The Fracture - The Thrilling Post-Apocalyptic Survival Series: No Sanctuary Series - Book 3 Read online

  The Fracture

  No Sanctuary Series

  Book 3

  By

  Mike Kraus

  © 2017 Mike Kraus

  www.MikeKrausBooks.com

  [email protected]

  www.facebook.com/MikeKrausBooks

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, without the permission in writing from the author.

  Table of Contents

  Preface

  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

  Author’s Notes

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  Special Thanks

  This book wouldn’t be possible without the help and support of my amazing beta reading team.

  Thank you to Claudia, Glenda, James, Julie, Marlys & Shari for your awesome feedback during the beta reading process!

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  Preface

  It’s been several days since the nationwide terrorist attack crippled the country. After the initial bombings that crippled the transportation infrastructure of the United States a new wave of attacks took place across carefully selected cities. A variant of the Ebola virus, specially engineered to be fast-acting both in its spread and in how quickly it kills its victims has been let loose. Military and police forces, already stretched thin as they attempt to assist victims of the initial attacks, are ill-equipped to deal with the viral outbreaks. Perimeters are established around infected cities to keep the virus from spreading while the military waits for the disease to burn itself out. Once the threat of infection passes they will move in to help the survivors however they can but the infection is not the only danger lurking in the shadows…

  After enduring near-constant dangers and trials, Frank and Linda have finally found some peace in a temporary base set up outside Pittsburgh. It is at this point that Frank learns even more details about Linda’s years-long obsession with finding and slaying the man known as Farhad Omar. He was the one responsible for the slaughter of Linda’s fellow Marines during an operation in Iran years prior and his expertise in unconventional warfare and his numerous connections make him an incredibly dangerous foe. The underlying tension in Frank and Linda’s fragile friendship begins to boil over and after an especially vicious argument the pair decide to go their separate ways.

  Fate, however, has other plans….

  Chapter 1

  Linda laid still on her cot for a few more hours, until dawn broke, without getting the faintest hint of sleep. Her mind was racing with a variety of thoughts. Her revelations about Omar, her argument with Frank and the fate of her parents all mixed and jumbled together, making it difficult to focus on any one thing.

  It was a hell of a lot simpler before today. It was all about getting to my parents. And now… all of this. Linda shook her head and sighed before standing up. She headed out of the tent and glanced around at the flurry of activity unfolding around her. The rain was still falling, though it had lightened up somewhat from the heavy thunderstorms. It wasn’t affecting the soldiers and Marines who were running back and forth across the factory lot, though. Some of them were carrying supplies, others looked like they were getting ready to go out on patrol and a few were trying to play some basketball in a back corner.

  Linda headed for the main building where she and Frank had met with Colonel Garland. On her way there she ran into Corporal Simmons who was standing with his men around a small table while they discussed point on a map of the city. Linda tried to slip past Simmons but he noticed her and called out. “Ms. Rollins! Something I can help you with?”

  “Just looking for the Colonel.” Linda threw a thumb in the direction of Garland’s office. “He still in there?”

  A look of panic crossed Corporal Simmons’ face. “Uh, I believe so, but he’s in a meeting at the moment.”

  Linda smiled and kept walking towards the office as she replied. “No problem. I’ll just wait outside until he’s done.”

  “Ma’am, if you need something I can—”

  “I appreciate it, Corporal, but I need to speak with him.” Linda didn’t bother looking back at Simmons. Behind her Simmons looked as though he was going to protest again but it was clear she was on a mission and nothing was going to stop her.

  Outside the Colonel’s office Linda peeked through the window and saw him sitting alone and going through paperwork. She knocked on the door and he glanced up, saw that it was her and motioned for her to come inside.

  “Rollins!” The Colonel stood and shook her hand before motioning for her to sit down. “What can I do for you?”

  “I was actually wondering if you had seen Frank. He uh… we had a bit of a disagreement yesterday. I wanted to talk to him to try and patch things up.”

  “Huh.” Garland rubbed his nose and watched Linda closely with a quizzical look. “Richards left about an hour ago. He was going to take that piece of shit you both drove in here with but we’ve got more vehicles to spare than we can count so we gave him a Humvee and enough fuel to get most of the way to Texas.”

