Burn District:A Short Story Prequel to Burn District the Series

By Suzanne Jenkins

A few years ago, my husband became obsessed with preparing for a disaster after watching the Doomsday Prepper series. We spent a small fortune on food, fifty-gallon drums he filled with water, a generator, gasoline and other supplies. We had a water well, but lived near Lake Michigan, just in case. Thankfully, he got over the obsession, but not before I started to imagine a life unlike the one we know in the US. I imagined running with my family, literally dodging aircraft dropping bombs, probably similar to the horrors of war in the Middle East now. What if that happened where you live?
My fictional family, Laura and Mike Davis and their children are a standard, two-income suburban family on the east coast. Something that sets them apart is their son Junior, who was born with Downs Syndrome. Junior is an integral part of the cast of characters and as the series progresses, plays an important role in the well being of the family.
A catastrophe propels the family to run for their lives. Fortunately, they have a destination; Laura’s father owns a remote ranch in the Arizona desert. There, with friends and extended family, they will attempt to build a life safe from the ravages of political unrest.
I loved writing this book! The second novel in the series, Burn District 2 will be released this summer 2015.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Suzanne Jenkins
• Release date: May 6, 2015
• ISBN: 9781310797101

Suzanne Jenkins

A retired operating room nurse, Jenkins lives in Southern California.

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Burn District: A Short Story

by

Suzanne Jenkins

Copyright © 2014 by

Suzanne Jenkins. All rights reserved.

Created in digital format in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations in blog posts and articles and in reviews.

Burn District: Short Story is a complete and total work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Where familiar places are mentioned, it is in a completely fictitious manner.

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Leaving Pennsylvania

On a normal day, I would’ve never allowed my children to go near Route One on foot. Last night, in the middle of rush hour and scared to death, we ran across the road holding hands, straddling the concrete center median to get over to the other side. My husband, Mike, was meeting us at the Wal-Mart parking lot; I prayed he’d be there. At Wal-Mart, we’d be far enough away to be safe in case Pete’s calculations were wrong.

Mike didn’t want to pick up his parents, Randy and Carol, but I insisted. I needed his mother with us. He said they’d be okay on their own, but since we had no way of communicating, not able to use our phone or the internet once we left, I was afraid we’d miss our meeting place. We needed to move together as a unit. Visceral wisdom had told me we would clear out soon, so after work everyday I’d packed food and clothing into the van and trailer. We would leave the rest of our life behind.

Prophetically, our neighbor showed up at our door after dinner. Pete was a wonderful friend.

You have to leave now, he whispered with urgency.

Bright eyed and