Darkest Night: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller (Nuclear Dawn Book 5) by Kyla Stone

Author:Kyla Stone [Stone, Kyla]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Paper Moon Press
Published: 2019-09-13T16:00:00+00:00

39

Dakota

Waves of sorrow surged through Dakota, so strong they nearly knocked her off her feet. Her throat tightened, tears stinging her eyes. No, no, no!

Another person dead because of her. Another person she’d loved gone forever from her life. It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right.

Sister Rosemarie was the best person in this damn hellhole.

Whatever her sins and failures, she hadn’t deserved to die.

Dakota gave a sharp shake of her head, snapping herself out of her shock. She couldn’t let herself dwell on the horror of what had just happened.

Not if she wanted Sister Rosemarie’s sacrifice to mean something.

She buried her grief somewhere down deep and took a breath to steel herself. She had to keep her head clear for the job ahead, no matter what. She still had work to do.

An awful sense of foreboding settled over her. This night of hell was just beginning.

She tightened her grip on her gun and sprinted outside, slamming and locking the exterior door behind her.

Logan was waiting for her at the southeast corner, the women and children huddled behind him. “What happened?”

“Reuben knows,” Dakota said breathlessly. “He’ll sound the alarm.”

Logan adjusted his grip on his carbine. “We have to lay down cover fire or they’ll never make it.”

Their covert operation wasn’t so covert anymore. Now it was time to stay alive. That, and take down as many Shepherds as they possibly could.

The sky was pitch-black. The wind yanked at her hair and clothes. Smoke singed her nostrils. Yelling and shouting echoed from all directions. She flipped down her NV goggles, but they no longer worked. The fire was too bright.

The entire northwest side of the compound was blazing. At least two dozen trees were lit up like torches. The Shepherds had abandoned the fight to put out the fire. The agonizing bleats and cries of the animals trapped in their pens made her wince.

There wasn’t a thing she could do to ease their suffering.

“Watch your six!” Julio yelled into her earpiece.

About a hundred yards away, two Shepherds were running toward them from the direction of the boathouse. A third Shepherd was patrolling the fence directly east of them, just north of the mercy room. Maybe four hundred yards.

That familiar tight, panicky feeling plucked at her chest. That terrible sense of everything careening out of control. Every instinct screamed at her to keep her sister right at her side.

But she couldn’t. The best way to keep her safe was to let her go.

Dakota grabbed Eden’s arm. “I need you to lead the group to Haasi and the boats. Can you do that?”

Eden nodded solemnly, her eyes bright and fierce.

She could do this. Dakota knew she could.

Eden gestured at the group and then took off running. The others followed her. She swayed a little, almost stumbling—she was still sick, damn it—but Ruth jogged alongside her and slid her arm around Eden’s waist.

They ran together.

“Hostiles exiting the front of the chapel,” Julio warned in her earpiece. “At least ten. No, twelve.”

“Over there!” Dakota pointed ten yards

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