Darkness Falls (14 page)

BOOK: Darkness Falls

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Epilogue

Griffin walked in the center of Main Street waving his hands when Jimmy’s Phantom roared into view. The truck pulled over and parked in front of the station, under the bright sun. The latest shift brought the sun back, just minutes after he and Frost had returned to town.

A strong wind whipping past him sped his approach toward the truck and whisked away the gathered ash, carrying it far away from town. He stopped against the wind when Cash—
not Jimmy
—exited from the driver’s seat. When Laurie climbed out next, Griffin knew something had gone horribly wrong. He felt a measure of relief when Wyatt exited, but when he saw the child’s eyes, he knew Sam wouldn’t be getting out next. And when Cash and Laurie closed the doors, he knew they’d lost Jimmy and Dana, too. Three good men. How many more people were going to die?

The roar of a motorcycle turned him back to the street. A man he’d never seen before pulled up in front of the truck, parked the bike and took off his shiny black helmet. He gave Griffin a nod and extended his hand. “Kyle Gardner.”

Griffin shook it. “Griffin Butler.” He glanced past the man, watching as Frost exited the station. He spoke to Cash, Laurie and Wyatt. “Can you tell me what happened?”

To Griffin’s surprise, the man laughed. “Can anyone tell you what the hell is happening?”

“Good point,” Griffin said. “But I was asking about his father.” He nodded at Wyatt. “And the men with him.”

“Sorry,” Kyle said, his grin fading. “Friends of yours?”

“It’s a small town,” Griffin said.

“They...they didn’t make it.” Kyle looked at Wyatt. “His father was a brave guy.”

“Wyatt!” Tess ran across the park, arms outstretched. “Wyatt!”

The boy broke free from Cash and ran to his mother. They met at the corner of the park. As soon as Wyatt reached his mother’s embrace, all of the anguish he’d been holding in, burst out as a long, sad wail. Tess fell to her knees, holding the boy. She would know what it meant. Her husband was dead.

Griffin clenched his jaw, feeling a growing anger. He turned back to Kyle, all business. “Can you do anything useful?”

“I’m a doctor,” Kyle said.

“Great. You’re hired.” Griffin stepped to the side and pointed down the street, toward the Soucey’s parking lot, where the white tents were set up. “You can start over there. Lots of panic attacks. Some injuries. But if I were you, I’d set up some kind of triage at the pharmacy. I have a feeling things are going to get worse before they get better.”

Kyle put his helmet back on, but before he could start the bike, Griffin took his arm. “And do me a favor. Make sure any Oxycontin they have is locked up tight.”

Kyle nodded after a moment, turned on the bike and drove down Main Street, turning into the market’s parking lot, just beyond the park. Griffin watched him go, but his eyes turned from the newcomer to the view beyond Main Street, beyond the border of town, where an endless blue ocean stretched out to the horizon.

“Welcome to Refuge.”

REFUGE is a serialized novel, co-authored by #1 Amazon.com horror author, Jeremy Bishop, and five other authors, including Amazon.com bestsellers Kane Gilmour and David McAfee,
USA Today
bestseller, Robert Swartwood, and newcomer Daniel S. Boucher. The novel will be released in five parts, every two weeks. The first part was released November 12, 2013. The story will also be available as one complete novel, as soon as the fifth episode is released. So read along as they appear or hold out for the completed novel. Either way, you're in for a creepy ride.

Sign up
here
for the newsletter, so you don’t miss out on future installments! Or follow Jeremy Bishop (aka Jeremy Robinson) on Facebook for all the news about new releases
here
.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

JEREMY BISHOP is the #1 Amazon.com horror author of THE SENTINEL and THE RAVEN, published by Amazon’s
47 North
imprint. He is also known as Jeremy Robinson, the bestselling author of more than thirty novels, including SECONDWORLD, ISLAND 731, PROJECT NEMESIS and the Jack Sigler Thriller series. His novels have been translated into eleven languages. He lives in New Hampshire with his wife and three children.

Visit him online at
www.jeremybishoponline.com

or
www.jeremyrobinsononline.com
.

DANIEL S. BOUCHER lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife, but grew up in Southern Maine, where he developed an extreme dislike of snow and became heavily influenced by the writings of Stephen King. When not in front of his computer writing code, he can be found with his nose stuck in a great book, working on his new Maine-based supernatural series, playing video games or writing reviews alongside his compadres, Pete and Rachelle, at their online blog,
The Novel Blog
.

You can connect with Dan on Facebook at

www.facebook.com/daniel.boucher

and on Twitter (@WordSlayer), and you can check out his blogin’ at

www.thenovelblog.com
.

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