The Ending Beginnings: Jake & Clara

Description:
After his sister’s death, Jake is determined to seek revenge against his best-friend-turned-enemy. However, after meeting Clara, who's as convincing as she is unnerving, his plans change completely.

Clara has all but given up on finding her Prince Charming, but the moment Jake walks into the hospital, her future becomes much brighter, despite the world-ravaging virus that's turned everything upside down.

But traveling across the country together proves more difficult than either of them expects, and just when they both think the world couldn't get any worse, it does.

The Ending Beginnings:

I - Carlos

II - Mandy

III - Vanessa

IV - Jake

V - Clara

VI - Jake & Clara

~~~~

1

Jake

Jake sat on an overstuffed couch in the hospital’s rec room, the stark furniture and barren walls brightened by the muted, flashing television. The President’s address looped on the radio at the nurses’ station behind him, and the more the words sank in, the more his mind reeled. A global pandemic? Start over? Build anew? Was that even possible? Amidst his chaotic mind chatter, Jake wondered what the hell he was going to do next.

Rising from the couch, he took three steps toward one of the barred windows across from him, braced his hands against the wall on either side, and let out a long exhale. He stared out at the crashed Cadillac and the few buildings that were visible through the trees across the road. Despite the fact that the city was enshrouded in midnight, it was so changed. It was desolate, like living in the country, but in a more unnatural way. There was no one catching a late night cab…there was no traffic. Street lamps illuminated the haphazardly parked cars on the snow-covered pavement, and a lone, scraggly terrier trotted down the sidewalk, a leash dragging in the snow behind him. The dog stopped and sniffed around the back of the Cadillac, no doubt searching for the remnants of the chips Kyle had left behind, before trotting out of sight.

Choked sobs came from the cafeteria down the hall, breaking Jake’s concentration. The nurse, Roberta, hadn’t been able to calm Kyle down since the kid realized his father was dead, and it was beginning to grate on Jake’s nerves.

As much as he thought he should care about the situation he was in—the disease, the billions dead, the pandemonium—he couldn’t, not really. The memory of Becca, struggling as she took her final breath, was too fresh in his mind, too raw. She was gone; Gabe took her away from him.

Jake’s hands clenched into fists. He needed to stay focused. He needed to get to Peterson Air Force Base. He needed to find Gabe…to hurt Gabe. Emotions boiling, Jake let his hate and anger fuel him into action. He let out a resolute breath and pushed away from the window.

But as suddenly as Jake turned around, he stopped. Clara, the blonde-haired woman whose blue eyes were too assessing, stood in front of him.

Her head was tilted, her lips pursed, and her gaze flicked over his body. “Are you alright?” she asked, her voice light and curious.

Giving her a curt nod, Jake brushed past her with the intention of heading toward the cafeteria.

Clara reached out to him, her hand lightly clasping his biceps.

Body tensing under her touch, Jake froze, looking down at her pale, delicate hand, then into her penetrating eyes.

“It was nice that you tried to help that man,” she said, and a small smile pulled at her lips.

Jake made a derisive noise. “Yeah, well, apparently it wasn’t enough.”

Her brow furrowed, and she let go of his arm. “You did what you could.”

Nodding, he started to take another step.

“You’re leaving, aren’t you?”

Jake frowned and paused again, wondering why she cared one way or the other. “I never should’ve stopped in the first place.”

“No?” Clara’s soft voice turned sharp, and she walked to the window Jake had been staring out of only moments before.

She was scared, he realized. He should be scared. “You’ll be alright here,” he said, his voice carrying a weak attempt at comfort.

Clara muttered something he couldn’t hear.

He tried again. “You have food…Roberta and the other nurse…”

But Clara seemed unfazed by this words, and she turned to face him. “If it’s so safe here, then why won’t you stay? Why leave three helpless women and a child alone?”

Jake shook his head, uncertain why he felt the need to explain anything to this woman. “There are things I have to deal with.”

After a few impatient steps, Clara was directly in front of him. “Take me with you, please?” Her eyebrows lifted and drew together.

“No,” he said. “That’s not going to happen.” He suddenly needed to get out of the room as soon as possible.

“Please.” Like a blade, the word cut into him, threatening to sever his last shred of decency. “Please,” she whispered.

Unable to resist, Jake turned around.

Clara’s eyes were even more pleading than her voice, they were shimmering, and her chest was heaving. “Please,” she repeated. “You have to take me with you. I can’t stay here. You don’t understand, I’ll die if I stay here…”

No. The word was on the tip of his tongue, but it felt leaden and uncooperative. “I have to go to Peterson, alone,” he reminded himself. “I have to go.”

“What’s in Peterson?” she asked, so close that her presence was distracting him. When he didn’t answer her, she continued, “Is it safe there? We need to leave…to go somewhere safe. Please take me somewhere safe, Jake. I can’t bear to be here—in this place, in this city—any longer.”

Slowly, Jake’s eyes shifted to hers, his mind feeling muddled. Words tried to form, and he tried to shake his head, to refuse her pleas, but he couldn’t. There was something about her…something unsettling that made him want to walk away and never look back. But another part of him wanted to give into her…to take her with him…to leave Colorado Springs and find somewhere safe…

Clara reached out to touch his arm again, and Jake flinched away.

Straightening, she seemed to collect herself in a single, fortifying breath. Then, when her eyes met his, it was like they were piercing into his soul. “Please.”

INTO THE FIRE (The Ending Series, #2) Released!!!

Into The Fire, the sequel to After The Ending, is now available!

