The Past

In events prior to the EMP, Vivien will do anything to please the one she loves. That is until he decides to put her away. Her eyes open and, for once, she realizes the truth. She will have to make a hard decision.

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Also By Zion Cage

The End: Genesis

The End: Fight For Survival

The End: Warzone

The End: Rogue

“I am like a child ready for the apocalypse, I am the apocalypse itself, that is to say, the ultimate and first event of the end, the unveiling and the verdict.”

Jacques Derrida

Prologue

14TH November, 2021
3:45am
Moscow, Russia.

“Five hundred thousand Euros, ladies and gentlemen? Is that as high as we can go? Maybe I need to remind you of what we are dealing with here,” the man in a black suit said as he picked up a remote from the table in front of him. He was in a conference room, standing before fifteen people who were seated around the table. On the wall at the other end of the table, there was a large television set that displayed the live video feed of twenty other people, men and women inclusive. It was obvious that the meeting was for people of class.

Adrik Borya pressed a button on the remote that he had pointed towards his laptop and the image that had been projected changed. They could all see the image of a naked blonde American woman smiling at them. The faces of some of the men and the women brightened as they fed their eyes with what was presented to them.

“This is from a video chat session that was concluded only a week ago. This young lady is still alive and out there. So are many other women and children. In only a couple of hours, there will be a massive reaping of the American citizens. This is what is available. This is what you stand the chance of getting. This is worth more than five hundred thousand Euros. If you want any part of this, you will have to go harder. That said, I open the floor for higher bids.”

“I’m willing to pay a million. I won’t go beyond that.” a dark woman said from the back. There were murmurs of consent form the crowd. Adrik shook his head.

“Well then, I’m sorry you’ll have to miss out on this one.”

The crowd became restless. At that point, Adrik realized he had hit his maximum possible output. He smiled. He had pushed well enough. Now it was time to get their orders.

“Okay, ladies and gentlemen. Calm down please. It’s okay. Your satisfaction is our primary objective. As such, we don’t want you leaving here disgruntled. We’ll set the minimum price at a million Euros. You can now place your orders. Don’t forget to be specific. We don’t want a situation when you don’t get what you want. Our agents will carry out the harvesting processes properly to ensure that you have just what you desire.”

The men and women in the conference pulled out their devices and began typing. As they did so, Adrik smiled. America had seen so many hard times. There had been numerous bombings, pandemics, economic depressions and racial violence but the truth was that she hadn’t seen the worst of it yet.

Unfortunately for them that was about to change.  It was just a matter of hours.

Chapter One

life had a way of putting people where they ought to be…

14TH November, 2021
8:30am
Washington D.C, USA.

Connor and Morgan stood in a long line, listening to the orders meted out to them. Everyone in the row-of-four queue of hundred people was Russian or, at least, a naturalized Russian. They were on a special mission. In less than twenty-four hours, the most dramatic thing in the whole history of the United States would happen. And to think that it would happen by their own hands.

“My noble comrades, we have all worked hard for this. Several years of infiltration at various levels. Now, in just a matter of hours, we will reap the fruit of our labors. We will watch this colossal nation fall to bits and we will see a new dawn in human civilization. As with every battle, there will always be spoils of war. All cannot be wasted. Because of this, you all have been chosen, being very competent in your fields, to carry out a massive harvesting. We have so many human buyers around the globe and their requirements vary.

“Majority of the harvest will happen after the migrations. There are a special set, however, that desires their package delivered to them fresh and without the effects of a strenuous journey. That is your mission: to find what they want and to move it to our base where it would be transported to wherever it is required. The tablets that have been given to you contain the description of the people each client wants. There are over five hundred there. You will be scattered all over America in search of each of these humans. As you find each one, take pictures of them and send them back to us. If your catch has been approved, mark the order as ‘found’. This removes that item from the radar. The persons with higher number of catches get paid higher amounts of money. In other words, your pay is directly proportional to how many people you can deliver. Be warned though, you cannot afford to be caught or else all knowledge of you will be automatically discredited. We will deny every acquaintance with you and will no longer render your benefits as agreed. Delivery points exist in every state. Therefore, you are enjoined to move to the states of harvesting designated to you on your tablets today. Get your deliveries to the delivery points before sundown come nineteenth of November. I believe you all are clear now. I wish you all good luck,” a dark-skinned woman said to them in Russian. She saluted them from the high podium where she stood. At the backdrop was the Russian flag as well as a flag showing a rising sun.

“Privetstvuy Solntse,” she cried.

The people in the queues saluted the woman in turn.
“Privetstvuy Solntse,” they all cried after which they sang their anthem.

Great Ray of hope rising over the Soviet
Great sun of wealth now causing day to come…

Maddock and Daan joined the rest of the agents to disperse ‘in an orderly manner’. When they were back in their cabins, they sat on their beds and pulled out the tablets.

They had worked together for as long as they had been a part of the Ray of Hope. Daan did the thinking and Maddock did the physical work. It suited their personas quite well. Daan was a wiry middle-aged man of at least thirty. Maddock was a burly man of roughly the same age. Neither of them had ever imagined they would be a part of such a patriotic movement. Somehow, though, life had a way of putting people where they ought to be.

They looked at their pads. They had been posted to Chicago, Illinois. The descriptions of their targets were also displayed.

Girl. Aged 11-13 years old, Blond long hair and blue eyes

Girl. 15 years old. Busty. Blonde with blue eyes.

The list went on and the two men couldn’t help but sigh. As always, humans were expressing their depravity shamelessly. The only reason they were going to do it was that it was an act of final service to their nation. If the bosses wanted it that way, then it was best that way. Besides, it was common knowledge what happened to those that rebelled. Their bodies were cut in pieces and fed to eagles.

Eagles… the symbol of Russia.

“Russia will be great again,” Daan said absentmindedly in a thick Russian accent.

“Surely, she will,” Maddock said without thinking. His Russian accent also stood out.

Hail the Sun…

15th November, 2021
9:20am
West Loop, Chicago, Illinois.
USA.

“Okay, girls. We’re on our way to the adventure of the week. Don’t forget: you’re not supposed to tell your friends about this. We told your teachers that you were ill and had to stay home. If you rat yourselves out, you’ll be the ones writing essays during detention,” Nia said as she drove the kids to Lincoln Park. Prim and Grayson giggled.

“I’m just glad that my mum doesn’t know what you and Xander did to get me on this trip. If she found out, she’ll kill every single one of us,” Grayson said. The thought both made her happy and sad. Her mother paid less attention to her than she did to work. It was as though getting her new dad’s company to function properly had become her mother’s greatest priority. Grayson had practically been left in the care of Xander. Grayson was just glad that Xander was the kind of person he was. She didn’t want to imagine if he had been like the other guys his age. For as long as she could remember, she had never seen him drunk or smelt alcohol on him. In fact, she had never seen him with a girlfriend- something she wished he’d change soon. Her brother was too preoccupied with work and school.

