“Do I know you?” I ask. “Have we met before?”
“No,” the man says.
“Are you with the militia?” Uriah demands.
“No.”
“National Guard? Coast Guard? Navy?”
“Refugee,” the man continues.
He takes his hat off, revealing a mop of dirty, silvery hair. A barrage of images rushes through my mind, snapshots and pictures, newsreels and Internet videos. I’ve seen this man before. He is familiar to me because I know him—because we all do, from a time before the Collapse, before the world lost all structure and sense of cohesion.
Something between shock and fear courses through my body at this realization.
“Mr. President?” I whisper.
I lower my gun.
“It’s about time,” he replies.
Epilogue
Always, there is the temptation to give up.
It would be so much easier than fighting. The pain and the horror that this war has inflicted upon this world—and upon my home—is almost too much to bear at times. Yet I cannot reconcile myself with the idea of defeat. It is not something that I can accept. Somewhere, burning deep in the recesses of my damaged heart, there is a cord of steel commitment.
If I don’t fight for what’s right—who will?
If we don’t stand against the impossible—what will be left?
I don’t pretend to harbor ideas of a positive outcome. I knew the possibility of death when I signed up for the war, when I took a gun into my hands for the first time and made the decision that I would resist, resist, resist. That, no matter what was said to me or against me, I would not waver.
The silent, unbreakable vow to sacrifice my very life for my home, and for my friends.
What is left of the girl from yesterday? Is she truly gone, banished forever to a fantasy world called innocence?She lives inside me, somewhere. The girl has been outgrown, surpassed by the fighter and the warrior, the lover and the leader.
I accept this, for without this new woman, I could not survive.
So, what future do we all have here, in this new world consecrated by rivers of blood and pyres of burning bodies? What chance do we have to propel ourselves to victory, to avoid turning this planet into a blackened shell through the fires of nuclear war?
I do not know.
But I do know that I am not done yet. I have not yet finished my part in this drama, this final struggle for freedom. I have pledged my life to this fight.
I will remain loyal until the end.
I will stand until the final act is played out, even if I am the last person who remains.
My allegiance is unbreakable.
To Be Concluded In
State of Hope
Book #10 of the Collapse Series
More Titles from Summer Lane:
The Collapse Series
State of Emergency
State of Chaos
State of Rebellion
State of Pursuit
State of Alliance
State of Vengeance
State of Destruction
State of Fear
State of Allegiance
State of Hope
The Zero Trilogy
Day Zero
Day One
End of Day
The Bravo Saga
Bravo: Apocalypse Mission
Bravo: Blood Road
Graphic Companions
Collapse: The Illustrated Guide
And the standalone hit:
Unbreakable SEAL
Civilization, gone. Society, collapsed.
The apocalypse rules all, and mankind struggles for survival.
But there was a dog, and his name was Bravo.
Available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
The Zero Trilogy
Elle is just your average teenager…until the apocalypse destroys her world. Join her fight for survival in a world gone wild, featuring Bravo the bomb dog.
One girl. One dog. One sword.
Explore the universe of Summer Lane’s Collapse with this eye-catching Illustrated Guide!
About the Author
Summer Lane is the #1 bestselling author of the Collapse Series, Zero Trilogy, Bravo Saga, Collapse: The Illustrated Guide and the adventure thriller, Unbreakable SEAL.
Summer owns WB Publishing. She is an accomplished journalist and creative writing teacher. She also owns an online magazine, Writing Belle, where she has interviewed and worked with countless authors from around the globe.
Summer lives in the Central Valley of California with her husband, where she enjoys reading, collecting tea, visiting the beach and the mountains, and counting down the days until she has her very own puppy (if you’ve read Bravo: Apocalypse Mission, you’ll understand).
Connect with Summer online at:
Summerlaneauthor.com
WritingBelle.com
Twitter: @SummerEllenLane
Facebook: @SummerLaneAuthor
Email Summer with thoughts or comments at:
summerlane101@gmail.com
Acknowledgements
This is the 16th acknowledgement page I’ve written, and sometimes I find that a little hard to believe. No book is ever possible without some help along the way. I have editors and artists and publicity peeps whom I work with to make my job move a little more fluidly than if I were doing everything myself – and trust me, I’ve been there! I have great help. My husband listens to me prattle on about story ideas, my own father looks at my writing and gives me his opinion, my editors read through my manuscripts and pick through it with patience that I no longer possess by the time I’m on the sixth or seventh draft, and my steaming mug of coffee helps me get through the long, cold mornings of writing during the dreary winter weather (How’s that for a run-on sentence?).
State of Allegiance is the stepping stone for the final Collapse installment, State of Hope. This doesn’t mean that Cassidy’s story will be ending there. It simply means I’m running out of title ideas that work with State of. Seriously, though! State of Crazy Plot Points just doesn’t cut it, right? Just kidding, just kidding. This particular series will be tied up with a neat little bow. Expect Hope to be the longest Collapse book I’ve ever written. I am working to create a worthy culmination for Cassidy Hart’s personal character development, and the comrades that have surrounded her since book one and two. I cannot part with the characters that I have spent so many years perfecting, and so while the next book might be the end of the road for some storylines, that doesn’t mean it’s the end for all (I hope this gives you hope!).
Thank you to everyone who helped polish this installment up – to my editors, especially. This book was fun to write because I found myself unable to end the story. I had so many ideas in my head, I quite literally had to choose a stopping point. I’m so glad that there will be one more book – there is so much yet to discover! You’re not going to believe where Hope will take our beloved characters.
This is my 16th novel. Because of readers like you, this is my 16th bestseller, too. I am so grateful! It is stunning to me how many people enjoy Cassidy’s story and root for her. To think that Cassidy began as little more than a lost, sarcastic teenager from the city. Look at her now! I love her organic transformation from girl to woman, from child to leader. She’s a kick-butt heroine. I adore her, and everything she stands for: standing up for what’s right, doing the hard thing, protecting the people she loves and never stopping until she’s completed the mission. I think we can all learn from that.
I’d also like to give a quick shout-out to Steven J. Catizone, who has helped me to design every cover for every book I’ve ever written aside from the Illustrated Guide (2015). How cool is that?
As always, I am grateful to God, from whom all blessings flow. A lot of people ask me how I can manage to publish so many books and get so much work done every year. My answer? Because God gives
me the energy, the focus and the creativity to get it done. I give all the credit to Him, because without Him, I am nothing.
Thank you for reading. I can’t wait to share Allegiance with you in the summer of 2017.
Isaiah 45:23
I have sworn by my own name; I have spoken the truth, and I will never go back on my word: Every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will confess allegiance to me.
Table of Contents
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thriteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Epilogue
More Titles from Summer Lane
About the Author
Acknowledgements