Fire from the Sky Series by N.C. Reed

Post-Apocalyptic Fiction by N.C. Reed Clayton Sanders left home the minute he had his high school diploma in hand. He waited that long only because the Army wouldn't accept him without one. Now, ten years later, he's home. Home with no warning, no advance notice, no anything after being gone ten years with almost no contact with his family. Home carrying a secret that is burning him up from the inside... morePost-Apocalyptic Fiction by N.C. Reed Clayton Sanders left home the minute he had his high school diploma in hand. He waited that long only because the Army wouldn't accept him without one. Now, ten years later, he's home. Home with no warning, no advance notice, no anything after being gone ten years with almost no contact with his family. Home carrying a secret that is burning him up from the inside. A secret that has pushed him to the brink, forcing him to become a criminal in order to be where his family needs him to be, even though they don't realize it yet. Because Clayton knows something they don't. Something that hasn't happened, but will. Something that will burn everything it touches. And change the face of the world forever. PROLOGUE They didn't have real names.Well, they had them of course. They just didn't use them. Not here. They were known by names their comrades had chosen. Names that suited their personalities. Names that only mattered to them. The men of CTG 31 were the kind of men that didn't exist in the modern, civilized world. There was no place for them in an enlightened society. Except when that society needed them. They were the kind of men who visited dark places in the middle of the night, doing violence to those who preyed on the weak and the helpless. Rough men, yes, but honorable. They had a code of their own, these men, and they lived by it as if it were a writ from a Higher Authority. No one broke that code, that set of unwritten rules that kept them from sliding over the edge. Kept them from becoming like those they hunted. Like those they were pursuing right now. “We're about twenty, maybe twenty-five minutes behind, Boss-man” The man known as Boss-man stopped, hand raised in a fist. Those following halted and spread out without being told. “Status?” Boss-man asked tersely. He was angry. They were all angry. Something they had to guard against in their business. Keeping things strict and orderly helped. “Still on the trail for now,” the scout replied. “Continue,” Boss-man ordered and waved his hand forward. The squad of men behind him began moving again. They were in a hurry today. Before dawn a group of terrorists had attacked a small village that the squad had befriended. Or that had befriended them. The men of CTG 31 weren't sure which was the case. They did know that the people of the small village known as Home had become their friends. The village had become a place where they could relax, even if only slightly, and be people for just a few hours at a time. A place of sanity in a world that had lost it's own. And that place had been violated. People they knew had been killed. Children they had grown to care for taken, herded toward a fate that no one in their group wanted to consider. Someone had to pay for that. Someone would pay for that. Dearly. They had been in pursuit for hours, running the entire way. Hard men who pushed themselves to be harder still, banking that toughness against a day like today. A day of reckoning. Had the attackers known the kind of men they were offending, it's entirely possible they would not have committed the atrocity. They were not brave men, these thugs known as terrorists. By nature terrorists were cowards, using fear and intimidation to force their will upon those too weak to resist them. But they hadn't known, and so they had attacked a place that was sacred to this squad of hard, violent men. And in so doing had assured that they, themselves, would not see another day on this mortal plane. Time meant nothing as they ran. There was only the objective and nothing else. A dozen pairs of eyes roamed the country around them, missing nothing as they moved. less

By the most ludicrous of means, Special Ops Soldier Clayton Sanders had a warning that something was going to happen to the world. Clay prepared for the worst, but just because you're well prepared doesn't mean everything is going to be okay. Clay has faced some of the worst humanity has to offer in all parts of the world, but now he is faced with something much worse than terrorists. His family... moreBy the most ludicrous of means, Special Ops Soldier Clayton Sanders had a warning that something was going to happen to the world. Clay prepared for the worst, but just because you're well prepared doesn't mean everything is going to be okay. Clay has faced some of the worst humanity has to offer in all parts of the world, but now he is faced with something much worse than terrorists. His family. Having returned home at great cost to himself, Clay has prepared his family as best he could in secret, but now that the crap has actually hit the fan, things aren't going as he had hoped. Having planned for his family to shelter in place at their farm and ride out the worst of the disaster, that plan goes completely haywire within days and doesn't get any better. Forced by his family's actions to abandon his initial plan, Clay and his friends must adapt quickly and make a new plan on the fly. Faced with armed gangs and a leader who shocks them all, how will things play out for Clay and the others? Especially when his own family members can't seem to remember the plan and continuously make things hard on him and the rest? less

