Doomsday Civil War: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller (The Doomsday Series Book 5) Read online

  Thank you for downloading DOOMSDAY: CIVIL WAR, the final chapter of the Doomsday series, by Author Bobby Akart.

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  Other Works by Amazon Top 50 Author, Bobby Akart

  The Doomsday Series

  Apocalypse

  Haven

  Anarchy

  Minutemen

  Civil War

  The Yellowstone Series

  Hellfire

  Inferno

  Fallout

  Survival

  The Lone Star Series

  Axis of Evil

  Beyond Borders

  Lines in the Sand

  Texas Strong

  Fifth Column

  Suicide Six

  The Pandemic Series

  Beginnings

  The Innocents

  Level 6

  Quietus

  The Blackout Series

  36 Hours

  Zero Hour

  Turning Point

  Shiloh Ranch

  Hornet’s Nest

  Devil’s Homecoming

  The Boston Brahmin Series

  The Loyal Nine

  Cyber Attack

  Martial Law

  False Flag

  The Mechanics

  Choose Freedom

  Patriot’s Farewell

  Seeds of Liberty (Companion Guide)

  The Prepping for Tomorrow Series

  Cyber Warfare

  EMP: Electromagnetic Pulse

  Economic Collapse

  DOOMSDAY: Civil War

  The Doomsday Series, Book Five

  by

  Bobby Akart

  Contents

  or Start Reading

  Author’s Introduction to the Doomsday Series

  Epigraph

  Previously in the Doomsday Series

  PART ONE

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  PART TWO

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  PART THREE

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  PART FOUR

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  PART FIVE

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  PART SIX Three months later …

  Chapter 48

  Series synopsis of Author, Bobby Akart

  Copyright Information

  Dedications

  For many years, I have lived by the following premise:

  Because you never know when the day before is the day before, prepare for tomorrow.

  My friends, I study and write about the threats we face, not only to both entertain and inform you, but because I am constantly learning how to prepare for the benefit of my family as well. There is nothing more important on this planet than my darling wife, Dani, and our two girls, Bullie and Boom. One day, doomsday will come, and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let it stand in the way of our life together.

  The Doomsday series is dedicated to the love and support of my family. I will always protect you from anything that threatens us.

  Acknowledgements

  Writing a book that is both informative and entertaining requires a tremendous team effort. Writing is the easy part. For their efforts in making the Doomsday series a reality, I would like to thank Hristo Argirov Kovatliev for his incredible cover art, Pauline Nolet for her editorial prowess, Stef Mcdaid for making this manuscript decipherable in so many formats, Chris Abernathy for his memorable performance in narrating this novel, and the Team—Denise, Joe, Jim, and Shirley—whose advice, friendship and attention to detail is priceless.

  In addition, my loyal readers who interact with me on social media know that Dani and I have been fans of the television reality show Big Brother since it began broadcasting on CBS in the summer of 2000. The program was one of the greatest social experiments ever imagined. Each season, more than a dozen contestants compete for a half-million-dollar cash prize.

  During the months-long airing of the program, the houseguests are isolated from the outside world, but we, the viewers, get to watch their every move via more than a hundred cameras and microphones. The opportunity to study how people interact under these unusual stressful circumstances has allowed me to create diverse and interesting characters for you, dear readers.

  Over the years, we’ve been fortunate to meet several of the past Big Brother contestants, and this year, for the second time (the first being our friend Judd Daugherty, who was a doctor in the Boston Brahmin series), I’ve actually written four of them into the characters through the use of their first name and unique character attributes.

  During the airing of season twenty during the summer of 2018, early on in the show, an alliance formed between a group of six who controlled the game from start to finish. You can imagine the high fives Dani and I exchanged when they named their alliance Level 6, the title of book three in my Pandemic series released in the summer of 2017.

  To season twenty winner, Kaycee Clark; our favorite showmance of all time, Angela Rummans and Tyler Crispen; and to one of the funniest, most real people I’ve ever seen on television, “JC” Mounduix—thank you for inspiring the Rankin family in the Doomsday series!

  Thank you all!

  Choose Freedom and Godspeed, Patriots!

  About the Author, Bobby Akart

  Author Bobby Akart has been ranked by Amazon as #55 in its Top 100 list of most popular, bestselling authors. He has achieved recognition as the #1 bestselling Horror Author, #2 bestselling Science Fiction Author, #3 bestselling Religion & Spirituality Author, #6 bestselling Action & Adventure Author, and #7 bestselling Historical Author.