The book can be purchased from:

• Amazon (kindle & paperback)
• Barnes & Noble
• Kobo

In celebration of the release of Into The Fire, we're running a month-long sale of After The Ending, the first installment of The Ending Series. You can find the ebook on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords for only $ .99! Sale ends December 24.

We're also running a release day blog blitz giveaway for a $15 Amazon gift card that ends tomorrow. Enter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

INTO THE FIRE Chapter 1 Reveal!!!

Happy Friday to all you Endingers out there! As promised, there's only one week until the release of the sequel to After The Ending, Into The Fire, and we're giving you the first chapter early! We hope you like it. Only seven more days... :)

CONTENT WARNING: some adult language and themes beyond this point.

CHAPTER 1

ZOE

March 14, 1AE

No! No! This can’t be happening!

“Dani!” My voice carried throughout the eerily quiet field as I sprinted along the pasture fence, away from the barn and toward Dani’s bone-chilling scream. Jake was right behind me, the light from his flashlight dancing around my bare feet. Each breath was so loud, so raspy, it was like I could hear nothing else.

My mind started to feel odd, momentarily distracting me as I ran, but I ignored the feeling along with the frigid air biting at my skin and the jagged rocks poking the bottoms of my feet. My eyes blurred with unshed tears, and I stumbled over something, barely catching myself before colliding with the unyielding ground. I shook my head, trying to dispel the disorienting fog that was steadily creeping into my mind.

In the darkness a few yards ahead, I could see Jason’s shadowy form. His flashlight and gun were pointed in front of him as he swept into the forest with Jack, Dani’s German shepherd, leading the way.

I slowed, hesitating at the edge of the forest. Seeing Jason’s pistol raised scared the shit out of me. Did he find something? Who’s in there? What’s in there?

“D!” I cried out.

In an instant, a strong hand wrapped around my arm. I whipped my head around to face Jake. “What—”

“We have to be quiet, Zoe.” His voice was low and severe. He pointed into the woods, and I realized all I could hear was the sound of flapping wings and a hoot from an owl off in the distance. Jason wasn’t calling out for Dani; there were no voices.

I nodded, feeling stupid, but I still wanted to call for her. I needed her to know that we were nearby…that we would find her. Why is this happening to us? Why can’t we catch a goddamn break!

Turning back to the woods, I concentrated on controlling my breath and regaining some clarity. Why can’t I focus? Sanchez, Harper, Chris, and Carlos passed me, bouncing flashlight beams lighting their way into the dense forest. I vaguely noticed Biggs, Ben, and Ky following them, Biggs muttering curses under his breath. My head started to throb under the massive influx of foreign emotions. I shuttered myself against the onslaught and rushed into the woods, hardly feeling the scraggly branches poking and scratching me.

“What was she even doing out here?” I rasped. I stopped inside the tree line, wishing I had been levelheaded enough to grab a flashlight and a pair of boots like everyone else.

Jake stopped beside me, but Cooper trotted passed us, his nose skimming the ground for a scent. He locked on to a trail and began to follow it. I heard a barrage of whispers around me before everyone broke off into groups, but I focused on the dogs; they were following two different scent trails.

After what felt like an hour of following, searching, and waiting for Jack or Cooper to find some sign of Dani, both dogs’ trails converged at a narrow, jagged tree stump. Jack whined, and Cooper sniffed the pine needles around the base of the stump. The dogs had found something. Instinctively, my gut balled into a knot.

Ben, who was helping to keep his brother upright, began to say something. “I think—”

“Here,” Harper said, aiming his flashlight at the exposed roots of the stump. Crouching, he shifted a fist-sized stone and picked something up.

Chris stepped up behind him and peered over his shoulder. “Jason,” she said ominously, glancing at my brother.

He moved to her side, and hesitantly, I followed. I stopped almost instantly. Jason’s dread washed over me, a wave of nausea making my insides lurch, and I had to close my mouth and hold my breath to avoid vomiting. Every hair on my body stood on end at the thought of what they’d found. “What is it?” I croaked. Please don’t say a body part…

Stiffly, Jason squatted beside Harper, taking whatever Harper had found from his hand. A yellow piece of fabric?

“It’s just like the ones we saw back at Lewis-McChord,” Chris said quietly. Rising from his seated position next to Jason, Jack stretched out his neck to sniff the cloth and whined.

Chris glanced around at our confused faces and explained, “It’s an armband, or at least part of one. Some of the personnel were wearing these when they put our base on lock-down.” She shook her head. “We stole a few; it was the only way we could get off the base. The people wearing these”—she snatched the armband out of Jason’s hand and clenched it in her fist—“had something to do with the Virus.”

“I’ve seen those before too, on people from the Colony,” Jake said. He’d been trying to convince us that the supposed safe haven was dangerous since we first met up with him at Fort Knox. “It must’ve been them…”

An image of his sister’s dark hair and violet eyes flashed through my mind. He was remembering her. He was remembering the men who’d promised to help her, the men who had frightened her enough that she’d taken her own life before they could.

Everyone looked at Jake, including my dangerously quiet brother. “Why would they take Dani?” Jason asked as he rose and took a menacing step toward Jake. “How would they even know we’re here?”

I didn’t like Jason’s accusing tone, but Jake didn’t seem to notice. Never taking his eyes off the yellow armband, he answered, “I don’t know how they knew we were here, but if they wanted her bad enough to kidnap her…their resources are—were…” He paused. “It wouldn’t have been difficult for them to take her.” The images of his sister’s final breath played through his head…through mine. A gut-wrenching feeling of loss took root in the pit of my stomach.