She knew her mother loved her, however, she wished her mother would just give her time like before. In the past, her mother would be the one to pick her up from school. Now, because Xander was at school most afternoons, she came home on the bus. They had enough money to pay for the bus now. Gertrude, her new dad, was rich, which was a good thing. He was also kind. There was nothing she asked for that she didn’t get- except when her mother was there to say no. Xander had told her that Gertrude had lost his wife when he was younger and hadn’t had any kids. That would probably explain the depth of his affection towards her and Xander though Xander hardly reciprocated them.

Her mother had promised to take her out on the weekend. That got her excited though she wasn’t really counting on it. She knew how work could come up impromptu on the weekend for her mother and Gertrude. All in all, Grayson was glad she was on that trip. It had taken a lot of effort for Xander to convince her mother to let her go. Naughty Xander had actually lied to her mum. That was a first. She smiled sheepishly.

“That’s why you must ensure she keeps thinking that your teachers gave you the day off because of good behavior. Now, enough of that. What is the plan for the day, girls? Check the pamphlet,” Nia said. Prim pulled the pamphlet out of her mum’s handbag. She and Grayson looked into it together.

“We’re definitely going to the zoo,” Grayson said. “It says they have this endangered animals carousel. I’m definitely going to try it out.” Looking at Prim, she added. “Don’t judge me, Prim.” Prim laughed. “No one is judging you, sister,” she said and Nia laughed from the driver seat.

“Then we could go swimming. I came with my swim suit,” Prim said.

“Me too. Then I think I’d want to watch them milk cows. It says here that there’s a ‘farm in the zoo’ section. It’s boring but anything is better than going to any of these museums here,” Prim added finally.

“You got that one right,” Grayson said.

Nia tilted her head, trying to focus on the road.

“There are museums there, ain’t that right? You girls are going there. I hope you also came with your note books,” she said.

Grayson and Prim began to murmur but Nia pressed the horn and they kept quiet.

“If you girls are gonna miss school, you might as well learn something, don’t you think?” Nia said. The girls knew better than to argue with her.

Soon they got to Lincoln Park. After parking her car in a suitable spot, Nia got out with the girls.

“They say this is the most popular park in America after Central Park. You’d better stay close to me, girls. I don’t want either of you getting lost,” she said.

9:41am
Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois.
USA.

Connor and Morgan stood by the lion cage with cones of ice cream in their hands. It was so exhilarating watching everyone enjoy themselves without having the slightest clue of what was going to happen next. No one knew the future- no one except them, that is. Connor watched the children and young girls around them, wondering who their victim was going to be. He did his best to act normal. This was the last mission and Morgan was going to be his last accomplice. He knew he would miss everyone with whom he had worked, especially Vivien. He smiled when he thought of her. She was one person that kept him human all the time he had been in America. Morgan tapped him on the shoulder, bringing him out of his reverie.

“Daan, I think this cage will fling open once the EMP hits. I doubt it’s a good idea for us to be standing close to this lion,” he said.

Connor laughed. “You’re right, Maddock. This isn’t a good place to be. Let’s find a solitary place. It’s our best bet,” he said as he turned away from the cage.

It was only a matter of time.

Chapter Two

“Time isn’t exactly on our side …”

15TH November, 2021
11:32am
Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois.
USA.

Grayson and Prim rode on the carousel for the umpteenth time, enjoying themselves and pretending to be warrior princesses charging off into battle- on endangered animals. They had gone through the boring lectures on the life of Abraham Lincoln at the museum, learnt about boring plants at the conservatory, touched smelly horses and, now, they were where they wanted to be. Nia stood watching them ride and laughed whenever she heard them say something funny. There were a lot of people there. They were lucky to have gotten to the park early enough to beat the crowd.

“I hope I’m not being a bad mum by being sincere to myself. I’m bored!” she said to herself. She couldn’t wait for Xander to come and be the girls’ chaperone. She had so much to do once she returned to work at the five-star restaurant: Gout De La Maison. She hoped he was back before twelve noon. She started to become thirsty.

“Hey, girls. I’m going to get us something to drink. Y’all keep playing on the ride. Don’t come down no matter what, okay?” she shouted to them.

“Yes mum,” Prim called back.

“Yes Miss King,” Grayson said simultaneously.

Nia found her way to an eatery in the park. When she got to the glass door, it opened on its own accord, allowing her and the family of four who were close to her in. She was impressed. The Park was really improving. When she got to the counter, she gave one of the ladies there a smile.

“Hello, please I’d like a banana smoothie. Also, give me a mixed berry smoothie and a mango smoothie. Put them on a tray, please. I’ll be taking them out of here,” Nia said.

“Okay, ma’am. Three extra delicious smoothies coming right up,” the lady said as she took a plastic cup and placed it under the tap. Just as she was about to open the faucet to release the mixed berry smoothie, all the lights in the eatery went off. Nia raised a brow.

“Wow. That doesn’t happen every day,” she said.

“Oh, no. It doesn’t happen at all. That’s weird,” the attendant said.

Nia laughed. “Well, I guess it will be back on soon, right?”

The attendant nodded. “Yes ma’am.”

Nia went to a free seat and sat down.

Ten minutes later, the lights still hadn’t come on. Nia began to get worried. She got up. She had to go to the girls. As she got close to the door, she realized that there was no knob. It was operated electronically. She began to get frantic.

“Can someone open the door?” she called out to the attendants around. Others had begun to get restless too. They all murmured their consent. Suddenly, someone shouted:

“Hey! My phone is dead. What’s happening?”

Nia pulled out her phone from her bag to check it. She noticed it was hot and smelt burnt. She tried to turn it on. It didn’t come on. Fear began to fill her. Something was wrong. Everyone had the same problem. The restlessness multiplied. Nia ran to the door and banged on it. She had to get out. The girls were not safe. The air conditioner had stopped. The place was becoming hot.

Three men came to the door from the outside. Two wore the uniform of the zoo attendants. They were saying something but Nia couldn’t hear what they said. Neither could the people around her who were also trying to force the door open. The men then motioned for them to step back. They held two fire extinguishers. She realized they wanted to break the door down. Nia and the other people stepped back and took cover. The men began to pound on the glass. In a minute, cracks began to form. In the next, one side of the glass broke and its shards poured out to the ground. One of the men in uniforms shouted:

“Guys, please be careful. Come out in an orderly fashion.”

People obeyed the instruction but the worry in their hearts was visible in their eyes.

“What’s happening?” Everyone asked the men the same question. One of the men in uniform, the tall dark one, motioned for them to calm down. When they did, he spoke.

