Shattered - Shock Point Book 3: A Thrilling Post-Apocalyptic Survival Series by DC Layton & Mike Kraus

Author:DC Layton & Mike Kraus [Layton, DC]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Muonic Press Inc
Published: 2022-10-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

Alma Garcia

Southeast Utah

Gravel crunched under the van’s tires. Alma ran after Matias and pushed him into the shadow of the bushes opposite the front door. The foliage gave them little cover, but it would have to be enough. The white transit van pulled up to the side of the house.

Alma checked left and right. “Where’s Em?”

Matias' eyes grew wide. Even he knew what the white van represented. A guard had arrived. Then he pointed to the house and gripped Alma’s arm, his body trembling.

“She’s still inside?” She covered her mouth. “I thought she’d run out before you.” How stupid she’d been. Her only task was to keep them safe, the two of them. “Stay hidden.” She crept forward.

The engine shut off, and the door squealed. Eric stepped out. Her gut clenched and roiled and her mouth dried out. The van at the gas station, the one crushed in the quake, was not his. Alma shivered. It should have been his. But when the white van approached, there was no doubt that it would be him. Hoping it was different was not enough. He had left the passports, and she should have known he’d come back. The quake had trapped the wrong van and killed the wrong guard.

He pulled off his cap, threw it into the cab, and stretched. Arching his back, he ran his fingers through his greasy hair and took a step toward the rear of the property. Perfect. Alma bent and crawled under the low branch. A twig snapped below her foot. Eric paused. Every movement she made signaled her presence. She stilled herself. He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes transfixed on the front of the house.

He turned to the never-used front door; she’d left it flung wide open. Idiot. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a gun. Alma flinched and her throat tightened. She couldn’t disarm a man. Backing deeper into the bushes, she shifted her body to shield Matias. She was powerless to protect Emelia. At least she had shouted the warning; Emelia would know to hide.

A door slammed inside the house. The boom shook Alma to the core. Matias let out a muffled whimper. Eric grimaced and stepped from the gravel and into the overgrown flowerbed. Emelia ran up the hallway, peering into the rooms on either side then ran for the front door. Alma waved her hands, urging Emelia to go back and hide, but Emelia paid no attention to the shadows in the bushes.

Eric crept forward, keeping close to the house wall, inching closer. Emelia burst out, her wild hair swept from her face by the breeze.

“Stop!” Eric lifted the weapon. Emelia screamed and backed away, her hands raised. He stiffened and fixed the sights on her. “You! Don’t move.”

Emelia obeyed. Her lower lip trembled, focusing on the gun pointed at her. Alma covered her mouth with both hands. Her baby sister was alone with the armed madman who chilled her to the bone. He’d always been power-crazed and there was no chance he’d show mercy.

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