“You seem to know a lot about them,” Jason probed, taking another step toward Jake. “Maybe you know more than you’re letting on. Maybe you—”

“You think I’d save Zoe’s life back at Fort Knox just to put her in danger again? You really are a piece of—” Jake inhaled and then emitted no further sounds, like he’d decided holding his breath for a while was the safer option. He was probably right.

He met Jason’s challenging stare a moment longer before turning his angry gaze on me. “I warned you not to come here.” His words stung with truth.

“Then how the fuck did they find us?” Jason’s voice was damning, his glare focused solely on Jake. I didn’t like it and felt a sudden desire to punch my brother in the face.

“How the hell should I know?” Jake snapped. “We’ve been here over a month and nothing. You get here and now they know where we are.”

Jason made a noise that was part exhale, part growl. “How exactly do you know so much about them?”

“Because they tried to take my sister, and now she’s dead,” Jake replied hotly.

The two men were standing less than two feet apart, Jason’s rage barely contained. He didn’t lose control often, but when he did…I shuddered, recalling the worst of the fights between him and our dad. Jason cracked his knuckles, an ominous sign I was all too familiar with, and I feared my brother wouldn’t be able to rein in his temper.

I stepped between them. “It’s not Jake’s fault, Jason, so back off!”

My brother ignored me, instead turning his aggression on Chris. “Stay the fuck out of my head,” he ordered, obviously feeling her cerebral fingers trying to manipulate his mental state into something more stable.

Jake and Jason weren’t the only ones on edge. Biggs was worrying about Sarah and their unborn baby, and Ky was in pain, practically folding under the weight of our collective panic. Ky’s Ability to feel volatility—to sense and internalize everyone’s destructive emotions—was physically debilitating him. He reached for the flask in his pocket without a second thought. Abandoning Jason, Chris ran to Ky’s side.

The weight and amount of negativity Ky was picking up on frightened me; it was as if he wasn’t just sensing our group, but all of the fear and hostility surrounding us. From Cañon City? From the Colony? Like Ky, I was pulled in all directions by the mounting unease and fear of everyone around us, as though I were being emotionally drawn and quartered. I wanted to scream.

The looming fog seemed to thicken in my brain, tangling with the barrage of emotions. What the hell’s going on? I searched my convoluted mind for something I could grasp on to—something other than anger and fear and resentment. I’d been so fucking naïve to think everything would be okay once we found each other. Keep it together, Zoe, Dani needs you.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the forest—the sharp smell of pine needles, damp soil, and wood. The fog continued to spread its tendrils through my mind in a horrifyingly familiar way. I felt trapped in my own head, unable to escape the encroaching numbness. The only other time I’d felt such an overwhelming loss of mental control was when my mind had been invaded by Crazies in the hospital back at Fort Knox. What if we’re wrong? What if it isn’t the Colony?

Feeling a sudden jolt of panic, I opened my eyes. I could see the lichen coating the tree trunks in the dim moonlight, like spots on a leopard. But there were no snarls or howls or voices beyond our group. There were no fiendish sounds of Crazies cackling in the distance. There were no signs giving me cause to think anyone was there at all.

But someone took Dani.

A bolt of anger shot through me, jostling me from my statue-like state. I took a step toward my brother. “What the hell was she doing out here, Jason?” He’d always been big, bad, protective Jason—so why had he let Dani go outside, alone, in the middle of the night?

In the faint moonlight dappling his face, I could barely make out the hard set of his features. “Peeing,” he answered lamely.

“Peeing? Alone? In the woods?” My anger flared, fury consuming my disbelief and fear. “I can’t believe you, Jason! I just got her back, and now you—”

“Fuck you!” He pointed at me in warning, his eyes glinting silver in the darkness. “She was just peeing,” he muttered.

“I can’t believe someone was just standing here,” Biggs said and began pacing. “Were they just waiting for us this whole time? Sarah…the baby…” He looked up at Sanchez abruptly. “We need to get out of here,” he said evenly. “It’s not safe here anymore. We’ve—”

“Do what you want,” Jason growled. “I’m going after Dani.”

“You think you can just walk into the Colony and get her? We need a plan first,” Jake said, facing Chris and Sanchez. “We need—”

“Need to what? To wait for them to hurt her? To do worse?” Jason’s tone was scathing as, once again, he took a step closer to Jake.

“Calm down, Jason.” I placed myself between them again. “We need to come up with a plan first. I mean, what if it’s Crazies and has nothing to do with the—”

“It’s not Crazies,” Jake and Jason said at the same time. They exchanged an irritated glance.

I rolled my eyes. “If it is the Colony, they’ll outnumber us and—”

“Then you stay here and plan,” Jason said with a smirk. “I’ll go find Dani.”

“Get over yourself already!” I seethed. “You think I’m not worried about her? Like I haven’t been waiting to see Dani for months? Like I haven’t been worrying about her since all this bullshit started? Like suddenly I don’t care about her anymore because you’re in the picture? She’s my best friend, remember? Or did you forget that, since everything’s always about you?” My voice was riddled with bitterness and jealousy, and my words were laden with twenty-six years’ worth of resentment.

To my surprise, Jason remained silent.

Sanchez cleared her throat. “Look,” she said deliberately. “If we want to find your friend, we need to be rational. So grow the fuck up and stop arguing, and then we can come up with a plan that won’t get us all killed.”

“We can’t do much else in the dark,” Harper said, his voice breaking through the tension. “The sun’ll be up in an hour or so, then we can continue searching for signs of what happened.”

“I’m not finished looking for her,” Jason muttered and turned toward his tent.

“I wasn’t implying that any of us were finished looking for her,” Harper clarified, but Jason continued stalking away. The rest of us dispersed, some making their way back to camp, but Jake, Harper, and I stopped at the edge of the forest, watching…thinking.