The world has stopped turning. Well, most things in the world have stopped turning, anyway. Clay Sanders, his friends and his family thought they were prepared for the immense Coronal Mass Ejection that literally turned off the lights in most of the world, turning First World nations into pre-industrial nations in a matter of hours. No more phones, television, motor vehicles, radios, or GPS... moreThe world has stopped turning. Well, most things in the world have stopped turning, anyway. Clay Sanders, his friends and his family thought they were prepared for the immense Coronal Mass Ejection that literally turned off the lights in most of the world, turning First World nations into pre-industrial nations in a matter of hours. No more phones, television, motor vehicles, radios, or GPS. The United States has gone from following the most popular celebrities on social media and worrying about the latest fashions to simply trying to survive. The winter has been relatively quiet for the Sanders clan and their new neighbors, and they have used that time to firm up their plans and their position. They are confident now that they are on the right track. Gordy Sanders and his friends have trained all winter long under brutal conditions to join the former commandos of Clay's old army unit and are now ready to test their skills. Their first outing finds them in a fight against apparent raiders molesting a small family a few miles from the ranch. But there are much bigger problems on the horizon that will make that trial look immaterial in comparison. Things are about to heat up around the Sanders ranch, and winter hasn't even officially ended yet! less

Fire From the Sky: Book 5: Home Fires Publisher's note: The paperback version of this title is ASIN: 0692193936. Thank you. “No plan survives contact with the enemy.” An age old idiom that Clay Sanders knows very well. In this case however, it's surviving contact with the people who are supposed to be on his side. Family that can't accept the reality of their new situation, soldiers who follow orders selectively, and 'friends' who essentially sell you down the river... moreFire From the Sky: Book 5: Home Fires Publisher's note: The paperback version of this title is ASIN: 0692193936. Thank you. “No plan survives contact with the enemy.” An age old idiom that Clay Sanders knows very well. In this case however, it's surviving contact with the people who are supposed to be on his side. Family that can't accept the reality of their new situation, soldiers who follow orders selectively, and 'friends' who essentially sell you down the river. No one ever said the end of the modern world would be boring or uneventful. Clay has to deal with betrayals, attitude problems, shifting blame and idealist natures that all threaten to undermine the long months of preparation for the troubling times they now live in. Preparations that cost a fortune and tried to anticipate every need of the small number of people he had planned on living at the Sanders farms, not the growing number of people actually living there thanks to events he can't seem to get control of. The 'Citizen's committee' is still out there somewhere, there's a nutty 'Reverend' working the airwaves into a frenzy, there are disgruntled members of the community sowing discord and strife, apparent rogue nomadic elements of some kind that are raiding any place that still has food or resources, cannibals that are still active in their area, and because of certain betrayals they now have to step up training of every individual on the farm from the age of sixteen on up just to be able to protect themselves. Clay just might have had enough of trying to protect a farm full of people that apparently don't want to be protected, even if a lot of them are his own family. And then, there's that radio call. . . . less

You can now pre-order Book 7! Amazon ASIN: B07RYFTVLY Post-Apocalyptic Fiction by N.C. Reed Clayton Sanders left home the minute he had his high school diploma in hand. He waited that long only because the Army wouldn't accept him without one. Now, ten years later, he's home. Home with no warning, no advance notice, no anything after being gone ten years with almost no contact with his family. Home carrying a secret that is burning him up from the inside... moreYou can now pre-order Book 7! Amazon ASIN: B07RYFTVLY Post-Apocalyptic Fiction by N.C. Reed Clayton Sanders left home the minute he had his high school diploma in hand. He waited that long only because the Army wouldn't accept him without one. Now, ten years later, he's home. Home with no warning, no advance notice, no anything after being gone ten years with almost no contact with his family. Home carrying a secret that is burning him up from the inside. A secret that has pushed him to the brink, forcing him to become a criminal in order to be where his family needs him to be, even though they don't realize it yet. Because Clayton knows something they don't. Something that hasn't happened, but will. Something that will burn everything it touches. And change the face of the world forever. Book Six: Friendly Fire Friendly fire. Two words no soldier ever wants to hear. Having ended the threat of his father's oldest enemy and the group he controlled, Clayton Sanders believes he can finally put his feet up a bit and relax. Figuratively of course, since there is no relaxing on a farm and ranch. But some peace and quiet will be greatly appreciated and welcome. Too bad he won't get it. With the remainder of his old team on their way, Clay starts to think he might be able to breathe easier. Sure, they did say they were running from a big problem out west, but that's out west, right? No reason to worry about that. True, there's still that nutty end times guy on the radio, but he's more comic relief than anything else at this point. Still, it does remind him that he has heard no news from outside their immediate area, forcing him to rethink his initial plans for isolation of the farm from others. On the whole, however, it seems that trouble is a distant problem for the moment. But his friends find trouble much closer to home as they make their journey to join Clay and the rest at the ranch, uncovering a threat that Clay hadn't known existed. Their arrival also awakens old prejudices and attitudes that will lead to a fracture among the ranch residents, and that fracture will in turn bring vicious enmity among people who had been friends only days before. That fracture will do what multiple attacks by greater numbers has failed to accomplish; divide a strong and independent group of survivors while taking their attention from the real threats to their safety, even as the farm takes the first steps in reaching out to others, attempting to help the town of Jordan to get on its feet, able to feed and defend itself once more. After all they've been through, after all they've endured and dealt with, conflict from within may well be what breaks them. The damage that comes from within, friendly fire, could well do more to cripple them than anything that has come from outside thus far. One thing is universal it seems; friendly fire. . .isn't. less

