Into Summer

Prologue

Prologue

Into Summer is book four of the Four Seasons Series and begins where Into Winter left off. But first, let’s take a look back at the first three books of the series.

In Into Autumn, Lars Lindgren is getting up in years and longs to retire in the country. He buys a plot without his wife’s knowledge and builds a small cabin. His wife doesn’t go along with the move, but Lars sells his business and moves anyway. Lars struggles, alone in the dystopian environment, but over time he learns the ways of the woods.

Eileen Branson flees San Antonio a few years later when the grid shuts down, and government and the economy crumble. She finds herself way over her head, but fortunately, she runs into Lars. They band together and along with their neighbors scratch out sustenance and fight off predatory intruders. They eventually name their little community Peaceful Valley even though it has been anything but peaceful.

Reggie is Lars’s best friend. Lars’s son, James, and Reggie’s daughter, Melissa, find their way to Peaceful Valley amidst the chaos. They marry and have twin sons, Robbie and Ronnie Lindgren.

In Into Spring, Robbie and Ronnie grow up with their Asian neighbor’s kids, Sean and Debra. They are all about the same age and Debra is just one of the boys. Young men need women, and Debra is the only female. Debra chooses to marry Ronnie, and Sean and Robbie head to Corpus Christi to find women for themselves.

They leave Peaceful Valley for the first time and are captured by the ruthless dictator of Corpus Christi, Sandra Hawkins. Sandra takes a shine to Robbie, but he doesn’t like the situation he’s forced into, though he is treated very well. She is quite brutal to everyone else, but it is due to her ruthlessness that the economy of Corpus Christi thrives under her leadership. The fact that Corpus Christi is a coastal town and has a refinery helps too. Much of the country has fared much worse.

Robbie eventually escapes with two of Sandra’s ladies, Beka Livingston and Florence Ingalls, and Sandra is pissed. Sean escapes from Corpus later with two more of Sandra’s ladies, Brenda and Kim. They are both pregnant with Robbie’s kids. This brings us to Into Winter where Sandra has blood in her eyes as she plans her revenge against Robbie and Peaceful Valley.

Lars died when Robbie and Ronnie were young, but Eileen taught the boys his ways. Robbie and Ronnie grew up as Davy Crockett types from head to toe, with coonskin hats all the way down to their leather moccasins. Their woodsmen skills were remarkable even compared to Lars, who became quite the expert. Thanks to their grandmother, Eileen, and their parents, James and Melissa, the boys also grew up book smart. Lars left a treasure trove of books, and they read every one.

Sandra and her army were no match for Robbie, Ronnie, and the rest of the members of Peaceful Valley. The boys’ grandfather, Reggie, played an integral part in their survival not only with Sandra but in the early days with Lars and Eileen. He’s an ex-army contractor who built a bunker when he first moved to the valley and filled it with an exorbitant stash of weapons and explosives. He loved making stuff that went boom!

Together, they rid the world of Sandra Hawkins and created a stable democracy in Corpus Christi. The boys liked what they built and decided to expand their success in Corpus to the rest of the country. This brings us to Into Summer where Robbie Lindgren and his twin brother, Ronnie, are about to head off on their quest to establish a new, peaceful, and stable democracy over south Texas. Their significant others, Florence and Brooke, respectively, hold down the fort in Peaceful Valley.

Sean Lin is now the mayor of Corpus Christi after the demise of Sandra Hawkins and her brutal dictatorship. This is where the central government of the new regime will be located. Christine is Sean’s right-hand gal and Chief of Police.

Brenda and Kim, Sean’s two ladies, have joined him in Corpus and they reside at the Farm, one of six compounds into which the city is still divided. Christine also stays at the Farm. The other compounds are the Hospital, the Bayfront, the Contractors, the Airport, and the Police.

Marcia Nguyen, the thorn in Sean, Robbie, and Ronnie’s sides in Corpus Christi, is behaving herself after the disappearance of her husband. Sonny has been missing for two months and is presumed dead. Little Lola, their daughter, keeps to herself much of the time.

John Wimberley, his wife Kathy, and their five kids, Brooke, Charlotte, Kira, Lance, and Zack came to Peaceful Valley in Into Spring. John is working hard to help Robbie and Ronnie get a communications system set up with the help of his boys, Zack and Lance. They are doing this through a string of cell towers.

John has given up on his dream of building a church in Peaceful Valley. His wife, Kathy, has given up on life itself after the loss of her daughter, Charlotte, during the war with Sandra Hawkins. Her youngest daughter, Kira, tries to help but spends much of her time with the neighbors.

Sam and Sally Lin work daylight to dark every day, trying to get their homestead and their lives back in order after the war. When their neighbors need a hand, however, they are ready and willing to do whatever is necessary. They visit their daughter, Debra, when they can. Their son, Sean, is always on their minds. They keep hoping he’ll come home for a visit, but he’s too busy in Corpus Christi. Zack Wimberley has offered to take them to Corpus several times. Sam keeps saying he’ll take him up on the offer, but his hogs take a lot of tending. Sally won’t go without Sam.

Beka Livingston and Lance Wimberley are getting along better every day and continue to share a home with Zack Wimberley and Debra Lin. Beka wants a baby and Debra thinks she’s pregnant.

James and Melissa Lindgren are just trying to keep their heads above water with all the work it takes to care for the Lindgren homestead. They are the backbone of Peaceful Valley. Their sons, Robbie and Ronnie, are always on their minds.

Reggie and Emily, the senior citizens of Peaceful Valley and Melissa’s parents and Robbie and Ronnie’s grandparents, do what they can. Emily spends most of her time keeping tabs on the pregnant and soon-to-be pregnant women in the valley. Reggie spends his days in his bunker keeping his weapons in perfect order and devising new explosives to keep everyone safe.