INDIANA FALL 4 (In The October Fall World)

INDIANA FALL 4 Created by: Michael McDonald Presented by Raventhorne Books Written by: Michael McDonaldKaren McDonald with LA Bayles, Boyd Craven Jr. The characters and circumstances in this story are a product of the authors’ imaginations, and represent no real person, living or dead. Any real public places or names are used only to build atmosphere in the reader’s mind. Copyright © 2023 Raventhorne Books All Rights Reserved No part of this story may be reproduced in any way without prior written consent of the authors. Dedication This book is dedicated to Christena Dee Jones 12/08/1950 - 12/20/2022 Tena, thank you for being a longtime friend, one of my early supporters, and a super-fan of the INDIANA FALL novels. I wish I had been able to complete this book in time for you to enjoy it. I know you were waiting for it. I miss your comments on Facebook; it was nice to renew our friendship after so many years, and I miss seeing you online. Thank you for your kind words and encouragement of my late-in-life writing career. Note from the authors The INDIANA FALL novels, set in the OCTOBER FALL world, are fictional accounts of how a family and their friends might experience an EMP event. These books are meant for fun and entertainment. As always, my writing contains elements of my personal faith as well as the questions I struggle with on a daily basis. My greatest desire as an author is to provide my readers with an entertaining experience, while at the same time provoking them to think about hard questions. If I have accomplished that, I feel I have succeeded. A big THANK YOU to the readers of this series. Without you there would be no success. I trust you will enjoy the latest installment. I also want to thank my editors and publishers at Raventhorne Books for their encouragement and support. Any and all mistakes are mine. Karen, my life partner, thank you for your love, support, and hard work as we struggled together to get this book out. It has been a difficult season, but you persevered. I love you forever. Looking forward to the next one. Michael and Karen McDonald New Hampshire, 2023 Contents Contents Prologue 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 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Epilogue Prologue December 30, Late morning A campground near New Lisbon, Indiana The smell of wood smoke filled the area. The wind was light for the season, and the sun warmed those who stood outside around the smoldering fire. Several large grills were alight, and the hickory-scented charcoal made the scene somewhat normal and homey. “Man, those ribs smell excellent! Harvey, you done outdid yourself this time. I think I eat better now than I did before the world blew up.” Perry’s hoarse, strained laugh was that of someone who had smoked for years. “Yeah, we done good for ourselves. It was pure luck our trucks stopped where they did. So many dang trucks along the stretch. It was like having five or six big-box stores we could pick from.” Harvey flipped a rack of ribs over on the grill and the charcoal flamed up, grease dripping onto the hot coals. The aroma of roasting meat made the men’s mouths water. “I reckon we got enough barbeque sauce to last us a couple of years, and these grills, well heck, I never had one as good as these back home. We sure lucked out when we found that truck. We can cook with the charcoal that was in it all winter long and never run out.” “Hey woman, bring me some water over here. These ribs are gettin’ dry. Hurry up and git yer skinny butt movin’!” A thin, dirty woman of indeterminate age got up wearily from the stump she sat on. Her filthy, torn designer jeans hung off her starved frame, and the Louis Vuitton flats she’d once been so proud of were broken and dirty. A stained jacket that came from someone who’d died at the camp last week hid her torn silk blouse, now grimy with filth, its original pale pink color unrecognizable. Avoiding eye contact with the man, she hustled to the water barrel and came back with half a bucket of water. I won’t last much longer here. I have to make a break soon. Maybe tonight. “That’s the boiled stuff, ain’t it?” Harvey asked. “If I get sick from unboiled water, you’ll be on the grill next. I don’t care how skinny you are, I’ll make kabobs out of you faster than you can say Ginsu. Now fill that spray bottle and don’t spill the water. Hurry up!” “Faster than you can say Ginsu,” Perry snorted. “Harvey, you are one sick, funny man.” Without looking up, the woman mumbled, “Yes, sir.” After several brutal cuffs to the head, she had learned to keep her eyes averted when speaking to the rough, coarse man. Harvey had already killed one woman who hadn’t followed the rules. That’s how Terri had become the ‘head woman.’ She laughed grimly. This job has its privileges, if you can call them that, but the nightmares and stuff I see all day aren’t worth it. Terri observed the line of women, each carrying a bucket back from the pond where they drew the water for the camp every day. Carrying water was an endless task. Bucket after bucket, for almost ten hours a day. The women were glad to have the job. It kept them skinny, which in this crazy world was a good thing. The work was brutal, but the alternative was worse. I didn’t realize how good I had it; owner of an up-and-coming franchise business, a condo in the