“Look how close they were to us,” I said with a shaky breath. I gauged the distance between where we stood and the barn. Although far away, I could see the dim embers of the night’s fire and the outline of the hay bales and chairs surrounding it. I watched the dark figures of my companions as they moved around the camp. “We never even heard them.”

Suddenly, as if my skin had become animated, creeping over my bones and muscles, I shivered. The thought of never seeing Dani alive again after everything we’d been through—journeying across the country, surviving homicide attempts and Crazies—caused a rogue tear to roll down my cheek. Determination, Zoe, I told myself. I hurriedly wiped the tear away.

With my brother out of earshot, I turned to Harper. I recalled the fleeting look of unease that had flashed over his dark, handsome features when Dani had arrived the day before. Whatever he’d seen was startling enough to have made his green eyes flare with apprehension.

“You had a vision earlier…yesterday, when you were hugging Dani, didn’t you?” I knew I wasn’t going to like his reply the moment he closed his eyes in…regret?

Harper didn’t look at me when he spoke. “I saw her in darkness,” he said quietly. “I don’t know if she was sleeping or—”

“Unconscious,” I finished for him, refusing to hear him utter the word “dead.”

Map Reveal from INTO THE FIRE

In just 8 days, Into The Fire will be released! Here's a sneak peak at where events in the book will be taking place. The book includes two maps at the beginning, one drawn by Zoe, and one drawn by Dani. Seeing as Zoe's the character with the artistic past, it should come to no surprise to anyone that her map is far prettier than Dani's. :) We're only going to release Zoe's map, seeing as Dani's reveals a little too much about what's happening wherever the heck she is. Enjoy!

10 Days until INTO THE FIRE is released!

OMG! OMG! OMG!!! We're so excited to share the next part of Dani and Zoe's journey with you! :) As a "10 days till" bonus, we're releasing two short excerpts tonight, one from Zoe's POV, and one from Dani's.







Here's the Dani excerpt:

After several long, silent minutes, Gabe stood, strode over to the sink, and pulled a lighter out of a nearby drawer. He held the piece of paper over the sink, and with a flick of the lighter, set it aflame. 

“What are you doing?” I screeched, jumping up as I watched the paper shrivel into an ashy ball. 

Gabe dropped it before the tiny flames burned his fingers, and shook his head.

And, here's the Zoe excerpt (ooh-la-la!):

Everything about him was lust and desire, and the acuteness of what he was feeling devastated my composure, making me feel nothing but need—his need and mine. I needed his hands and lips on every inch of my body. I needed him to take me until I had nothing left to give. I could barely breathe…I didn’t want to breathe…I just wanted him.

Only 10 days until you'll be able to get the whole book, and only 3 days until we release the first chapter, which picks up Zoe's side of the story right where After The Ending left off. Squeeeeeeeeellll! :)

INTO THE FIRE Goodreads giveaway!

Happy Friday, Endingers! We've set up a giveaway over at Goodreads for 3 paperback copies of Into The Fire! The contest ends at midnight on the 21st, the night before the book's release. Good luck!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Into The Fire

by Lindsey Fairleigh

Giveaway ends November 22, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

INTO THE FIRE countdown: 15 days...

...until the release of the sequel to After The Ending.

Today's countdown goody is another longer excerpt, this time from a Dani chapter. Enjoy! Only two weeks and a day to go!!!

Dr. Wesley was holding out her hand, her fingers crooked. “Come here, Danielle. I want to show you something.” She was standing in the shadowed doorway leading into my closet…at Grams’s house. Why is she at Grams’s house? Why am I at Grams’s house? And then it came to me: It’s a dream. 

The doctor turned and disappeared into the oppressive darkness, and tentatively, I followed. Like the small walk-in was actually a magical wardrobe into another world, I pushed through hanging sweaters and dresses—except instead of finding myself in a frozen, winter forest, I emerged into an enormous laboratory filled with a meticulously arranged sea of antique, metal-framed medical beds that stretched as far as the eye could see. It was as though an infirmary from the First World War had been transplanted into an infinitely expansive, modern laboratory. 

“Come,” Dr. Wesley said, walking away from me. 

“What…where…what…?” 

“Come.” Her voice surrounded me, a whirlwind of sound pressed into the single word. 

She stopped by one of the beds. It was empty, with crisp, white sheets pulled tight over the mattress. “You must choose. We can only make two more Re-gens, but we have three recently deceased to choose from. You must choose.” 

“What are you talking about?” I asked, looking away from her and back down at the bed. It wasn’t empty anymore. A body—a person—lay under the covers, the top sheet a shroud hiding his or her identity. When confusion drove me to raise my eyes, I found that all but three of the beds had disappeared and the walls had closed in around us. 

“Choose.” 

I shook my head and backed away, but a wall sprouted up behind me, preventing my retreat. 

“Why do you want me to do this? You’re the one who creates them. You choose!” I didn’t want to see the face of whoever was under the makeshift shroud. 

My stomach lurched as Dr. Wesley pulled the sheet back, revealing the face of the nearest bed’s occupant. 

Zoe. 

She looked serene, like she was merely sleeping, but I knew better. She was too pale, too still. 

No, no, no, no, no… I couldn’t tear my gaze away from her face. “Her, I choose her!” I whispered fiercely. 

“Are you so sure?”

INTO THE FIRE countdown: 17 days...

...until the release of the sequel to After The Ending!

For today's countdown snippet, we're sharing a Zoe excerpt that's a little bit longer than those we've shared previously (other than the prologue, of course!). :) 

Unsure what to expect, we held our weapons at the ready—Jake and I with our pistols, and Carlos with Chris’s shotgun—moving silently and swiftly toward what appeared to be the back of the house. 

