Storm And Promise: Shadow Of White Book 1

From coronal mass ejections to gamma ray bursts, black holes, and asteroids, there are a million untold dangers lurking in the cosmos above our heads and all around us every minute of every day. Most of these dangers have not been discovered or even theorized yet. We simply won't know about them until it's too late. It is one such event, a cosmic "storm" of unimaginable scale, that decimates the earth and reduces ninety percent of all life to mummified corpses in a single night. In a brilliant display of light witnessed by only a few, it leaves the earth shrouded in a perpetual, still brown haze of lifelessness. Less than one in a thousand plants, animals, and humans live to see the next morning. But are these survivors the lucky few, or are they the damned? In the days and months that follow, one young man, the sole survivor of a boys' camp for juvenile offenders, sets out to do more than just scavenge through the ruins of civilization for survival. He made a promise to his beloved younger sister that he would return home to her. And nothing - not murderous religious cults, dangerous psychotics, tragic accidents, or even the promise of safety and sanctuary - will prevent him from fulfilling that promise. Excerpt: He felt Bob's eyes on him. The man desperately wanted his suffering to end but he couldn't do it himself. If they walked away right now, he would surely die before tomorrow night, maybe sooner, but it would be slow and agonizing. Erik considered what if it was himself sitting there against that signpost, unable to move, most of his flesh burned away but still breathing and in excruciating pain. He glanced back down the road. Seth was still standing where they'd left him, watching them. "Jesus, you're not thinking of conning the kid into doing it, are you?" Tyler asked. "No," Erik said slowly, having made up his mind. "I was just thinking. I'll do it. But you need to take Seth a little ways down the road. I don't think it would be good for him to see this." "Will he go with me? I mean, he seems pretty attached to you." Erik turned and walked back to Seth, slipping the pistol under his belt behind his back. Tyler followed. Erik knelt on one knee in front of Seth and put his hands on the boy's shoulders. "You need to go with Tyler down the road a ways. I'm going to stay behind and help that man. I'll catch up with you in a few minutes. Okay?" Seth stared at him, glanced up at Tyler, and then looked back to Erik. He nodded. The look on his face told Erik the boy understood more of what was going on than they gave him credit for. "Okay," Erik said, standing back up. To Tyler he said, "Maybe when you get over that little hill up there it will muffle the sound a bit. I'll wait until you're on the other side." Tyler gave a brief nod and took Seth's hand. "Come on, little dude. Let's do like the bear and go shit over the mountain." Erik waited until they disappeared over the hill, then he went back to the burned man - Crazy Bob - sitting against the signpost. He pulled the pistol out and checked the cylinder to make sure a live round would rotate into position when he cocked it. He took a deep breath and let it out. "You're sure you want me to do this?" This time Bob managed a slight nod of his head. "Do you want time to say a prayer or something?" Bob managed what Erik could only guess was either a grimace or a rueful grin, followed by a bare shake of his head. Erik thumbed the hammer back and watched the cylinder rotate, placing a live bullet in line with the hammer. He held the gun about six inches away from Bob's forehead, aiming between and just above his eyes. His heart was thudding in his chest. His hand, the gun, and Bob's head were in sharp, crystal clear focus. Everything else faded into the background.

• | Author: Blake Soder
• | Publisher: Independently published
• | Publication Date: May 07, 2017
• | Number of Pages: 166 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Paperback
• | ISBN-10: 1521211477
• | ISBN-13: 9781521211472