The Zero Trilogy (Book 3): End of Day (16 page)

Elle hesitated. She looked over her shoulder, at the stairwell. She thought of Cheng, lying upstairs, safe. She looked at Angela, walking toward the door. She looked at Bravo. He tipped his head up, eyes sparkling.

“Here we go,” Elle whispered.

Epilogue

The end had come. But here, in Sacramento, there was a new beginning. Elle sat on the curb of a silent street in the city, listening to the distant steady thrum of military traffic. Angela had left her here. She had promised to be back soon. There was an important meeting happening at the Capitol Building. A negotiation between a makeshift, emergency government, and militia leaders from all over the state of California. They had convened to discuss merging into an alliance with a greater power to defend themselves against Omega.

Elle sat with her head against Bravo’s shoulder.

He was warm and soft, yet firm.

“We’re safe now,” Elle said. “Finally.”

I knew we’d get here
.

Elle closed her eyes.

“I think it’s going to be okay this time,” Elle went on, her voice quiet. “For real.”

Bravo trotted into the street, barking happily.

Elle laughed. She picked up a small branch that had fallen to the sidewalk and tossed it across the empty street. He ran to retrieve it and dropped the stick at her feet.

“We’re a team,” Elle said, scratching behind his ears. “Always.”

Bravo’s tongue lolled out of his mouth. He was smiling.

Always
.

And they played in the street, the girl and the dog.

THE END

Exclusive Sneak Peek!

This is the story of a dog.

This is the story of a hero.

This is the story of Bravo, the bomb dog, and his apocalypse mission.

A brand new trilogy from
#1 Bestselling Author Summer Lane

Special Excerpt!

From

Bravo: Apocalypse Mission

Book One

Prologue

The dog walked the road, alone.

The silent morbidity of the streets settled like a fog on the city. It was cold and cloying. There were smells. Strange scents that made his senses tingle, that made him feel afraid. And there were sounds, too. The distant cry of an infant child, left to die. The sound of bare feet slapping against the pavement, and the rumble of boots hot in pursuit. Screaming. Laughter - dark, jagged laughter that echoed against the puzzle-like layout of the city and infected the night.

He walked on. His journey brought him to a small alleyway. Steam rose from the ground.
Garbage cans had been tipped over. He edged closer, rummaging through the piles of soggy newspaper and rotting food. He found a piece of stale bread and a half-eaten hotdog. He chewed it quickly. It sunk to his stomach like a lead weight. It didn’t matter that it was garbage – all that mattered is that it was food. Food was all he thought about anymore.

Food. Meat. Food. Meat
.

Hunger
.

He nosed through the rest of the garbage, but he found nothing. He pushed on, tired. He turned the corner and paused. He tilted his head, listening. Something was wrong. He could sense it. He narrowed his eyes and lowered his head. There. Catty-corner to the alley, there was a man. He had frozen in place, staring.

They saw each other.

For a long, tortuous moment, neither one of them moved.

And then the man began to run, and the dog turned. He was off like a shot, a streak of brown fur against the night. He could hear the man pursuing him. His steps were heavy and his
breath was haggard, clumsy. The dog moved fluidly, muscles burning, lungs expanding with every intake of air.

He didn’t stop running – not for miles.

He had been chased before. Chased, and nearly caught. The humans in this city were not like the ones who had lived here before. These people were crass and cold, desperate and feral. They were like packs of wild animals, feeding on anything that walked or breathed. They waited in the shadows, starving, half-crazed with gnawing hunger.

But they weren’t like the dog.

They couldn’t hunt. They couldn’t find food. Not like him.

Which is why they chased him. They clumsily hunted him like you would hunt a deer, staked out, hiding, setting traps. But the dog was far too smart for them. He knew their methods and their tricks. He danced around their attempts at pursuit until they were tired and angry – and confused. And then he would hide.

Now, he stopped to rest.

He panted, his plump, pink tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth as he caught his breath. He was near the water, now. He could feel the cold breeze whistle through his ears. The scent of seagulls and saltwater was overwhelming.

There was a building that sat on the corner. It was part of a large apartment complex, long ago abandoned. It was familiar to him, though. Once upon a time, he would have climbed the steps, bounding forward, pushing into the first floor. He would smell cologne and cooking food and the presence of the many humans living in the building. And then he would go home, and he would curl up in his bed while his Man turned on the television, and the transmitted voices would lull him to sleep.

And all would be well.

