Page 37 of Resurrection (Devil Dogs of the Apocalypse #3)

I pull on my pack, readjusting the weight on my shoulders as irritability fills my senses, making me fidget and scan the horizon ahead as well as our flanks. With every step, the mysterious smoke fills my thoughts with dread and apprehension.

Who would light a fire that large nowadays? A small campfire to cook on? Sure. But a fucking bonfire that can be seen from miles away? It doesn’t make sense. Maybe something blew up? I don’t know. But the thought and tense feeling of something being unmistakably wrong refuses to leave me.

It has to be people. A year into the apocalypse, stuff doesn’t randomly blow itself up, neither does it light itself on fire.

My grip on my bow tightens, as my other hand brushes the handle of my pistol.

Looking back, Aly, Cole, and Hawk aren’t taking any chances, holding their weapons more aggressively and focusing on everything that moves. Even Sadie’s stride is different.

I don’t like this... Not at all. Out here in the open, anything could be lurking around. Waiting. Hunting .

Eventually, we come up to our intersection and turn right, but after about a quarter-mile, everything changes, making us all come to a dead stop. The highway truck route was surrounded by trees, but this road opens up to a town. A full town. Full of…people. No... not just people... Residents.

Real, live, actual people. Living . Hundreds of them, by the looks of it, shuffling about without a care in the world, out in the open and doing.

.. chores ? It’s as if the apocalypse had never happened.

What the actual fuck ? We’re not even an hour north of the zombie-fest taking over Jacksonville, and there are people here, all over the place, doing normal shit.

I sling my bow across my chest to free my hands, as a bunch of kids dart in front of us, running as a group across the road towards a playground on the other side, laughter and happy sounds lifting into the air around them.

They play on the swings and slides as the people watching from various points in town act as if nothing concerning is going on.

There’s no fence or border or any security to keep anything out.

How can their parents feel safe letting them do anything at a time like this?

Aly steps up next to me, grabs my arm, and squeezes.

Her shocked gaze finds mine and I can tell it’s taking everything in her to keep her tears back.

“Jax, there’re kids. Children. Dozens of them.

” Her steps falter as she takes in her surroundings.

“They survived,” she breathes out, awestruck.

“Holy shit, Jax, there’re fucking kids here.

Out in the open. How? … How is this possible?

” She whispers as a tear falls down her cheek.

I ca tch it with an outstretched finger before I turn back to the guys.

Cole’s eyes are drawn together, confused as he takes in the community, while Hawk’s demeanor is calm and assessing, lethally ready to take charge if any of them so much as sneezes in the wrong direction.

They don’t trust this shit at all. Rightfully so. Something is very fucking wrong here.

“Let’s get out of here. Something about this place feels off. It’s too—” I don’t get to finish my statement before Cole interrupts.

“Utopian.”

“What?” I ask but Hawk jumps in before Cole can elaborate.

“He’s right. It’s too fucking perfect for the current state of the country.

The mother of all hordes just crossed over, and under, the main highway less than a day’s walk from here.

You can’t tell me they’ve never been affected by their presence.

There’s a fucking farmer’s market set up on the main drag over there but no security anywhere to protect anyone here.

Look at us! We just walked into their town with no questions asked and there’s kids playing not ten yards from us.

” Hawk points to the playground and then back at the bustling road up ahead. “Shit’s not right, man.”

“But they’re happy…and normal. How is it so normal here?” Aly asks curiously.

“I don’t know, baby, but I think it might be safer to keep moving,” I reply, receiving nods of agreement in return .

We walk even closer together as we enter the little township.

Our formation, tighter, more on guard. We pass a school, an outdoor farmer’s market, dozens of people walking here or there carrying various things from fresh cut flowers to baskets of laundry recently plucked from the line.

No one speaks to us, but everyone smiles. It’s eerie and makes my skin crawl.

How is this place real? How are all of these people here?

Alive and… thriving? It doesn’t seem possible.

I think back to how I prepared my estate.

If it weren’t for the extensive fence line, we would’ve been swarmed by zombies within a matter of days.

These guys have nothing, zilch, nada in terms of security. It just doesn’t seem probable.

“They have vehicles… Look,” Hawk whispers to me. He nods just off to the left side where there are dozens of white vans with identical logos on them: a bird encased in fire and flames.

Normally, a bunch of identical vehicles wouldn’t mean anything.

They could’ve just been old business vehicles left behind, like an HVAC company, or a delivery service that up and died with everything else, but it looks like they’re still using them.

The theory is confirmed as a van starts its engine and leaves the parking lot.

I half contemplate stealing one, but that would draw attention.

And the last thing I want is for us to be sucked into whatever this is.

It may look nice, but even roses have thorns.

“Leave ‘em, the fewer eyes we have on us, the better,” I whisper back to Hawk .

“I get that it’s really abnormal here, I’m just as suspicious, but what if, beyond all reasoning and rationality, this is the real deal?

What if it’s possible? Is it so wrong to want to live a normal, happy life?

” Aly supplies quietly. Her hope, palpable.

I understand her point of view, abhorring the current slice of pie the world has gifted human kind, but we need to be realistic.

We had a normal, happy life, for the most part, at the estate.

But that was only possible due to extensive preparation, energy sources, security fences, and an absolute fuck ton of weapons.

How these guys are surviving is beyond me.

“No, gorgeous, but this scenario can’t be real no matter how much we wish it to be.

Not with the way they’ve set it up. It’s too perfect.

There’s definitely something off about this place.

I can feel it. I just don’t know what it is, yet.

” Cole looks around cautiously before adjusting his position next to Aly, prepared to not only protect her side but also her back.

Apart from her few questions, she’s been quiet the entire time we’ve been moving, observing the town and its residents as closely as the rest of us.

Moreso, even. She looks like a cat that’s curious about its new surroundings but skittish enough to run away at the drop of a hat.

That’s good. I like that she’s nervous. It means that while she trusts us, she doesn’t dare trust anyone else, and, in this day and age, that’s the only way to stay alive.

“Hi there, y’all!”

A man’s deep southern drawl calls out from the rear, startling us all and making us stop, our collective awareness heightening tenfold. We turn as a unit, aiming our firearms in his direction on pure instinct and reflex.

“Don’t fucking move!” I yell in his direction, ready and more than willing to put him down if I need to, my pistol aimed directly at his face.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. You won’t need those here, friend, trust me. You fine folks have just stumbled into paradise.” He gestures to the town around us, turning in a circle for effect.

“Welcome... to Phoenix Rising.”