The Day After Never - Purgatory Road (Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian Thriller - Book 2)

BOOK: The Day After Never - Purgatory Road (Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian Thriller - Book 2)
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The Day After Never

Purgatory Road

Russell Blake

 

Copyright © 2016 by Russell Blake. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law, or in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, contact:

[email protected]

Published by

 

Table of Contents

Books by Russell Blake

About the Author

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Chapter 45

Chapter 46

Chapter 47

Chapter 48

Chapter 49

Chapter 50

Excerpt from
The Day After Never – Covenant

 

 

Books by Russell Blake

Co-authored with Clive Cussler

THE EYE OF HEAVEN

THE SOLOMON CURSE

Thrillers

FATAL EXCHANGE

FATAL DECEPTION

THE GERONIMO BREACH

ZERO SUM

THE DELPHI CHRONICLE TRILOGY

THE VOYNICH CYPHER

SILVER JUSTICE

UPON A PALE HORSE

DEADLY CALM

RAMSEY’S GOLD

EMERALD BUDDHA

THE DAY AFTER NEVER – BLOOD HONOR

THE DAY AFTER NEVER – PURGATORY ROAD

The Assassin Series

KING OF SWORDS

NIGHT OF THE ASSASSIN

RETURN OF THE ASSASSIN

REVENGE OF THE ASSASSIN

BLOOD OF THE ASSASSIN

REQUIEM FOR THE ASSASSIN

RAGE OF THE ASSASSIN

The JET Series

JET

JET II – BETRAYAL

JET III – VENGEANCE

JET IV – RECKONING

JET V – LEGACY

JET VI – JUSTICE

JET VII – SANCTUARY

JET VIII – SURVIVAL

JET IX – ESCAPE

JET X – INCARCERATION

JET – OPS FILES (prequel)

JET – OPS FILES; TERROR ALERT

The BLACK Series

BLACK

BLACK IS BACK

BLACK IS THE NEW BLACK

BLACK TO REALITY

BLACK IN THE BOX

Non Fiction

AN ANGEL WITH FUR

HOW TO SELL A GAZILLION EBOOKS

(while drunk, high or incarcerated)

 

About the Author

Featured in
The Wall Street Journal
,
The Times
, and
The Chicago Tribune
, Russell Blake is
The NY Times
and
USA Today
bestselling author of over forty novels, including
Fatal Exchange
,
Fatal Deception
,
The Geronimo Breach
,
Zero Sum
,
King of Swords
,
Night of the Assassin
,
Revenge of the Assassin
,
Return of the Assassin
,
Blood of the Assassin
,
Requiem for the Assassin
,
Rage of the Assassin
The Delphi Chronicle
trilogy,
The Voynich Cypher
,
Silver Justice
,
JET
,
JET – Ops Files
,
JET – Ops Files: Terror Alert
,
JET II – Betrayal
,
JET III – Vengeance
,
JET IV – Reckoning
,
JET V – Legacy
,
JET VI – Justice
,
JET VII – Sanctuary
,
JET VIII – Survival
,
JET IX – Escape
,
JET X – Incarceration
,
Upon a Pale Horse
,
BLACK
,
BLACK is Back
,
BLACK is The New Black
,
BLACK to Reality
,
BLACK in the Box
,
Deadly Calm
,
Ramsey’s Gold
,
Emerald Buddha
,
The Day After Never – Blood Honor
, and
The Day After Never – Purgatory Road
.

Non-fiction includes the international bestseller
An Angel With Fur
(animal biography) and
How To Sell A Gazillion eBooks In No Time
(even if drunk, high or incarcerated), a parody of all things writing-related.

Blake is co-author of
The Eye of Heaven
and
The Solomon Curse
, with legendary author Clive Cussler. Blake’s novel
King of Swords
has been translated into German,
The Voynich Cypher
into Bulgarian, and his JET novels into Spanish, German, and Czech.

