Freebie - Under Marshal Law: Chapter One

A little bit about one of my newest novels, Under Marshal Law is set in the aftermath of a global plague where the sickness doesn’t kill people, it mutates them into indestructible and mindless monsters. The only thing capable of killing them is the blood of a Cure. Kol Bishop and his daughter, Lena, both carry this rare trait. As Marshals, they patrol the walls of the Dayton Compound, one of the few surviving havens where they can be safe from the Spread. Blood is their weapon.

Enjoy the first chapter now!

*****

Chapter One: History Being Made

14 Years Ago

"Come on over here, Lena," Kol Bishop said to his youngest daughter, his voice thick.

Seven-year-old Lena picked herself up from the floor where she’d been coloring in a coloring book filled with butterflies, fairies, and princesses, and walked over to her dad. Kol sat on their gray sofa, his eyes shiny with emotion. A large, flat panel TV mounted to the wall in front of them showed a special, unprecedented news broadcast. It played on every single channel.

"Sit with daddy," Kol said.

Lena was small for her age compared to other children. She stretched her arms up and waited less than a second. Kol, without missing a beat, immediately picked her up and sat her down next to him. He gestured toward the TV as she fiddled with one of her blonde pigtails and sucked on her thumb. Kol calmly took her thumb out of her mouth without a word, as if he’d done the same thing hundreds of times before, and smiled down at her.

"This is something you'll learn about in school someday," Kol told her softly. "A moment people will remember." She looked up at him with wide blue eyes full of wonder and curiosity.

"Why?" she asked. She looked at the screen but didn't really grasp what the people on it were saying. It was a bunch of grown ups in what Lena called dressy clothes on a stage, shaking hands with a bunch of other grown ups in dressy clothes.

“These people changed the world,” he explained, trying to use words she would understand. “Meaning they are doing really good things and it will help lots of people.”

The sound of dishes clinking together and of water being shut off a second later drifted toward the two. Kol turned his head toward the kitchen. Their house had an open floor plan and he could see his wife standing there with a pair of earbuds in as she rinsed off dishes and then put them in the waiting trays of the dishwasher.

"Come over here, babes!" Kol yelled to his wife, trying to be heard over whatever podcast or Japanese jazz music she might be listening to. "You're gonna miss it! Bring Carolynn, Danni, and Morgan too! They should see this! It’s history being made! Once in a lifetime!"

"Just a minute," his wife, Bekah, shouted back. "I'm almost done. Also, Morgan is doing her homework  and Carolynn and Danni went to Sandra’s." 

"They're getting ready to sign the Accords!" Kol replied.

“What’s that?” Lena asked, still very much confused as she looked longingly at her abandoned coloring book. It was still open, displaying her half-colored butterfly. Her gaze returned back to her daddy and she decided to stay on the couch.

“They’re the good thing I told you about, sweetheart,” Kol whispered to her, his eyes now switching back and forth between the TV and the door to the kitchen.

Bekah finished up with the dishes and rushed into the living room, drying her hands on a maroon towel. She sat down on the couch next to her husband and daughter with the towel clutched in between her hands and tucking her legs underneath her butt. She turned her attention to the screen.

"I still can't believe this is actually happening," she whispered, her voice soft and full of awe.

"I know, right!" Kol replied, unable to hide his own enthusiasm, with a wide smile plastered to his face. “It’s incredible,” he breathed.

Broadcasted across every channel, streaming on every social media outlet, and even playing on multiple services like Netflix and Prime, was the signing of The Accords of New Peace. Kol watched world leaders shake hands. Countries that used to threaten each other now smiled for cameras. After the massive death and destruction during the last great war, it became apparent that if nothing was done, humanity would destroy themselves. And so, the Accords were proposed and signed, ushering in an unprecedented age of peace.

"This is the start of a new world," Kol said in a whisper. He embraced his wife and daughter, closing his eyes.

//\//\//\//\//\//\//\//\//\//\//

Kol stood at the counter in his kitchen, drinking a steaming cup of coffee. Columbian with some peppermint mocha creamer in it. He inhaled the smell a bit wistfully. He had no idea when he might be able to get more coffee in the future. All the stores were on lock down and rationing had begun just last week. That included his favorite coffee spot, Pennylane, too. He’d taken all his girls there nearly every Saturday for years. It had been something he looked forward to. Now, it hurt to think back on. Now it only served to remind him of everything he took for granted and all the things he lost thanks to the fucking virus. Despite that, he considered himself, and his family, lucky. New Carlisle, where they lived, was still considered safe.

For the most part.

