Apocalypse (The Wasteland Chronicles, #1) by Kyle West

illegal there.”
    “Times are changing, girl. Raine is dead, and
the L.A. gangs are always looking for fresh meat. Ohlan will let us
stay there – with fair compensation, of course.”
    Both of the men stepped forward. Makara
pulled out her handgun.
    “Stop.”
    Instantly, four hooded men drew their own
guns, pointing them at us.
    “Put your weapon down,” the man said. “This
is our only warning.”
    “Let me make you a warning,” Makara said.
“You take one step closer and I’ll blow your brains out. Now back off .”
    The man smirked, amused. His companion stood
next to him, saying nothing. The other men stood by, awaiting their
leader’s order. Several of the slaves looked back, with hollow,
haunting eyes. I wanted to save them, somehow, only I didn’t even
know if Makara and I could save ourselves.
    “It was nice knowing you, Makara.”
    The blaring of a horn came from the caravan.
The hooded men looked at each other.
    Makara smiled. “Looks like you got some real
Raiders to deal with now.”
    Gunshots were fired near the caravan. The
same men we had run from just hours before now charged toward the
goods-laden train.
    “Defend the caravan!” the leader said.
    It was amazing how quickly they turned from
us, but we didn’t have time to appreciate our luck. Makara grabbed
me by the arm.
    “Now would be a good time to go,” she
said.
    For what seemed the tenth time that day, we
started running, away from the trail and into the desert to the
east. After running about a mile, we slowed to a walk. We still
heard the sounds of guns in the distance.
    “No more running,” I said.
    “We need more distance,” Makara said. “Brux
might have seen us.”
    The afternoon light was fading. When Makara
saw me lagging behind, she knew she couldn’t push my limits any
longer. Off in the distance stood a little house. It looked so
similar to the one we had stayed in the night before that at first
I thought it was the same one. But I knew it couldn’t be, because
we were in a completely different area.
    “Let’s hope no one’s home,” Makara said.
“I’ve never stayed out this far before. Hopefully, Brux and his
gang don’t know about this place.”
    When we arrived, the door was wide open. We
went in, finding the place empty and full of dust. Makara dropped
her stuff to the floor, and I dropped mine nearby. I went back out
on the porch, where there were two chairs. I wrapped myself in my
blanket, and sat.
    “That doesn’t look good,” Makara said.
    “What?”
    She pointed toward the eastern horizon,
toward what appeared to be a wall of low mountains accelerating
toward us. Then I realized they weren’t mountains. They were
clouds. Lightning flashed within them.
    “Nasty one, from the looks of it,” Makara
said. “Better grab these chairs and step inside. It’s going to be a
long night.”
    “What is it?”
    “A solid wall of dust and electricity.
They’ll kill you if you’re caught in one. Lightning strikes,
getting buried in the sand, something heavy being thrown at
you…they’re called Devil’s Walls for a reason.”
    “Will the house hold up?”
    “Probably. It’s seen hundreds of storms, I’ll
bet. But you never know.”
    “Comforting.”
    “Come on. Let’s move.”
    The clouds were closer now. They moved
incredibly fast. The last gleams of the fading sun cast pink,
purple, and orange over the wall of cloud. The shifting of light
and shadow, together with the lightning, gave it a dangerous
beauty.
    Makara pulled me inside and shut the door
tight.

Chapter 16
     
    As soon as we were in, I collapsed on the
floor.
    “Hope the storm gets to Brux and the rest of
them,” Makara said. “That would make things a lot easier.”
    Makara and I sat in our chairs as the first
wave of sand slammed against the house’s eastern wall. From the
groan of the wood, I thought it would cave in right there. But it
held up and merely creaked.
    Outside the windows lightning flashed, so
close I thought