  He has written over twenty-six international bestsellers, in nearly fifty fiction and nonfiction genres, including the chart-busting Yellowstone series, the reader-favorite Lone Star series, the critically acclaimed Boston Brahmin series, the bestselling Blackout series, the frighteningly realistic Pandemic series, his highly cited nonfiction Prepping for Tomorrow series, and his latest project—the Doomsday series, seen by many as the horrifying future of our nation if we can’t find a way to come together.

  His novel Yellowstone: Fallout reached the Top 50 on the Amazon bestsellers list and earned him two Kindle All-Star awards for most pages read in a month and most pages read
as an author. The Yellowstone series vaulted him to the #1 best selling horror author on Amazon, and the #2 best selling science fiction author.

  Bobby has provided his readers a diverse range of topics that are both informative and entertaining. His attention to detail and impeccable research have allowed him to capture the imaginations of his readers through his fictional works and bring them valuable knowledge through his nonfiction books.

  SIGN UP for Bobby Akart’s mailing list to receive special offers, bonus content, and you’ll be the first to receive news about new releases in the Doomsday series.

  VISIT Amazon.com/BobbyAkart, a dedicated feature page created by Amazon for his work, to view more information on his thriller fiction novels and post-apocalyptic book series, as well as his nonfiction Prepping for Tomorrow series. Visit Bobby Akart’s website for informative blog entries on preparedness, writing, and a behind-the-scenes look into his novels.

  www.BobbyAkart.com

  Author’s Introduction to the Doomsday Series

  November 8, 2018

  Are we on the brink of destroying ourselves?

  Some argue that our nation is deeply divided, with each side condemning the other as the enemy of America. By way of example, one can point to the events leading up to the Civil War in the latter part of the 1850s, right up until the first cannon fire rained upon Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. It’s happened before, and it could happen again.

  The war of words has intensified over the last several decades, and now deranged people on the fringe of society have taken matters into their own hands. Ranging from pipe-bomb packages mailed to political leaders and supporters, to a gunman shooting congressmen at a softball practice, words are being replaced with deadly, violent acts.

  To be sure, we’ve experienced violence and intense social strife in this country as a result of political differences. The Civil War was one example. The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., followed by the raging street battles over civil rights and the Vietnam War, is another.

  This moment in America’s history feels worse because we are growing much more divisive. Our shared values are being forgotten, and a breakdown is occurring between us and our government, and between us and the office of the presidency.

  Our ability to find common ground is gradually disappearing. We shout at the television or quit watching altogether. Social media has become anything but social. We unfollow friends or write things in a post that we’d never dream of saying to someone’s face.

  Friends and family avoid one another at gatherings because they fear political discussions will result in an uncomfortable, even hostile exchange. Many in our nation no longer look at their fellow Americans as being from a different race or religion but, rather, as supporting one political party or another.

  This is where America is today, and it is far different from the months leading up to the Civil War. Liberal historians label the conflict as a battle over slavery, while conservative historians tend to argue the issue was over states’ rights. At the time, the only thing agreed upon was the field of battle—farms and open country from Pennsylvania to Georgia.

  Today, there are many battlefronts. Media—news, entertainment, and social—is a major battlefield. The halls of Congress and within the inner workings of governments at all levels is another. Between everyday Americans—based upon class warfare, cultural distinctions, and race-religion-gender—highlighting our differences pervades every aspect of our lives.

  Make no mistake, on both sides of the political spectrum, a new generation of leaders has emerged who’ve made fueling our divisions their political modus operandi. I remember the bipartisan efforts of Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill in the eighties. Also, Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich in the mid-nineties. The turn of the century hasn’t provided us the types of bipartisan working relationships that those leaders of the recent past have generated.

  So, here we are at each other’s throats. What stops the political rancor and division? The answer to this question results in even more partisan arguments and finger-pointing.

  Which leads me to the purpose of the Doomsday series. The term doomsday evokes images of the end of times, the day the world ends, or a time when something terrible or dangerous will happen. Sounds dramatic, but everything is relative.

  I’ve repeated this often, and I will again for those who haven’t heard it.

  All empires collapse eventually. Their reign ends when they are either defeated by a larger and more powerful enemy, or when their financing runs out. America will be no exception.

  Now, couple this theory with the words often attributed to President Abraham Lincoln in an 1838 speech interpreted as follows:

  America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

  The Doomsday series depicts an America hell-bent upon destroying itself. It is a dystopian look at what will happen if we don’t find a way to deescalate the attacks upon one another. Both sides will shoulder the blame for what will happen when the war of words becomes increasingly more violent to the point where one side brings out the big guns.

