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Chapter Sixty-Nine
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After the Downfall Thank you!!
First off, I want to thank all of you who've stuck with me since the beginning of this book. I appreciate all the patience you've shown as I navigate through this bumpy part in my life. I've had a pretty crappy couple of months, from the many goodbyes in my life to a freaking hurricane interfering with everything, I've struggled to put anything into words, but I'm slowly coming back to myself. There are a ridiculous amount of edits waiting to be approved (particularly at the end), but editors are on break, so it may unfortunately take a while for them to show. The word count should be over 120k once they are approved, but you may also have to log out and then back into the app for them to show. Any feedback would be much appreciated!! Reviews and/or comments are an author's brainfood! I do want to also touch base on the ending. I realize I've left some things unanswered. This was done intentionally because Gage will be getting his own book. However, I do not have a timeframe for w
After the Downfall Epigraph
The Road Not TakenTwo roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth;Then took the other, as just as fair,And having perhaps the better claim,Because it was grassy and wanted wear;Though as for that the passing thereHad worn them really about the same,And both that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden black.Oh, I kept the first for another day!Yet knowing how way leads on to way,I doubted if I should ever come back.I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.—Robert Frost—
After the Downfall Prologue
Ten Years Ago Concern sparked through me at the sight of my father sprinting towards the driver’s side of the vehicle, my eight-year-old mind not comprehending the extent of what was happening around me, but I was already on edge from being roused in the middle of the night. My mom hurried over the center console as soon as the truck came to a standstill, fumbling with her seatbelt due to her shaking hands, but my dad didn’t waste any time, tearing off down the road as he closed the door behind him. The stench of burning rubber and gasoline filled my nostrils, and I couldn’t stop my right leg from bouncing up and down as I watched our surroundings whiz by in a blur, blaring horns and wreckage following in our wake. “What’s going on Daddy? Mom?” The questions spilled out at last as fear began to set in, but they remained unanswered as my dad weaved through traffic, blatantly ignoring the stoplights as we barreled through the semi-crowded streets. I was terrified of what would make
After the Downfall Chapter One
Present Day I hunched in on myself as salty tears leaked down my face in rivulets, the moisture trickling across my cracked lips as gravity took over. It felt like I should’ve been all cried out by this point, having watched my mother, and now my father, wither away before my eyes. I knew I had been neglecting myself in the interim, but it was hard to think about anything with death surrounding me at every turn. I wrapped my arms around my legs where I sat in the hardbacked chair at my dad’s bedside, opting to rest my head on my knees while his eyes were shut, and I tried to envision what my future would look like with me by my lonesome. My mom had been the first to go, the nausea and hair loss she’d experienced signaling that her health was rapidly declining, but she’d slipped into a coma without us knowing the reason for it. Hell, the cause was unknown to this day. Nothing we tried could bring her back, and it seemed as if the light had left my dad’s eyes ever since the day that
After the Downfall Chapter Two
I’d braced myself for the bitter cold beforehand thanks to my dad’s warnings about what to expect in this new world, but it didn’t stop the shivers from wracking through my slender frame as gusts of wind washed over me. The sky should’ve been lit up by the sun at this time of day, but it was as dark as if it was still nighttime due to the radioactive dust and ash still clinging in the atmosphere. My father had been an environmental scientist before the downfall of society, but all his knowledge hadn’t been enough to save him in the end. Numbness threatened to take over as despondency crept in with the memory of my parents’ deaths still raw, and I considered simply giving up for what seemed the thousandth time since I’d started losing my family members. Howbeit, some tiny portion of my head reminded me why I had to carry on, the promise I’d made to my dad replaying in my mind as I forced myself to take one step after another. On some subconscious level, I’d been imagining a complet
After the Downfall Chapter Three
I was terrified that I might slip off as the motorcycle moved unsteadily through the trees, but that feeling faded the longer I remained safe, another extreme emotion filling the void as electricity thrummed through me. He helped me readjust my position after we were no longer in imminent danger, and there was no doubting that my rescuer was indeed a he considering the impressive muscles that I could feel flexing under my fingertips as he expertly steered despite the added passenger. I kept expecting him to slow down now that we had outpaced the wolves, but the male kept up the same breakneck speed, carving a path through the underbrush with a metal guard that I could see he’d attached to the front of the bike. Boom! Craaacck! Shit! I’d completely forgotten about the storm rolling in, but I evidently didn’t need to worry about it with this guy around. He was already driving straight into the mouth of a cave before the next rumble sounded, the pitter-patter of rainfall starting sec
After the Downfall Chapter Four
I was tentative the second time around when it came to gripping Gage’s waist without the danger obliterating my boundaries to smithereens, but he only chuckled, grabbing my arms and yanking me forward until I was plastered against his back. My body was reacting in ways that I hadn’t experienced before, but I deflected, asking the first thing that popped into my mind, “You’re not worried about someone taking off with your stuff?” “Nah, it’s rare that I come across anyone this far out. I have a few spots all over the place for when I’m too far from home. No one has messed with any of them for the months I’ve been out here, but I also have some silver hidden near the entrances to deter shifters from investigating.” I was left with the distinct impression that he was leaving something out, but I trusted him, just the same. He’d already saved my skin after all, and he seemed to be in a hurry to leave now since the rain had forced us to take cover through the night and well into the next
After the Downfall Chapter Five
I entered the faintly lit room behind Alissa, opting to stand regardless of the incessant throbbing coming from my foot when I took in the last two seats available. There was a metal folding chair, which Alissa had claimed for herself, and a dingy brown, leather loveseat as the only furniture in the spartan room. It seemed this area had missed out on the homey makeover Gage had spoken of, but no way in hell was I risking the creep, who was currently very conspicuously appraising me, ‘accidently’ brushing up against me. No thank you. So yeah, I would stand. My disgust was made all the worse when Alissa introduced him as Robbie, whom I knew to be the leader of this little community, and I was grateful for Gage’s intel while we’d been holed up waiting out the acid rain. “It’s Robert.” He snapped, anger flashing across his face, and he seemed sinister as the shadows converged around him in the shady corner, his all black apparel causing him to blend in. Smoothing over his features aft
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- After the Downfall Thank you!!
- After the Downfall Chapter Sixty-Nine
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- After the Downfall Chapter Sixty-Seven
- After the Downfall Chapter Sixty-Six
- After the Downfall Chapter Sixty-Five
- After the Downfall Chapter Sixty-Four
- After the Downfall Chapter Sixty-Three
- After the Downfall Chapter Sixty-Two