  “Oh.” Linda looked down at the floor, not sure what to think about the news. She didn’t realize it until just then but she had been secretly hoping that he ha
dn’t left yet so that they could have at least one more conversation before splitting up. Shaking off the emotions she was starting to feel, Linda looked back up at the Colonel. “I had another question, Colonel.”

  “Spit it out.”

  “Do you know if there are any plans to go into Pigeon Forge? Once it’s safe to do so, I mean.”

  Garland leaned back in his chair and narrowed his eyes at her. “I’m sure you know I can’t divulge any information on what we may or may not be doing. Why do you want to know?”

  Linda leaned forward and plucked a pen and pad of paper from Garland’s desk. She scribbled on the pad before handing it and the pen back to him. “That’s the address of my parents’ nursing home. If you happen to be going into the city I’d consider it a personal favor if you were to make that address a priority. I know the chances of anyone there surviving are extremely low but…”

  “Say no more.” The Colonel tore off the top piece of paper, folded it up and slipped it into his pocket. “If we have any convoys passing by the area on a regular basis and if they happen to take a wrong turn into the city I’ll be sure to ask them to swing by this location. Hypothetically, of course.”

  “Thank you.” Linda meant the words she spoke and swallowed hard before her next request. “One other thing.”

  Garland raised an eyebrow. “More favors?”

  “Just a vehicle.”

  “Ha. Help yourself. I’ve got more of those than I know what to do with.”

  “How’s that?”

  Garland shook his head. “It’s going to take forever to check all of them for IEDs. I know they don’t have them and you know they don’t have them but that’s the order right now. Everything has to be stripped down and searched front to back before it can be used in the field. I’ve got men sitting around with their thumbs up their asses and nothing to do because of it.”

  “I appreciate it, Colonel.”

  “No problem. Talk to Simmons on your way out. He’ll make sure you get some extra ammo, a rifle if you want and some food and water to keep you through to... well, where is it you’re going, anyway?

  I need to get to Washington.”

  “State?”

  “D.C.”

  Garland’s other eyebrow went up. “You had to get to Tennessee yesterday. Why the hell would you be going to D.C. all of a sudden?”

  “I have a contact in Washington. They may know something about what’s going on right now.”

  “You mean about all of this?” The Colonel waved his hand above his head in a dramatic fashion.

  “That’s right.” Linda was trying extremely hard to not sound evasive but doing a terrible job at it.

  “Mind if I ask what it is you’re meeting this contact about?”

  Linda licked her lips, trying to determine how much of her past to divulge to the Colonel. “Some of what we discussed yesterday reminded me of information I gathered in my past, after I was discharged.”

  “You did intelligence work?”

  Linda made a face. “Eh… sort of. It was personal, though. Had to do with an incident that occurred when I was deployed. There was a man who I found out was responsible for the incident. There’s a decent chance he’s behind what’s going on now.”

  “Have you reported this to anyone?”

  Linda chuckled. “Colonel I literally just came up with this theory a few hours ago. You’re the first person I’ve talked to about it besides Frank.”

  Garland frowned. “Still, if you have any sort of information I’m going to need to ask you to give me all the details so we can run it up the chain of command. Not that I think they’ll do anything about it given how fractured this whole damned situation—”

  The door to Garland’s office slammed against the wall as it was thrown open. One of Garland’s subordinates came running in, a panicked look on his face. “Sir! I’m sorry, but we need you out here right now!”

  “What is it?” The Colonel rose from his seat, a scowl on his face.

  “The floodwaters are rising fast and they’re nearly here. We’re going to need to evacuate and head for higher ground, sir!”

  “Hrmph.” Garland growled and shook his head. He looked down at Linda, still in her seat, and nodded to her. “Go find Simmons. Have him get you some supplies and whatever else you need. Give him a report on what you know before you go.” The Colonel left his office without another word, rushing out to give directions on what to do about the flooding situation.

  Linda sat in her chair for a long moment, trying to decide what to do next. She doubted that any good would come of telling anyone within the Army about her suspicions about Farhad Omar but decided to give it a shot just because of how helpful Garland had been.

  Linda exited Colonel Garland’s office to a sea of chaos. Soldiers and Marines ran back and forth as they loaded supplies into vehicles. Only the most critical and vital supplies such as food, medicine and ammunition were being loaded. The infrastructure that had been setup in the form of shelters, office spaces, communications lines and other similar equipment were being abandoned to the flood waters due to the urgency of the situation.

