Inbound: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller (Impact Book 1) by EE Isherwood

Author:EE Isherwood [Isherwood, EE]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Isherwood Media
Published: 2023-06-26T16:00:00+00:00

TWELVE

Yellowstone

Grace’s appreciation for the rules had burned away on the drive down from the alpine hut. To keep her streak of lawbreaking going, she drove the truck onto the sidewalk and parked it about six feet from the front door to the justice center.

“You can’t park here,” Asher complained.

“And you shouldn’t smoke.” She giggled for a moment before seeing he was really worried. “It’s just that we’re talking about guidelines we don’t follow.”

“I get it,” he said with a little more humor.

“What’s that joke? I’m not parking it; I’m abandoning it.” She ran inside the swinging glass doors without looking back, content he was okay. Every second counted and nothing was more important than getting the attention of a building full of armed rangers.

“We need help!” she yelled.

Asher came in after her, comically skidding to a stop on a loose floor mat. “Is this the right place?”

Despite the rustic stone exterior, the inside looked like a tiny slice of cubicle hell from any office building in modern America. A long wooden counter ran about thirty feet across the front part of the space; four cubicles were set up behind it. A few messy desks ringed the outer wall like outcasts from the party in the middle. It looked like there could have been eight or ten officers with workstations, but all the chairs were empty.

While they stood there in awe, a woman came out of a wooden door at the back of the room. She was dressed like a civilian, not a ranger. “Hello? You need help?”

“Are you the police?” Grace asked, hoping she was an undercover officer. Narcotics division, perhaps. She wasn’t overly familiar with the law-enforcement org chart, but she assumed it had all the same departments as a larger force. Rangers like her mainly focused on the code enforcement aspect of the law, such as permits and trespassing. Other rangers carried guns and made arrests; they dealt with violent tourists when necessary. So, by the same logic, someone had to be undercover and working to prevent drug crimes.

“Not really. I’m the dispatcher.” The middle-aged woman used both hands to gather her salt-and-pepper hair behind her head, then she slipped a rubber band around it. “I was taking a quick bathroom break. I’ve been at this since last night.”

Grace motioned to the rest of the room. “If you’re so busy, where are the officers? We need help. There’s someone chasing us. With guns.”

The woman sized up her uniform, then did the same for Asher. “Well, everyone is out in the field right now. We’ve called in every officer we have, but lots of them didn’t pick up their phones. Not that I blame them, after what happened.”

Asher spoke up; somehow, he’d already pulled out a cigarette and had it lit. “You mean with the blast over Paducah.”

“Yep. The whole country is in a panic. It’s spread here, too, though most of these tourists aren’t letting a crisis in Illinois ruin their vacation in Wyoming.”

“It hit Paducah,” Grace replied. “That’s in Kentucky.

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