Rise From the Ashes: Lena's Story Read Online Free
Author: Laura Franklin
Tags: Fiction/Action/Series
with people running from Boston. They reported that Boston had people dying in the street and men were swarming in the harbor and shooting anything that moved. God knew how the commuter rail was still running – but it was and it was jammed with terrified people. Terrified people who saw him in an army uniform and were thronging around him for help and information. He had to push them away and keep plowing forward towards the meeting point which was a small brick warehouse. There was no one there. There were some 2-way radios, some bug out equipment and other odds and ends that had been tossed here as an afterthought.
Mick locked up his Humvee and went inside to try the bigger radio and wait for reinforcements.
By the time the second full day after the bombs rolled around he finally picked up some radio traffic. While the heaviest attacks had hit on the east and west coasts, it seemed that once that first wave was over, a second wave hit about 24 hours later and targeted military bases and large cities everywhere. Not only that, but the drifting cloud of debris was able to kill over 75% of the population.
What the impact of the bombs didn’t get, the drifting dirty clouds did.
Mick couldn’t believe it. This was like a bad movie. He walked out each day to talk to people and started just wearing a normal T-shirt and jeans because he was constantly being looked to as some kind of leader. He had not had time to think about a scenario this huge. Each night he would go over any new bits of information he got that day.
It became apparent to him that if whatever virus or poison this was, if it was going to kill someone, it usually only took hours after exposure for that person to die. Nothing was hinting that long term radiation would be a factor. Looked like he was going to live through this after all.
There was an army Major who passed on some basic information and plans to Mick via the radio. Cops, local National Guard and even firemen were fighting back, but now the criminal element seemed to be looking at this as a free for all, it was time to fall back to the Canadian border to re-group and then move south reclaiming the land again as they could.
Major Brent Morna told Mick that Keene, NH had been hit by a bomb also, but there was a supply depot ten miles south of the city. Major Morna wanted Mick to get there and refuel his Humvee then load up on supplies before he headed to the border to rendezvous with Major Morna.
Mick figured he might just have enough gas to make it to the supply depot. He promised Major Morna he was on his way; he would make it to the meeting spot in Burlington, Vermont as soon as he could.
There was no way he could transport a few hundred people with him in the one vehicle, so he told the people who had been hanging around the brick building the basic plan. They could choose to hunker down and wait for the army to make its way south again, or they could make their way north also.
“Grab any guns you have, and for God’s sake, make sure you don’t shoot any of the good guys when we come back! You need all of us you can get now.”
That didn’t make Mick any new friends, but he had no idea what else he could do. He was only a few months out from basic training, was just 19 and had no idea what to really do. He couldn’t babysit a whole city!
His best bet was to head to where other soldiers were gathering and regroup and work under someone who had actual fighting experience. He felt just a small twinge of embarrassment, like he was being a coward. Still, he just couldn’t see how staying here with these people could really help them and it would just be wasting his time and training.
He had checked in via radio and given out as much information as he could to Major Morna. Now it was time to leave it in someone else’s hands.
The road to Keene was fairly clear. A few broken down cars, but it was easy for Mick to weave around them. However,
Mick locked up his Humvee and went inside to try the bigger radio and wait for reinforcements.
By the time the second full day after the bombs rolled around he finally picked up some radio traffic. While the heaviest attacks had hit on the east and west coasts, it seemed that once that first wave was over, a second wave hit about 24 hours later and targeted military bases and large cities everywhere. Not only that, but the drifting cloud of debris was able to kill over 75% of the population.
What the impact of the bombs didn’t get, the drifting dirty clouds did.
Mick couldn’t believe it. This was like a bad movie. He walked out each day to talk to people and started just wearing a normal T-shirt and jeans because he was constantly being looked to as some kind of leader. He had not had time to think about a scenario this huge. Each night he would go over any new bits of information he got that day.
It became apparent to him that if whatever virus or poison this was, if it was going to kill someone, it usually only took hours after exposure for that person to die. Nothing was hinting that long term radiation would be a factor. Looked like he was going to live through this after all.
There was an army Major who passed on some basic information and plans to Mick via the radio. Cops, local National Guard and even firemen were fighting back, but now the criminal element seemed to be looking at this as a free for all, it was time to fall back to the Canadian border to re-group and then move south reclaiming the land again as they could.
Major Brent Morna told Mick that Keene, NH had been hit by a bomb also, but there was a supply depot ten miles south of the city. Major Morna wanted Mick to get there and refuel his Humvee then load up on supplies before he headed to the border to rendezvous with Major Morna.
Mick figured he might just have enough gas to make it to the supply depot. He promised Major Morna he was on his way; he would make it to the meeting spot in Burlington, Vermont as soon as he could.
There was no way he could transport a few hundred people with him in the one vehicle, so he told the people who had been hanging around the brick building the basic plan. They could choose to hunker down and wait for the army to make its way south again, or they could make their way north also.
“Grab any guns you have, and for God’s sake, make sure you don’t shoot any of the good guys when we come back! You need all of us you can get now.”
That didn’t make Mick any new friends, but he had no idea what else he could do. He was only a few months out from basic training, was just 19 and had no idea what to really do. He couldn’t babysit a whole city!
His best bet was to head to where other soldiers were gathering and regroup and work under someone who had actual fighting experience. He felt just a small twinge of embarrassment, like he was being a coward. Still, he just couldn’t see how staying here with these people could really help them and it would just be wasting his time and training.
He had checked in via radio and given out as much information as he could to Major Morna. Now it was time to leave it in someone else’s hands.
The road to Keene was fairly clear. A few broken down cars, but it was easy for Mick to weave around them. However,
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