Journey Through Darkness: Book 1 (An EMP Post-Apocalyptic Survival Story) by Mark J. Russell & J.J. Holden

Author:Mark J. Russell & J.J. Holden [Russell, Mark J. & Holden, J.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-12-12T06:00:00+00:00

16

“Hey, little brother. Up and at ’em.”

Ben sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, surprised that he’d actually drifted off. He’d spent what felt like an awful long time staring at the insides of his eyelids, with his thoughts chasing their own tails around inside his head.

The sky was in a weird in-between place, with a last bit of red visible over the hills to one side and curtains of violet and green shimmering and illuminating what should have been the darker half. Even with the last bits of the sunset holding on, the northern lights weren’t as vibrant as they had been for the first few nights after the flare.

“I made up some coffee and put it in a thermos for our first break. Set you a bit aside, though,” Will said, handing over a half-full cup.

“Thanks. Think it’s dark enough to start moving, or want to wait a bit yet?”

“Dark is coming on pretty fast, and I haven’t seen or heard anything going on around us since I took over watch. I figure we’re in a pretty calm pocket right here, so no harm in getting started now instead of waiting for night to get all the way over to us.”

Ben nodded and drank his coffee while Will packed up the few things that were still out. By the time he had carried Will’s trike back out to the road and they got loaded up, the only light left was the aurora, which was still a stunning sight but wasn’t strong enough anymore to provide true illumination.

The road they were on was paved in a light-colored concrete. If it had been blacktop, it would have blended into the dark grasses and weeds bordering it, and they would have had to ride slowly, using the gravel shoulders to navigate by braille. Level ground or uphill climbs weren’t bad. They took those at a moderate pace, and once their eyes were really well adjusted to the dark, they were able to ride confidently and put some attention to their surroundings, keeping their ears open for trouble and scanning for anything they might be able to see.

The downhills were a different story. Those were tense, as the shoulders dropped down into steep ditches, or simply right down the side of the valley wall in some places. How long would he go tumbling if he missed a curve and went over the edge?

The biggest problem they ran into was trying to figure out exactly where they were sometimes. There were two places where they’d need to make a turn, as the route they’d mapped out followed one county highway for a distance, then angled south for a while to connect with another one. At least half of the road signs were missing, the stumps of their posts showing they’d clearly been cut down recently. After several unmarked intersections in a row, they found one with its sign still intact. Not knowing when they’d see another one, they dared to find

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