“Guys, I’m sorry to say this but the United States has just been attacked. What you just witnessed was the effect of an EMP. I was just listening to the radio before it went off and we’ve all been instructed to move to New York. If you live afar, don’t bother going back. Every car is broken down. You’ll never be able to make it.”

Everywhere burst into an uproar at that. The man had to calm them down again.

“As I said, we all have to go to New York. We don’t know what’s coming next and so, we’d better hurry.”

Nia had stopped listening. She left the group to go and search for the girls. Her stomach had begun to hurt. She had an ulcer that hurt whenever she hadn’t eaten something in a long time. However, she knew the pain wasn’t because of hunger. Worry had overcome her. She got to the carousel. There was no one there. She shouted:

“Prim! Grayson!” No one responded. She put her hand to her stomach in a bit to assuage the pain.

They have to be somewhere!

She bent over. The pain was increasing. A guard accosted her from behind.

“Ma’am, is there a problem?” he asked.

Nia looked up at him with pleading eyes.

“My girls. I can’t find them.”

11:50am
North Orchard, Chicago, Illinois.
USA.

Harper had had a stressful day. Pulling people out of wreckage wasn’t an easy job. Somehow, though, it felt like a dream. Could the U.S really be under attack? Were they all really in danger?

She had decided to take a stroll alone after they had moved all the survivors in that area to the lower halls of Lincoln Park high school. Most of the work had been done. But there was so much uncertainty that her heart was also burdened. She couldn’t keep telling everyone that it was alright when she wasn’t too sure of it herself. She needed some alone time to reflect.

Suddenly she heard a thud, as though two surfaces were being slammed against each other. She shook her head. That wasn’t possible. They had evacuated every survivor and had even double checked the whole area. She stilled herself and listened for the sound again. It didn’t come. It was all eerily quiet. There was no one.

She sighed. Even in isolation, she couldn’t help but hear people in need of help. She decided to turn back to the shelter. That was when she heard the sound of a car door opening. She turned in the direction of the sound and stopped someone falling out of the car on his back.

Suddenly, the person let out a groan and Harper was sure he was in pain. She ran in his direction. She noticed him leaning against his car. From the distance, she couldn’t tell what he was doing. Suddenly he fell to the ground and shouted in pain again. She suddenly felt sorry for him. When she got close enough, she realized it was a young man. He was sitting on the ground with a broken stick next to him.

“Mister! We didn’t know that there were more survivors out here,” the she said as she removed her coat and draped it across his body. She noticed the way he was looking at her and she suddenly became self-conscious. Work had gotten her looking filthy meanwhile the young man looked great in his three piece suit- if one didn’t count the blood that was matted to his head. The self-consciousness disappeared the moment that she caught a glance of his leg as she covered him.

“Oh, that looks nasty! We need to get you to the health care center. Carlisle might be able to help you there. You haven’t been walking on it, have you?”

“I didn’t particularly have a choice to,” the young man said grumpily. She wondered what was eating him. It was either he had never heard of manners before or he was too burdened to use them. She moved to help him.

“Ah, I see,” she said as she nodded her head. “Well, it ain’t too far, not where we’re going.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

She was surprised by that. Did he want to die? “Now, why would you say something stupid like that? Obviously, you are unless you have a death wish.” The boy was turning her sass on. She placed her hands on her hips and cocked an eyebrow up at him.

“I’m looking for someone.”

Now that made more sense. Whoever he was looking for was probably dead already. He was trying to raise false hopes for himself.

“Well, I’m sorry to tell you this, sweetie, but they’re probably gone at this point. I doubt you’d even be able to find their bodies if you were looking. Now, come on,” she urged him, beginning to reach for his arm but he jerked his arm away.

“They’re not dead,” he stated with a stern voice.

“How can you be so sure?” she raised an eyebrow up at him. “When was the last time you saw this person?” she wasn’t sure of how many people they were talking about any more.

She noticed the look on his face the moment she asked the question. It was obvious he didn’t know the answer. He was struggling with denial.

“Well,” she asked, growing impatient.

“I don’t know,” he answered, his words cold.

“Don’t go snapping at me because you can’t handle the truth,” she narrowed her eyes at him. “Who is it that you’re looking for?”

He sighed before answering. “My sister and her friend.”

“And just how old are they?”

“Eleven.”

The woman nodded her head. “Are the three of you from here? From Chicago?”

“Yes. But not from this neighborhood.”

“Why did you stop here?”

“It’s my sister’s birthday. I was supposed to pick her and her friend from the amusement park. Look, why does any of this matter?”

“I suppose it doesn’t.” she said, giving him some of the attitude he had giving her at first.

Before either of them could say anything else, the sound of a loud growl interrupted them, making the boy’s eyes widen as he quickly looked around them. The sound had seemed too close to be a good sign. Since she had been hearing voices all day long, this one hardly bothered her. However, it obviously made the young man swallow.

“What was that?” he asked, turning around to face Harper.

She was looking into the distance, her eyes scanning for something before she checked behind her. When her brown eyes came back to meet his, he could see the worry clouding them before she coughed and cleared her throat. “My guess is a bear.”

She knew it was most likely the bear. When the EMP hit Chicago, it put out all of the power supply. Most cages in Lincoln Park zoo had been operated electronically. Since the power was out, all the doors had opened and all the animals had gotten free- Leo the lion, the pretty family of jay birds, the crazy monkeys, just name them. The zoo attendants and the police had worked on recapturing most of the wild animals so that they didn’t do any damage. The other animals like the birds and monkeys were allowed to go free. However, one dangerous animal was still roaming the streets, as free as the birds. Bart the Bear had managed to evade all their efforts to track her. When she was caged, she was stubborn and ruthless. Now that she was free…

The snakes were also still loose but no one bothered looking for them. It would be almost impossible to find them.

“Maybe it’s just me but I don’t remember reading about wild bears running free around this area otherwise I may have picked a different amusement park.”

She rolled her eyes. “They’re not wild.”

“Circus then?”

“When the electromagnetic pulse hit, all of the power went out. Lincoln Park is known for its zoo.”

“So, all of the animals…?”

She smiled. He wasn’t so dumb after all.

“All of them got out.”

His lips separated, as he let out a shaky breath before shaking his head, attempting to get up. “I have to go then. I have to find them. Only God knows where they are now.” His effort to get up failed as he began to fall down. She caught him just before he hit the ground and prepped him up, allowing him to lean against her for support.

“Then, we’ll help you,” she said, turning her head to meet his gaze.

“Why?”

“The apocalypse didn’t exactly take away our hearts,” she told him, offering him a small smile. “Not all of ours anyway.” It was a terrible joke, but it lightened his mood, even if only a bit. “But, first we have to get that leg checked out by Carlisle. You won’t be any help to them if you can’t even walk.”

