Move On: a post apocalyptic survival thriller (180 Days and Counting... Series) Read online

  Move On

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Move On

  Book 8

  180 Days and Counting… Series

  B.R. Paulson

  Move On

  Everything has gone to hell in a hand basket.

  As death encircles Cady and her family, the only thing she can think of is to run. What does she do when no one wants to go with her?

  She can’t leave her daughter or her home. But if she doesn’t, they won’t survive.

  Sometimes she has to ask if survival really is the most important thing.

  This saga isn’t over yet! As we get closer more lives will be lost. Who will make it and who will wish they had died?

  Join Paulson on this crazy ride and hang on to the edge of your reader. At least you’re safe! For now.

  Chapter 1

  Beth

  Beth’s hands shook, even the one that hung limply by her side. Her right eyelid ticked and she gave a shudder that ran down her back to her calves. Searing pain in her shoulder and the warmth of her blood slowly but resolutely moving down her arm was the only thing anchoring her.

  She stared at the dark shadow of Jackson’s body on the ground. Was he still alive? Had she hit him in a vital spot this time or would he suffer for hours on end like her husband had?

  He didn’t move and the breath she’d been holding whooshed out as her chest heaved. The dark of night seemed colder, deeper, since the generator had shut off and all the lights that had lit up Cady’s home like a Jack O-Lantern had been cut off. For just a few moments, there had been light and a feeling of hope but then Jackson had driven up.

  Jackson… the creator of the virus that had ripped Beth’s family apart. Her children were dead and her husband… well, that wasn’t important. He hadn’t died from the virus, but the world had ended because of the man Beth had just shot. That’s all that mattered.

  The lack of movement assured her she had at least hurt him enough to put him down. Wasn’t that what was important? She’d gotten revenge for the world. The cold steel of the .45 she’d pulled from the cupboard beside the fridge seemed to warm in her hand. She tucked it into the back of her jeans and gasped at the effort. She wanted to drop the gun to the ground, but something niggled at the back of her mind that she might still need it.

  Jackson was the second person Beth had killed. Okay, so Steven had been an accident. He’d been an accident, but did she really regret it? She wasn’t sure anymore. It didn’t matter – accident or not, she’d still killed him with a gun. That was more than most people could do.

  While Steven might not have deserved that particular death, Jackson had definitely earned his demise. If Beth herself wasn’t dealing with a shot shoulder, she would have considered a harsher end for the man. He’d deserved every ounce of energy killing him had used – and then some.

  Before the lights had cut out, Cady’s expression had said so much. She was shocked that Beth had shot Jackson. Why? Could it be that Beth’s closest friend was attached to the man who had caused so much destruction? Beth was glad the lights had gone out. She couldn’t look at Cady normally right then. Not while she was weak and could barely stand anymore. It had taken all of Beth’s strength to hold that gun securely.

  She stared into the utter darkness, the silence absolute and only broken by small sounds of breathing from the other people around her. Beth moved her foot, the sole of her boot scraped on the gravel in the silence.

  Cady… Beth hardened her jaw, unable to even turn to her ex-friend. That’s what she was now. No longer someone that Beth cared about. Then it clicked. Cady knew Jackson. He’d been the one who had created the virus and Cady had worked with him. Beth wasn’t sure in what capacity, but she knew Cady had worked with Jackson in the past. How could Beth have feelings for Cady when Cady was a part of the reason Beth’s family was gone?

  Gone. Until that point, Beth had been able to hide behind a numb wall that kept her emotions intact. But now… the dam protecting her emotions broke. She leaned her head back, staring up into the night sky and clamped her lips shut. Tears seeped from the corners of her eyes. She pulled the soft skin of her cheek between her teeth and clamped down. A salty taste spread across her tongue. She’d bit through the flesh and hadn’t felt anything.

  She couldn’t care about her own injuries, her own pain. Because… Her babies. All three of them were gone from the virus. They’d died slow painful deaths and Beth had been all alone in the face of it. Her husband… he wasn’t such a huge loss, but he was still hers to lose.

  Her entire world was gone. Cady had made Beth leave her home and her family and because of that, Beth had been shot. Shot!

  Beth wasn’t stupid. With how much blood she was losing and the lack of attention, Beth knew she didn’t have long. Why hadn’t Cady helped her? She’d ignored Beth’s condition once she’d gotten Beth to the deck. Why did the dead boy matter more than helping her friend who was injured?

  Cady didn’t want Beth to survive. That’s why she hadn’t helped Beth. Why wouldn’t she want Beth to make it? Did she know Beth suspected Cady in all of it?

  Beth had to kill Jackson. Her pain from the loss of her family, the loss of everything, and maybe even the pain inside her soul had demanded some kind of revenge. Had killing Jackson fixed the pain inside her? Was she set to go from there with more peace? She didn’t want to die with so much anger and hatred inside her.

  The pain was all-consuming, though, and killing Jackson hadn’t brought any relief. Why? Why did she hurt so bad still?

