First Light - An EMP Survival Novel by K. M. Fawkes

Author:K. M. Fawkes [Fawkes, K. M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-04-22T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Brad stood motionless in the silence, the light of the fire illuminating his worn face. Someone had heard him; someone was coming toward him; he could tell by the sound of footsteps and the slender beam of light that was slowly bobbing toward him. The question of whether or not they could be trusted had become, for the moment, irrelevant. He just wanted to know how they had acquired electricity. He wanted some assurance he wasn’t just dreaming this.

“Who’s there?” he said again, weakly. “If you can hear my voice, tell me your name!”

It was a ridiculous petition, he knew—what stranger, alone in the woods, was going to yell out their name to another from a distance? And yet, amid the scuffle of boots and the casual snapping of twigs, a voice came in reply.

“Is someone there? Are you alone?”

Brad was so overcome with emotion that he answered without hesitation, his hands raised as though in surrender.

“My name is Brad,” he said, “and I’ve got a woman here with me. She’s injured. I think she might be dying!”

“Armed or not?”

Brad pondered the question for a second and then quietly lowered the gun to the ground. “No. Unless you count an axe.”

There was no response. But presently a flood of light shone into the clearing, and when Brad’s eyes had sufficiently adjusted he saw a man of about thirty years old, with a slender build, bearded and wearing a wide Panama hat, standing about twenty feet away. He surveyed the scene quietly as if assessing for himself the veracity of the story that Brad had just told him. Brad fervently hoped he didn’t ask about the gun.

“What’s the girl’s name?” the man asked. He wore a cocky expression, and was smiling slightly.

“I think you had better tell me your name first,” Brad replied.

The man shrugged as if to say it made no difference to him, either way.

“Name’s William. William Beeman. I was out hunting when I heard what sounded like a gun being fired and thought I would come investigate. We don’t get many other hunters, out here. We don’t get much of anyone, really.” He nodded at Anna. “She doesn’t seem to be in the best condition. You said she was injured?”

Brad decided it was probably best not to mention his father, for the moment.

“She hurt her leg pretty badly while we were hiking into town,” he said. “Fell about ten feet while descending the cliff-side, and now she has a gaping wound in her thigh.”

“Really?” said William in that same sardonic tone, shining a flashlight over the sleeping figure. “Because it looks to me like she was shot in the leg.”

“She needs medical attention,” said Brad, ignoring this observation, “which I’m not currently in a position to give her. If there’s anything you could do to help us—or if you know anyone who could—”

“I know some people who can help you,” said William, suspiciously quickly.

Brad eyed the man uneasily. After wandering for two days through the snowy wilderness,

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