He debated arguing before letting out a groan of defeat. “Fine, but let’s make it fast. Time isn’t exactly on our side.”

As Harper led him towards the shelter, she wondered at how she had found him. She didn’t even realize she had forgotten to ask for his name.

12:10pm
Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois.
USA.

Grayson woke up slowly. She took in her surroundings. There were trees everywhere. She couldn’t remember anything. Why was she in a forest? Suddenly, the pieces began to fall into place. She remembered the carousel stopping. Everyone had begun to get frantic because of the news of some EMP. Some animals had escaped. She and Prim had gone to find Nia. On their way they had been accosted by two men who had offered to take them to Nia. The men had taken them to a lonely place and had sprayed something on their faces that made them sleep. Her head ached.

Something stirred beside her, causing her to turn her head slightly. It was Prim. Prim was still asleep. From the corner of her eyes, she noticed there was someone else. She strained her neck to see a boy. They were all tied to a tree and their mouths were gagged. She shifted in a bid to wake Prim up.

“Prim, wake up. We’ve got to get away,” she tried to say. Unfortunately, it all came out in muffles. She gave up and hung her head. Her blond hair fell loose around her neck. She wondered where her ribbon was. Looking up again, she spotted the pink ribbon in the snow close to a tree that stood opposite them in the distance. A foot trampled on it. Grayson looked up to see two men walking towards her. One was small and wiry. The other was huge. They were the men who had kidnapped her. She tried to shout at them but the hankie tied around her mouth wouldn’t let her.

Once the men came close enough, the burly one pulled out a mini tablet from his jacket and holding it in front of her.

Morgan looked at the blonde girl. She was the only one awake. He needed to send the pictures for vetting. “Stay put while I take your pictures,” He said to her. He took the pictures of the three children and sent them to the organization. He turned to Daan when he finished.

“I’ve sent their pictures in. I did it in both of our names. Let’s just hope that we moved fast enough.”

Daan nodded his head after which he sighed. Maddock walked to where Daan stood. They had just come back from clearing their tracks. They had tried to be stealthy as they moved from the Park to the woods. Since most people were moving towards the administration center, they had gone the other way, passing by a flower shop that stood opposite the woods. He was sure no one had seen them.

“So, we’re going to turn these ones in immediately or we go out for more first?” Daan asked, staring into empty space.

“We’ll wait for headquarter response first. It should come in in a couple of hours. If it’s a yes, then we move first thing in the morning. Who knows, we might find some others on the road. I just feel that the longer we stay here, the more risk we run of getting caught. I heard that soldiers have been sent out to disperse the information. They know nothing about this plan. We can’t afford to be spotted by them.”

“Wisely said, bro,” Daan said before his mind wandered. He wasn’t always a terrorist, if he would be honest enough to call himself that. Life had been simple for him. Not until the fall of the World Trade Centre…

Chapter Three

“That’s the whole point of suicide bombing, isn’t it? …”

4th December, 2001
8:15pm
Derbent, Republic of Dagestan, Russia

“Well, you claim to be her father, don’t you?” Nadia screamed at Daan. “Give her something to eat. She’s been sick for a day now. Get her drugs. Is she going to die? Aren’t you going to do something?”

Daan bowed his head in his hands. Shame filled him so much that he couldn’t look up at his wife again. He had graduated from the University of Dagestan with a B.Sc. in Economics only two years ago. He had met Nadia in school. She had been studying music and was in her first year when he was in his second year. Their relationship had blossomed instantly. They agreed to get married once he graduated. Sure enough, as he advanced through the classes, tuition became more and more difficult however he made it to the end. The day he graduated, he had felt on top of the world. His parents had been so proud of him.  Since his father was a fisherman and his mother was a cook, they didn’t have much to their name. A son who had just graduated was a great accolade to them. At least he’d get a job and help them raise his younger brother and sister.

With the little savings he had managed to keep throughout his stay in school, he got married to Nadia a month after the graduation. It was a small wedding. Only family members were invited. He stayed with his father and, just like the old times, he helped his father in the family business, fishing. Then Nadia got pregnant and gave birth to a girl nine months after. The presence of the baby had filled him with joy but it had also left him feeling uneasy. He wanted his child to grow and be successful. He wanted to be able to provide all his daughter would need to achieve her dreams. He couldn’t do that as a fisherman. He decided to push for more. Despite his family’s protest, he made up his mind to move to the city since there were not enough jobs in that region of Russia. In fact, there was almost no need for economists there.

Somehow, life didn’t seem to smile on him. Before moving to the city of Moscow to get a job, Daan had promised his new bride that he was going to come back and take the whole family to the big city where they would live large. By the time he got to Moscow, he searched for a job with all his heart to no avail. All that time, he had stayed with a far cousin.

He didn’t find a job till that year was over. That wasn’t the worst of what happened to him. In December that year, he received a mail from Derbent. It was from his wife. At first, he had frowned, thinking it would be one of the usual messages his wife would send, begging him to come home. However, he couldn’t shake off the feeling of urgency as he held the letter in his hand. He read the letter. When he finished, he sunk to the floor in tears. His father had been out fishing when a rainstorm hit. A week later, they had found his bloated carcass. Sea creatures had eaten parts of his eyes and skin. His mother was sick and was demanding that he returned home immediately.

He wasted no time going back to Derbent. His mother was already close to death. He remained by her side for two days before she finally gave up the ghost. She had told him that her greatest regret was not being alive to watch him become the great man she knew he would be. He had spent the rest of the week clearing out his parent’s house, knowing that there was almost no chance of returning to Moscow. Life was no longer as beautiful as he had imagined it would be with a Certificate.

Things worsened further when his wife began to give him an attitude. She had become tired of the lack. Since Daan had no job, he had simply taken over his father’s trade of fishing to take care of his younger ones and his own family. The returns were not much but they were enough to meet the most basic needs. Unfortunately, his wife would have none of that. Nadia believed she had married an economist and not a fisherman. She kept using her words to pierce him. It hurt him because he wanted her to be happy. Clearly, she wasn’t.

That day was no different from the others. She was at it again, reminding him of all the reasons why he was a failure. Their daughter had fallen seriously ill but he didn’t have enough to take her to a standard hospital. Apart from fish, there was nothing else in the house to eat. His siblings were out playing with friends. The two of them were alone in the sitting room of his parent’s house. He had tried to touch her but she brashly refused him and accused him of not caring for his family.

“How can you say that?  Have I ever acted like I don’t care?” he had asked.

“Look at Gretel, your daughter. Well, you claim to be her father, don’t you? Give her something to eat. She’s been sick for a day now. Get her drugs. Is she going to die? Aren’t you going to do something? Your siblings are depending on us. Let them get a life,” she had screamed at him.

