Ever Hayes - Redemption

Of course I was relieved that Reagan, Sam, and the girls had survived…but I carried the burden of Danny’s words from that first night in Anaheim—and of the things I assumed he meant by what he didn’t say.

On the one hand, I couldn’t wait to see how much my baby brother had grown. Ollie might even be walking. And Tara was pregnant—I was going to have another brother or sister in a few months, and I was certainly excited about that. I missed the girls—Emily and Abbey—and Kate, of course, who had pretty much always been my big sister.

On the other hand I missed Dad more than anyone—probably because I knew he was gone forever. I thought about him the most and ached from the stunning reality that I was never going to see him or Grandpa again. Jenna and Kaci were also dead. Governor Barnes had killed himself the day he found out his wife was also dead. In that sense I didn’t want to go back—in that way I could understand why Danny didn’t either. It wasn’t ever going to be the same. That’s where the guilt ate at me. No matter how much Blake, Flynn, Mackenzie and Eddie tried to convince me otherwise— that this was all on Lazzo —I felt responsible for those lives…those deaths.

I also missed Mom. I hadn’t felt that longing for her in years. I really missed her now. It was weird to think that at some point I’d moved on from her death—that it was even possible I could do the same with these…but I guessed that’s how life was. I guessed maybe I’d get over this too.

The person I’d always loved the most in life was Danny. I had him right here with me in the bunker but we weren’t exactly on speaking terms. In fact, he’d kind of shut himself off from everyone else the past few months. He’d come out of their room—his and Ava’s—every now and then to talk strategy with a few of the Anaheim bunker leaders…and then head back in to her . Man, I hate her.

It was hard listening to people talk about Danny like he was just another soldier—and even harder to listen to people criticize him. Even if they were right . Danny—perhaps second to only Keena—was responsible for the opportunity we all were seemingly going to have to rebuild America. Everyone here owed him something. Gratitude—if nothing else. But Danny wasn’t doing himself any favors, locking himself in his room with that skank. I was embarrassed that Eddie saw him this way. Blake didn’t like it, but he understood. Eddie didn’t like it or understand. Eddie had lost his wife, daughters, brother, brother’s family, friends, home—everything. Eddie didn’t have a choice in the matter. Danny was choosing to ignore me, his closest friend—Blake— and his wife—who had just miscarried and lost her lifelong best friend. Considering all of that, no matter how much Blake and I stood up for him Eddie wasn’t buying it.

Eventually we stopped defending him. There were some things I couldn’t explain away. Danny had become cold, brooding…bitter. He didn’t seem to care what anyone else thought—except Ava. Frickin’ general’s daughter . He definitely didn’t want to hear about Kate. Twice I’d caught him at the dinner table and asked if he’d talked to Kate recently. Both times he got up and walked away before I could finish my sentence and I was left standing there—in a war of glares—with Ava. I really couldn’t fathom what Danny saw in her. Beyond her looks, if he honestly wasn’t getting any, I don’t know what her purpose was.

Or maybe he was actually with her now. Maybe that blow-up doll had replaced Kate. What guy lying next to that every night wouldn’t give himself a pass and roll with the hormones? It made me sick thinking about it. My heart went out to Kate, waiting for him in Hawaii. She couldn’t wait to have him back, but she wasn’t getting the same Danny back. This one would have never come to save me. This Danny wouldn’t even try to save himself.

We’d found out a little about the missile damage. Keena had effectively wiped out all the Qi Jia capital cities—their headquarters—in America. Best as anyone could tell, she leveled the playing field—perhaps taking out as much as ninety percent of their entire forces. Damien had sent word to Australia, England, France—anywhere he thought we might have survivors and let them know what had happened. His hope—our hope—was to get everyone together in Hawaii and come up with a plan to take our country back.

I felt guilty about a lot of what we’d lost since the beginning of August— I’m not going to lie —but I also knew the other truth. If I hadn’t gone with Lazzo and Danny hadn’t come for me—if we hadn’t ended up in Cheyenne Mountain—Qi Jia would have had control of those missiles. Not Keena . One day Qi Jia would have figured out how to do essentially the same thing she did with them. But when they launched the missiles, they’d all have hit Hawaii—they’d have wiped us completely out.

We definitely wouldn’t be getting on this plane—talking, laughing and looking forward to landing in Hawaii—looking forward to the future.

There wouldn’t be a future to talk about.

As we boarded the plane for Hawaii and lifted off into a stormy sky, I looked around at the passengers. Everyone else seemed happy. Everyone else seemed worry-free. I glanced at my brother, sitting across from me with his arm around Ava. She smiled at me, and I resisted the urge to flip her off. I turned to Blake instead. “Do you think anyone would mind if I threw her off the plane.”

Blake smiled, nodding slowly. “Unfortunately, Hayley…” He sighed. “Unfortunately I do.”

He twisted the top off a bottle of beer, lifted it up and took a long drink. “Aaaahhh…” he sighed.

“Good?” I asked.

“Terrible.” He shuddered. “So awful.” He held another bottle out to me. “Want one?”

I laughed and took it from him. “Why not?” I popped the top on mine and took a swig. I nearly gagged. “Whoa!”

“Right?” Blake laughed. He held his bottle out toward mine. “Toast.”

I clinked mine against his.

“To the future,” he said.

“To the past,” I added.

Blake raised his bottle again. “And to pillows .” He smiled and began to take another drink.

I punched him in the shoulder, as he laughed and feigned injury.

“Forget that!” I shook my head and glared at Ava again.

Forget that.

Ever N. Hayes lives in the Upper Midwest with his beautiful wife and four incredible children. Two college degrees and 8 years of professional journalism experience prepared him for writing books but nothing has prepared him for the editing and publishing process! So he leaves that to the professionals. Ever N. Hayes can be reached via email at EverNHayes@yahoo.com

Book 1: Emergency Exit was written in 72 days, but took 29 draft revisions (and 8 more months) before publication in April 2014. It has since sold almost 27,000 copies and reached #7 on Amazon’s “Most Downloaded Fiction” bestseller list in June 2014.

Book 2: Redemption was written in 80 days, but took 17 draft revisions (and 5 more months) before publication in November 2014. First returns (Professional feedback from bloggers and MAXIM Magazine) indicate that Redemption raised the bar on the original. I would love to know what you think. EverNHayes@yahoo.com