  In the dark, she twisted her head to try to see any details of Cady but there was no residual light. The moon wasn’t shining enough to light up the clearing and Beth’s vision was blurry from tears. No, deep down she knew she would never be happy. Not enough.

  She didn’t even want to live. Except… now her anger was directed at Cady. A realization came over Beth and she set her jaw. Beth had to avenge everyone who had died from the horrible virus. She couldn’t fix the sickness before it had killed everyone, but she could kill everyone responsible.

  The silence filled with whispers of movement. Reclaiming the .45 from behind her waist, Beth raised the gun she’d watched Cady give to Zach. He’d laughed at his wife, throwing it up in the cupboard. He’d hated anything that had to do with Cady’s prepping. Even to the point of shooting himself in the foot – figuratively.

  Beth gripped the butt of the gun, her forefinger slipping into the trigger guard. But her arm wouldn’t lift. She couldn’t get her hand to pick up the gun. It twitched feebly by her side. She couldn’t even bend her elbow more than a little bit. She’d lost too much blood. She could feel the chill in her fingers and toes and there was a definite fuzziness to her thoughts.

  The gun slipped from her fingers, the thud loud on the dirt just past the concrete slab. Beth stumbled back, grateful when her calves hit the steps. She sank to her rear end on the porch and gasped, trying to catch her breath. She needed to rest. To get some energy back. She didn’t need a lot, just enough. />
  There wouldn’t be many chances to kill Cady and get her revenge. Beth had to hold on until that point. Once she did killed her old friend, Beth could die. Once that was done, she could let go and join her family.

  That’s what mattered.

  The cold porch chilled her shoulder blades. She closed her eyes, slowly. She could hold on. She had to.

  Chapter 2

  Scott

  Cady’s friend had the glint of hatred in her eyes when she shot Jackson. The entire incident had happened so fast, Scott didn’t have time to react. He stared at Cady and Beth as the lights went out.

  The sudden blackness hurt because he felt more alone than ever. His nephew was dead and Scott wasn’t sure how that had happened exactly. He stood beside his nephew’s body while only feet from Jackson.

  Scott didn’t even have a chance to enact his revenge on Jackson and that irritated him. He felt cheated and he had no idea how Beth had pulled it off. In the back of his mind he was upset – not that Jackson was dead, no, that was perfect revenge. Scott’s irritation stemmed from the fact that Beth could have shot Scott. She hadn’t seemed to care as she’d been focused on one thing and one thing only.

  A blood stain had spread outward on her upper chest through the bluish material of her shirt and her left arm had hung at her side. Cady had said something about Beth being shot but Scott had ignored that emergency when he’d been faced with the loss of his nephew. Maybe, he should’ve focused on the living more than the dead. Or maybe he had no idea what he was doing with the immediate loss of so many.

  Scott’s loss that hadn’t disappeared with the death of Jackson, but had only become more acute, more finite in the whole scheme of things. All of Scott’s family – all of them. He had one left and she was too small and innocent to understand what was happening.

  The body of the virologist slumped forward and the lights went out. Scott reflexively moved back, gripping the shovel. He wasn’t sure if the man was dead, but he didn’t want the dead body anywhere near his nephew.

  Scott set the shovel to the side and bent down, groping in the dark for a handhold under Jason’s shoulders. His shirt was damp and Scott didn’t want to think he had a grip on a shirt soaked in his nephew’s blood. He had to pretend the moisture was water from the melting ice and moist grass.

  Tugging Jason a few feet at a time took more out of Scott than he thought he had. His energy hadn’t fully returned after being sick with the virus. He doubted he’d ever be the same again. When would the heartache stop? He’d left his nephew to get the oils to treat Jason – and for whatever reason, Jason had died while Scott was gone.

  In the center of the island, Scott stopped. He set Jason down at his feet and straightened, resting his hands on his hips and staring up through the treetops at the cloudy sky. The rich smell of iron on the air mingled with the scent of pine trees.

  Scott didn’t have to go back for the shovel. The frozen ground would be harder, less penetrable, that far into the loop. Under the lamp that stood solely in the small collection of trees, similar to the singular light post in Narnia from the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, concrete had been laid and broken up. Cady had always had a soft spot for fairytales.

  Reaching out, Scott rested the palm of his hand on the metal pole and straight-armed as he leaned against it. He hung his head. What was he doing? He couldn’t bury his nephew, not with the frozen ground. That much was clear. But then what? What did he do?

  He couldn’t see anything. What if he covered Jason with a blanket and then piled some of the big rocks lying around on top of his body? That would help keep the scavengers off him for a little while. It wasn’t burying him, but it was the best Scott had.

  He needed light to see what he was doing, though. There under the lamp would be appropriate to leave Jason while Scott figured out where to put him for good. Scott couldn’t see what he was doing, though. He placed his palm on the center of Jason’s head, pausing for a moment as if searching for a connection with his kin one more time.

  Turning on his heel, rocks grinding under his boot, Scott walked back along the path. He came to a stop on the edge of the driveway, his eyes adjusting to the minimal light from the moon hiding behind clouds. He couldn’t see perfectly, but the body lying on the ground feet from him was unmistakable.