After covering his face with his palms, tears flowed freely down his face. Unable to say a word, he had left the house and headed straight to the nearest bar.

He almost never went to bars. He believed that was for the low lives. But something hit him the moment those words left his wife’s mouth. He just needed to forget in the meantime. He needed to sleep over the sorrows. He’d wake up the next day and sort the problems out.

When he got to the bar, he ordered a large mug of beer. He had a little cash on him. He had planned to use it for a new pair of slippers but beer seemed more important at that moment. He sat at the counter and waited till the attendant brought the mug to him.

“You’re sure this will knock me out?” He asked.

“I doubt you’ll even be able to finish it before you crash. It’s tested and tried. Makes you forget your sorrows in the first two gulps,” the lady said with a wink.

Daan smiled ruefully.

“Well, that’s great. Thanks. It’s all I have money for anyway,” he said as he dropped a hundred Ruble on the counter.

He took a long swig and set the mug down. It had a sharp taste. Before long it made his head swim. Just as he was about to take another swig, someone placed a hand on his shoulder. Surprise, he turned to see a white haired man standing behind him. The man wore wire rimmed glasses and a brown waistcoat over a white shirt.

“Hello, son. From what I heard about you, you never frequent this place. Something really bad must have happened to bring you here.”

Daan gave the man a lopsided grin.

“Well, yes. Something happened. That’s why I’m here. Something always happens that makes people do what they are not supposed to do.” He took another long swig of his beer. By the time he dropped the mug, the man was seated on a stool beside him. Daan wondered why the man was bothering him.

“What do you want, huh? Want to give me a lecture? What even brought you here in the first place?” he was drunk and his words came out as slurs. He didn’t like being drunk. He laughed. “You’re a pot and you want to call a kettle black. Well, good luck with that.”

The man smiled at him. Offering a handshake, he spoke.

“I am Martins Vladmir.”

Warily, Daan took the handshake.

“I’m guessing you know me already.”

“Yes, I do. Daan Barackov. Graduated from the University of Dagestan with a B.Sc in Economics in 1999. We have heard a lot about you. We think your brain is a dynamite just waiting to explode. Your achievements from school are incredible. First to finish with a 4.99 CGPA on a 5-point scale. That’s impressive.”

Daan’s eyes had begun to clear.

“You said ‘we’. Who is ‘we’?”

“Ray of Hope. We are a non-governmental organization aimed at economic improvement. We do it in a variety of ways, though. You heard of the attack on the twin towers, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did.” It had happened while he was at Moscow.

“Well, you must be able to guess the outcome on the economy of the United States.”

“I guess so. The country was already going through recession then. The attack will cause several billions of U.S dollars to be spent on rebuilding the destroyed structures. We’ve not even begun to talk of how much they will need to defend the state from further attacks. The attack will also put their stock market in a tight corner thus instilling fear in the hearts of the investors. They’ll take less risks now. The working class around those areas will also not be able to work for a couple of days.” He shook his head as he listed the possibilities. “What does that have to do with anything?” he asked finally.

The man clapped his hands briefly.

“Wow! Such accurate predictions. Turns out a lot of what you mentioned are happening right now. Did you read the news somewhere?”

Daan rolled his eyes. “Does this look like a place where people casually read the news? Those were just thoughts.”

“Interesting. Have you ever imagined what would happen if Russia is attacked the same way?”

“The same thing, I guess. Terrorism is never a good thing for any state.”

“Exactly. Ray of Hope is an intelligence organization with a priority of maintaining economic order. One of our agents spotted your resume. We were impressed. We are always looking for the best in their fields to work with us. It’ll be an honor to have you working for us.”

Daan wasn’t too sure if it was time to jump for joy yet. He tilted his head and asked;

“In order words, I’m being offered a job?”

“Well, yes.” Martins brought out an A4 sized brown envelope from the briefcase he carried and slid it over the counter to Daan.

Things didn’t quite add up. Daan asked further without picking the envelope.

“But how did you even find me? It’s not like anyone in Moscow knows me or something.”

“The address on your Resume led us to your cousin’s house. Your cousin told us that you had left for your home town in a hurry because of some unfortunate circumstances. By the way, on behalf of Ray of Hope, accept my condolences over your losses. It must hurt to lose both parents in such a short space of time. I came here to find you. I went to the university and was able to get your home address from there. When I got to your house, your wife said you had just left. From the way she looked, I knew something had gone wrong. When I asked an elderly man who sat close to your house about you, he called you a fisherman and said he saw you headed in this direction. I really apologize. Life must be treating you harshly for such an honorary graduate.”

“Well, yes. So what? Don’t come here and feel sorry for me as though you don’t have problems of your own.”

Daan regretted the words the moment they got out of his mouth but he didn’t show it.

The man placed a palm on Daan’s hand.

“I’m not here to feel pity for you. I’m here to offer you the opportunity to change this. Take the envelope. Open it.”

Daan hesitated before taking the envelope.

“Just so you’d know,” he said as he moved to open the envelope. “If there’s a bomb in here and it goes off, you’d die too because you’re sitting close to me. Besides, I don’t see why anyone will want to bomb me.”

“That’s the whole point of suicide bombing, isn’t it? The one who delivers the package must partake in its content,” the man said, smiling.

Daan shot him a bad look and the man’s smile disappeared.

“Bad joke, eh?” he asked. Daan shook his head before opening the package. He pulled out a couple of documents. There were a lot of words which he wasn’t interested in. One caught his attention, though. He looked up at Martins.

“Three thousand U.S dollars a month?”

The man smiled and nodded.

“Family support and allowances?”

The man nodded again.

“Life insurance and education for all my children?”

The man nodded again.

Daan rolled his eyes.

“No. this is too good to be true. The beer must be playing with my mind. I think I need to sleep.” He got up from the stool. “Have a great night, sir.”

Martins held his hand.

“Son, this is real and it is for you. I understand you need to think over it but, at least take it with you so that when you wake up tomorrow you’ll realize it is not a dream.”

Daan put the documents back in the envelope and took the envelope with him as he left the bar.

When he woke up the next morning and read through the documents again. He was unable to contain the joy that filled his heart. He jumped up from the bed and carried up wife up, twirling her around

“Put me down!” she cried. “What’s happening?”

He handed over the particular paper that gave him so much joy. When his wife read it, she began to jump for joy too. Then Nadia noticed a clause that made her frown.

“But, it says you’ll have to move to Moscow without your family. You’ll have a leave of return for only three months every year.”

Daan frowned too. He hadn’t seen that before. He took the paper from her. “Where did you see that?” he asked but he didn’t need a reply. His eyes spotted it too. Tucked in between the numerous words were the requirements for the job. Amongst them was that he’d tell everyone who asked that he was working as a civil servant. It was weird.

