Incendiary: Echoes of the End Book 4: (A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller) by Justin Bell & Mike Kraus

Author:Justin Bell & Mike Kraus [Bell, Justin & Kraus, Mike]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Muonic Press Inc
Published: 2023-11-30T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Exhaustion wasn’t quite enough to describe Jean’s condition as she pried her eyes open, forcing herself out of the deep pit of darkness that had consumed her. She had no idea how many hours it had been or what had happened, but Holly still sat slumped against the inside wall of the box truck to her left and Keegan—

Her eyes sprang open, a sudden, cold-water alertness splashing her full-on in the face. “Keegan?” Besides her and Holly, the rear of the box truck was empty. No Keegan, no Bucky, and one of the backpacks was missing. “No,” she gasped, shaking her head. “Oh, no, no, no.” She scrambled upward, falling onto all fours, clawing at the floor of the truck, head whipping around as if Keegan might be lurking in some dark corner within the truck’s confines. He wasn’t, of course, but as she clawed her way forward, toward the double doors separating them from the outside, her fingers scraped across a slip of loose paper sitting on the floor.

She almost passed it by, but the paper slid beneath her fingers, and she paused, pinching it and lifting it from where it sat. Squinting in the low light of the truck, she stared down at the paper, but couldn’t see it clearly, so she made her way back to her backpack and slipped a flashlight free. After fumbling with it in the darkness, she thumbed it on and shone it upon the piece of paper, which she held at one edge to get a better look.

Mom— I’m sorry, please don’t get mad. I want to help Holly. I left to see if I can find someone to help her or to give us medicine. Hopefully I will be back soon. Love Keegan.

The note was short, sweet and scrawled in her son’s blocky handwriting, each word like a punch in Jean’s gut. She’d been reading his words his entire life, witnessing the growth and maturity of his sentence structure and spelling, and seeing it on full display, in a real world scenario with such bravery and horrific implications left her almost breathless.

“Mom?” Holly’s voice was faint, barely audible as she stirred in the truck, trying to pry herself out of her own deep slumber. “Everything okay?” Her voice was thick, her tongue getting in the way of her teeth.

“It’s fine, dear.” Jean swallowed, hoping she sounded convincing, knowing she didn’t.

“Something’s wrong.” Holly pushed herself upright, then used the wall of the truck to try and help herself stand, her legs wobbling and unsteady.

“Holly, it’s okay.”

Holly’s head turned, her eyes peering through the darkness. “Where’s Keegan?”

“He, uhh—”

“Where’s Keegan?” She repeated, her words loud and firm, the loudest Holly had spoken in some time. “And Bucky? Where did they both go?”

“Holly, please, sit back down, okay?”

“Mom. What aren’t you telling me?”

“He— he left, sweetheart.” Jean’s voice cracked, and as hard as she tried to keep the words intact, they fractured in her throat.

“He left? What do you mean he left?” She took

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