Alex Morgan

In the 22nd century, Earth has been harvested by a race of aliens known as the Xini. In the aftermath, all the planet’s resources have been stripped. Dakota sets out from Dallas in search of his lover, Grayson, who vanished on his way to St. Louis after the invading fleet departed.<br><br>Dakota faces unknown dangers in the devastated plains of northern Texas and southern Oklahoma as scavengers -- human beings reduced to shells after the Harvesting -- roam the earth attacking anything that moves in an effort to survive.<br><br>He finds a group of survivors struggling in what little remains of Oklahoma City, led by the tough, handsome Colonel Welch. While Mother Nature unleashes a fury of natural disasters to purge herself of the Xini rape, Dakota must decide whether to stay with the colonel and help him make the colony viable, or continue onto St. Louis to find Grayson.

Harvested

Dakota fired his weapon as the monster swung downward. The rifle butt made contact as the blast hit him. He fell backward and Howie went for this throat with a snarl.


The creature tried to push the dog away but Howie was too quick. The man’s sounds died in his throat with a gurgling noise. Then he was quiet.


Dakota raced to Beth’s side, but it was too late. She lay unmoving, her skull bashed in. 


“Grandma!” Chip shrieked from behind him. He had just come around the hill, carrying the lantern. The bright light cast an eerie glow on Beth’s ruined head. Dakota jumped up and ran toward him.


“Don’t come any closer, Chip. There’s nothing you can do for her.” Dakota grabbed him and held him close.


“No! I’ve got to get help her! Grandma!” Chip continued screaming, coming close to hysterics. Dakota lifted him off the ground and hustled him back around the hill out of sight of his grandmother’s body.


Chapter 11