Blake writes under the moniker R.E. Blake in the NA/YA/Contemporary Romance genres. Novels include
Less Than Nothing
,
More Than Anything
, and
Best Of Everything
.

Having resided in Mexico for a dozen years, Blake enjoys his dogs, fishing, boating, tequila and writing, while battling world domination by clowns. His thoughts, such as they are, can be found at his blog:

RussellBlake.com

 

To get your free copy,

just join my readers’ group here:

http://bit.ly/rb-jet

 

Chapter 1

Mentone, Texas

 

Marijuana smoke clouded the gloomy interior of the improvised saloon, and the pungent aroma blended with the acrid tang of stale perspiration, unwashed bodies, and rotgut home-brewed sour mash. Several women in ratty shifts leaned against the wall near a long plank propped atop four wooden barrels that served as the bar. Their faces were frozen in professional invitation, their eyes dead. Beside them, three heavily built gunmen with Browning shotguns lounged together, occasionally casting an eye over the forty or so customers, wary of trouble with the rough crowd. Filthy sawdust covered the floor of the tin-roofed structure in Mentone, one of a shabby scattering of buildings at a forgotten crossroads used as the home base for the group of miscreants known as the Raiders.

An emaciated dog, inured to the shouts and baying laughter from the rowdy throng, nosed around in a far corner where someone had recently vomited. Six Mohawked highwaymen sat at a circular wooden table in the rear of the room, their sweat-stained black leather vests and tattoos as menacing as a snake’s rattle, bottles of cheap rum and whiskey at their elbows. A deck of frayed cards lay facedown in front of a graying man with a long, cadaverous face and spindly fingers that lent him the appearance of a praying mantis.

The dealer pushed a small pile of chips into the center pot with a smile as inviting as a mass grave. “Well, boys, put up or shut up. Day of reckoning’s at hand,” he hissed, his voice barely audible over the bar’s clamor.

Two of the players shook their heads and tossed in their cards, unwilling to push their luck any further. The remaining three met the dealer’s raise and, once the betting was done, waited expectantly as he offered another grin, revealing pale gums marred with stubs of decaying teeth between earthworm lips.

“Full house, fellas. Just not your lucky night, I guess.” He cackled, and the rest flung their hands into the pot with resigned groans.

“Seems like most hands you walk away with the chips,” one of the larger Raiders growled. The man beside him elbowed his ribs as a caution and slid an amber bottle toward him.

The pair had been in the bar for the better part of five hours and were nearly through with their second bottle of rum. They, like the rest of the patrons, had checked their weapons at the door. The rules of the house were few, but those there were, were non-negotiable: no guns or knives inside, no fights allowed, and no credit extended. The security guards enforced compliance, and any violation meant expulsion with no appeal.

The large Raider took a pull on the bottle and winced at the burn of the cheap, harsh liquor. His meaty face was sunburned almost to the blistering point, his skin radiating heat, brow furrowed over reptilian eyes, greasy ebony Mohawk a spiked mane. The shaved sides of his head featured a collage of jailhouse art and crude gothic script, a grinning skull with a pirate’s hat cocked at a rakish angle adorning the left temple, Nazi Schutzstaffel lightning bolts emblazoning the right. Pink scars, souvenirs of past fights, spanned his scalp, and a pair of green inked tears trailed below his left eye – mute testament to a lifetime of incarceration. The teardrops were a common emblem for many of the other Raiders, whose murderous and predatory habits had been hardened by a prison ethic that knew only hunter and prey.

He slammed the bottle down and considered his remaining chips, and then leaned into his smaller companion, whose sallow complexion and gaunt frame was the polar opposite: the little man’s skin was as taut as parchment over sharp cheekbones and ropy muscles that undulated like snakes along bare tobacco-colored arms.

BOOK: The Day After Never - Purgatory Road (Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian Thriller - Book 2)
4.76Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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