Dark New World (Book 2): EMP Exodus Read Online Free Page A

clan idea since it gave the group some sort of “official” unity, a group identity that Cassy figured would probably be vital in the coming days and months.
    She glanced around at the others. At the head of the group, Michael moved like a ghost, passing quickly through the trees and underbrush. He would stop and do his recon thing as the group caught up before moving ahead again. Michael was an honest-to-god Rambo as far as she was concerned. He moved the group in odd directions, but Cassy soon realized their path always took advantage of cover, or avoided walking along the crest of a hill, or skirted various hazards. Cassy prided herself on the preparedness skills she’d spent years developing, but Michael showed her on a daily basis just how limited her skills actually were when it came to defending the group.
    Yes indeed, she really wished now that she’d taken more combat-focused classes. She only had some basic personal training from other preppers she knew. Well, Michael might be able to shore up her weak spots—she’d have to watch him closely, learn from him, maybe even ask him to mentor her. And he would never say no to that because he had to see that having two trained warriors and scouts was better than having just one.
    To her left, Jaz and Jed walked together closely enough that she couldn’t hear their quiet conversation. Michael’s wife Tiffany trailed behind them a bit, her focus on the trees around them, looking for any dangers they might conceal.
    To her right, Ethan and Amber were a mirror image of Jaz and Jed, walking together. Unlike Jaz, Amber stayed alert as she walked, but Cassy could see that she and Ethan had their own quiet conversation going. Behind them, Mary and Tiffany walked in parallel a bit behind the cluster of children and Cassy.
    Cassy wasn’t sure what she thought of having Tiffany and Mary bring up the rear, so to speak, but the Jaz/Jed, Amber/Ethan situation sure as hell could turn into a total clusterfuck. Jaz was gorgeous, and Jed seemed to always find reasons to be near her, smiling and laughing. Amber, in turn, seemed to hover around Ethan, ostensibly to question him on a variety of survival and preparedness topics, but no one could miss how close they stood when they talked, or how often Amber laughed at Ethan’s nerdy little jokes.
    Worse, when Amber wasn’t off to the side chatting with Ethan, she was watching Jaz and Jed like a hawk. Any time Jaz said anything, Amber would roll her eyes, or cluck, or suck her teeth. There was tension there. Yep, a total clusterfuck was coming if that “love square” got more serious. Regardless of Amber’s growing friendship with Ethan, a sizzling animosity threatened any peace between Amber and Jaz. Well, mostly that was Amber since Jaz seemed oblivious. The poor girl was just used to men paying attention to her and women not liking her. It must be just so much background noise to the beautiful young woman by now.
    Cassy realized she was gritting her teeth and turned her attention back to the task of guarding and guiding the young ones. This was no time to start pointing out elephants in the room. But later, after they all got to her farm? That would be a different matter. How to discreetly deal with the problem? Maybe she should talk to Frank about it. He was their reluctant leader, and plenty smart. He had a weird way of bringing everyone together and hashing out problems without starting wars.
    When they got to the farm, Cassy felt certain, Frank would not resent Cassy for taking charge of the farm stuff. His leadership would be essential to getting everyone moving together on the many tasks they would face at the homestead if they wanted to get production up in the coming spring. More mouths meant more planting, more tending, more everything.
    Then Cassy nearly ran into her son, Aidan, when he stopped abruptly. A quick scan of the others showed they had all stopped. Michael, up ahead, had his fist in the air. It was the signal