The virus had taken root in the big, metropolitan areas first. New York City. Miami. Los Angeles. Houston. The closest city to them that just got overrun was Nashville, Tennessee. Many believed it wouldn’t be long before Cincinnati fell.

It terrified him how fast the virus spread and how it kept getting closer and closer to him and his family. He’d even approached Bekah about taking the girls and leaving for Canada. Analysts and other top officials thought the cold might slow the virus. It seemed to thrive more in warmer climates. That’s what the experts claimed but he wasn’t so sure anywhere would be safe. He just knew himself. He knew he had to have something to hope for, however slim that hope might be.

“Good morning,” Bekah said, coming up behind him. She looked exhausted, as if she hadn’t been sleeping well.

He knew he looked the same.

“Morning.” He forced himself to smile. He didn’t feel like smiling but it reassured his wife. At least, he hoped it did. “The girls awake yet?”

“I’m trying to let them sleep in as much as possible. It’s been hard getting them to bed. With all the military vehicles, helicopters, and noise, they have trouble,” she said with some sadness.

Kol didn’t like hearing that sadness in her voice but there wasn’t a thing he could do to make it go away. He’d recalled some of the footage of what people overcome with the virus turned into. It wasn’t…pretty. It turned them into…creatures. Things out of nightmares. Living, breathing horrors. The news, when that had still been a thing, named them Mutates. Seeing the videos of people, men, women, and even children, being overtaken by the virus and changed made his stomach churn with nausea. Old. Young. Healthy. Sick. Skinny. Fit. Overweight. White. Black. Asian. European. Hispanic. It didn’t matter. The virus spared no one as far as Kol had been able to tell. It was one of the worst things he’s ever watched in his entire life. The simple fact that all of it was reality and not some acid-trip-induced Hollywood blockbuster made it that much more horrific.

“Morning,” Carolynn, their oldest, said as she came into the kitchen to join them. “Got any coffee for me?”

Kol pulled down a cup and poured her a modest amount of the stuff. She took it, poured some peppermint mocha creamer into it, and inhaled the sweet aroma much the same way he had.

“Sleep well?” Bekah asked her.

Carolynn shrugged her shoulders. “Well enough. The helicopters were hard to deal with. I’d finally start drifting off and then Humvees would come through.”

“Things will settle down.” Bekah paused as she looked at Kol. “Eventually, right? ”

A ridiculously loud knocking suddenly interrupted Bekah as someone pounded on their front door. They were all taken by surprise and jumped, standing there looking at one another startled.  It boomed through the house again a minute or two later after no one answered the door.

“I’ll check it out,” Kol said, taking a deep breath. He looked at his wife and daughter. “You two, stay here. Grab knives.” He stared intently at them. “You know…just in case.”

Kol walked cautiously toward their front door. Upstairs, he could faintly hear his other three daughters starting to wake up. Lena whimpered a little. She sounded about ready to fire up a long and very loud fit fueled by all the noise and a lack of good, non-fear-ridden sleep. Despite being well past her toddler years, she still had the occasional outburst. Out of all his children, he worried about her the most. He hated to admit it to himself, but if things went even further south, he didn’t think she would be able to survive. The brutality of what their world had become may end up being too much for her.

He got to the door and looked through the peephole. Panic surged through his body. He opened it and two women in full military gear with M16s strapped to their vests waited impatiently. Kol felt a cold knot form in his stomach. Soldiers didn't go door to door for good news.

“Hello?” Kol asked.

“Hello, sir. I’m Staff Sergeant Ivy Lan and this is Senior Airman Kim Higgins. We have been ordered to help evacuate this area and transport all civilians to a mandatory site for testing. You will have three hours to pack some clothes and supplies.”

“What why?” Kol asked, noticing that Higgins would not make eye contact with him. “What’s happened? We thought we were still safe here.”

“Is everything okay?” Bekah asked, coming to stand next to Kol in the doorway.

“Sir, ma’am, no. To be brutally honest, it’s not. Now, time is really of the essence. Everything will be explained at the screening site. Understand that it is imperative you and your family prepare,” Lan replied sternly. “We’ll be back at exactly 1300 hours.” The soldier had a pleading look in her eyes, as if begging the two civilians not to make a huge fuss and delay things further. “Please, I implore you, be ready by then.”

Lan and Higgins rushed away after that. They didn’t stick around for a Q and A session. Kol watched them, his heart beating so fast it hurt, as they headed in the direction of Devon Imari’s house, his next door neighbor. It looked as if the soldiers were giving everyone the same troubling command. A practical army of them were scattered all throughout his street. He stood there and saw the looks on each of his neighbors’ faces as they received the news.

They all came to the same conclusion he did.

The virus had reached them.

They were all in danger.