Into the River Lands (Darkness After Series Book 2) Read Free Page A

been hard enough. And now, just when she’d thought the journey was almost over, April simply could not locate the obscure path to Mitch’s land. It was incredibly frustrating, but there was nothing else to do but to camp for the night and keep searching in the morning.  
    All of them were tired, and Kimberly’s needs had to be taken care of. David knew no more of camping and river travel than April did before the blackout, so she made the decision as to where they would land the canoe and where they would sleep for the night. She picked a high, narrow sandbar with a stand of tall hardwoods behind it, pulling the canoe well above the water’s edge in case an upstream rain caused it to rise overnight. They would sleep on the open sand at the edge of the woods, because Mitch had told her that the big diamondback rattlers that were common in these parts were nocturnal and on the prowl on the forest floor at night. April knew he said they sometimes ventured out on the sandbars too, but she felt better sleeping on the white sand that reflected the moonlight so well and at least made it possible to see a snake before stepping on it. She would have much preferred a tent with securely zippered doors, but they were lucky to even have blankets and those would have to suffice.

Four

    “Y OU AND S TACY REALLY need to stay here, Lisa. Jason and I can handle this,” Mitch said. “It was probably just one guy, and he has probably moved on by now anyway. But in case he hasn’t or there are more of them, the two of us can move faster and quieter than four.  
    “But if there are more, you might wish you had our help, Mitch!” Lisa argued. “Why do we always get stuck staying here, guarding the house?”  
    “Because somebody has to, that’s why. I could do this alone, but Jason is getting a lot better at tracking and stalking and this will be a good drill for him. You know we’ve got to be ready when these trespassers and poachers come around. We’ve been through all this before.”
    “Corey and Samantha can guard the house. It’s not like they’re doing anything else useful.”
    “Don’t be so hard on them, Lisa. They’ve been through a lot. And you know as well as I do that we can’t leave them here in charge of watching the place with everyone gone. They have no experience with guns or any other skills they would need for the job. You and Stacy do, Lisa. That’s why I trust you with a responsibility that’s just as important as what Jason and I have to do. Besides, we won’t be gone long at all, and if we don’t find whoever shot that arrow, all we’re going to be doing is packing deer meat back home anyway.”  
    Mitch finished his breakfast of fresh eggs and venison steak and stepped out into the cold of the morning. The pale edge of dawn was just beginning to push back the darkness that enveloped the Henley farm and the forest beyond. Jason was already outside, anxious to get started, armed with the Smith & Wesson AR-15 that was Doug Henley’s state-issued patrol rifle. Mitch knew his dad would be glad they had the weapon, but he also knew that if he could, Doug Henley would much rather be here using it to watch over them himself.
      Seven months had passed and every day Mitch had maintained hope that his mom and dad would arrive at the gate to the property, somehow making their way back to south Mississippi from Houston, Texas. But though he wouldn’t let the hope die, Mitch couldn’t deny the probability that his parents were no longer alive. For all he knew, they had died that first day of the blackout, victims of a plane crash caused by solar flare’s powerful pulse. No one could have imagined the devastation wrought by this unseen force; planes falling from the sky…cars and trucks stalling on the highways and city streets…cell phones and lights shutting down for keeps…. The EMP destroyed practically everything electronic, and consequently, all systems dependent upon and controlled by