“He didn’t say much, sweetie. Just that same word. Amanda said it was all she got out of him, as well,” he said gently.

  “I told you I knew what he was talking about, or at least a good idea of what he was trying to tell you,” Sarah said.

  Austin looked at her. “What? Who? Nash?”

  “Yes,” she said, still tapping on keys and not looking up.

  Austin reached out and stopped her hand, unable to understand how she could be so blasé. “Sarah, stop! You’ve told us almost nothing about Blackdown. Nothing useful, anyway. I’m tired of it. You tell me everything you can. Now.”

  She quit tapping and looked up at him. “I only knew what I suspected. I never had concrete proof until now, until this countdown you found. It was a lot of theory and speculation, Austin. Callum wasn’t the only one who realized something was going on. He was just more brazen about his digging.”

  “But now you know more about Blackdown? Without a doubt?” he questioned. “And you know what to make of this countdown?”

  She nodded. “Yes, but I still don’t have all the information on their plan; that’s why I haven’t said anything tonight. I didn’t want to present the information until I could give you all of it. Saying their plan is called Blackdown only does so much good if we don’t understand their intentions.”

  He rubbed a hand over his face, searching for patience. “Tell me whatever it is you know now. I don’t care what you don’t know. Tell me what you do know.”

  Intrigued, even Savannah sat up. They both stared at Sarah, waiting for her to speak.

  “Blackdown is nothing more than their term for a series of codes for the US missile defense system,” she said. “The question is why they matter.”

  Austin glared at her. “I don’t understand.”

  “The missiles could be used to shoot down the satellites that are hovering above the earth, ready to detonate another EMP—or worse.”

  “Worse?” he asked.

  She nodded, her eyes going to Savannah and then back to him. “Worse, as in total annihilation. Those satellites are holding nuclear warheads.”

  His mouth went dry as he stared at her. “They would drop nuclear bombs on us? Doomsday?”

  She shrugged. “They could, but I don’t believe that’s their end game. The nuclear warheads detonated high in the atmosphere would create another EMP. The satellites are strategically positioned to disable the entire country—possibly the world, should our government make headway in restoring the power grid. However, the NWO is clearly a group of narcissistic individuals, who’d very likely drop nuclear bombs and destroy everything if things didn’t go their way. ‘My way or the highway’ and all that nonsense. I’m sure they have a bunker they could live in until it would be safe enough, in their minds, to emerge and start the world anew with them at the helm,” she said, her lip curled with disgust. “Those codes could keep that from happening.”

  Austin swallowed. Why were they only hearing this now? “You have the codes and can stop them from dropping bombs on us?” he asked. “Or triggering another EMP?”

  “Yes, but much more than that,” she said.

  He looked at her, waiting for her to tell him more. “Sarah, explain it to me as if I were a five-year-old,” he said through gritted teeth.

  She took a deep breath. “The codes could prevent them from initiating a nuclear attack or more EMPs, but won’t fix the damage that’s already been done. Those satellites are the NWO’s plan B. In case the government gets back up and running against them.”

  Austin nodded, thinking. “We have to assume someone, somewhere, is already working to restore our electrical grid. There’s no way our government wouldn’t have some kind of countermeasures to this type of thing. We know they’ve trained and prepared for an EMP strike for decades. It’s probably already in the works!”

  Sarah rubbed her face. “Yes, they have, and they are, I’m sure. Right this minute, there are people at work trying to right this. Those satellites are positioned to knock out the grid again if it should come up. The NWO is watching and waiting for the right time to strike, and these codes can keep that from happening. But the NWO knows the government is already working against them. They have to. So, their plan has to be setting off another EMP just when it will do maximum damage to the grid and what supplies the government had stockpiled separately. Killing the government’s back-up plan, so to speak.”

  “The date that was on the messenger we got from NWO soldier. Could that be it? When they plan to set off another EMP?”

  Sarah nodded, grimacing at the laptop in front of her. “No doubt coordinated to do maximum damage based on whatever they know of what the government is doing.”

  “So, we shoot them down with the missiles you were talking about,” he reasoned. “We don’t let them set it off.”

  Sarah looked up from the laptop with a frown. “It isn’t that easy. You have to get to the silos to launch the missiles, and I haven’t been able to unencrypt the file. I know the codes are there, but I don’t actually know what they are. And while I’m getting close to the codes, we also don’t know everything we need to. That’s why I haven’t said anything.”

  “We just head to the silos, right? Where are they?”

  She shrugged. “There are silos all over the country. I have to believe those silos are going to be heavily guarded, though. The NWO will know if you manage to get in.”

  “So, we’ll be prepared!”

  “There are more files I need to get through, Austin. I think Callum knew where the back-up computer centers would be. If I can find them, we can cut off the head of the snake,” she said. “Shut down their control so that, when we fire those missiles, the NWO won’t be able to counteract anything we do—it’ll be too late for them and their back-up plan will be in the wind.”

  “You mean we can take down the NWO?”

