It wasn’t like airplanes suddenly fell from the sky. My cellphone had power-though no signal or Wi-Fi-and most older cars ran just fine. People at camp said it couldn’t be an EMT-or was it EMP?-because there wasn’t a weapon big enough to knock the whole country off the grid. We even made a game of tossing ideas around, trying to figure out how we’d gotten in this mess. Most of my bunk mates were friendly enough and though the food wasn’t amazing, it would keep me going. Moving from my duplex to one of the disaster relief camps was like going to summer camp. Unfortunately, it was only the beginning.ĭespite having no lights, no fridge, and no running water, the blackout felt inconsequential during that first month. I still remember the sickening dread I felt over the first report of someone killed over supplies in the city. On the other hand, those who had it also found themselves facing death by the hands of those without. Food was food in the end of the world and those of us without it found ourselves at a disadvantage that could serve to be deadly. One or two months in, I suddenly understood the appeal of buying sixteen cases of canned vegetables. Why bother stocking up on groceries that won’t keep? At first, I thought the people stockpiling had to be out of their minds.

At first there was only a little pilling a handful of looters who thought they could get away with stealing-they usually could-and soccer moms fighting over the last package of toilet paper at big box stores. It was like someone took the seams of the entire nation and started tugging. Government officials disappeared and with them, government aid. Six months after the blackout, they went dark too. They always know stuff like that, don’t they? I suppose it doesn’t really matter now. Except maybe some secret branch of the government. After all, no one survives the end of the world alone.No one knows why the lights went out. As reluctant as he is to keep her, Joshua just might need her. At a glance he seems to be nothing more than an off-kilter backwoods prepper with a grudge against humanity, but the longer she looks, the more Liv begins to see the man behind the churlish words and unkempt beard. It’s hard to earn his trust and even harder to keep it. With a shack, a farm, and a lifetime of survival skills, Joshua is the perfect companion for the apocalypse. Running for her life, Liv falls at the feet of an unwilling savior. The roads are stalked by stray dogs and stray men, both with growing appetites and frightening intentions. Clean water and food vanish as she flees Seattle in pursuit of rumored safety and power further east.

When an unexpected and inexplicable black out thrusts the world into chaos, that’s exactly how she finds herself. There were three things Liv never wanted to be starving, filthy, and alone.

Moonshine by kat bostick