Post-Apocalyptic Fiction by N.C. Reed Clayton Sanders left home the minute he had his high school diploma in hand. He waited that long only because the Army wouldn't accept him without one. Now, ten years later, he's home. Home with no warning, no advance notice, no anything after being gone ten years with almost no contact with his family. Home carrying a secret that is burning him up from the inside... morePost-Apocalyptic Fiction by N.C. Reed Clayton Sanders left home the minute he had his high school diploma in hand. He waited that long only because the Army wouldn't accept him without one. Now, ten years later, he's home. Home with no warning, no advance notice, no anything after being gone ten years with almost no contact with his family. Home carrying a secret that is burning him up from the inside. A secret that has pushed him to the brink, forcing him to become a criminal in order to be where his family needs him to be, even though they don't realize it yet. Because Clayton knows something they don't. Something that hasn't happened, but will. Something that will burn everything it touches. And change the face of the world forever. EXCERPT FROM HOSTILE FIRE PROLOGUE William Shirley watched as the people he had assembled for what others were calling a 'reconnaissance in force' gathered their equipment and shook down their ranks. He had combined three different 'squads' into a new platoon of thirty-one people, adding that force to an established platoon of thirty-five more. They would head north in a small string of vehicles that included a school bus to investigate the situation north of the Alabama-Tennessee state line. Shirley's group, the self-entitled 'North Alabama People's Militia' had lost a great deal of personnel and equipment in that area and he wanted to know why and to who. It was inevitable that the group would have to head north at some point in search of supplies. They had stripped their own area nearly bare over the last few months and moving too far south was out of the question. While he considered Decatur to be part of their 'territory', moving any further south than that risked a confrontation with the gangs of Birmingham, something his group lacked the strength for. There had already been a few skirmishes between the two groups and Shirley was determined to avoid any more clashes with such a large and vicious outfit. So north it was, into rural middle Tennessee. The area immediately north of the line should be safe enough and resource rich. That area was full of farms and livestock operations that should yield a good amount of food for his operation, and he meant to have it. If they waited too long then someone stronger, either from Nashville or perhaps Chattanooga might move into the area and declare it theirs. If the Militia wanted that territory and the goods it might provide, they had to act soon. And tomorrow should be soon enough. Sixty-six heavily armed 'troops' would move north and keep moving until they found opposition or else found something worth sending word for trucks to carry it back to the compound. If he was lucky, they would also find out who had killed his niece and his fellow board member's son. He looked forward to that. When he found whoever had killed his people he would show them what a mistake they had made. less

