1. Turbulent. Beth Langston, Maddie’s mother was in San Diego, California visiting her dying mother after dropping Maddie off at the San Diego airport. Maddie Langston was now in the Chicago O’Hare International Airport waiting for her connecting flight to take her home to St. Louis, Missouri. Zach Langston and his classmates were in Marshall, Illinois returning from a field trip to Washington D.C… At 3:30 pm a nuclear EMP went off above the United States. All power and electronics shut down creating panic and chaos everywhere. Maddie met the Andrews family; Rob, April, and their young daughter Emma, joining them for safety and to escape the chaos at the airport. The response from the President was for everyone to remain in place. Escaping from the airport, Maddie was soon on her own with Emma due to Rob and April interfering where they shouldn’t have. The initial nuclear strikes came from North Korea, Russia, China, and Iran creating the EMP. Some ICBM missiles were shot down, but some got through. Officials at FEMA were prepared for an EMP of “normal” strength, but not a Super EMP. Half the equipment that was assured to survive did not. In a matter of hours, not days, the country resembled The Wild, Wild West. The story switches between the three Langston family members in different locations. A couple of them eventually reunite.

2. Hunted. Maddie, Emma, the big white dog Conner, and Maddie’s brother Zach all arrived at their Uncle Ryan’s farm in Marseilles, Illinois. It was such a relief to them to finally be with family again and feel safe. With more ex-military friends arriving at Ryan’s farm the story now switched between Ryan and Beth in California. Beth had had no contact with any of her family and did not know where any of them were. She only knew where they had once been. If Beth was traveling at all, she would be headed home. Illinois FEMA Officials were busy consolidating supplies and equipment; not only consolidating but shutting down shelters to recoup, a.k.a. steal, those supplies as well. Local officials were refusing to turn over supplies to FEMA and DHS, conserving supplies for their people. Believing Ryan’s people were part of a group that raided a FEMA underground warehouse, National Guard soldiers attacked the farm. Ryan, his ex-military friends, Maddie, and Zach fled the burning farm and headed to Missouri via the river. Their destination was St. Clair where Maddie’s father had a storage garage in town and a cabin nearby in Evening Shade. The rest of Ryan’s group finally showed up at Langston Cabin and they are all together again.

3. Turmoil. Six days into the apocalypse the issue of prisons and penitentiaries reared its ugly head. Minimum security prisoners had been released by the governor of the state. What to do with, much less feed the maximum security prisoners became the issue. Military MRE supplies, port-a-potty equipment, and soldiers were dispatched to help guard the prisoners. Eventually, hard decisions would have to be made by the government. Twelve days in, Beth and her friend Roger had made it to the Kingman Compound in Kingman, Arizona where a large group of survivors and ex-military resided. During an attack on the compound, Roger went out to help the patrols and disappeared. Did the Cartel take prisoners or was he dead? Former Marine Maria told Beth she would help her get home to her children and they left. Trouble befalls them of course and they wind up being taken in by a religious cult order. Ryan’s group at Langston Cabin in Evening Shade was settling in, gathering supplies, fortifying, and introducing survival training. Convict squatters appear in the county. Local law enforcement is almost nonexistent, so people from Langston Cabin pitch in to remove the intruders. The remaining 400 prisoners at the maximum security South Central Prison are still an issue, especially now that the governor wants to pull the military off of guard duty. Opportunity smiled upon Beth and Maria allowing them to escape and finally make their way to Langston Cabin. Now they were all reunited; thirteen people and three dogs.

4. Uprising. The group at Langston Cabin is pulled every way; protecting their cabin, protecting and removing supplies from Ron’s homestead, and dealing with the local or convict intruders that appeared every day. Local officials confiscated food supplies from FEMA stockpiles setting up their dictatorships. Local civilians were starving, creating problems for everyone. Leadership had to be established to set things straight. Once again, Langston Cabin stepped up to help. The local dictator had to be dealt with and the South Central Prison threat had to be eliminated.