  Cady hadn’t moved. She stood staring at the horrible man who had created the apocalypse as if she mourned him. Why hadn’t Cady been the one to kill Jackson? But no, Beth had been and she’d been injured at the time. Did Cady regret anything about what had happened? Did she fully comprehend what had happened?

  Scott wasn’t so sure anymore. Cady hadn’t really lost anyone yet from the virus – not really. Even her parents were still possibly alive. She wasn’t sure and that was more than Scott had. He had no doubt about his mother and father’s death. He had no doubt about his sister’s death. He had no doubt about his nephew’s death. All of that and more was because of a virus created by the man who’d stood in front of Cady without remorse.

  Scott dropped his gaze from Cady’s blurry form. He couldn’t get a steady focus on anything, but he could make out the lighter form of the man lying on the ground.

  Jackson better be dead. That’s all Scott could think as he approached him. Scott wasn’t sure what kind of a person he would prove himself to be if Jackson wasn’t dead. Would Scott be the type to let him die peacefully or would he try to drag it out with vengeful torture?

  He hoped he didn’t have to find out.

  Scott reached down carefully, hesitant to know for sure one way or the other. He pulled his hand back and then stretched out his arm further. He touched Jackson’s shoulder, the flesh firm but yielding.

  Massive amounts of heat came off Jackson’s body like he was still alive and now feverish. Scott jerked his hand back and glanced up at Cady, his tone firm. “Turn the lights back on. I can’t tell if he’s dead.”

  As Scott’s eyes adjusted to the lack of lighting he caught Cady slowly lifting her gaze to his face, confusion in her furrowed brow. “What? No. Did you hear him? He found us because of the lights and generator. No. I’m not turning them back on.” She folded her arms over her chest and thrust her jaw to the side.

  Scott stood, striding the few steps to her and gripping her upper arms as he stared into her eyes. “Snap out of it, do you hear me? We need to make sure he’s dead. He can’t be allowed to live. Do you understand that? Do you get what he’s done?” His growl stayed between them. Narrowing his eyes, he watched her.

  Cady lifted her chin, her chest heaving as she breathed. “Yeah, I do understand, actually. I’m the one that warned you.”

  “Because you knew about it. You were part of it.” Scott couldn’t hold back his anger. He dropped his hands, stepping back. He held clenched fists at his sides and looked away from her. Had he been mad this whole time and hadn’t realized it? His parents… his brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews… all of his friends at church. Everyone was dead because of Cady and Jackson.

  “Is that what this is about? My involvement in all of this?” Her incredulity came out in a whisper. “You think I wanted this to happen? Any of this?” She stepped back and stared at him.

  Scott didn’t answer. He wasn’t sure what to think. He didn’t know anymore. Unfortunately, the events of the day – of the last month or so – weighed on him and his shoulders sagged. Turning away, he ignored the fallen body and glanced toward the house and Beth’s still body. Was she dead, too?

  Cady stood there in silence, then spoke with a slight tremor in her voice. “Do you think those men by the van will come up here?” She didn’t need to say more. Scott hadn’t stopped thinking about the men who had killed the other guys chasing Scott, Cady, and Beth. They weren’t that far away and they strung dead bodies up on their barbed wire fencing. Definitely not someone you wanted to find your home.

  Swallowing for some courage, fake as it was, Scott threw his hand in the air before letting it fall to his side. “No on
e is coming. We’re fine.” But Scott didn’t believe it. He didn’t believe anything would be safe, ever again.

  Sighing, Cady slouched. “We need to call everyone together and figure this out. I need to get some Quick Clot on Beth and see if I can stitch her up.” Cady moved toward the deck, then stopped, but didn’t turn back to Scott. “Are you coming in?” Did she really care?

  Scott mumbled yes but didn’t move. Something had shifted, and he wasn’t sure what. He couldn’t tell. Whatever it was, nothing felt right anymore. He’d thought he was falling for Cady, like they were ready to take their relationship further, but now… he wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t.

  His emotions were frozen and unsure. Was it the grief over losing Jason? He still wasn’t sure what had happened. All he knew for sure was the boy was dead. Scott would go to the meeting, if for nothing else then to get the story from Bailey about what happened to Jason. Cady’s niece was the only one alone with Jason. Scott hadn’t checked, but he was certain Jessica, his baby niece, was still alive.

  All of that and he wasn’t sure at that point just how long he was going to stay and who he was going to take with him.

  Chapter 3

  Margie

  As much as Margie wanted to share the driving responsibilities with the others and get some sleep, she didn’t trust Kelsey and she didn’t know Manson all that well. With her main goal of getting back to her daughter and granddaughter, Margie wasn’t taking any chances on anyone else and what their ulterior motives might be.

  Even though Ryker was a teenager and Margie didn’t know him very well, he would have been a great option of her three traveling companions. But if Margie asked Ryker to drive for her, the other two had the potential to overpower him and control his actions.

  The minivan turned out to be a good find. They’d been able to push the Rabbit into the lot and transfer everything into the minivan as well as load up the items Manson and Margie had collected from the store.