A Wilderness Within by Emma Castle

Author:Emma Castle [Castle, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781947206700
Publisher: Emma Castle Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Lincoln listened to Caroline’s breathing and knew when she was asleep. He wouldn’t sleep at all, however, not after what they had done. They had possibly created a life tonight, and he could barely stomach the violent knotting in his gut at the thought. Had he condemned an innocent child to facing the horrors of their newly changed world? But if Caroline wanted the baby, it would become a part of his mission.

He stretched back on the bed, listening to the heavy silence. People didn’t understand silence, not true silence. There was no hum of cars on the road, no vibrating of the walls with air conditioners or hissing of water pipes, no sounds from numerous electronic devices, no sizzling of the air with electricity snaking through the power lines. It was all silence. Only the wind made any sound as it raked against branches or pulled bits of trash along the ground. But there was no wind tonight. In the silence, a man could imagine a thousand sounds that weren’t really there but would haunt him until he was convinced he was hearing things.

In the last few months, he’d taken to sleeping with a small handheld radio. The white noise static sound of dead channels helped to soften the roar of the silence and the other sounds he dreamed he heard.

The crackle of voices through the radio was one such imagined sound. He had bolted out of his bed a dozen other nights after Adam had died, expecting, hoping to hear the last president of the United States say something, anything, even though he knew the man was dead. But always he dreamed it just as sleep began to creep in.

“This is a call for help. Any survivors, please respond.”

Lincoln listened to the words his mind must have dreamed up.

“Please respond…” The tinny voice crackled through the radio again. Lincoln was surprised by the realness of his dream and decided to investigate. He tucked Caroline into bed, making sure she was covered. Then he pulled on his briefs and reached for the radio where it sat next to the lifeless TV.

“Please respond. We are calling for all survivors. This is Dr. Erica Kennedy from the CDC. We have power in our headquarters in Atlanta. Please respond.”

“CDC?” He uttered the initials like they were a foreign tongue. He’d been at the White House when the director had urged the president to enact the Omaha Protocol…the bunker…the last hope to keep the chain of command alive.

Lincoln’s heart began to pound as he reached for the radio. He clicked the talk button and brought it to his lips.

“This is Major Lincoln Atwood, First Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta. Please repeat your full message.” He let go of the button and waited, his heart hammering wildly.

“This is Dr. Erica Kennedy of the CDC. We have power at the headquarters in Atlanta. We are urging survivors to come forward and provide blood samples for testing. Are you confirmed to be immune?”

Lincoln’s hand started to shake as a violent surge of emotions flowed through him.

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