N. C. Reed

FIRE FROM THE SKY: BOOK 13: HOT SPOTS Clayton Sanders left home the minute he had his high school diploma in hand. He waited that long only because the Army wouldn't accept him without one. Now, ten years later, he's home. Home with no warning, no advance notice, no anything after being gone ten years with almost no contact with his family. Home carrying a secret that is burning him up from the inside. A secret that has pushed him to the brink, forcing him to become a criminal in order to be where his family needs him to be, even though they don't realize it yet. Because Clayton knows something they don't. Something that hasn't happened, but will. Something that will burn everything it touches. And change the face of the world forever. PROLOGUE"...we have managed to secure Chicago with the exception of a few hot spots that are still in rebel hands, but the city areas where we are resettling citizens are secure. I anticipate we will have those few spots cleared in the coming days, at which point my brigade will be moving on to another trouble spot and security for the city will pass over to the 6th NSG Orientation Battalion as we begin reeducating citizens in new policies and handing out work assignments.""And there you have it folks General Frederick Lincoln, commander of forces in Chicago, with an update on things in the Windy City. It looks as if the rebels there are living on borrowed time. In related news, the leaders of the rebel infestation in Chicago who were captured have been executed as of this morning, with their followers being pressed into labor companies so they can help rebuild the areas they have destroyed.""So, take heart, America Things are looking up This has been a news update from the National Salvation Government Public Information Office."

Bandits. Forest fires. Cannibals. Material shortages. Family problems. Why had Clayton Sanders expected these issues to be absent from life at the end of the modern world? His plan had been simple; dig in, hunker down, and wait it out. He knew that society would go through a 'reset' period before things settled down and he also knew he couldn't stop it but he could try and keep his family and closest friends safe. And then his family had gotten involved. First, his parents insisted they show everyone they had working vehicles and extra food by taking supplies to the church in Jordan to 'donate'. This had resulted in a fight for that same vehicle and a near battle just to get away. Then his niece had gone charging into Peabody to 'rescue' her friend, only to be caught herself and necessitate a rescue mission that cost the life of Clay's best friend. Then Clay's irascible grandfather decided they needed to build a town of sorts and gather good people with skills they needed to occupy it. Now, the people Leon brought are beginning to want to do things differently. His parents have yet to learn their lesson about letting other people know that they were better prepared than average for the disaster that had beset the Earth, and on top of everything else who shows up? Tax collectors. Maybe things haven't changed so much after all.

The world has stopped turning. Well, most things in the world have stopped turning, anyway. Clay Sanders, his friends and his family thought they were prepared for the immense Coronal Mass Ejection that literally turned off the lights in most of the world, turning First World nations into pre-industrial nations in a matter of hours. No more phones, television, motor vehicles, radios, or GPS. The United States has gone from following the most popular celebrities on social media and worrying about the latest fashions to simply trying to survive. The winter has been relatively quiet for the Sanders clan and their new neighbors, and they have used that time to firm up their plans and their position. They are confident now that they are on the right track. Gordy Sanders and his friends have trained all winter long under brutal conditions to join the former commandos of Clay's old army unit and are now ready to test their skills. Their first outing finds them in a fight against apparent raiders, molesting a small family a few miles from the ranch. But there are much bigger problems on the horizon that will make that trial look immaterial in comparison. Things are about to heat up around the Sanders ranch, and winter hasn't even officially ended yet