“Honey, I’m worried about this new job. How did you get it?”

He told her about Martins.

“At least, he did say the firm was an intelligence organization. That would explain why it would be top secret.”

Nadia thought about it. The job was everything she desired for her family. It was everything she desired from her husband. Somehow, though, she couldn’t shake off the worry that plagued her mind. She sighed, deciding to accept the change. Everyone knew that adapting to major changes was always difficult. That would probably explain the worry.

“Martins’ number is there, right? You’ll call him today?”

“Oh yes, I will. Let’s see if the hospital allowance can even come in today.”

Martins invited him over to a bar the same day and gave him some documents to sign. As the first set, they were full of words. Martins didn’t give Daan much time to read through them or think about anything. When Daan was done, he told Martins about his daughter.

“Oh, that’s too simple. I’ll send a thousand Rubles to your account today. Use it to take care of your daughter. Prepare. Tomorrow, you will be leaving to Moscow by flight in a private jet. All your dreams have come true.”

Daan had prepared his things as he had been told.

“Promise you’ll call every now and then,” Nadia had said to him.

“I promise. And promise you’ll take good care of my daughter and siblings.”

Nadia had nodded too before kissing him long and hard on the lips.

The journey to the Moscow had lasted for three hours. When he got there, he was moved to an isolated facility where there were many other Russians. That was the moment he realized that something was wrong. This was not just a simple job recruitment. Something big was brewing.

15TH November, 2021
9:27pm.
Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois.
USA.

“Hey, Connor. Something seems to be wrong. There’s been no reply from the headquarters since this afternoon. There’s even no network on my pad,” Morgan said, bringing Daan out of his reverie.

“What?” Daan asked.

“You dumb oaf. I said that the headquarters have not replied. As it stands we don’t know if our catches are approved or not. The tablets are not functioning properly. What are we going to do?”

“If I think correctly, you’ve only just described yourself. You’re the big dumb oaf.”

Maddock rolled his eyes and Daan chuckled as he pulled out his pad and looked at it. the network bars were down and there were no notifications.

   “Anyway, Morgan, I would really regret the death of these children if we take them to the delivery points and they turn out useless. I think we should wait it out. If by tomorrow there’s no response, we’ll just keep harvesting and storing. The EMP must have temporarily affected their servers.”

Maddock bowed his head and sighed. “I don’t understand how they would launch an attack that will affect them too. It’s crazy. I want to get this over with. I want to get home to my family. Each hour I spend with these children kills me with guilt and fear.”

Daan didn’t reply immediately. They were speaking Russian so the children didn’t understand. They had caught a deer and cooked it for the children to eat. They ensured the children over ate so they’d sleep early. The plan had worked for the most part. Only the girl called Grayson remained awake, staring daggers at them.

“Remember when we first met?” Daan asked and Maddock chuckled.

“In the hall of the American/Russian History exam. I didn’t know much but you helped me pass it as you did the language test.”

“Then you helped me pass the self-defense and arms usage tests.”

“We just knew we would be partners together forever.”

“I know, right? The gruesome training we went through to become spies.”

“Remember that guy that tried to run away. The soldiers caught him, cut his head off and fed pieces of his body to the flock of eagles.”

The both of them laughed then they became quiet again. Suddenly, Maddock began to tear up,

“But they didn’t tell me this is what we’ll be doing. They took me from my farm and made me a murderer and liar. My family thinks I’m working in the ministry of agriculture in Moscow. They don’t know I’m thousands of miles away from home as a terrorist.”

Daan walked to Maddock and hugged him, allowing him to cry on his shoulder.

“It’s okay, Morgan. We are almost done. We just have to complete this mission and we’ll be allowed to go home to our families. Be strong.”

Maddock kept sobbing for a couple of seconds more before he managed to get himself together.

“You’re right. Just one more, Daan and we’ll be back home.”

He and Daan placed their heads together, holding the side of each other’s head and closing their eyes.

They had become brothers from different families. They’d probably never see each other again but they’d had the best of times together.

Grayson wasn’t sure what she was seeing. She hadn’t understood everything she saw but somehow she was moved by it. it was the last thing she saw before sleep took her.

Chapter Four

He vowed vengeance…

16th November, 2021
6:37pm.
Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois.
USA.

Xander, Joel and Harper walked on past the conservatory section of Lincoln Park Zoo. There were no more buildings except a florist shop that stood on its own in a corner. Harper had introduced Xander to Joel, the principal of Lincoln Park High School. Together, the three of them had headed out from North Orchard to find Grayson and Prim. The journey hadn’t been an easy one for Xander as he had use crutches since his left leg still hurt. Funny enough, he had insisted on getting his bag from his wrecked car.

They had found Nia at the shelter in DePaul University School of Music, close to the park. Unfortunately, she had lost the girls. No one else had seen them. Joel had suggested that they all returned to the zoo and search there for clues. Nia had been unable to go with them because of her ulcer.

The search had turned out fruitless still. The park had almost been empty save from some guards and zoo attendants who were left to oversee the zoo till it was decided what would be done with the wild life. None of them had seen the people the trio had described.

Xander gave up and sat in the snow.

“This is hopeless! How could those girls just disappear from off the face of the Earth?” he asked in exasperation.

“They couldn’t have disappeared. They are out there somewhere. We just need to know where and we won’t know that if we give up,” Harper said. She spotted an elderly lady sitting in front of the flower shop. The flower shop stood opposite the small woodland that was covered with snow. Harper went to the lady. Joel and Xander watched from afar as Harper conversed with the woman. Suddenly Harper yelled for them to come over.

“See, you would have given up right at the edge of a breakthrough. Tell ‘em what you saw, ma’am,” Harper said with excitement. The lady told them how she had seen two men carrying two unconscious girls with the same descriptions into the woodland a day before.

“I wanted to call the police but there was no signal on my phone. These telecom companies nowadays. As unreliable as my drunk grandpa. Anyways, I couldn’t accost them to ask what they were doing. An old lady like me must mind her business if she wishes to live any longer,” the lady said.

“You mean abduction?” Xander asked, mortified.

“I don’t know. You go find out,” the lady said.

The three of them had headed off to the woods to find the girls. Unfortunately, the people who carried the girls were smart. There were no footprints left in the snow. There was no trail for Xander, Joel and Harper to follow. Joel continued on with Harper and Xander following close behind. They went deeper into the woods and searched till it was dark but they couldn’t still find anything. There was no means to tell time and the place felt spooky. Joel spoke,

“Look, let’s go back. We’ve spent the whole day searching and calling out. Even if they are alive, the people who took them must have carried them far away by now. Let’s just hope that they are still alive. Hopefully, the people with them will be headed for New York too. It’s in our best interest to head back to the health center now so we can leave with the rest.” Soldiers had gone about issuing instructions for everyone to move to New York where a ship would take all of them to safety in Spain. Deadline for migration was the next day.

