A Reign of Thunder (Second Edition‪)‬

Cooper "Coup" Black--yes, yes, just like the font--has a couple problems. Well, who doesn't? For one, his book deal has fallen through, leading him to do something, well, unfortunate. To his publisher. Two, he's picked up a hitchhiker--a hot, young (too young; as in half his age) available hitchhiker, whom he doesn't really know what to do with. And three, he's in the wrong place at the wrong time--as in a truck-stop on the Mexican border ... surrounded by shadowy predators. More, it soon becomes evident that something is at work to reverse time itself; something which makes people vanish--seemingly at random--and ancient trees to appear out of nowhere. Something against which Coup, Tess, an unravelling President of the United States, and others, will make their final stand.

From A Reign of Thunder:

He squeezed her shoulders and gently moved her aside, peering out the window, peering into the rain. “I don’t see anything,” he said, even as the others joined them, crowding around the glass. “Just a bunch of gas pumps … and some vehicles.” He stiffened suddenly. “Wait. There is something. Lights—”

“That’s them! That’s their eyes,” said Tess—as Ashley stepped forward to calm her. “They, like, glow or something. Like that borealis in the sky. They’re right there, Coup!”

“No …” he said, in a kind of drawl, “No, these are flashing. Some of them are headlights—I’m sure of it. There, behind the electrical pylons—coming closer. Look,”

She looked, no longer seeing the—well, let’s have out with it, she thought, the dinosaurs, and saw instead a line of what indeed appeared to be headlamps—preceded by flashing blue lights—winding along a road she hadn’t even known was there, coming toward them through the rain.

“Might be the cavalry,” said Elliott, sounding excited—a notion that was quickly dashed when the modest number of vehicles became clear: two police motorcycles followed by a black limousine and a sport-utility vehicle, also black—followed by one more cycle.

“I’ll be goddamned,” said Rory. “But that’s a motorcade. Like the kind you see in the local parade.”

“Regular Apocalypse Day Cavalcade,” said Coup.

“Jesus, the President,” blurted Carson. “He was golfing at Rancho Loreto—did you know that? It was all over the news today. I mean, just before—”

“No way,” said the tank commander—Bo. “It’s too small, for one.” He wiped the glass, which was beginning to fog. “The Presidential motorcade numbers, I don’t know, like, forty vehicles, at least, most of them specialty rigs. Look, there’s not even a decoy.”

“Maybe it’s been disappeared,” said Ashley.

“Yeah, like those drivers on State Route 87,” said Elliott.

And then the vehicles were there, they were pulling up under the huge pump canopy, and the flags on the limo’s fenders proceeded to droop—but not before it had become obvious what they were: the flag of the United States of America and the Presidential Seal—at which Rory could only shake his head, saying, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“But there’s more,” said Tess, yanking away from Ashley, locking eyes with everyone who was close. “Because it looks like they’re going to fuel up. And whether you believe me or not—I’m telling you: there’s something out there. Several somethings, as I said.”

“Jesus, we’ve got to warn them,” said Elliott, even as Coup shoved against the door—and found it to be jammed.