The place looked like a junkyard. We passed a few rusted tractors and a mound of bowling balls that had been there so long weeds had grown up out of the finger holes of each ball. Old, splintered doors were piled up in what might have been a burn pile at one time, and a pale pink bathtub from the fifties sat inside an upside-down truck hood, broken in half. 

I began to feel uneasy as we approached the garden. Letting my mind find the offending sensations, I realized there was someone inside the stable. Someone…wrong. 

Without hesitating, I grabbed Jake’s arm and pointed to the dilapidated structure. “There’s someone in there,” I mouthed. My index finger drew a few invisible circles beside my ear to indicate it was probably a Crazy. I looked back at Carlos to make sure he understood, but he was gone. Shit.

That's it for today's countdown snippet. Don't forget that we've promised to share the first chapter early if The Ending Facebook page reaches 400 likes, and the second chapter if it reaches 450. :) Gook luck! We hope you awesome peeps can make it happen!

INTO THE FIRE Prologue and Character Introduction: Mase

It's officially three weeks until the release of Into The Fire!!!

As we've already announced (a while back), there's a third, supporting character POV included in Into The Fire in addition to Dani and Zoe. His name is Mase, and he's very different from our MCs, offering some interesting and unique insights to the world after The Ending. And for those of you who are worried Mase will steal page time from Dani and Zoe, have no fear, he only has the prologue and 3 chapters throughout the body of the book, and in all but the prologue, one of our MCs is present.

We'll be releasing the first chapter, which is from Zoe's perspective, closer to the release date (Nov. 22).

Alighty, Endingers...scroll down to read the entire prologue of Into The Fire!

***content warning: some profanity beyond this point***

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PROLOGUE

MASE

JANUARY 5, 1AE

“I’m just sayin’ the General freaks me the fuck out, Mase, and…” Carter stopped talking—for once—as he shifted the beam of his flashlight to shine down the next aisle. “D’you hear that?”

Carter could be dense, but if he thought he heard something, there was something to be heard. Thanks to the Virus, the guy had the ears of a dog.

Mase lifted his left arm and made a fist, and the other two members of his fireteam froze behind him. Ahead, Carter stood, head cocked to the side. As one, they listened. Mase barely caught it—whimpering. After giving Carter a curt nod, he signaled for all three men to follow him, raised his M4, and crept closer to the noise.

Patrolling the supply warehouses had been their duty for over a month, ever since the Virus had wiped out almost everyone, and they’d yet to find an intruder. General Herodson’s standing order was that only select personnel could enter the warehouses to guard, inspect, and distribute food and other supplies. Unless Mase was grossly mistaken, they were the only patrol on duty at Warehouse F until the shift change at midnight, which was still hours away.

It looked like they’d found their first intruder.

As they crept down the aisle between two towering metal shelving units stuffed with pallets of shrink-wrapped supplies—paper towels, toilet paper, plastic cups—they swept each side with the lights attached to their rifles. Halfway down the aisle, huddled on the cold cement floor, was the intruder. The girl was hugging her knees and hiding her face like she was trying to disappear. Mase scowled.

Slowly, the girl raised her head, and when Mase saw her dirt-smudged face, his breath hitched. It couldn’t be her…not in the Colony. Her long, dark hair was ratted and clumped, tear tracks trailed down her cheeks, and confusion filled her eyes. Mase knew they were hazel from memory, even if he couldn’t see their color in the darkness.

“Stand down,” Mase said to the other soldiers before turning his attention to the young woman. “Camille? What are you doing here? Are you hurt?” His voice was always deep, gravelly, but concern or maybe fear made it even harsher. Hesitantly, he took a step closer to her.

Camille flinched, becoming an even tighter ball of folded limbs and tangled hair on the dirty cement floor.

For the first time in his two years as a Ranger, Mase regretted spending so much time lifting weights. She was afraid of him. But he knew her. He had to help her.

Clearing his throat, he put on what he hoped was a comforting smile and took another step closer.

“We won’t hurt you,” he told the teenage girl as he knelt down in front of her. “I promise.” When he touched Camille’s arm, she flinched again. “I promise we won’t hurt you,” he repeated. Intruders were to be taken straight to headquarters—to General Herodson—but he couldn’t do that. They tended to disappear after that. Of course, if the bastard found out Mase had disobeyed his orders, Mase would disappear himself . . . but it was Camille.

When she finally peered up at him, Mase did his best to look less intimidating by hunching his shoulders, hanging his head, not scowling. She watched him carefully, blank curiosity filling her face.

“What are you doing here, Camille?”

She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. She tried again. “Who—who is Camille?”

Surprised, Mase sat back on his heels and studied her. It is her, isn’t it? She was older—more a woman than a child, unlike the last time he’d seen her. Camille was a few years younger than him, so now she had to be at least seventeen. She still looked like a perfect little doll, though. There was no question in Mase’s mind that he was staring at the young woman he’d lived next door to nearly his entire life.

“You,” he said. “You’re Camille. And I’m Mase.” He remembered the day her parents brought her home from the hospital…the afternoon she fell off her bike and chipped her tooth on the sidewalk…the Valentine’s Day she gave him a card made out of pink and purple construction paper…the day he taught her how to coast on his skateboard without falling…the night she ran away crying after meeting one of his girlfriends. But if Camille could remember any of that, she was hiding it well. She just stared, not responding, and began to shiver.

Mase heard his men whispering and shuffling around behind him. He ignored them. “It’s okay, Camille,” he said, doing his best to soften his voice. “We’re friends. We were neighbors, remember? Back in Minneapolis? I used to look after you when your parents—”

The other men chuckled, Carter bursting into open laughter. Mase flipped them the bird over his shoulder. They only laughed harder.

