The Long Walk Novels & Stories

and closes the door behind him. I hold my breath until I hear the truck leave, then walk to the window to watch it drive down the road until I can’t see or hear it anymore. Then I sink to my knees and cry until I can’t cry anymore. The mixture of thoughts and emotions is so hard to explain. Deep down, I know Rob"s full of shit, and at the same time, I believe I’m a lazy fat-ass, and everyone thinks so.

I had no words, his life now is what I had. I was so mad, I knew I had to get out, take a walk, do something or I would lose it. I keep repeating moments of my life, that are now gone, all the things I am missing, the things I could have... I took the closest thing, got dressed, and started walking. I had no direction. I was mad again everything came back, the little reason that had me going was gone. A lot of bad thoughts came back; this was just what I needed to bring me back to the beginning again. I was deep in self-pity when I felt a hand on my back.

I hope you are too, and would be ever so humbled if you let me know what you thought of my little part two. Being able to explore my characters through their own points of view was an eye opening experience, and I hoped you loved tuning into Dalton, Kendra, and Jake's thoughts just as much as the lead's, Hollis and Whitney's. Despite this book taking five months to write, a month less than two of my other novels, "Not All Who Wander Are Lost" is by far my longest book, nearing 600 pages. I couldn't avoid it since there was so much I wanted to cover, and there are no regrets.

At the party the night before our wedding, I came across a couples' challenge post online: [If I weren't an option, who would you most want to marry?] I smiled as I asked my fiance, Julian Hayes. He didn't hesitate. "Vivian." Vivian Bennett was my younger sister. My best friend chimed in. "Honestly, Vivian does understand him best. Every time you two fight, she's the one who stays up talking to Julian until dawn." Vivian reached over and gave him a playful punch on the chest. "Better keep your fiance in line, sis. Can't have him pining after me all the time." The whole table erupted in laughter. My mother, Margaret Bennett, gave an amused tsk. "It's just a joke. Besides, Vivian never complai

At 3:00 a.m., I was slapped awake. "Your sister had a panic attack. She spent two hours banging on your door, and you had the nerve to pretend you were asleep!" My parents stood at my bedside, faces rigid with fury. My sister, Faye Radford, was huddled in the arms of Kellan Garrett, my boyfriend since childhood. She shook with sobs. "Alina, you're so selfish." Kellan looked at me, his voice thick with disapproval. "You know Faye can't function without you." I had always been the only thing that calmed her down when the panic hit. The moment I tried to put any distance between us, she spiraled again. She was the reason I had given up my spot at a top prep school to transfer to the same

--- Meanwhile, the young couple who had refused to join Hope Base continued wandering through the forest, using the map Ivy had given them as their guide. “Just where exactly are we going right now?” the woman asked, exhaustion evident in both her expression and her voice. “We’ve been walking for what seems like forever.” “I feel like everyone should have gotten used to walking long distances by now. This is the apocalypse, after all. You can never predict when a monster might suddenly appear out of nowhere, forcing you to run for your life. If you want to survive, you have to be prepared to run long distances,” a man with long white hair that fell past his shoulders replied seriously.

When Ethan Lane came back from his business trip, he pulled two dolls out of his suitcase. One was pink, the other blue. His daughter, Nina Lane's eyes lit up for a second when she saw the pink one. But instead of reaching for it, she glanced over at Crystal Shaw, Vivian Shaw's daughter. That five-year-old girl had already stretched out her hand for the pink doll. So Nina pulled her hand back and said quietly, "I'll take the blue one." I froze. Nina's loved pink ever since she was little. Her backpack is pink, her water bottle is pink, even her hair clips are always pink. But the moment Crystal was in the picture, she stepped aside. Later, when Ethan drove Vivian and Crystal home, I ask

Something told me we'd need it. The journey north was brutal. Marcus led us through paths I didn't know existed, old hunting trails that predated the packs, when wolves and phoenixes had roamed free. Selena kept pace despite her recent illness, driven by something beyond physical strength. We didn't speak much—sound carried in the mountain passes, and Shadow Walkers had exceptional hearing.

before entering another room filled with machines. “What is this?” Eva asked giving the book to Everest. “This was brought to the library just recently, it’s called ‘The birth of disaster’.”

I didn't look back. We walked for hours. The Deadlands were a physical weight. The air was thin, making every breath feel insufficient. The gravity felt heavier here, dragging at our limbs, turning every step into a battle. There was no wind. No sound of life. Just the crunch of our boots on the volcanic glass. Nash trailed behind us. I could hear him. The ragged drag of his breath. The scrape of the crutch. The wet slap of his burned foot hitting the ground every time he stumbled.