The U.S. of After Chapter 52

Gideon New Orleans was a lot bigger than I had originally thought, and as our boat started getting closer to the city, I started noticing a lot of heavies standing around in body armor and helmets holding Mossbergs and Bushmaster AR-15’s.  There was a great big docking area along the river where people were pulling

The U.S. of After Chapter 51

Clayton Once we got on down the river a ways we found that there were boatloads of people with the same idea we had.  I suppose they heard about the same stories around campfires lit in places I had not traveled.  I heard accents from all over, mostly the south, but pretty much from everywhere.

The U.S. of After Chapter 50

Kelly The river sent us along, and we just went along with it.  Amy and Clayton sat near each other but they didn’t really speak much.  I suppose she was still pretty upset about all the people she had lost, mainly Ralph. “Hey, Amy,” I said, plopping down next to her.  “I’m Kelly.” “Hey,” she

The U.S. of After Chapter 49

Amy Gideon and his two buddies opened up with their rifles into the swarm of dogs that ran into the store, their eyes red with disease and their mouths foaming something awful.  Clayton jumped in front of me to bat a medium sized nearly hairless dog away with his walking stick.  It made a sound

The U.S. of After Chapter 43

Morax They did not see the cause of their death when it came. Ethan did as instructed.  He will receive his reward. I crouched on the railing of the bridge, my hands at the ready, the horde building behind me, a black flood of death.  I felt confident.  I wanted to kill them all and

The U.S. of After Chapter 42

Kelly Gideon got the engine running somehow.  I don’t know anything about mechanical stuff.  My husband always did that.  We were on the water early in the morning and soon we were floating down river on our way to New Orleans with the wind at our back and the sails full as Gideon would say.

The U.S. of After Chapter 40

Howard The waiting, as the song goes, is sometimes the hardest part. The first battle was difficult, but we managed to hold back the onslaught of the enemy with some success.  Clayton’s prayers were indeed answered even if some of the humans gave their lives so that the villagers could escape.  Jacob had been given

The U.S. of After Chapter 39

Ralph When the engine on the boat choked itself silent I knew it was showtime.  I had been given a twenty gauge pump action Winchester loaded with slugs, and my left hand gripped the wooden pump slide so tight that I guess I would’ve had white knuckles if I could have seen them.  Even though

The U.S. of After Chapter 37

Amy It’s so strange how stressful stuff can make two people come together.  Here I was in the semi-darkness, feeling like one of those helpless maidens in the stories my Dad used to read to me, laying in the bottom of this boat while Ralph and all the other men crouched near the edges with