  While much of the rain had passed by the city, overflowing rivers and the fact that the city’s water mains had yet to be shut down meant that water levels of only a few inches twenty-four hours ago were now several feet in depth in some places. Linda jogged to the edge of the compound and looked down the street towards the city, her eyes widening as she realized she could actually see the waters quickly approaching the factory compound.

  “Ms. Rollins?” Linda heard her name called and she turned to find Corporal Simmons running up to her. “Ma’am, the Colonel said you needed transport?”

  Linda nodded. “Transport, my gear, a bit of food, some ammunition and a rifle is what he promised.”

  “You’d better get over here quick, then. We’re packing up the last of the food stores now.”

  Linda followed Simmons through the compound to a warehouse near the back. Inside were a couple dozen soldiers scurrying about like ants as they worked to load crate after crate of food into the back of several trucks parked outside. Simmons tapped Linda on the shoulder and pointed to a green Humvee parked nearby. “That’s yours. We haven’t checked it, but Colonel Garland said—”

  Linda patted Simmons on the shoulder and nodded. “He already explained it to me. It’ll be fine.”

  “I took the liberty of getting you some food, ammunition and a weapon. Take as much food as you want and get it in there quick.” Corporal Simmons glanced behind him at a cluster of soldiers struggling to free a vehicle from some mud near the edge of the compound. “Was there anything else? The Colonel mentioned something about you having information?”

  Before Linda could reply one of the soldiers in the cluster called out for Simmons and he ran off to help them. Linda watched him go, her finger in the air and her mouth open as she debated trying to stop him and relay her theory to him. “Screw it.” Linda whispered to herself before running into the warehouse. She made three trips back and forth to her vehicle before the last of the supplies was loaded up. Water on the ground in the compound was already up to her ankles and she realized that if she didn’t get moving soon she wouldn’t be able to get out at all.

  Unfortunately, though, the soldiers were coming to the same realization as their shouts and calls to each other grew louder and more frantic. The floodwaters had come upon their base faster than they had expected. The organized chaos was swiftly dissolving into chaos as the soldiers and Marines jockeyed to be the first out of the compound, each group prioritizing their gear and equipment as number one. Linda shook her head at the madness, wondering where Colonel Garland was and why he was allowing his men to continue acting in such a manner.

  Linda jumped into the Humvee that Simmons had set aside for her and fired it up. The throaty diesel engine roared to life and she pulled away from the warehouse and aimed for the exit from the factory compound. As she rounded a corner about halfway thr
ough, though, she slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting a group of soldiers who were running in front of her. In front of them sat a line of vehicles trying to get out of the compound, though each of them was moving slowly so that they could take on more gear, supplies or personnel.

  It only took a few minutes for Linda to find herself trapped between a large covered truck behind and a pair of Humvees in front. With no way to get around them she was forced to sit and watch the water level continue to slowly rise. A light shower started, dotting the Humvee with water droplets and she put a palm to her forehead in frustration.

  “Come on…” Linda groaned through gritted teeth. She glanced out the window down at the ground and saw that the water level was rising much faster than it had been just a few minutes prior. After glancing around again at the clogged escape from the compound, she decided that a second exit from the place needed to be created.

  Linda threw the Humvee into reverse and slammed into the truck behind her, eliciting a couple of angry shouts in response. She paid the soldiers no mind as she turned the wheel and put the vehicle into drive, jolting forward and to the right while taking off a few layers of paint from one of the Humvees in the process. Another shout came from behind her as she pulled off, heading to the side of the compound at a rapidly increasing speed.

  “I hope to hell this works!” Linda gripped the steering wheel tightly and winced as the Humvee struck the faux brick wall that surrounded the compound. Designed to look intimidating and discourage casual passersby, the wall crumbled easily under the force of the armored vehicle. The chain link fence a few feet beyond didn’t stand a chance either and Linda turned the wheel again as she bounced over spilled brick and metal and came to a stop.

  Upon seeing the secondary exit from the compound the vehicles that were already ready to go immediately pulled out of line and raced towards it. Linda pressed down on the accelerator and winced again as she heard metal scraping against the Humvee as the chain link fence was ground between the wheels and frame until it finally popped free. As she pulled away from the factory compound she glanced into the rearview mirror and gave a slight smile.