Xander shook his head.

“No. I’m not leaving without my sister. I’m not going to New York without her. I’d rather die here.”

“But Xander, you heard what the soldier said. A swarm of soldiers will be returning tomorrow. What if they spot you here? Besides, we stand a better chance telling the guards of our findings and having them look for the girls. It’s better that way,” Harper asked.

“I’ll skip that chance. I have to find my sister.”

“Xander, be reasonable. You can’t possibly do this on your own. You’re in no physical condition to walk this woodland alone,” Joel said.

“Don’t bother trying to dissuade me, Mr. Joel. You made me come this far. I’m not going back empty.” Tears were running down Xander’s cheeks by then.

Harper sighed.

“I know how you feel. I remember when I lost my husband. I found it hard to believe he was gone. It wasn’t until after many nights of starving myself in a bid to wake up from what I believed was a nightmare that I finally realized that he would never be coming back. So, do what you must. I wish you good luck. I hope we see at New York,” she said.

Xander couldn’t say anything. He couldn’t believe Grayson is gone.

Harper handed a glow stick over to him.

“Use it to find Grayson. I and Joel will find our way.”

“Good luck, Alexander,” Joel said.

Xander nodded and walked away deeper into the woods as Harper and Joel watched him go. Tears trickled down Harper’s cheeks. She couldn’t bear watching Xander give his life for his sister. Joel put an arm around Harper and drew her close to comfort her. Together they turned around and headed out of the woods.

6:50pm

 Daan fiddled with the buttons on his jacket. Things were getting out of hand. The headquarters hadn’t replied till then. They were running out of time. Daan had gone out earlier that day to see if he could abduct more children. Unfortunately for him, the people had become more organized and the place was crawling with soldiers so that trying to take anyone would be equivalent to getting caught. He had returned to the hideout that evening. The whole day had been wasted. There was still no service on their pads.

Maddock paced the area, troubled. He suddenly stopped and turned to Daan.

“Look, I think we should jump ship. Something is wrong. I can feel it.”

“What are you talking about?” Daan asked. “The Ray of Hope is the only way we can return to our families. America is broken. If we turn back now we’ll remain stranded here. We have to finish this.”

Maddock shook his head but kept quiet and continued to pace. He pulled out his pad and looked at it again. There was still no network.

Suddenly, they heard a roar. At first, the two men looked at each other with the silent question: what was that. The next second, though, Daan smiled and got up. He took the rifle he shared with Maddock from the tree where it was hanging.

“I think dinner is served, kids,” he said, turning to the children who were still gagged and tied to the tree. That same second, Morgan piped up.

“Oh my hallowed corn. The service is back!” He quickly scrolled through to the notification on the encrypted app. The children had been confirmed. He jumped up in joy.

“The kids have been confirmed, Connor. We can get moving.”

“Took ‘em long enough,” Daan said in his southern accent. “Let’s go get this animal whatever it is. We’ll have dinner, sleep and get moving at the break of dawn tomorrow.”

Morgan was too glad to refuse. “Okay let’s go.”

7:10pm

Harper and Joel heard the roar and they stopped. Shortly, they heard the scream of a boy, followed by the roar again.

“Xander! They screamed together. They turned back and ran in the direction of the sound. Just before they got there, they heard the sound of a gunshot. Joel held Harper back. He whispered for her to be quiet. Together, they snuck and peered into the darkness. They could see the light from the glow stick Xander had been given. There were two men. One held a gun. The one with the gun went to him and hit Xander hard on the head, knocking him out. The one without the gun carried Xander and the two of them left.

Joel waited for them to leave. Then he went to where Xander had lain. He picked up the crutch and motioned for Harper to follow him.

8:00pm

 Xander woke up and found that he was tied to a tree with a strong rope. His head hurt where he had been hit by the gun. His mouth was gagged with a handkerchief. Maddock and Daan were close-by, eating roasted meat. Xander tried not to make any sound so as not to draw their attention. He took in his surroundings. They all were under the starry skies and there was a fire burning before Morgan and Connor. They sat with their backs towards him so that he couldn’t see the woods beyond them. He spotted something long and thin in the dust close to a large dead animal. He guessed it was the tail of whatever animal his captors were eating. The burly one was using a white mini tablet. Xander wondered how come the device still functioned after the EMP. Morgan and Connor used a knife to cut chunks of the large animal before roasting it over the fire. It took Xander a second to realize that they are eating the bear that was going to eat him. He was about to laugh at the irony but he noticed a pink ribbon in the dust a few feet away. Close to it was a black bag. He squinted to see the objects clearly. He couldn’t help but gasp the moment he realized that the ribbon was the one his sister had worn and the backpack was his. He began to shake himself in a bid to get free. The men noticed and Connor smiled at him.

"Hey, boy. Yer awake, eh? I'm guessing yer must be hungry. There's enough of the bear to go round. Yer can think of it as revenge on the bear for frighten' yer like that," Daan said as he got up with a chunk of roasted meat. When he got close and offered the meat to Xander, Xander struggled all the more to be free from the rope that held him to the tree.

"Let me go, freak! Where's Grayson? Where's my sister?" Xander tried to say but the words came out as muffled sounds.

"See? Told you we should have killed him," Maddock said.

Daan raised a brow as he stared at Xander's face. Then his eyes lightened as though in surprise.

"I should have seen it before! He looks like the light-skinned girl, Morgan. He must be her brother."

Relief and fear rushed through Xander's heart. He had found the girls but he wasn't sure what the men had done with them. Daan brought the handkerchief down and asked,

“I’m right, aren’t I”

"Where are they? Give them to me. I want to take them home." Xander said, still trying to break free from the rope.

"Uh-uh. No, can't do. They are safely tied here," Daan said pointing to a tree opposite Xander. Because Maddock and Daan sat in obstruction to his sight, Xander had been unable to see them before. Grayson, Prim and a little boy were sleeping against the tree. They looked so tired. Their mouths were also gagged.

"And I'm taking y'all to my bosses. They'll know what to do with y'all."

Xander cursed.

"We're not going anywhere with you. You'd better let us go or the cops will get you."

Maddock snorted.

"Yeah, sure. Call them- if you still have a phone."

Xander realized it was true. There wasn't much he could do. No one would be able to find them. Another thought jumped through his mind and he suddenly began to shout for help. His voice woke the children up. Grayson looked around for where her brother's voice was coming from. When she saw him surrounded by the men, she tried to shout his name.

