The Omega Protocol Chronicles (Book 1): Exodus by Courtney McPhail Read Free Book Online Page A

of asphalt glowed red, like a trail of lava, the cars burning hunks of metal that consumed the bodies inside them. It really wasn’t that far of a stretch to believe this was the beginning of the end of the world.
    “I have a son and protecting him is all that matters.” She turned back around to face Malcolm. “You believe this island will be safe?”
    He nodded. “For me, protecting my sister and her kids is all that matters. I wouldn’t be taking them there if I wasn’t sure that it’s safe.”
    The confidence he exuded was not just for show or an act he put on to get others to listen to him. She could see in his eyes that he truly believed in what he was saying, that he would bet his family’s life on it. He was a rock in a raging sea, one that was big enough and strong enough for all of them to cling to through the storm.
    “Then yes, Trey and I are with you for the long haul,” she replied, “And we will do whatever we can to help. We aren’t strangers to hard work.”
    “It won’t just be hard work. You have to be prepared to let go of the rules we’ve lived by before this.”
    “Well I did just commit grand theft auto tonight so I suppose I’m willing to adapt.”
    He smiled at that and she was hit once again with that awareness of him as a man. Though she had noticed that he was well built when she had first seen him on the highway, now she actually took in the full breadth of his wide shoulders, noticing the way his t-shirt strained over his sculpted chest and clung to his flat stomach. His jeans hung slightly loose on his narrow hips before becoming tight across his muscular thighs. He really was quite a male specimen. She felt a flush rise over her chest and up her neck as she darted her eyes away from him, feeling slightly embarrassed at where her thoughts had wandered.
    Thankfully Janet was there to fill the silence and give her time to recover.
    “So, the safe house in Shenandoah, what is it like?” she asked, as she began to eat.
    “I’m not sure. I never had to use it,” he replied. “I never worked a domestic operation. My work was mostly overseas.”
    “What did you do over there?” Kim asked before she caught herself. “Or can you not talk about it?”
    “Used to be I couldn’t but the concept of classified information is meaningless now, ain’t it?” He turned back around, leaning on the railing as he looked out over the edge. “I spent a lot of years hunting the bad guys so not many of my stories are happy. Probably not the best thing to be talking about tonight.”
    She knew he was right but that didn’t stop her from wanting to know more. She wanted to know not out of some morbid fascination but because those experiences had clearly shaped the man who stood next to her and she wanted to know him.
    “Anyway, the safe house is probably the same as the ones overseas. There will be some supplies there.”
    “How long do you think it will take us to get to the island?”
    “Under normal circumstances it would take two days but we’re going the scenic route on the back roads so probably a week, give or take a day. We’ll want to have at least two weeks worth of supplies with us, just in case. We never know when we might get waylaid.”
    It sounded like a sensible plan, as far as end of the world survival plans came. Not that she’d ever thought to plan for something like this.
    “Now it’s just a matter of convincing the others,” Janet said. “Jose and Ana will be easy but the Wakefields are going to be a problem.”
    “Maybe the hit on the head knocked the asshole out of Alan,” Kim offered and they laughed.
    “We aren’t that lucky,” Malcolm said, winking at her and Kim honest-to-God giggled.
    Get yourself right, girl!  
    What was she, a pre-teen girl with a crush? There were people dying out there and she was mooning over a man. She needed to pull herself together and the best thing for that was probably to put some distance between her and