  “Yes, that’s what I’m saying. They’ll have some kind of technology center where they can man the satellites. They’re likely communicating with one another here and across the world with that same technology. We find where the center is, use the codes, and we remedy the threat of any forward progress being destroyed. Otherwise, finding the missiles could just be delaying whatever they do next, if even that, and there’s the potential that they could interfere with our directing the missiles at all. Countermeasures against our strike, essentially. Our first strike option is taking out their control of the satellites with those codes before firing any missiles at all, which means finding the computer centers and shutting the NWO out for good.”

  “Can we track them with the messengers?” Austin asked.

  “Those aren’t like cell phones or tablets. You can send limited texts, like if you’re lost or in an accident, but you can’t send files,” she said.

  “So, we can see what they’re sending?”

  “In theory, if they send out a message and we’re on the right frequency. Assuming we can get them charged.”

  Austin refused to be deflated. They were further along than they’d been yesterday, and that was something. “We have a date, which is more than we had before.”

  “You mean we can end this? We can win?” Savannah asked. “Is that what you’re saying?”

  Austin smiled. “I think that’s exactly what she’s saying.”

  Sarah held up a hand. “No, I’m saying there’s a chance, a very slim chance. I have to work on these files. I have to find the computer center where the NWO is manning those satellites. That date and the codes mean nothing if we can’t get to the missiles. There are a lot of moving parts, and everything has to fit together perfectly. We can’t have one piece of the puzzle and get anywhere.”

  “I understand. There’s hard work to be done yet,” Austin said.

  She scoffed. “It isn’t necessarily hard work. I would have arranged these files differently. Callum’s method is messy. He should have known better,” she said tightly.

  “I think Callum was under some pressure,” Austin retorted, feeling the need to defend the dead man who’d given his life to pass them the information.

  “If he really wanted to help, he could have simply said what all this was,” she argued.

  “Can you prioritize getting a bead on locations? We only have so much time. If you figure out where we need to go, we can head in that direction while you keep working on the codes.”

  Sarah seemed to consider it for a moment, looking between him and the computer. “There are limited options…” she began, and then cut herself off. “Let me work on it tonight and think about it. If we’re moving anyway…”

  “Right,” Austin said. “And we are. Try, alright?”

  After a moment, she nodded, and Austin grinned when the woman went right back to typing.

  The snapping of a twig outside the shelter drew Austin’s attention. He looked up to see Wendell slinking away.

  The man had obviously been eavesdropping. Austin didn’t trust the guy, not at all, but he thought it best to keep his enemies close. He could keep an eye on him better that way. He didn’t trust him to watch Amanda’s back. It was better to have Ennis looking out for her.

  It wasn’t long before the others came back to set up makeshift beds around the lean-to. The warm night meant they didn’t really need a fire. They wanted to avoid drawing any attention to themselves anyway, and had opted to skip dinner for the night, saving their few provisions for when the full group of them would be reunited. Austin volunteered to take the first watch, knowing he wasn’t going to be able to sleep.

  Sarah’s revelation about Blackdown changed everything. There was a way out. He could see an end in sight, and felt willing to do just about anything to take out the NWO and make a better world for his daughter.

  He looked up at the moon where it hung high in the sky, the night crystal clear with what looked like a million stars. He thought about the satellites mingling with the stars. The satellites that were threatening to keep the world under the thumb of some very bad men. He wished he could personally shoot down the darn things while the people behind the NWO watched. He wanted to see their faces when he destroyed their little experiment to run the world. He wanted to make them pay for all the lives they had cost and the destruction their propaganda campaign had caused. There was no punishment that would ever feel like it was enough.

  6

  Amanda’s heart beat so fast it hurt. There was a sharp pain in her side, too, making it difficult to draw breath. They had to keep running, though. She’d been doing her best to keep track of everyone, but the dodging and weaving and diving behind dead cars made it extremely difficult. All she knew was that they had to keep running for the hills—literally.

  “Amanda!” Ennis’s voice rang through the night.

  It was only then that she realized there was no more gunfire. She slowed her pace, dropping behind a semi stranded on the two-lane road they were taking out of town. She guessed she’d run at least a half-mile since they’d burst out of the factory. It had been chaos. She closed her eyes, reliving those terrifying moments when they’d fled, the gunmen shooting at the garbage cans rolling towards them and through the parking lot. It hadn’t been long before the gunfire had turned in their direction, making their escape extremely dicey.

  Ennis joined her behind the truck she’d crouched beside. The two of them stood bent over at the waist as they tried to catch their breath.

  “Where’s everyone else?” she gasped.

  “I don’t know. I saw shadows running out of town. I got pinned down not too far from the factory. Everyone was gone by the time I was able to make a break for it.”

  “We need to find them,” she breathed out.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “I think so. You?”

  He chuckled. “Other than feeling like my lungs are going to explode, I’m good. I didn’t get hit. I didn’t see anyone drop when we headed out the door, either. I think we all made it out of there.”

  “Thank God. Maybe they were just trying to scare us out of the factory and not actually hit us,” she said as they began a slow jog down the side of the highway, sticking to the shadows.

