Read After: The Echo (AFTER post-apocalyptic series, Book 2) Online
Authors: Scott Nicholson
Tags: #Stephen King, #Justin Cronin, #Paranormal, #Suspense, #walking dead, #Science Fiction, #Bentley Little, #Supernatural, #Brian Keene, #Dean Koontz, #Zombies, #Horror, #Joe Hill, #zombie, #After series, #post-apocalyptic, #world war Z, #Adventure, #Mystery, #dystopian, #technothriller, #J.L. Bourne, #action
Her name had been Kasey.
She didn’t know that her parents had both been attorneys—her father an intellectual properties expert who mostly worked with corporations, her mother a family lawyer and juvenile guardian
ad litem
who also volunteered with a non-profit legal defense agency that advocated for minority rights.
She no longer remembered that they had lived in Atlanta, and that they had been on a vacation that would take them across the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland before her farther traveled on to a conference in D.C.
Kasey had been looking forward to seeing the wild horses that strolled across the dunes. Her father had even bought a new tent and a kite, and he had promised to turn off his cell phone for three whole days.
She was eleven years old and about to enter the seventh grade, nervous because she was a little younger than her classmates. Plus Ashleigh Ostermueller had grown boobs over the summer, which meant Bradley Staley would probably like Ashleigh better than he liked Kasey.
It was Thursday and she had been sleeping in the backseat of the Nissan Pathfinder when the thing happened.
Her father must have sensed the electrical signals misfiring, no longer sending the appropriate messages from his brain to his heart. He had slowed the SUV and pulled over to the grass, looking beside him at his wife. She was already slumped against the glass when the vehicle rolled to a stop and didn’t respond to the last sentence he ever spoke.
Kasey wasn’t aware of it now, but she had awakened at the sound of her father’s voice, unbuckled her seatbelt, and became something different. If she had known she would lose her awakening sense of fashion, with increasingly frequent trips to Aeropostale and T.J. Maxx, she would have changed into different clothes. Kasey wouldn’t have been caught dead in a Hello Kitty T-shirt, because that was for kids, and she was almost a woman. Or at least a teenager.
But pride no longer bothered her, nor did fear, nor did seventh grade, Ashleigh Ostermueller, or the pungent stink of smoke in the breeze.
She didn’t understand the instinct that had compelled her to follow the ridge and find herself before a gate. The complexities of charged particles, the molecular structure of her budding body, and the delicate firing of her neurotransmitters were far beyond her. Even if she had attended college, she probably would have avoided molecular biology like the plague.
Unless, of course, Bradley Staley was taking the class.
She was aware of others behind her, following through the forest. Their hissing filled her senses and connected her in a way she would never have been able to describe in a paper for English class. But inside her skull, another word resonated over and over.
“Who? Who? Who?”
The
Kasey thing walked through the gate and the first thing that drew her attention was the goats. They bleated when they saw her, demanding hay from the little shed beside their pen.
She didn’t understand hunger. But she was drawn by the sound of their voices.
“
Bahhhhh
,” the nearest goat bleated.
The Kasey thing moved toward it. The old Kasey would have been embarrassed by her attitude, which was currently one of childlike wonder and innocent curiosity. The old Kasey had been busy learning to be cool, ignoring her parents, and manipulating the people around her to increase her social standing and—more importantly—damage the standing of her female competitors such as Ashleigh.
None of that mattered now, only this rich, new sound that resonated inside her head and drove out and replaced the repetitive “Who?”
She let the new sound sink into her throat and then she pressed her lips together and vibrated her larynx.
“
Bah
.”
The others of her kind fanned out into the compound, not sure where they were or what they were, only that they
were
.
The thing that had been Kasey would have giggled at being called a “Zaphead.” Such a pejorative term was probably on the list of phrases that would earn a trip to the guidance counselor’s office and a lecture on the social evils of bullying.
The Kasey thing pressed her lips together again and exhaled, imitating the goat. “
Bah.
”
The other goats shoved against the fence, begging for hay, sounding almost like crying children. “
Bahhhhh! Bahhhhh!
”
The Kasey-thing repeated the simple phonetic, stretching out the sound by inhaling more air and expelling it. “
Bahhhhh!
”
The others of her kind stopped hissing and came closer to the pen. One of them said “
Bah
.”
Then more of them joined in. “
Bahhh! Bahhh! Bahhh!
”
The old Kasey would have been horrified to find herself a part of the crowd. Fitting in was one thing, but being just like everyone else was lame.
This new Kasey, though, she didn’t care. Any more than she cared about Hello Kitty and the end of the world.
This new Kasey liked the sound, and liked the others voicing it as well, and soon the sound became a bigger sound repeated over and over and over.
“
Bahhh! Bahhh! Bahhh!
”
Over and over, ever After.
THE END
Look for the prequel novella After: First Light, in May 2013. The third book in the After series,
After: Milepost 291
, will launch in early autumn 2013. Unless the sun collapses.
About Scott Nicholson:
I’m author of more than 30 books, including
The Red Church, Drummer Boy, The Harvest,
and
Speed Dating with the Dead
. I collaborated with bestselling author J.R. Rain on
Cursed, The Vampire Club, Bad Blood
, and
Ghost
College
. I’ve also written the children’s books
If I Were Your Monster, Too Many Witches
,
Ida Claire
, and
Duncan the Punkin
, and created the graphic novels
Dirt
and
Grave Conditions
. Connect with me on
Facebook
,
Goodreads
,
LibraryThing
,
Twitter
, my
blog
, or my
website
. I am really an organic gardener, but don’t tell anyone, because they think I am a writer.
