Ever N. Hayes
REDEMPTION
“If you’re white and you’re wrong, you’re wrong. If you’re black and you’re wrong, you’re wrong. People are people. Black, blue, pink, green—God makes no rules about color… only society makes such rules. That is why we must have redemption and have it now.”
“EMERGENCY EXIT” Cast Recap
Ryan Miner: 39 years old in 2020. Primary narrator.
Sophie Miner: Died in car accident in 2016.
Danny Miner: 20 years old in 2020. All-State quarterback in high school. Eagle Scout. Cameron’s best friend since childhood. Joined the Marines Special Ops out of high school with Cameron. Recently completed Scout Sniper training at Quantico.
Hayley Miner: 18 years old in 2020. Expert archer.
Logan Miner: Died in 2012 just before his 2nd birthday.
Kate Becker: 21 years old in 2020. Danny’s girlfriend. Pursuing her Education degree.
Jackie Becker: 42 years old in 2020. Kate’s mom. Took Hayley in after Sophie’s death.
Cameron Tatum: 20 years old in 2020. All-State wide receiver in high school. Danny’s best friend since childhood. Joined the Marines Special Ops out of high school with Danny. Recently completed Scout Sniper training at Quantico. Died in mountain lion attack in Emergency Exit.
Jenna Stone: 21 years old in 2020. Kate’s best friend since childhood. Pursuing her Medical degree.
Grandpa Dan: 59 years old in 2020. Former Marine chaplain. Eagle Scout.
Grandma Ollie: 60 years old in 2020. Former teacher. Died on flight to Hawaii in Emergency Exit.
Eddie Bayo: 29 years old in 2020. Captain in the Libyan Army. Military Intelligence background. Promoted to major in Qi Jia’s military.
Lazzo Bayo: 27 years old in 2020. Lieutenant in the Libyan Army. Military Intelligence and Aviation background. Promoted to captain in Qi Jia’s military.
Markus Malik: Eddie’s close personal friend. Killed by Danny in Grand Forks in Emergency Exit.
Wesley Tolbert: Age 62 in 2020. Former Army Corps of Engineers officer and ex-Navy SEAL. Built the cabin and bunker at Devil’s Lake in North Dakota. Died in Colorado flood in Emergency Exit.
Sam Tolbert: Age 26 in 2020. Wesley’s oldest son. Engineering student. Helped his dad build the Devil’s Lake bunker. Now dating Hayley.
Isaac Tolbert: Age 24 in 2020. Wesley’s youngest son. Communications Technology student. Died on flight to Hawaii in Emergency Exit.
Mark “Wooly” Dickson: Age 44 in 2020. Landscaper. Beefy, bald, arrogant jerk from Minnesota. Killed in Devil’s Lake, ND.
Tara West: Age 35 in 2020. Farmer. Was raped in college and got pregnant with Emily. Currently engaged to Ryan. Carrying their child.
Emily West: Age 11 in 2020. Tara’s daughter.
Blake Brady: Age 27 in 2020. Kaci’s older brother. Adopted by his aunt and uncle. Extreme sports fanatic: mountain climbing, river rafting, snowboarding, BASE jumping, etc. Joined the group in Medora, ND.
Nathan Solga: Age 26 in 2020. Blake’s friend. Killed in Cheyenne, WY in Emergency Exit.
Reagan Moore: Age 24 in 2020. Vice President’s daughter. Abbey’s older sister. Martial arts expert. Captured and raped by Qi Jia. Rescued by Danny and Cameron in Estes Park, CO in Emergency Exit.
Vice President Moore: Age 52 in 2020. Ex-Special Forces. Air Force One was shot down and there has been no word from the US President. Moore was acting Commander in Chief until he was captured by Qi Jia. Danny gave him a capsule to kill himself in Emergency Exit.
Abbey Moore: Age 12 in 2020. Vice President’s youngest daughter. Captured by Qi Jia. Rescued by her father and hidden in the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, CO where she was later rescued again—this time by Danny, Cameron, Blake and Hayley.
Omar and Cabo: Two of Eddie’s best men. Killed in their sleep on orders from Qi Jia command after Vice President Moore’s death.
Captain Kubar: Officer in the Qi Jia military that Eddie befriended.
Secret Service Agents Adams, Walker, Deere and Smith: Vice President Moore’s security detail. They were killed protecting his daughter, Abbey at the Stanley Hotel in Colorado.
Russian Commander: One of the seven Qi Jia commanders. Vice President Moore committed suicide on his watch and he pinned the blame on Eddie, leading to Eddie and Lazzo being demoted.
Kaci Brady: Age 26 in 2020. Blake’s younger sister. Had left for their private island in Hawaii before the Qi Jia attacks.
Commander Boli: Highest ranked officer in the Libyan Army and one of the seven commanders of Qi Jia. Direct supervisor of Eddie.
Sergeant Agos: Mexican officer at camp Eddie and Lazzo were reassigned to after their demotions (when Vice President Moore died). Eddie killed him at that camp.
General Roman Roja: Mexico’s highest ranked military officer. Replaced Sergeant Agos at the Buena Vista camp. Led the pursuit of the Americans from Colorado to Lake Powell.
Amadi Ndiaye: The only other African at the Buena Vista camp. He was General Roja’s mole to spy on Eddie and Lazzo until Roja’s attitude towards him caused him to flip. He then helped Eddie and Lazzo save the Americans, before he was killed by Roja’s men.
PROLOGUE
I couldn’t tell you how many times I’d sat in an Adirondack chair on the edge of Redemption Island’s eastern cliff and gazed across the ocean toward mainland America—or what used to be America. Once a day, or night—at least—a Ripken streak of my very own.
I watched for boats on the water. I watched the stars in the sky. I thought. I dreamed. Occasionally I even cried… a little. The truth hurts.
Four wooden chairs stood sentry around a makeshift fire pit, high above the crashing waves. Most of the time three of them remained empty. Most of the time I was alone with my thoughts. But we’d all sat there at one point or another. We’d all stared down the same expanse of water, struggled with the same thoughts, and pondered a similar batch of questions. We’d all wondered how we made it. Why us, specifically?
The magnitude of this seemingly impossible reality was bewildering—staggering. I used to be one of those people who read futuristic novels and laughed at their absurdity—that could never happen… ridiculous. I was certain I would’ve laughed at a story like this. Planet of the Apes would have been more believable.
None of us were laughing now. It happened. A nation of nearly four hundred million people shredded, whittled down to less than a hundredth of that in a week. We survived only to exist in a reality beyond our wildest nightmares. A chemical attack brought us here—a coordinated massacre of such unfathomable proportions that no one ever dreamed, or imagined, it possible. On American soil? No way. And yet here we were, a small few of the very few Americans remaining. We were there when it went down, stuck in Minnesota, surrounded by death and dying without even knowing. Somehow, we happened to be remote enough to miss the chemical clouds—then fortunate enough to make it to Hawaii. We survived, but we lost. We lost a lot.