Read Sunrise for Free Online

facial hair. He’d lived on a small farm on the outskirts of Warren all his life. His kids were grown and gone—he hadn’t heard from any of them since the volcano had erupted. But he and his wife still lived on their farm—or had, until the invaders from Stockton had driven them out.
    Nylce probably massed less than half of what Lynn did. She was short and slight, in her early twenties. I’d heard from Uncle Paul that her fiance was a salesman for Kussmaul Seeds—he’d been on his route in Nebraska when the volcano blew. Which meant he was almost certainly dead. I had no idea how she’d be in a fight, but she seemed determined enough.
    The next guy I collared, Kyle Henthorn, was more skeptical.
    “Shouldn’t the mayor have a say-so?” he asked.
    “He’s unconscious. Dr. McCarthy had to amputate both his legs. Might not survive.”
    “Hmm, and what’d you say the plan was again?”
    That stumped me. Ben hadn’t mentioned a specific plan. Just the general idea of attacking Stockton, now, while they were still recovering from yesterday’s fight. “I need to talk to Ben. If you decide to help, meet us at the trucks.”
    “You’re going to get military advice from a teenager?” “Yep. Look, I realize you don’t know him, so you’re just going to have to take my word for it. Ben’s probably the smartest person I’ve ever met, and he’s spent basically his whole life studying all things military”
    Kyle shrugged skeptically, and I turned away to look for Ben.
    I found him in the upstairs bedroom of Uncle Paul’s house, asleep. I reached out to shake him awake, stopping when I remembered how much he hated to be touched. Instead, I said his name—over and over, until I was yelling it.
    He finally woke, flailing his arms. “Who is yelling Ben’s name?” he mumbled.
    “It’s me. I need your help.”
    “Ben’s sleep should not be interrupted.” He rolled over so his back was toward me.
    “Your plan for attacking Stockton. I want to try it. But I’m having trouble convincing enough people to join. And we only have three pickups. Is there any way to make it work with only a couple dozen folks?”
    “What time is it?” Ben asked, back still turned. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
    “If the lieutenant wants to know whether he should carry through with his planned attack, he must tell his strategist what the current time is.”
    Oh-kay . . . “I don’t know exactly. Sometime between one and two in the morning, I think.”
    Ben was quiet for a moment. “You should proceed with the attack. With two dozen men—”
    I started to say, “They won’t all be men,” but Ben talked over me.
    “An effective attack can be executed. But it must be done quickly, and the attackers must take the defenders by total surprise. Here is a plan with a good probability of success. . . .”
    As soon as Ben finished explaining his plan, I ran. We had no time to waste. I grabbed a small backpack, a water bottle, and an empty semi-automatic rifle. As I reached the front door, Dr. McCarthy stopped me, laying a hand on my shoulder.
    “I’m in a hurry, Doc,” I said. His eyes were nearly solid red, and his face was slack with exhaustion. “We’re headed to Stockton.”
    “I heard,” he said.
    I tried to turn away.
    Dr. McCarthy held onto my shoulder. “Alex. Haven’t enough people died? Where will it all end?”
    “With us starving to death, if we don’t get our food back.” “I just spent sixteen hours trying to save the people who got shot in the last fight. Most of them died. My overalls were so caked in blood that when I took them off, they stood up on their own. As if I were still in them! How many more people have to die?”
    “What do you suggest? What’re we going to eat? We could eat our dead, I suppose. Do you want to be the one to suggest that to Uncle Paul? To Max and Anna? That they eat their mother?”
    Dr. McCarthy recoiled, drawing his arm back from my shoulder. I bolted out the