LOGINThe sun dipped toward the horizon, and darkness crept across the sea.Nicole called across the water. "What are your plans?"After so long underwater, Sawyer and his crew wanted to make the most of the calm weather. They planned to spend the next few days resting on the surface, getting some sun and recovering their strength.Meeting Nicole and Zeph had given them fresh hope. If they kept looking, they were sure they would find more friends and fellow service members.The southern military base was gone, but the Ark Project would go on. Sooner or later, they would find somewhere to call home.Nicole and Zeph exchanged a glance. Since the crew intended to stay nearby, there was time to get to know them better. Sharing the coordinates could wait a couple of days.They had no particular reason to distrust Sawyer or his crew. Still, the men seemed a little too ready to see the good in others.Given the coordinates, they might share them freely, convinced that humanity's survival d
Sawyer stopped himself before he could put those fears into words."I'm pretty sure I saw Beatrice. She trained with our group, and we were all at the deepwater dock. These submarines are tough. They could handle the tsunami. She's probably out there somewhere right now."Nicole took comfort in that.They might never find one another on this vast, flooded planet, but knowing her friends could still be alive was enough.All four were aboard the same submarine. They had one another to rely on.Perhaps Jeremy and Hughie were thinking of her, too. She could almost hear them inviting her over for a barbecue.Having people to look forward to seeing again made the future feel a little less empty.Maybe their wandering would bring them across No. 2639 someday, and they would get together for a meal far beneath the surface.Nicole turned her attention back to Sawyer. "You've been down here a while. Have you run into any other submarines?"Sawyer nodded. "A few. None from our country."
Sawyer and Levi thought it over, but neither could remember Jeremy or Hughie."What about Beatrice Blair?" Nicole asked, her voice tightening with worry. "Tall, solid build, deep voice? Could lay a grown man out with one punch?"Nicole nodded eagerly. "That's her."There were few women among the submarine crews. Each crew trained separately at sea, only meeting the others for drills on land, so it was harder to remember individual men.The women stood out, especially one who had knocked down several male soldiers in a row. Beatrice had earned quite a reputation among the crews.Nicole felt a flicker of hope. "Do you know where she is?"Sawyer shook his head.The asteroid strike caught them off guard. His group was already training at sea, with all their belongings aboard. They spent their days out on the water and returned to the deepwater dock at night. As soon as the air-raid siren sounded, they took the submarines out.Sawyer and his crewmates still had nightmares about
Military personnel were different, especially those assigned to the Ark Project.With no way to know when the disasters would end, they would ration their food carefully, however much they had. Eventually, even those supplies would run low.It made sense that they would be thin. They were trying to stay alive for as long as possible.The man's eyes offered another clue.He looked excited to see them. There was no calculating look in his eyes, no sense that he was assessing them as potential targets.The other crew kept checking their identity, signaling for their military service numbers.Everyone stationed at the base had a number, with a different code for each branch. Even civilian workers and scavengers had identification numbers.The matching submarine had apparently convinced the crew that Nicole and Zeph were military personnel, too.When Zeph signaled his scavenger number, a long silence followed. The answer seemed to have confused them.Only a handful of people knew a
No matter how hardened a person became, they still needed other people.Through nine years of disasters, Nicole had killed to survive and fought both people and nature. Staying alive left little time for loneliness.But since leaving the military base, they had barely spoken to anyone else.Day after day, it was just the four of them, eating, sleeping, and sharing the same cramped space, with no end to the disasters in sight.They had plenty of food and water, vessels for every kind of escape, and her storage space to shelter them from even the worst disasters.Compared with most survivors, Nicole had it easy. Yet even that didn't seem to be enough.Perhaps she simply had too much time on her hands.She was grateful for everything they had, but a heaviness had settled over her that she couldn't shake.The days blurred together. She wasn't quite happy or sad. Sometimes, she struggled to see the point of any of it.As a doctor, she recognized the toll those years of relentless d
This time, the blue whale rubbed its head against the submarine instead of its rear end.The ancient virus had made it much less docile. It rubbed so hard that it seemed ready to scrape its own skin off.After another two or three hours, Nicole couldn't take it anymore. At this rate, she worried it would scrape the hull bare, too.The moment it left, she moved the submarine. She couldn't fight the whale off, but she could at least get out of its way.Nicole soon discovered just how little control she had out here. No matter where they went, the whale found them and went right back to scratching.Nicole had no idea how she had ended up with such a persistent nuisance.Poppy, meanwhile, was thrilled. She even named it Blue.Nicole put the girl's enthusiasm down to loneliness.Fortunately, Blue seemed content to use them as a scratching post.Life underwater did have its perks. Through the observation windows, they watched all kinds of sea creatures, from spider crabs to ocean su
Nicole didn't hesitate. She blocked Edward right away.Less than a minute later, her phone rang again. It was an unfamiliar number.She didn't need to guess; this was Edward's classmate or one of his friends.Given a second chance at life, Nicole had zero interest in being taken for a fool. She w
Nicole never expected the new resident of 1801 to be the same young man who had helped her at the courier station.He looked mildly surprised, too. He nodded once at her, then went back to work.Up close, he was striking in a cold, sharp way. He was tall and lean, with broad shoulders and clean li
Two miles was nothing. The Hummer reached the entrance to the complex in just a few minutes.Nicole handed the man 400 dollars, thanking him for saving her and for ignoring traffic rules.His voice stayed cool. "No need. I was heading this way, anyway."Seeing he wouldn't take it, she didn't push
Just after midnight, the timer refreshed. One hundred thirty minutes remaining.That meant time could stack.Nicole nearly laughed out loud. Seconds mattered. During crucial moments, even a minute could mean the difference between living and dying.She decided that unless it was absolutely necess







