Wind High, Water Low

In this excerpt from the novel The Dog Stars, a global pandemic has wiped out most of the people on earth, but nine years after the superflu, a few survivors hang on, including narrator Hig, a pilot, and Bangley, a former Navy SEAL, who have teamed up to defend themselves from desperate and murderous bands of the remnant population. Along with Hig’s dog, Jasper, they live in a compound they’ve created at a rural small-craft airport on the plains north of Denver.

Now we walk fast in the dark. Me and Jasper, the sled scraping behind. Cold. Good and cold. High stars nettle the black, no moon, crossing under the Milky Way like crossing a deep river. Never will get to the other side. We never do.

The argument with Bangley still rankles. Now just our breaths. Winter fat. Can feel it in my legs. Good to move, move fast.

I pull the sled on a lead with my right hand then switch.