Earth Zero: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller (Next Book 2) by Scott Nicholson Page B

that occur with our altering of electrons.”
    “Side effects?” DeVontay said.
    “I’m possibly one of them,” the Zap said, waving them through a row of dead cars in a parking lot. Rachel felt exposed because of the high ruins rising around them in the center of town, but she didn’t see any eyes burning in those blank windows.
    Where are all the Zaps? Are they stacked in rows in some factory, or are they all sitting awake beneath the silver domes, sharing whatever thoughts Geneva delivers to them. Are they truly sentient, or are they just responding to the commands they receive?
    She couldn’t shake the feeling that this was all some elaborate ruse. But what choice did they have?
    And even though she couldn’t see any Zaps and had no telepathic bond with them, she could feel their presence all around, like the static charge building before a thunderstorm. The ruins ahead of them seemed to shimmer with fleeting bands of light.
    DeVontay edged close enough to whisper without the Zap hearing. “I don’t like this. We could’ve been in the woods by now.”
    “This might be important,” Rachel said. “If we can learn more about the Zaps, we can tell others. Maybe even beat them.”
    DeVontay snorted. “I thought you wanted to make peace.”
    “I’ll do whatever it takes to survive. Not just for me, but for all of us.”
    The Zap paused fifteen feet ahead of them, waiting at the corner of a building whose smoked-glass windows blocked their view of the next street. If it heard their whispers, it gave no sign. Daylight tinted the sky, the pinkish orange of the rising sun melding with the aurora. The kaleidoscopic hues shimmered against the Zap’s protective suit.
    “We’re here,” the Zap said.
    Rachel braced herself for the most unexpected sights. Based on her previous encounters with the Zapheads, she wouldn’t have been surprised to see an army of dead people, reanimated and lurching mindlessly among the ruins. The Zaps had collected corpses for years with the intention of sparking life back into their flesh. A gleaming metal flying ship seemed possible, given the rapid development of Zap technology. Even a giant metal monster seemed within their powers.
    But what she witnessed as she peered around the building made her doubt the very foundation of her existence.

 
    CHAPTER ELEVEN
     
     
    As President Murray walked the tented city of Luray Caverns, she wondered if Noah’s mythical ark had harbored as much diversity.
    While many of New Pentagon’s residents were refugees from the nation’s capital, others had arrived from the nearby rural areas of West Virginia and Maryland. Authority wasn’t needed, despite Gen. Alexander’s guns and uniforms. By the time New Pentagon was operational, the chaos of the immediate aftermath had transformed into a grim resignation. Aside from occasional squabbles over food, the survivors embraced an understanding of how fragile their position was and how they all were truly in the same boat.
    But even in the face of extinction, there blossomed moments of poignancy and compassion that made Murray’s heart swell with pride, both for her country and the human race.
    Such as the filthy-cheeked young girl, probably eight, who was giving her teddy bear to a child no more than four while the weary mother scrubbed clothes in a metal tub. In front of the neighboring tent, an old man carved what would likely become a wooden crutch for one of the injured soldiers. An older boy tended a blackened kettle perched over a low fire, stirring a soup or stew that gave off a strong aroma of turnips and dandelions.
    Yes, these people were resilient and they had adapted instead of surrendering in the face of loss. She remained on guard against taking any credit for their continued survival, because in truth the society had pretty much rebuilt itself without a governing structure. But a society had to do more than survive. Government gave them a unified vision and inspired dreams of a better