Showing results by author "N.C. Reed" in All Categories

Billy Todd has always been different. Most people called him odd, and those were the nice people. Though he was born with a learning disability, Billy's parents never allowed him to consider himself disabled. Raised to be self-sufficient, Billy might not be as smart as some, but he was a lot smarter than people realized.

The world died long ago, leaving only a few here and there to rebuild. Their world had once been grand and magnificent, but too much was lost in the years after the time known as the Dying. Knowledge that had been gained over centuries disappeared from the world, lost when those who carried that knowledge died with it.

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, 10 years later, he's home, with no warning, no advance notice, no anything after being gone 10 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.

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, 10 years later, he's home. Home with no warning, no advance notice, no anything after being gone 10 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.

Bandits. Forest fires. Cannibals. Material shortages. Family problems. Why had Clayton Sanders expected these issues and others like them to be absent from life at the end of the modern world? It had sounded good anyway. His plan had been simple: dig in, hunker down, and wait it out. And then his family had gotten involved. Now he has to defend his family farm from an old enemy of his father and prevent him and his army of miscreants from taking the very things Clay and the others need to survive.

By the most ludicrous of means, special ops soldier Clayton Sanders had a warning that something was going to happen to the world. Clay prepared for the worst, but just because you're well prepared doesn't mean everything is going to be okay. Clay has faced some of the worst humanity has to offer in all parts of the world, but now he is faced with something much worse than terrorists. His family.

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, 10 years later, he's home. Home with no warning, no advance notice, no anything after being gone 10 years with almost no contact with his family.

Its Thanksgiving on the Sanders Farm. Clayton Sanders and his collection of friends, family, and even a few strangers have managed to keep themselves moderately safe in a vicious new world, brought about by the most massive Coronal Mass Ejection ever seen or recorded. Anything electrical and not protected from the surge of power has been completely fried. Most cars won’t start, the electrical grid has crashed, people with pacemakers in their chests have dropped dead in their tracks, the list goes on and on of things and lives destroyed by an electrical storm.

The situation around the Sanders’ farm is bleak, and likely to remain that way. A region trying to right itself after an incredible disaster is hit once again. This time, it may well be a knockout blow for many. The farm is still running, still surviving, and still trying to get things restarted. Isolation has been the only preventative for the plague, and this leaves them with little to no news of anything happening in the wider world. That is about to change. The Fires of America seem to have truly burned out, leaving nothing more than a few embers. But embers can still burn….

So far, the Apocalypse has not gone according to plan. At least, not according to the plan Clay Sanders and his friends had laid out. Things are finally changing, though for better or worse remains to be seen. Clay has agreed to offer what assistance the farm can spare to aid Captain Adcock and his National Guard contingent, hoping their presence will help bring order to the area.

Assuming command of the entire Soulan military in place of his deposed brother, Therron, Parno must turn Soulan's fortunes around before his home is completely overrun and his people destroyed or enslaved. His ailing father has placed a great burden on his youngest son, because he simply doesn't have anyone else that can do the things that Parno can get done.

Doom. Devastation. Death. Destruction. It seems that no matter what direction he looks, Clay Sanders can see little else. He has tried to maintain at least a small oasis of safety for the people closest to him, but that bubble is constantly threatened by those who want it for themselves, or else want to deny it to Clay and his family and friends, even though it belongs to them.

Having ended the threat of his father's oldest enemy and the group he controlled, Clayton Sanders believes he can finally put his feet up a bit and relax. Figuratively of course, since there is no relaxing on a farm and ranch. But some peace and quiet will be greatly appreciated and welcome. Too bad he won't get it. With the remainder of his old team on their way, Clay starts to think he might be able to breathe easier. Sure, they did say they were running from a big problem out west, but that's out west, right?

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, 10 years later, he's home. Home with no warning, no advance notice, no anything after being gone 10 years with almost no contact with his family. Home carrying a secret that is burning him up from the inside.

The tide of battle has turned. In a magnificent feat of maneuvering, Parno McLeod has lured his enemy into an ambush that has left the Imperial Army with half its strength dead or dying and all of its material support destroyed. And yet, the remaining Imperial Army on Soulan soil still numbers over 150,000 men. Men who are now angry and hungry, which is a dangerous combination.

Parno Mcleod has enough problems for three people. A brother trying to steal the throne. A former fiance who has ripped him apart emotionally, and an enemy army twice the size of his own camped out on millions of acres of prime farm land he needs to feed his people.

“No plan survives contact with the enemy.” An age-old idiom that Clay Sanders knows very well. In this case however, it's surviving contact with the people who are supposed to be on his side. Plus, the "Citizen's Committee" is still out there somewhere, there's a nutty "Reverend" working the airwaves into a frenzy, there are disgruntled members of the community sowing discord and strife, apparent rogue nomadic elements of some kind, cannibals still active in their area, and more....

His father has been murdered by his insane sister and his brother has only narrowly escaped death at her hand. Now as Parno struggles to adapt to his new position as Marshal of the Army after so many years of being ignored, he must prevent his sister with her elite company of Soulan Calvary from installing her evil twin brother on the throne in his father's place. Likewise, he must struggle to prevent the realms other enemies from driving any deeper into his Kingdom's territory and with getting "reluctant" bureaucrats to help him by simply doing their jobs correctly in the King's name.

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, 10 years later, he's home. Home with no warning, no advance notice, no anything after being gone 10 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.

Helicopter landing at the farm after everything quit working? Check. Outrageous (sort of) demands being made by the regional military command? Check. Clayton Sanders drafter back into the Army? Che-, er what? (insert record skipping noise). Army Colonel Hal Woodson visits the farm and appeals to both Clayton and Greg Holloway to step up and help restore order to the region. Each has their own job to do and their own role to play. For Clay? Escort a convoy of relief supplies in the area.