“You…” Carter couldn’t stop laughing. “You…you used to babysit?”

Rising, Mase spun and pointed threateningly at Carter. “Shut the fuck up.” He glared at each of the men, warning clear in his eyes, until they quieted. “Nobody touches her. Nobody says a fucking word about this. Forget you ever saw her.”

Their amusement vanished, and they stared back at him with identical expressions—fear mixed with pity and regret. They knew what had to be done.

“Mase,” the nearest said. “We have to turn her in. The General’s standing orders are to—”

“I know the orders,” Mase snapped. “Fuck them. She’s not going anywhere near Herodson. Forget. You. Ever. Saw. Her.”

After a brief hesitation, all three men nodded.

Letting out a relieved breath, Mase turned back to Camille. She was watching him with eyes widened in interest, not fear. He knelt in front of her and explained, “It’s not safe for you here. You’re going to have to hide until I can get you registered as a Colonist.”

Surprising him, Camille reached out and touched the side of his face with her fingertips, frowning when he flinched. “Where am I?” she whispered.

Mase glanced back at his men, silently warning them to keep their mouths shut. If Camille didn’t have any memory of the Virus—of nearly everyone dying—he didn’t want to be the one to tell her. At least not yet. “You’re in the Colony. It used to be a military base. You’ll be safe here as soon as I get you registered.” He hesitated for a moment. “You have no idea how you got here?”

Quietly, Camille said, “No. I have no idea.” She studied him with eerily calm eyes.

A metallic bang stole Mase’s attention, and then the overhead lights flared to life. Someone else was in the warehouse. While the others stood nearby, rifles raised, Mase helped Camille hide between two pallets of paper towels. She was barely out of sight when the newcomers rounded the far end of the aisle. Mase’s stomach dropped when he saw him.

“Atwell! How is your patrol going this evening?” asked the man leading a dozen soldiers. Dressed in his usual officer finery, General Herodson strolled down the aisle toward Mase…toward Camille.

“Nothing unusual, Sir,” Mase reported, stepping away from Camille’s hiding place before the General was close enough to see her in the shadows.

General Herodson inspected Mase and his fireteam closely. “So it seems,” he said, giving Mase an instant feeling of holy-fucking-shit. Casually, the General glanced around, his gaze lingering near Camille’s hiding spot.

“How are the Ability transfers going?” Mase asked, hoping to distract him.

The General looked at him with cold, gray eyes.

Mase returned the man’s stare, refusing to look away. “Have there been any new developments? I know some of the men would like to get outfitted with regeneration or telekinesis.”

General Herodson bared his teeth in a smile. “Not yet, no. However, we have had an interesting breakthrough on another project. We’re calling them ‘Re-gens’—they’re reanimated corpses, more or less. They even retain their Abilities, though they’re altered somewhat from what they were during their first lives.” He paused, glancing up at the lights thoughtfully. “But the process wipes their minds completely clean, making them very easy to influence.” He rubbed his hands together briskly. “No need to deal with pesky memories or morals.”

Reanimated corpses. It took effort for Mase to keep his expression blank.

Abruptly, General Herodson said, “As you were,” and turned to leave.

Mase watched him walk away, reluctant to move. Why had the General told him about the Re-gens? Why had he come into the warehouse in the first place? Something wasn’t right.

As they neared the end of the aisle, General Herodson and his guards halted. “CL-one,” the General called out as he turned to face Mase again. “Come here, CL-one.”

Shocking the shit out of Mase, Camille wriggled out from her hiding spot and hurried to General Herodson’s side.

Mase clenched his jaw, realizing he’d just signed his own death warrant.

“CL-one is a particularly amazing Re-gen, don’t you agree, Atwell? We just finished her the other day.” General Herodson watched Mase like he was gauging every minute change in his expression. Mase kept his face hard and cold, like the General’s. “Take their weapons, my dear,” Herodson said to Camille.

Even at a distance, Mase could see the confusion on Camille’s face. “Why, Father?” she asked softly.

The General stiffened. “Because I told you to, my dear,” he said with strained affection. “These men must be arrested and put on trial. They broke the law. My law.”

“Oh,” Camille said, sounding sad, or maybe confused. “What will happen to them after the trial?”

It seemed to take a conscious effort for General Herodson to suppress his simmering anger. The man hated being questioned. “The other three will be banished from the Colony,” he said through gritted teeth. “Atwell will be executed and turned into a Re-gen.”

“Okay,” she said, smiling contentedly. She took a deep breath, then shut her eyes. Her mouth thinned to a flat line.

As Mase looked from her to General Herodson, hatred flooded his veins, quickly followed by adrenaline. His muscles vibrated with the unnatural strength that had increased steadily over the past two years. He was the strongest, fastest person he’d ever heard of—not that it would help him now. The General knew about his Ability. Mase figured that was probably the only reason he wanted to bring him back as a Re-gen: to be used…owned. Mase ground his teeth together and tried to think of a way out of this clusterfuck.

Suddenly, his M4 tugged out of his hands and floated upward. He tried to yank it back down, but it continued to float higher. Moving quickly, he untangled his arm from the rifle’s strap before it forced him up onto his toes. From the sounds of his men cursing behind him, he knew they were being remotely disarmed as well. Mase watched as their weapons glided into the hands of the General’s guards. His attention was drawn to Camille, who was still concentrating. She was doing it.

She opened her eyes and left the General’s side, a coy smile curving her mouth. Mase watched her approach him, frozen in remorse at what he’d caused. His men wouldn’t be “tossed out of the Colony”—they would be executed, regardless of what the General had claimed.

