The Resistance: Book 5 of the After The Event Series Read Free Page A

Either the lady or the little girl didn’t make it in entirely unscathed. Not her problem. She stalked down the concrete steps and got out her bow, just in case. The neighborhood was like most of the ones she had seen: rundown, grass at least knee-high, leaves and tree limbs covering the ground, with a spattering of broken down cars in the streets. The sound of faraway talking floated to her and she picked up her pace. Past the abandoned houses, and abandoned stores until she found the old metallic workshop they had decided to hold up in. They had tied up the horses in a fenced-in backyard, hoping the tall fence would keep them out of sight. She knocked twice on the backdoor and waited until someone unlocked it. Adam stood on the other side, his bruised face almost entirely healed. Instead of looking around to make sure it was safe he just smiled at her.
                  “Welcome back.”
                  Ally bit back a smile and hurried in. “Any trouble?”
                  Adam closed and locked the door. “No, but we have heard people out there. This place isn’t abandoned.”
                  Ally laid down her pack and saw Dena sitting in a chair near a window staring out. She didn’t seem to notice that Ally had arrived. Coby, Dena and Adam’s young son, sat on the ground looking through an old comic book. He gave her a half-hearted smile and went back to flipping through the book. He had been strange around her ever since the incident with Spence.
                  Ally turned back to Adam. “Where are we at with food?”
                  “Two cans of beans, plenty to last us through the night.”
                  She looked out the window. “We still have an hour or two before it gets dark. I’ll go out and see if I can catch anything.”
                  “I don’t want you going back out there,” Dena said, getting up from her chair, a look of concern on her gentle face.
                  Ally bit back the feeling of annoyance. Dena had been overprotective before everything that had happened with Spence. That incident hadn’t helped things.
                  “I’m not in the mood for beans so I’m going to see what else I can find.”
                  “I don’t think it would be safe to start a fire here,” Adam said as he came around to stand next to Dena. “Too easily spotted.”
                  Ally didn’t try to hide her annoyance this time. “Two cans of beans won’t fill the four of us. We’ll go to bed hungry and then we’ll wake up hungry.”
                  Dena shook her head. “Ally, you’ve got to listen to us. I know you know how to take care of yourself but-”
                  “I’ll be back before dark. Tiger, stay.” Ally unlocked the door and walked outside. She heard it open and turned to see Adam standing there.
                  “Ally,” Adam said and raised his hands when she started to turn around. “I’m not here to fight or try to talk you out of it.” She stopped moving. “I…I learned the hard way that you should never leave someone angry. You don’t want to regret what you should, or shouldn’t, have said.”
                  Ally looked to the man and he looked down at the ground.
                  “Just be careful and we’ll be here waiting, ok?” When he raised his eyes and met hers she saw that they were watery.
                  Her anger and frustration disappeared. “I’ll be back before dark.” She turned and ran alone.

Ben
     
                  Ben noticed a particle of dust floating directly in front of him. He let out a breath and the dust floated from him toward the group of soldiers standing in front of them. There were nine in total. Their uniforms were dirty and torn but there was no mistaking they were American. That