Free The Harvest (Book 1) by Anne Ferretti Page A

under four feet of snow and ice. Good plan.”
    She cast him a glare. “If you’d let me finish. After I read the article, I contacted a friend in Pueblo sheriff’s department, who was more than happy to share. Turns out this guy wasn’t exactly a favorite in law enforcement circles. So, captain, I know exactly how to find the entrance. As to your other question, I’m betting by the time I arrive the kid will be slap happy to see another human being.”
    Austin smirked, keeping further snide remarks to himself. He had no reason to berate this woman, who must have gone through hell getting this far on her own. He should be congratulating her, not picking her apart. What the hell was wrong with him? Roxi would have smacked him upside his head had she been there.
    “The guy’s like my age ain’t he?” Luke asked.
    “I think he was twenty four at the time of the article. And that was about two, or three years ago. If you can believe everything you read.”
    “How’d boy wonder make his millions?” Austin asked.
    “Pot.”
    “Pot?”
    “Yeah. He sold marijuana. His company was the first of its kind to go public. I forget what he called it.”
    “M.J. Inc.” Luke filled in. “I wrote a paper on it for my Business Theory class.”
    “M.J. Inc. Right. Anyway, that’s where I’m going. What about you guys?”
    “Cheyenne Mountain.” Luke proudly informed her.
    “What’s in a mountain?” She asked.
    “The toughest military base ever constructed.” Austin responded. And Section Seven he thought to himself.
    “Yeah. It’s built six hundred feet under the mountain. Has top of the line technology, including a hospital, and they grow their own food.” Luke added.
    “I guess that trumps a pot smoker’s bunker.” Madison quipped.
    “Yeah, I guess it does.” Austin’s voice had a hint of a smile.
    Madison glanced over at Austin, but he wore the same steely expression. “Do you know what we’re dealing with? I mean it can’t be another country or even our government. It’s gotta be an alien right?”
    “That would be my guess.” Luke answered. “Cuz, you know, why would the government want to kill all those people?”
    “Have you seen anything?” Madison asked.
    Luke sat up on his elbows, shaking his head while glancing over at Austin.
    “You’ve seen them?” She asked. “Who are they?”
    “They’re not a who.”
    “Not a who? What does that mean?”
    “They’re not human. And no I haven’t seen them.” He zipped up his sleeping bag, and rolled on his side facing away from Madison. “If this meet and greet is over, we should get some sleep.” He turned off the light not waiting for a response.
    “What do they look like?” Madison asked, unwilling to give up just yet.
    “Picture the boogey man.” Austin replied. “And then try to imagine something a thousand times worse.”
    “Oh.” Madison replied. She scrunched down in her bag and tried to not picture something worse that the boogey man. “Goodnight.”
    “Goodnight Maddie, Madison.” Luke fumbled, silently berating himself for sounding like a dorky kid. So what if she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, that didn’t mean he had to act like he’d never seen a pretty woman. He’d seen plenty of pretty women. Not supermodel pretty, but still it was no reason to act like an idiot.
    “Thanks for letting me to stay with you guys.” Madison said.
    “You’re welcome.” Austin answered before Luke could respond.
    “Conceited asshole.” Madison mumbled to herself. She repeated this again in her head and then quickly reminded herself to not nitpick her new travel companions. After all, it wasn’t as if the choices were even few and far between, they were nil. And, all things considered, she could have happened upon worse, much worse.
    She didn’t hold any misguided sense of security when it came to men, not in post apocalypse America. She felt certain Luke was innocence personified. As for the captain...she