Post-Apocalyptic Fiction by N.C. Reed Doom. Devastation. Death. Destruction. It seems that no matter what direction he looks, Clay Sanders can see little else. He has tried to maintain at least a small oasis of safety for the people closest to him, but that bubble is constantly threatened by those who want it for themselves, or else want to deny it to Clay and his family and friends, even though it belongs to them... morePost-Apocalyptic Fiction by N.C. Reed Doom. Devastation. Death. Destruction. It seems that no matter what direction he looks, Clay Sanders can see little else. He has tried to maintain at least a small oasis of safety for the people closest to him, but that bubble is constantly threatened by those who want it for themselves, or else want to deny it to Clay and his family and friends, even though it belongs to them. The farm has already suffered, but what they have seen thus far has been nothing but a warm up. Things are about to reach a new level and there is absolutely nothing Clay or his friends can do to stop it, or even slow it down. Clay knows that, as do the other former soldiers. The others are about to learn it the hard way. Friends will betray, family will suffer, brothers will bleed and die. Hard work and sacrifice will be lost to hard feelings, envy and strife. Bridges built since the catastrophe will crash and burn, destroyed by lies and mistrust and not a little jealousy and a great deal of entitlement. Even at the end of the world as we know it there are some who seem to think the world revolves around them and no one else. Trouble is on the horizon, even though another brand of trouble is already staring them in the eyes. Even as they try to build up, there are others waiting to set it afire. But the farm's enemies are about to learn that nothing burns like hellfire. EXCERPT William Shirley watched as the people he had assembled for what others were calling a 'reconnaissance in force' gathered their equipment and shook down their ranks. He had combined three different 'squads' into a new platoon of thirty-one people, adding that force to an established platoon of thirty-five more. They would head north in a small string of vehicles that included a school bus to investigate the situation north of the Alabama-Tennessee state line. Shirley's group, the self-entitled 'North Alabama People's Militia' had lost a great deal of personnel and equipment in that area and he wanted to know why and to who. It was inevitable that the group would have to head north at some point in search of supplies. They had stripped their own area nearly bare over the last few months and moving too far south was out of the question. While he considered Decatur to be part of their 'territory', moving any further south than that risked a confrontation with the gangs of Birmingham, something his group lacked the strength for. There had already been a few skirmishes between the two groups and Shirley was determined to avoid any more clashes with such a large and vicious outfit. So north it was, into rural middle Tennessee. The area immediately north of the line should be safe enough and resource rich. That area was full of farms and livestock operations that should yield a good amount of food for his operation, and he meant to have it. If they waited too long then someone stronger, either from Nashville or perhaps Chattanooga might move into the area and declare it theirs. If the Militia wanted that territory and the goods it might provide, they had to act soon. And tomorrow should be soon enough. Sixty-six heavily armed 'troops' would move north and keep moving until they found opposition or else found something worth sending word for trucks to carry it back to the compound. If he was lucky, they would also find out who had killed his niece and his fellow board member's son. He looked forward to that. When he found whoever had killed his people he would show them what a mistake they had made. less

Post-Apocalyptic Fiction by N.C. ReedClay Sanders and company have not had the easiest time since the lights went out. Granted, much of their troubles are self-inflicted, but a lot of them were brought straight to their door by crooks and strongarm types in equal measure. Things are peaceful for a change around the Sanders’ Farms, however, and Clay barely knows what to do with himself... morePost-Apocalyptic Fiction by N.C. ReedClay Sanders and company have not had the easiest time since the lights went out. Granted, much of their troubles are self-inflicted, but a lot of them were brought straight to their door by crooks and strongarm types in equal measure. Things are peaceful for a change around the Sanders’ Farms, however, and Clay barely knows what to do with himself. There are new trainees being brought up to standard, young women who have already been victimized once and have sworn to never have it happen again. There are gardens and greenhouses bearing fruit, which means as many hands as possible gathering that bounty and socking it away for winter. It will soon be harvest, which means gathering silage and hay from over two thousand acres of land. So while things may be peaceful at the moment, there is plenty to actually do. But nothing lasts forever. A National Guard unit, a real one this time, rolls up to the farm, having taken a wrong turn in their attempt to reach Jordan. By the end of his conversation with their Captain, Clay has invited the entire unit to dinner, eager for any information the Captain can provide and figuring the cost of a meal for a company of soldiers to be cheap enough payment in exchange. The news isn’t very good, though the group themselves are not only well mannered but also grateful. Clay hopes this will be the start of a good friendship with the people who look to be taking responsibility for their region but is cautious. Two things will happen to help cement that relationship. The first is when Clay and a select few others accompany the Captain to Lewiston, providing horses for a patrol of soldiers. The second is an intercepted radio transmission that bears a single word: Brimstone. less

