Pulse: Retaliation (Anisakis Nova Book 2) by Eloise J. Knapp Page B

children, roommate. 
    Chelsea. Awesome chick, girlfriend.
    Felix, Marita, Desi. EMT, gardener, family.
    Jeremy, Katrina. Couple.
     
    What surprised Dom the most was that many of the people he and his roommates had on their lists didn't want to come. To Dom, what they were trying to do was a no-brainer. Yet the answers trended towards the same general consensus; they were crazy. The chances of surviving in the wilderness was less than the city.
    A large portion of people honestly believed the government would step in again and handle it. One guy even claimed he heard a rumor about MAC being dispersed into the water and air, curing everyone.
    The latter sounded absurd. To the former, Dom reasoned that they did try that and it was unsuccessful, but didn't push the subject. If someone believed they could be saved by an unseen force, they weren't the right kind of people for the group.
    Others thought the idea of a safe haven off grid was insane. How would they build shelters? How would they get food, medical attention, supplies, and every other convenience they wanted?
    Dom scoffed at that. They weren't getting most of those things now. Those were petty excuses to mask their fear.
    What didn't surprise Dom was the type of person who did want to come. Many of them had self-reliant hobbies or traits. They were already survivalists.
    He was excited and grateful to have every one of them on the team.
    There were a handful of people unaccounted for that they weren't able to ask. Wayne took the job of checking their apartments every few hours in case they returned.
    While Dom was still scared and intimidated, after they talked to the new people he was feeling more confident. Cat had an SUV that seated 7 people and Magnus had a minivan that seated 7.
    With the recent additions to the group, Dom realized they needed more time to prepare. Everyone attended a meeting where they discussed what they should bring and were tasked out accordingly. Instead of leaving in a few days, they extended it to whenever they were adequately prepared, but no longer than an extra week and a half. There was an understanding that if the danger level in their area became too risky, they would leave, whether they were ready for their new lives or not.
     
     

17 – The Infected
    Washington State: 47% Infected
     
    As Bill Valenzuela stared at the lifeless MAC distribution center, he thought of what he'd seen on the news about infecteds snatching people up and carting them away to some terrible secret place.
    Well, he didn't know for sure if it was terrible since it was secret. He assumed it was. There was no way those crazy sick people were taking them to Disneyland. Based on what he'd seen on TV, they were torturing them, raping them, and killing them. Any bad thing he could imagine, they were doing. It sickened him.
    There was no one looking out for him but him. He grew up thinking that and it helped get him through. But once he got married to the love of his life, things shifted. Then, when he started having children, and his kids had children, everything changed. He had to look out for his whole family. He'd do anything for them.
    That was why they all lived on Bainbridge Island in Washington. It was just isolated enough to be a comfortable, safe place to live, but they could visit the cities if they had any desire to. They had a lot of property their grandkids could roam and be free on. They grew most of their own food, including chickens and goats. They could provide for themselves most everything they needed.
    The only thing they didn't have was MAC.
    Just thinking of it made his heart knot up and tears well in his eyes. His son-in-law Eugene went to get much needed medical supplies from the mainland. It was there he was infected. He returned to the island sick before falling into a coma. When he woke up, he had the intent to kill every last one of the Valenzuela family. Bill put Eugene down himself after that. One clean shot to the head after his