"Xander! Help us!" was what she tried to shout but it came out unintelligibly.

Prim joined her to try to get Xander’s attention. Even the little boy who didn't know Xander joined to call for his help.

The noise got the two men angry. Maddock didn't even ask for permission before he hit Xander head with his gun again, knocking Xander unconscious. Daan turned to the kids and ordered them to shut up. They obeyed instantly.

"See, I told you that we should kill him. He will cause us a lot of trouble. If we are caught it would be because you allowed him to live," Maddock said.

Daan thought about it for a second. Finally, he nodded his head, giving his consent.

Maddock smiled and pointed his gun at Xander's body.

"Oh no, you don't," Joel said before hitting Maddock's head hard with a crutch. Maddock slumped. Daan turned to fight his assailant but Joel had the element of surprise on his side. He dodged Daan's punch.

"Let the kids go," Joel said. Daan didn't reply. He lunged at Joel instead and both of them fell to the floor in a tussle.

Harper was at the tree where the children were tied. She loosed the ropes. It took a while but she eventually got it done and the children were set free.

"Stay here," she said to them before running to where Xander was tied. As she got there, Maddock began to stir.

"Uh-uh. Not on my watch," she said as she slammed her boot against his head, knocking him out cold. She then set Xander loose and helped him stand. He was hardly conscious and barely managed to walk but she was able to get him to where the children were, away from the fight.

Joel and Daan rolled on the floor. Joel no longer had the advantage and Daan was on him, punching his face. With one heavy push, Joel managed to turn Daan over and Daan landed on his back close to the bear's carcass. Joel braced himself for another round but Daan suddenly shouted and jerked his chest up. He didn't move to fight Joel. Joel was surprised and looked at the ground where Daan had fallen. There was something long and thin like the large animal's tail but it was alive. It curled itself as though afraid. Then Joel remembered that bears didn't have long tails. Daan had fallen on a snake.

Joel looked at Daan and noticed Daan wilting. In only a matter of seconds, Daan fell to the ground paralyzed. He began to cry. Harper, Xander and the kids gathered close to Joel and watched Daan writhe in the dust as he tried to gain control of his body.

As he died, his mind ran through his life with regret. He thought about beautiful, dark-skinned Vivien from the days he had served on the Economic Advisory team back at the White House. He thought about his parents. He’d be joining them soon. Finally, he thought on his family back in Moscow. It wasn’t supposed to end that way. All he had needed was one more day and he’d have gotten back home. He’d never see Gretel and Nadia again. They’d never know what happened to him. He’d lost it all.

And it was all because of the organization. He’d played the fool.

And the Americans were playing the same role. He wanted to warn them. They had no idea what was happening.

"You have no idea what's coming at y'all Americans. It's big. My bosses will destroy this wretched nation. Go on to New York. Your destiny awaits you there... If you even get there," Daan said slowly just before he died.

Morgan woke up with a headache. He squinted the moment the sun rays entered his eyes. The events of the night before filled him with sorrow instantly.

He turned his head to see what was left. The loosened ropes and handkerchiefs on the floor didn’t catch his attention.

Daan’s dead body was all he saw and it brought tears to his eyes. He vowed vengeance.

Epilogue

19th November, 2021

2:53pm

Cincinnati, Indiana. USA

Stephen Wallace threw a stone and watched Tanner, his German Shepherd, run after it. He was in front of a smoldering fire place. Survival was his thing. He wasn’t always a civilian. His mind drifted back to his days in the military. It had been a fun ride till his mouth ruined it all.

And gained him some dangerous enemies.

He’d have to take journey to New York alone if he hoped to get there alive.

He heard footsteps. As if in confirmation, Tanner’s head perked up and it began to bark. Stephen got up and used his feet to scatter the fire mixing the ash with the snow.

“Shhhh, boy. Come on, let’s go,” he said to the dog.

About The Author

Zion Cage is the author of more than a dozen science fiction novels and the winner of the prize for the best adaptation of the new generation Apocalypse in 2018 still being at College. he wrote for the newspaper group and delivered podcasts on the apocalypse being at Georgia State University. today he lives with his charming wife in Valdosta in the south of Georgia and is passionate about all the possible directions that the world could take if the apocalypse really happened. His favorite stories to read and write are mostly for characters who become stronger by overcoming the challenges and fears. Zion Cage love Basketball and he often plays in the Gym with his friends on Sundays. He also loves soccer and his favorite team is Atlanta United.

Zion Cage loves to hear from his readers so you can find his books and connect with him via any of the channels listed below:

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Books In This Series

The End

Something Sinister is brewing in the United States…
The United States is hit by an EMP from an unknown source and its citizens are asked to move to New York. Without basic survival skills and being in the middle of winter, it’s more of a journey to the death for most. And then there is the increasing number of kidnap cases everywhere.
4 Unlikely Heroes…
Xander, Aaliyah, Stephen and Suzanne are individuals from worlds apart and with different conflict. However, with suspicions of foul play in the country spreading, fate must bring them together to clear the air and set things right.
Or at least die trying…

The End: Genesis

Alexander Michael’s life is thrown into tumult in the wake of the EMP. He had been warned but he never listened to rumors. He sister, Grayson is now nowhere to be found and he is separated from the rest of his family. He sets out on a quest to find his sister despite the negative odds and, soon, he finds out that something dark is at work in the United States- something bigger than he could imagine.

The End: Fight for Survival

Aaliyah isn’t ready to face the truth of what has happened to their world because she isn’t ready to let go of the ones that she loves. Now, with her grandmother, Marcia, by her side, she has no choice but to continue further to the unknown, where only a small amount of the population are surviving. As Marcia’s health continues to deteriorate, Aaliyah is forced to make decisions that will impact her life, forever.

The End: Captives

It’s the Eve to the massive EMP plan and the Ray of Hope terrorist group has gathered the orders of various black market buyers for the children that will be kidnapped after the EMP attack. The leaders of Ray of hope inform their agents of the progress, warning them to be alert so that every displaced child be carried off at the first opportunity. Connor and Morgan are part of these agents and they are sent off.

The End: Warzone

As a veteran, Stephen is used to undesirable climates. From his days in the military, he has taught himself not to be so dependent on man-made appliances. He’d always been a bit suspicious of the activities of the government, and when the EMP did occur, he was more prepared than most. With survival skills that surpass basic, he is easily able to adapt to this new world as he begins on his trip to New York, where his only companionship is his German shepherd, Tanner.

The End: Rogue

Vivien Dmitri is at the top of the terrorist organization, the Ray of Hope.

For some reason, though, she decides to bring it down. It’s not an easy task,

and she’s forced to recruit people to join her on her mission. Still, it’s a race to the death, and she is determined to finish it.

THE RAY OF HOPE MUST FALL!