Thunderbird Read online

  Choking. Drowning. Glub, glub, glub.

  Another try. Hands up. Both of them together. Concerted effort. They find the arm of her killer. Use that like a kid climbing a rope in gym glass.

  Pull. Pull! She yanks hard—

  Up, out. Long gasp. Water out of her eyes. Hair slick across them.

  The hands slam her against the wall.

  Louis leers at her. Teeth bared.

  He dunks her back under the water, and this time, her hands find no purchase. Water rushes in as she gasps. Fills her lungs. Death settles in.

  SIXTY-EIGHT

  OH, SHIT

  — shakes Samantha’s hand.

  Samantha has a good grip. She pumps Miriam’s arm, eager, too eager.

  “Nice to meet you,” Samantha says. Smile. Big smile. Forced smile.

  “Nice to meet you, too,” Miriam says, forcing her own smile right back.

  A grim rictus reaper smile.

  “Shall we?” Louis asks.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  None other deserves an acknowledgment here as much as my agent, Stacia Decker—not only did she help bring Miriam to the bookshelf when nobody else wanted to, she also helped bring her back to the bookshelf when we weren’t sure that was even possible. And to that, thanks too to Joe Monti, for being there and ready to take her on, even when Miriam was at her spittiest, cussiest worst.

  Thanks to Michelle, my wife, who is my own brand of Miriam, and who is the first and ideal reader for these books. (I will tell you a brief story here: we came back from our beach vacation with a series of seashells, which we put in our bathroom sink. My wife went into that bathroom and emerged after discovering that the seashells had left behind a distinct, dead-ocean scent. Her comment: “It smells like Aquaman’s taint in here.”)

  Thanks to Kevin Hearne, who said very nice things about these books before I ever knew him, and who continues to be so nice a human being that one must suspect he has a variety of bodies hidden in his basement to compensate. Which is okay. I won’t judge him on this.

  Thanks to David Knoller and John Shiban for (almost) getting Miriam on TV.

  Finally, thanks to the readers—really, without the fans and readers of these books, I don’t get to do what I do, and this book wouldn’t be here.

  CHUCK WENDIG is the New York Times bestselling author of the Star Wars: Aftermath trilogy, as well as the Miriam Black thrillers. His works include Invasive and Zer0es; his most recent novels, the Atlanta Burns books; and the Heartland YA series, alongside other works across comics, games, film, and more. A finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer and the cowriter of the Emmy-nominated digital narrative Collapsus, he is also known for his popular blog, terribleminds.com, and his books about writing. He lives with his family in Pennsylvania.

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  ALSO BY CHUCK WENDIG

  THE MIRIAM BLACK SERIES

  Blackbirds

  Mockingbird

  The Cormorant

  STAR WARS: THE AFTERMATH TRILOGY

  Star Wars: Aftermath

  Star Wars: Life Debt

  Zerøes

  The Blue Blazes

  ATLANTA BURNS SERIES

  Atlanta Burns

  THE HEARTLAND TRILOGY

  Under the Empyrean Sky

  Blightborn

  The Harvest

  NONFICTION

  The Kick-Ass Writer: 1001 Ways to Write Great Fiction, Get Published, and Earn Your Audience

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  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. + Text copyright © 2017 by Chuck Wendig + Jacket illustration copyright © 2017 by Adam S. Doyle + All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Saga Press Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020 + SAGA PRESS and colophon are trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc. + For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected]. + The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com. + The text for this book was set in New Caledonia LT. + CIP data for this book is available from the Library of Congress. + ISBN 978-1-4814-4871-0 + ISBN 978-1-4814-4873-4 (eBook)