  That’s when an ideological battle will result in the bloodshed of innocent Americans caught in the crossfire. Truly, for the future of our nation, doomsday would be upon us.

  Thank you for reading with an open mind and not through the lens of political glasses. I hope we can come together for the sake of our families and our nation. God bless America.

  Epigraph

  “What country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance. Let them take arms ...”

  ~ Thomas Jefferson, Founding Father, calling for armed resistance

  *****

  “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

  ~ President Abraham Lincoln, at his inauguration before Civil War ensued

  *****

  “The Civil War has not ended. I question whether any serious civil war ever does end.”

  ~ T. S. Eliot, author and poet

  *****

  “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.”

  ~ Confucius

  *****

  “A nation cannot be civil without civility.

  To some, civility cannot be restored until power is regained.

  A Civil War was a necessary evil, but make no mistake, it was evil.”

  ~ Author Bobby Akart

  Previously in the Doomsday Series

  Dramatis Personae

  PRIMARY CHARACTERS

  George Trowbridge — A wealthy, powerful Washington insider. Lives on his estate in East Haven, Connecticut. Yale graduate. Suffers from kidney failure. Father of Meredith Cortland.

  The Sheltons — Tom is retired from the United States Navy and is a former commander at Joint Base Charleston. Married to his wife of forty years, Donna. They have two daughters. Tommie, single, is with Naval Intelligence and stationed on a spy ship in the Persian Gulf. Their oldest daughter, Willa, is married with two young children. The family lives north of Las Vegas. Willa is a captain at Creech Air Force Base, where she serves as a drone pilot. Tom and Donna reside in downtown Charleston.

  The Rankin Family — Formerly of Hilton Head, South Carolina, now residing in Richmond, Virginia. Dr. Angela Rankin is a critical care physician at Virginia Commonwealth Medical Center in Richmond. Her husband, Tyler, is a firefighter and a trained emergency medical technician. He was formerly a lifeguard. They have two children. Their daughter, Kaycee, age eleven, nearly died in a helicopter crash as a child. Their youngest child, J.C., age eight, loves history an
d is a devoted student of America’s founding.

  The Cortland Family — Michael Cort Cortland is chief of staff to a prominent United States Senator from Alabama. His wife, Meredith, is a teacher and the daughter of George Trowbridge. The couple met while they attended Yale University. They have one child, twelve-year-old daughter Hannah. They live in Cort’s hometown of Mobile, Alabama. They have an English bulldog named after Yale’s mascot, Handsome Dan.

  The Hightower Family — Will Hightower is retired from the Philadelphia Police Department and in his mid-forties. After he left Philly SWAT, he got divorced from his wife, Karen. He moved to Atlanta to work for Mercedes-Benz security, only seeing his children—Ethan, age fifteen, and daughter Skylar, age eleven—periodically. Will also has a second job as Delta.

  Hayden Blount — Born in North Carolina, but now resides in the Washington, DC, area. She is an attorney with a powerful law firm that represents the president in front of the Supreme Court. She formerly clerked for Justice Samuel Alito, a Yale graduate. Single, she lives alone with her Maine coon cat, Prowler.

  Ryan and Blair Smart, Chubby and the Roo — Former residents of Florida, and now founders of the Haven, a prepper community built on the former location of the Hunger Games movie set in Henry River Mill Village, North Carolina, just west of Charlotte. The Smarts, together with their two English Bulldog sisters, Chubby and the Roo, now reside at Haven House within the community and have surrounded them with like minded thinkers as they prepare for the coming collapse.

  György Schwartz and his son, Jonathan — The Schwartz family name was synonymous with high-flying financial deals, currency manipulations, and wealth. One of the thirty richest and most powerful men in the world hadn’t come easy, but once attained, it allowed him to engage in shrewd financial arrangements and political machinations. They live on the Schwartz Estate in Katonah, New York, just across the Connecticut state line.

  Joseph Jose Acuff — was also known as Chepe, a Spanish name of endearment bestowed upon him as a boy because of his cherublike face. Chepe, however, was anything but a cherub. He had a master’s in public administration from Cal-Berkley and was well respected as an advocate for reforming payday loan practices. Chepe led a second life, however, one that was unknown to the politicians whom he lobbied. He was a radical communist and Antifa leader who advocated the violent overthrow of the U.S. government. His platform on social media was one of the most widely followed by anarchists around the world.