  He made a coughing noise. “Those guns were real. You don’t shoot at someone if you’re not actually trying to kill them.”

  “They must have watched us go in and then waited,” she said.

  “You think?” Ennis asked.

  “I’m thinking either they saw us come into town and were lying low, waiting to see what we’d do, or else they were watching the factory.”

  “Maybe there was something in that factory to be had and we didn’t find it,” Ennis agreed.

  “I should have been more alert. I should have known it was too easy,” she said, chastising herself.

  “Amanda, is that you?” Gretchen’s voice cut through the night.

  “It is. Who’s with you?” Amanda asked, looking blindly into the field of dry grass where Gretchen’s voice had floated from.

  “All but Ennis,” she replied, her voice grim.

  Amanda breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m with Ennis. Is everyone okay?” she asked, heading toward the voice.

  “Harlen took a hard fall, but none of us are shot. Your garbage can trick worked,” she said, emerging from the shadows.

  “Thank God. We need to keep moving now that we’re together again. There’s nothing here for us,” Amanda replied, giving Gretchen a quick hug when they met up on the side of the road. It didn’t sound like they were being followed, but she didn’t dare stop.

  Still, she could feel the defeat hanging on them like a heavy cloak as they moved up the road. They’d walk through the night, the mountains providing their only real safety. It was clear the towns were no-go zones. Even the ones that looked abandoned were too dangerous.

  “What do we tell Austin?” Malachi asked.

  “The truth. He isn’t going to be upset that we didn’t find anything. We knew this was a possibility,” Amanda said.

  “Where do we go from here?” Tonya asked.

  “I don’t know. Civilization is breaking down. I don’t see anyone welcoming new community members. I think we’re stuck with each other,” Amanda said, attempting a joke.

  “We can’t seem to find anywhere to settle down,” Tonya said, exhaustion evident in her voice.

  Ennis let out a long sigh. “That’s our goal. We find somewhere we can live and protect, just like all these towns we’ve encountered. All these little groups have found their little corner of the world. We’ll find ours, Tonya. We just have to be diligent.”

  “We can’t settle down with that man wanting to kill Austin, and the rest of us by extension. We stop moving with him, we die,” Harlen stated.

  Ennis chuckled. “There is that.”

  Of course, it wasn’t that simple, and they all knew it. None of them would ditch Austin, but that didn’t matter. By now, Zander had a good idea who most of them were, or at least their faces. Even if they asked Austin to leave the group, Zander would still kill them. He was a ruthless, evil man who wouldn’t hesitate to take some kind of revenge on any one of them for their part in the battle at the prepper house. An image of Nash’s face popped into her mind. None of the people walking alongside her could make it through that kind of torture and not give up their secrets. She wasn’t even sure of her own ability.

  “How are we supposed to see once we’re away from the road?” Gretchen grumbled. “Shouldn’t we stop for the night?”

  “We’ll figure it out. I’d rather go into the woods blind than stay back here and wait for angry people with guns to kill us,” Ennis replied.

  Amanda’s legs burned as they made the second steep climb of their journey back. “I don’t remember it being so steep when we went into town,” she complained.

  “Funny how it never feels like that until it’s time to make the return trip,” Ennis said with a strained laugh.

  The faded yellow lines on the road were highlighted by the moonlight, their only real guide. Amanda wasn’t fond of traveling in the middle of the night, knowing there were more than human predators lurking, but it was what it was. “I think we need to turn off up here somewhere,” she said, straining to see the mile sign they were coming up on.

  “Another mile,” Ennis replied confidently.

  The group was subdued and quiet as they followed Ennis. He had an excellent sense of direction—far better than Amanda’s. She’d gladly follow him.

  Ennis stopped in front of one of the milepost signs, and the rest of them followed suit.

  “Here?” Amanda asked.

  “Here. We need to go about three miles east, up the mountain. With the dark and the terrain, I’d say we’ll be there right around sunrise,” he commented.

  There was a collective moan from the group at the idea of walking all night long, but Amanda cut it off. “Let’s keep moving. We’ll have a chance to sleep a few hours before the others return.”

  “If they return,” Jordan grumbled.

  Amanda ignored him. She knew Austin wouldn’t fail. He refused to fail. She only hoped they had found something. The group needed a win. Morale was low, and without a place to call home with plenty of resources, it was only going to get worse. Low morale would cause more problems. She thought back to SERE training. That had been one of the first things they’d been warned about. Low morale would disrupt their very strained relationships within the group. The breakdown would be the equivalent of what they were already seeing in the towns.

  It would be every man for himself if that happened.

  7

  Austin woke to the sound of hushed voices. He immediately rolled to the side, reaching for his gun as he checked on Savannah. She was sound asleep, curled in a small ball in a corner of the lean-to. Ezra, who had been on watch, must have heard the noise, as well; he was already on his feet with the Glock pulled out when Austin emerged from the shelter.

  The voices were louder, but it was one voice in particular that stuck out. Smiling, he lowered his gun, slipping it into his waistband at the small of his back.

 

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