But that was over. Now he was alone.

The cold and the chill and the terrifying scents of the city crept up on him as he trotted to the back of the apartment building. He pushed through scratchy shrubbery and flowerpots. Intricate lattice decorated the foundation of the
complex, and here, there was a small crack in the siding. The dog wiggled through the opening. Had he been well fed and properly nourished, he never would have fit. But his smaller frame benefited him now.

He crawled under the dark, damp confines of the apartment building. It smelled heavily of rodents and rotting wood. The dog’s hackles rose. He disliked the scent, but he was bigger than anything he would find down here.

He crawled until he was tucked away, far into the darkest corner of the underworld of the apartment building, away from the sounds of the city. He rested his soft, furry head between his front paws, and he closed his eyes.

The dog slept.

More Titles from Summer Lane

The Collapse Series

State of Emergency

State of Chaos

State of Rebellion

State of Pursuit

State of Alliance

State of Vengeance

State of Destruction

The Zero Trilogy

Day Zero

Day One

End of Day

Graphic Novels

Collapse: The Illustrated Guide

The Bravo Saga

First Book Coming March 2016

Bravo: Apocalypse Mission

Acknowledgements

This is the first time I have ever finished a series, and leaving a story world behind is both a complete relief and somewhat of a sad tragedy. I have come to love Elle more than ever as I’ve penned her trilogy. The many characters in her world –specifically Bravo – are near and dear to my heart, and it’s a sorrow to bid them farewell, but as they say: I’m on to bigger and better things, I suppose.

The characters in this book were a joy for me to write. I put a lot of careful thought and research into their creation. Cheng was perhaps the most fun – I’ve always had this dark, ninja-like character dancing around in my head, and he really brought that to life for me. I believe his name means something like “sincere” or “succeed.” Luli’s name means “dewy jasmine.” Her character is little more than a flash in the pan, and I wish I could share her interesting backstory with you in this book. But maybe another time.

As always, I’m grateful to my editors, my press relations colleagues and my artists. Creating this story has been a yearlong journey. It flew by in a frenzy of clicking keystrokes and stacks of yellow legal pads, but it was an experience that I will remember for the rest of my life.

Just please do me a favor and don’t mind the ink that I apparently smudged on my cheek. Oops.

Thank you Steven Catizone, for consistently collaborating with me to create stunning apocalyptic artwork that helps tell my stories. Thank you Jake at Indie Editor. Thank you Giselle at Xpresso Book Tours. Thank you Arkadiusz Ostrycharz, for creating the original artwork for Elle. Although those concepts are retired now, your first designs were an inspiration!

Fortunately, this is not my final goodbye to Elle. She is a part of Cassidy Hart’s world in
The Collapse Series
, and these two stories interweave more than you might think! * wink * In fact, being able to connect all of the dots and
reveal the breadcrumbs is something I immensely enjoy – and, consequently, is the reason an entire wall of my house is pasted and pinned with charts and outlines to keep my plotlines and characters connected.

I am enthusiastically working on writing Bravo’s story at the moment. I fell in love with his character from the first moment I wrote about him. He is the real star of the story, and the true hero. I am enamored with animals (just ask my poor parents), and as a child, it was my dream to work at a zoo. This, of course, was my second best option to being a full-time writer. Obviously I did not become a zookeeper, but writing about selfless creatures like Bravo allows me to live out that dream in a different, exciting way.

To be honest, writing about the end of the world was never something I necessarily intended to do. I simply wanted to tell a good story. But the apocalypse has sucked me into it, and I’m as much along for the ride as you are. Thank you, readers. I love you all. You are so
wonderful, and I appreciate every last one of you.

As I say to my friends:

Welcome to the apocalypse. We have more fun here.

Most Sincerely,

Summer Lane

Thanks always to the author of life, Jesus Christ
.

Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart
.

Psalms 37:4

About the Author

Summer Lane is the #1 Bestselling Author of
The Collapse Series, The Zero Trilogy
and the upcoming
Bravo Saga
(March 2016). She is the owner of WB Publishing and Writing Belle, an online magazine. Summer is also an accomplished journalist and creative writing teacher.

Connect with Summer Online:

Website
:
Summerlaneauthor.com

Blog
:
WritingBelle.com

Twitter
:
@SummerEllenLane

Facebook
: Summer Lane – Int. Bestselling Author

Want to talk to Summer? Have thoughts you’d like to share about her books?

Email her at:

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