It felt like minutes, but finally Camille reached Mase. She caught his gaze, a spark of sharp intelligence lighting eyes that had once been hazel but were now gray. Almost inaudibly, she whispered, “Do not be afraid, Mase. I will take care of you, just like you used to take care of me. And with my friends, we will take care of Father.”

Mase barely registered her robotic intonation. He couldn’t believe what was about to happen. Soon, he would die, only to be brought back as something else. As someone else.

The reanimated young woman stood on tiptoes and lightly touched her lips to Mase’s cheek. “My friends really do not like Father.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alright folks...that's it for the Prologue. You don't hear from Mase again until Chapter 13 of Into The Fire, and, wow, has a lot happened to Dani and Zoe by then! :)

Stay tuned for chapter one!

INTO THE FIRE countdown: 23 days...

...until the release of the sequel to After The Ending!

For today's countdown goody, we're sharing Into The Fire's table of contents. Here you go!

Maps
Prologue: Mase
Chapter 1: Zoe
Chapter 2: Zoe
Chapter 3: Dani
Chapter 4: Dani
Chapter 5: Zoe
Chapter 6: Dani
Chapter 7: Zoe
Chapter 8: Dani
Chapter 9: Zoe
Chapter 10: Dani
Chapter 11: Zoe
Chapter 12: Dani
Chapter 13: Mase
Chapter 14: Dani
Chapter 15: Zoe
Chapter 16: Dani
Chapter 17: Zoe
Chapter 18: Dani
Chapter 19: Dani
Chapter 20: Zoe
Chapter 21: Dani
Chapter 22: Zoe
Chapter 23: Dani
Chapter 24: Mase
Chapter 25: Dani
Chapter 26: Dani
Chapter 27: Zoe
Chapter 28: Dani
Chapter 29: Zoe
Chapter 30: Dani
Chapter 31: Zoe
Chapter 32: Dani
Chapter 33: Zoe
Chapter 34: Mase
Chapter 35: Dani
Chapter 36: Zoe
Epilogue

There are a couple of really excited elements that are new to the series in this book. First, there are maps! We'll be sharing them with you as we get closer to the release date (11/22), but we will tell you this now--there are two, one drawn by Zoe and one by Dani.

The second exciting element displayed in the TOC is the addition of Mase to The Ending series family. Mase has three chapters in the body of the book, along with the prologue. We'll do a little feature on his character/role in Into The Fire on November 1st...which just happens to be three weeks until the book's release date!

INTO THE FIRE countdown: 25 days...

...until the world finally finds out what the heck happened to Dani in the second book of The Ending series.

Today's countdown snippet is a few lines from inside Dani's head. Here you go...

It was mind-boggling that the moves leading to the destruction of mankind had been set in play so long ago, before I was even born. Had anyone known the consequences of their actions? Had the demolition of civilization been the goal even then? Or were the key players just looking to make a new, stronger breed of people?

Any hypotheses?

INTO THE FIRE is available for pre-order on Kobo!

Attention Kobo readers...27 days until the release of Into The Fire, and we are very pleased to announce that the book is available for pre-order on Kobo!

After The Ending is also available through Kobo's online bookstore...

...which is awesome for all of you Kobo peeps! 

Ahg! We can't believe Into The Fire is already pre-order-able! It means the release is so soon, and we're so, so, so excited to share the next installment of Dani and Zoe's post-apocalyptic (and romantic) adventures with you guys! Eeeeeek!

INTO THE FIRE Release Countdown: 29 days...

...until the release of the second book in The Ending series!

Here's another little Zoe excerpt:

“You had a vision earlier…yesterday, when you were hugging Dani, didn’t you?” I knew I wasn’t going to like his reply the moment he closed his eyes in…regret? 

Harper didn’t look at me when he spoke. “I saw her in darkness,” he said quietly. “I don’t know if she was sleeping or—” 

“Unconscious,” I finished for him, refusing to hear him utter the word “dead.”

INTO THE FIRE (The Ending, #2) Release Countdown: 31 days...

...until the release of the second book in The Ending series!

Into The Fire (The Ending, #2)

Here's today's countdown goody:

Evenly spaced lights shone from the ceiling with a bright, artificial glow. They hummed. It was annoying. For several months, I’d been without electricity of any kind. There had been no overhead lights in the middle of the night, no showers spraying deliciously hot water, no microwaves, and no washing machines. My people and I had reverted back to the basics and had grown accustomed to a simpler way of life. I couldn’t get over how loud the electricity was; it buzzed incessantly, threatening to drive me insane.

And yes, this is from a Dani chapter...

INTO THE FIRE (The Ending, #2) Release Countdown: 32 days...

...until the release of the second book in The Ending series!

Into The Fire (The Ending, #2)

To celebrate, here's another little snippet from the first chapter (Zoe):

“Look how close they were to us,” I said with a shaky breath. I gauged the distance between where we stood and the barn. Although far away, I could see the dim embers of the night’s fire and the outline of the hay bales and chairs surrounding it. I watched the dark figures of my companions as they moved around the camp. “We never even heard them.”

More to come tomorrow!

Into The Fire cowntdown: 33 days...

...and counting

Into The Fire release countdown: 34 days and counting...

34 days...

Until Into The Fire's release on November 22, we'll be posting some sort of teaser from the book every day!!! Here's today's goody from the first chapter of Into The Fire:


“Then you stay here and plan,” Jason said with a smirk. “I’ll go find Dani.”