Post-Apocalyptic Fiction by N.C. ReedSo far, the Apocalypse has not gone according to plan. At least, not according to the plan Clay Sanders and his friends had laid out. Things are finally changing, though for better or worse remains to be seen. Clay has agreed to offer what assistance the farm can spare to aid Captain Adcock and his National Guard contingent hoping their presence will help bring order to the area... morePost-Apocalyptic Fiction by N.C. ReedSo far, the Apocalypse has not gone according to plan. At least, not according to the plan Clay Sanders and his friends had laid out. Things are finally changing, though for better or worse remains to be seen. Clay has agreed to offer what assistance the farm can spare to aid Captain Adcock and his National Guard contingent hoping their presence will help bring order to the area. But trouble is brewing to the south and Adcock must take his men and women to Lewiston, where he finds a town reeling beneath multiple deaths from an unseen enemy. Believing this to be the retaliation that the suicidal zealot had called for with his cryptic message of ‘brimstone’, Adcock tries to contain the situation, only to lose men of his own. Turning to Clay for help on a battlefield that is unfamiliar to soldiers trained for armored combat, Lake learns who and what Clay and the others are while all but begging for help. Clay is determined to refuse until the problem turns personal, stirring many of his men to make a move toward Lewiston. As if this isn’t enough of a problem, Captain Adcock’s boss, Major Whitten, decides to visit, expressing concerns with having what he considers a Private Military Contractor, or PMC, running loose in his Area of Operations. Oh, and as a lovely parting gift, Whitten uses his authority as the Regional Commander under the martial law provision to appoint Greg Holloway, the sole surviving member of the Calhoun Sheriff’s Office, as the new Sheriff. An appointment Greg is less than thrilled about. The news they have gotten from Adcock and others has painted a very grim picture indeed to the residents of the farm. Conditions in the larger cities and towns are much worse than even Clay had allowed for and the nation itself is completely crippled. The surviving command structure is unable to communicate with itself or with anyone else and the various services needed to try and rebuild and reestablish order have ceased to function or even exist except possibly on paper. Whatever may remain of the government, wherever they may be, will have an enormous struggle ahead in trying to regain control of the major cities that are rife with violence and atrocities that make Third World nations seem tame. Until, or unless, that happens, the residents of the farm and the area around them are completely on their own. There will be no material assistance for them, no assistance at all other than the occasional presence of Captain Adcock and his team, trying to keep violence to a minimum wherever they can. If the people of Calhoun and the surrounding counties want the return of any kind of civilized society in the new era they now find themselves living in, then it will be up to them to create that society, and to make it work. They know now that it will be the work of years, perhaps decades before any form of organized government on that scale can rise from the ashes of the Fire From the Sky. Their once great nation lies in ruin, all that they have worked for gone in a flash of sunlight. The economy, justice system, public services, all of it will now have to be done by the people themselves or else it won’t be done at all. But even as the friends begin to try and piece together how they can possibly begin rebuilding at least their part of the world into something approaching a working society, one question continues to arise. A burning thought at the back of every mind. Who in their right mind would want to preside over and be responsible for repairing a Damned Nation like the one the U.S. seems to have become? less

Its Thanksgiving on the Sanders Farm.Clayton Sanders and his collection of friends, family and even a few strangers have managed to keep themselves moderately safe in a vicious new world, brought about by the most massive Coronal Mass Ejection ever seen or recorded. Anything electrical and not protected from the surge of power has been completely fried... moreIts Thanksgiving on the Sanders Farm.Clayton Sanders and his collection of friends, family and even a few strangers have managed to keep themselves moderately safe in a vicious new world, brought about by the most massive Coronal Mass Ejection ever seen or recorded. Anything electrical and not protected from the surge of power has been completely fried. Most cars won’t start, the electrical grid has crashed, people with pacemakers in their chests have dropped dead in their tracks, the list goes on and on of things and lives destroyed by an electrical storm that lasted only a few minutes but created a light show that lasted for days. Once the shock wore off, the violence began. Calhoun County has seen rough times, in some ways much rougher than the other rural counties around them. The seat of the county government is a ghost town and the people who have survived three different waves of violence have moved on to what they hope will be greener pastures. Clay and his family have helped as many people as they can but have had to draw the line for now, as they struggle to ensure that their farm and ranch can produce enough food to help feed far more than themselves. Even with a good harvest, they face lean times before the next harvest can be brought in. Helping others has left them with shallow cupboards once more. Still facing problems, the National Guard contingent is trying to restore order, and Greg Holloway has been appointed as the new Sheriff. He faces an uphill battle to reestablish not only law and order, but trust among the surviving citizens for their peace officers, the former officers not having done much to endear themselves to the public. But the Sanders clan and their extended family and friends are about to face a problem much larger than any criminals they’ve had to face. A killer is roaming the highways. A killer that cannot be seen and cannot be fought. Their only hope is to once again cut themselves off from the rest of the world and wait things out. If others will only allow them to. less