Dark New World (Book 2): EMP Exodus Read Online Free PDF Page A

as silent as a dozen untrained people could. The light rapidly dimmed as they approached the western edge of the trees.
    Cassy saw Michael again give the hand signal to rally around and crept forward with the other adults. When all had come close, Michael said, “Okay, this is it. When I give the signal, move in a crouch as fast as the kids allow. Head straight at those closest trees across the field, while I stay in position to defend. Once you are all across, I’ll move out. I have to keep this plan simple for the kids, but I know we can do this.”
    Cassy understood that he really meant the plan was kept simple for everyone since Michael was the only one with real training and experience, but she nodded anyway. Michael was pretty darn good at this stuff, for being so quiet most of the time. The speech reminded everyone of the kids and took their minds off of their own fears. Five star job, she decided.
    Michael crept ahead again, sidling from cover to cover until he was near the tree line closest to the auto body shop. He kept still for about a minute, watching, and then raised his arm to wave the clan forward. More or less all at once, the group quietly moved to the last few trees and then, as Michael had directed earlier, moved out in pairs. One adult and one child left the trees, crouched as low as they could go and still move, as fast as they could without running. Five seconds later, the next pair. And then the next.
    Cassy was the next-to-last to go, leaving only Jed and of course Michael. She took two deep breaths and then rushed out. Crouching low caused a sharp spike of pain to stab through her shoulder, and she nearly cried out but stopped herself by biting her lip. She was certain she bit hard enough to draw blood. The ground was uneven, and she recognized the tell-tale signs of a farm field left fallow. Once she stumbled to her knees, but with a hiss of breath from the pain, she was able to rise up again and continue. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Jed leaving the trees, the last of the clan besides Michael. So far, whoever was guarding the garage to the south and the house to the north had not noticed them, and she prayed their luck continued. Cassy saw that the first of the group to leave the trees was almost to the opposite tree line, almost safe. Cassy was still some 150 yards from safety, however. She put her head down, focusing on the terrain and on putting one foot in front of the other despite the pain in her shoulder.
    Their luck was not to last. As the second adult reached the safety of the trees, a shot rang out from the south. A second later came another shot, quickly followed by one from the north. Cassy remembered what Michael had said and simply kept running, no longer bothering to crouch. Every time her foot came down the pain spiked again, and soon she saw spots and realized she was very near to passing out. If she did, her only hope would be that Michael made it out and somehow rescued her. She risked stopping for a few seconds to let the rising pain subside. It was either stop or pass out.
    Jed and crew ran past her. He stopped and turned back to help while the two children kept running, but Cassy waved him on. He nodded once and was gone. That Jed was a no-bullshit guy, redneck as they come and had his share of “character defects,” but his heart was good. In his world, Cassy thought, if an adult said to go on then that’s what he’d do—Cassy was a grown woman and could make her own decisions. Cassy spared a smile.
    Clods of dirt exploded into the air all around her as bullets struck nearby. Fuck and damn! Those bastards had seen her. Of course they had, she realized. She must have been the one they saw, and here she was standing still. She bolted from her spot, with adrenaline narrowing her vision; she didn’t see the stone that tripped her, but suddenly she was on her face in the dirt. The fall knocked the wind out of her. Gasping for air, she frantically spun over onto her