“Get over yourself already!” I seethed. “You think I’m not worried about her? Like I haven’t been waiting to see Dani for months? Like I haven’t been worrying about her since all this bullshit started? Like suddenly I don’t care about her anymore because you’re in the picture? She’s my best friend, remember? Or did you forget that, since everything’s always about you?” My voice was riddled with bitterness and jealousy, and my words were laden with twenty-six years’ worth of resentment.

To my surprise, Jason remained silent.

Whirlwind Finish: Wrapping Up Our FIRST Indie Book...

We have a RELEASE DATE: December 14, 2012

Yeah...we're just as excited as Sam and Dean...

We have a FINAL COVER:

We (almost) have ARCs!!!

Book one of The Ending Series, After The Ending, is almost out there for purchase. We've decided to use Amazon's KDP Select, making the ebook exclusive to Amazon.com for the first ninety days. It will also be available through Amazon and other major booksellers (i.e., Barnes and Noble) in paperback and hardcover (which is what we're REALLY excited to get our hands on).

As we reach the final stretch of independently publishing our first book, we felt we needed to express how much we truly respect and admire all of the indie authors who have come before us...and those who are going through the same thing as us RIGHT NOW. It's taken sweat, tears, sleepless nights, troubled dreams, oodles of anxiety, and more excitement and fulfillment than we ever thought possible.

In less than two weeks, our baby (in the form of a post-apocalyptic novel) will finally be stepping out into the world. Go get 'em, Kid.

The Alpha Male Blog Hop

Lindsey Fairleigh here, just waiting for my interview subject, Jason Cartwright. The ex-Green Beret kindly (okay, maybe "kindly" is bit of an exaggeration) agreed to have a little chat with me on the topic of ALPHA MALEs. How delicious. Ah...I think I hear him in the hallway...

As Jason walks in, I have a hard time not gawking. I always forget how simply LARGE he is. At 6'4" and just shy of 250, the man is a tall, hard, and surprisingly stealthy killing machine. To top it off, his chiseled face would make any ancient Greek statue jealous. And then there are his eyes...a blue to rival the Caribbean Sea. For a minute, I forget why I'm here...wasn't I going to...

JASON: Ms. Fairleigh. Oh, right, the interview. I watch Jason fold himself to sit on the log opposite mine. A pleasantly roaring campfire separates us, which is just fine with me...the man is INTIMIDATING as hell.

ME: Hello Jason...it's nice to see you again. His lips twitch, but he says nothing. So, thanks for agreeing to this interview...I know you don't have a lot of free time these days.

JASON: Not a problem--besides, I owe you.

ME: What are you-

JASON: You know exactly what I'm talking about. His eyes flick to the petite red-haired woman combing a paint horse's mane. Ah, yes...Dani. I may have written them in a virus-ravaged world, but at least they had each other.

ME: Right. So, I'm actually here to talk to you about your role within your group of survivors. How would you describe your role?

JASON: His eyes narrow in thought for a few seconds. I'm the guy who keeps everyone out of the huge piles of shit you've so generously placed around us. Ah, how very Jason-y of him.

ME: Yes, well, I aim to please. Jason snorts but says nothing. Would you characterize yourself as an Alpha Male?

JASON: Like a gorilla with a dozen women just waiting for me to-

ME: No! I mean, that's not exactly the type of Alpha Male I was talking about...exactly. He chuckles and the sound electrifies the hair on the back of my neck. According to the Oxford Dictionary, an Alpha Male is a man who assumes a dominant or domineering role in social or professional situations. Do you see yourself this way?

JASON: That's a stupid question.

ME: I lean closer. Why?

JASON: Because you already know the answer. You're wasting my time. His eyes flick back over to the little red-haired woman. She's moved on the the horses tail. 

ME: Women love Alpha Males. There are workshops...some call them "boot camps"...where men can learn how to be more "Alpha". What do you think about that? Worried about the competition. Jason barks a laugh, and I shift back on my log.

JASON: What competition?

ME: Okay...so, if you weren't here, who-

JASON: I'm bored with this conversation and I have shit to do. He stands and nods his head at me. Ms. Fairleigh. He walks off in the direction of the small woman and her horse. As he draws closer to her, I can't help but notice the way his posture changes, softening, becoming more welcoming. I shake my head and stand to leave.

---

 Jason Cartwright is a character in AFTER THE ENDING, book one of THE ENDING SERIES, to be released in late December. The story follows two young women as they attempt to survive a viral apocalypse and find their ways to each other across the desolate and violent United States. It is a story of survival, friendship, hope, and love...along with awesome ass-kicking and adventure. An excerpt of the first six chapters can be found at our website. 

---

REMEMBER...across the whole BLOG HOP there are three ginormous GRAND PRIZES. To enter the contest, you must comment on participating blog posts and include your email address in the comment.

1st Grand Prize: A Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet

2nd Grand Prize: A $130 Amazon or B&N Gift Card

3rd Grand Prize: The following Swag Pack!

PLUS...we're doing our own little giveaway on this blog...YAY! To be entered in the running for a $10 amazon.com gift card, use the fancy-pants device below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Second Book of The Ending Series is OUTLINED!

To get BOOK TWO started with a bang, we (the Lindseys) have taken a mini writing retreat. We drove several hours north of Napa and are currently hunkered over our laptops, typing away. As of fifteen minutes ago, the OUTLINE is absolutely, totally, and amazingly COMPLETE! We are so FREAKING excited! 

Like, really, really, REALLY excited!

And we can't believe how many extra crazy awesome neato plot twists and sneaky things have developed for this next book...not to mention the third and fourth volumes of THE ENDING SERIES. Yippeeeeee!

And...now it's time to start chapter one. OMG! OMG! OMG!