Sign up for my Tao of Boo newsletter for free books and giveaways:
http://eepurl.com/tOE89
Return to
Table of Contents
Try these other thrillers because they are good:
AFTER: FIRST LIGHT
By Scott Nicholson
The beginning of the end...
When NASA scientists detect intense solar activity, the warnings go unheeded. Soon communications fail, power goes out, and the world's technological infrastructure collapses.
But the solar radiation has also inflicted an unpredictable change--a disruption in the impulses of the human brain. Billions die. And they are the lucky ones...
Prequel novella to the After post-apocalyptic series, with a bonus story by Joshua Simcox.
at
Amazon US
or
Amazon UK
.
AFTER: THE SHOCK
By Scott Nicholson
A massive solar storm wipes out the earth’s technological infrastructure and kills billions. As the survivors struggle to adapt, they discover some among them have…change. The first book in the After series.
Learn more about it at
Haunted Computer
or view it at
Amazon US
or
Amazon UK
.
McFALL
By Scott Nicholson
Too good to be true.
That’s what the residents of Barkersville say when Larkin McFall moves to their small Appalachian Mountain community. The lawyer and developer quickly gains respect as a community leader who improves the economy, supports charitable causes, and takes an interest in local government.
But not everyone is so welcoming. The McFall family has been linked to supernatural legends and odd disappearances for generations. But Larkin laughs off the stories as superstition and promises a bright new future for the town. When those who oppose McFall begin dying in mysterious and violent ways, Sheriff Frank Littlefield investigates the newcomer and discovers a man with no past and no fingerprints—and no weaknesses.
THE HOME
By Scott Nicholson
A Top 50 Kindle bestseller
.
Experiments at a group home for troubled children lead to paranormal activity—and the ghosts are from the home’s past as an insane asylum. In development as a feature film.
Learn more about
The Home
or view it on
Amazon US
or
Amazon UK
.
MEAT CAMP
By Scott Nicholson & J.T. Warren
In a desperate attempt to save their land from tax foreclosure, Delphus Fraley and his daughter open a camp for at-risk kids, with the goal of building character through experience in the Appalachian Mountain outdoors.
But a strange infection contaminating the camp’s mess hall soon triggers a violent rampage. As the isolated camp turns into a bloodbath, camp counselor Jenny Usher first fights to save the children, and then finds she must fight to save herself.
Because this infection doesn’t just kill, it brings the dead back to life…
Adapted from Scott Nicholson’s original horror screenplay.
View it at
Amazon US
or
Amazon UK
.
CREATIVE SPIRIT
By Scott Nicholson
After parapsychologist Anna Galloway is diagnosed with metastatic cancer, she has a recurring dream in which she sees her own ghost. The setting of her dream is the historic Korban Manor, which is now an artist’s retreat in the remote Appalachian Mountains.
Sculptor Mason Jackson has come to Korban Manor to make a final, all-or-nothing attempt at success before giving up his dreams. When he becomes obsessed with carving Ephram Korban’s form out of wood, he questions his motivation but is swept up in a creative frenzy unlike any he has ever known.
The manor itself has secrets, with fires that blaze constantly in the hearths, portraits of Korban in every room, and deceptive mirrors on the walls. With an October blue moon looming, both the living and the dead learn the true power of their dreams.
Learn more about the paranormal thriller
Creative Spirit
or view it at
Amazon US
or
Amazon UK
Do you like movies? View the screenplay adaptation at
Amazon US
or
Amazon UK
DISINTEGRATION
By Scott Nicholson
A Top 30 Kindle bestseller.
When a mysterious fire destroys his home and kills his young daughter, Jacob Wells is pulled into a downward spiral that draws him ever closer to the past he thought was dead and buried.
Now his twin brother Joshua is back in town, seeking to settle old scores and claim his half of the Wells birthright. As Jacob and Joshua return to the twisted roles they adopted at the hands of cruel, demanding parents, they wage a war of pride, wealth, and passion.
But the lines of identity are blurred, because Joshua and Jacob share much more than blood. And the childhood games have become deadly serious.
Learn more about the psychological thriller
Disintegration
or
view it at Amazon
or
Amazon UK
THE RED CHURCH
Book I in the Sheriff Littlefield Series
By Scott Nicholson
For 13-year-old Ronnie Day, life is full of problems: Mom and Dad have separated, his brother Tim is a constant pest, Melanie Ward either loves him or hates him, and Jesus Christ won't stay in his heart. Plus he has to walk past the red church every day, where the Bell Monster hides with its wings and claws and livers for eyes. But the biggest problem is that Archer McFall is the new preacher at the church, and Mom wants Ronnie to attend midnight services with her.
Sheriff Frank Littlefield hates the red church for a different reason. His little brother died in a freak accident at the church twenty years ago, and now Frank is starting to see his brother's ghost.
The Days, the Littlefields, and the McFalls are descendants of the original families that settled the rural Appalachian community. Those old families share a secret of betrayal and guilt, and McFall wants his congregation to prove its faith. Because he believes he is the Second Son of God, and that the cleansing of sin must be done in blood.
"Sacrifice is the currency of God," McFall preaches, and unless Frank and Ronnie stop him, everybody pays.
Learn more about the
real haunted church
that inspired The Red Church or view it for
Kindle at Amazon
or
Amazon UK
DRUMMER BOY
Book II in the Sheriff Littlefield Series
By Scott Nicholson
On an Appalachian Mountain ridge, three boys hear the rattling of a snare drum deep inside a cave known as "The Jangling Hole," and the wind carries a whispered name.
It's the eve of a Civil War re-enactment, and the town of Titusville is preparing to host a staged battle. The weekend warriors aren’t aware they will soon be fighting an elusive army. A troop of Civil War deserters, trapped in the Hole by a long-ago avalanche, is rising from a long slumber, and the war is far from over.