Summer Lane - Day Zero

She crawled to the other side of the jeep, away from Pix’s body. She stood again and stared at the hood of the jeep. It had been spray painted with gold stars. Georgia, Flash and Jay were nowhere in sight.

The militias couldn’t have done this , Elle thought. They would never kill innocent people. They’re meant to defend us from Omega.

Something had happened.

Elle looked at the freeway. Thick, rubbery tire tracks led away from the scene of destruction. An Omega Humvee was lying on its side, blown apart. A dead Omega soldier was lying on the ground. Elle didn’t move, afraid to get near the vehicle.

A militia group must have stopped Omega, Elle deduced.

Omega had clearly found the children. They had succeeded in killing at least two of them, until a militia group — at least that’s what Elle assumed they were — stopped them. But where were the other kids?

Taken. The militia must have taken them .

But why?

Elle studied the tracks on the road.

And she started following them.

The old man shoved his flight cap into the pocket of his leather jacket. The wind whipped his gray hair into circles as he climbed out of the seat of an aged biplane. He could taste the salt in the air. The spray of the ocean waves hitting the rocks.

“Manny?”

The old man turned, his face dissolving into a maze of wrinkles.

“Cassidy,” he said. “What is it, my girl?”

The woman was small, dressed in combat fatigues. Red hair fluttered against the breeze. “You’re not going to believe this,” the woman said. “But I think we found your niece.”

Manny’s hand dropped to his side, limp.

“Elle?” he said.

The woman nodded.

Book One: State of Emergency

Book Two: State of Chaos

Book Three: State of Rebellion

Book Four: State of Pursuit

Book Five: State of Alliance (COMING JANUARY 2015)

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Day Zero

Day One: COMING MARCH 2015

End of Day: COMING OCTOBER 2015

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Day Zero is different than The Collapse Series in that it shows the survival situation of the most average citizens: children. These kids are not militia members, not snipers, not Navy SEALs. They are the average of the average — the nerdy, the troubled and the self-conscious.

After visiting Hollywood and Santa Monica many times, I wondered what one of the most glamorous urban hotspots on earth would look like after the apocalypse. In Day Zero, I found my answer.

I would like to thank my best editor and critic, Don Lane, for his help in getting this book into the world. It is always very important to me to remind my readers that these books would not be the quality that they are without his help.

Thanks to my brother, Rocklin, and my mother, Kathy, for their endless support. Thanks to James and Janice White, to Ellen Mansoor Collier and to my grandparents, Pete and Nancy Petinak. Thank you, Scott, for making me laugh. I love you. The blogging world, of course, has been such a huge help in keeping The Collapse Series selling in continents around the world, and I am forever grateful for the support of the reading and writing community.

I’m also full of thankfulness to the local community in which I live, who has supported me as a writer since State of Emergency released in January 2013. THANK YOU READERS — you are amazing, and I love hearing from you. Your notes and inquiries every week are so much fun to read, and I love talking with you.

Thank you Jesus for blessing me with the life of a writer, and for giving me the inspiration to pen adventure stories. I love working as a writer. I love teaching writing, I love writing about writing, and I love entertaining people through the medium of the written word. Thank you, Lord! It’s all from you.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Not as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

Summer Lane is the author of the national bestselling Collapse Series, which currently includes State of Emergency, State of Chaos, State of Rebellion and State of Pursuit . The fifth installment, State of Alliance, is releasing January 2015. Summer is also the author of the novella adventures of The Zero Trilogy and an upcoming survivalist/science fantasy series that will release in 2015. She owns WB Publishing, Writing Belle Magazine, and is an accomplished creative writing teacher and journalist.

Summer lives in the Central Valley of California, where she spends her time writing, teaching, and writing some more. When she is not writing, she enjoys leisurely visits with friends at coffee shops, dates to the movies, hiking in the mountains and strolling on the beach.

Copyright 2014

WB Publishing

All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except to quote in reviews or interviews, without the express permission of the author. Any unauthorized distribution of this body of work is illegal and punishable by law.

This is a work of fiction. Any parallel to persons alive or dead is purely coincidental and is not intended by the author.