Lost in the Apocalypse by L.C. Mortimer Read Free Book Online Page B

nodded. It was a good idea. Then again, Butter was full of them. The guy looked like he was in a motorcycle gang or a bouncer at a seedy club, yet he was one of the most loyal men Neil had ever met.
    “Better get some shut-eye,” Neil said. “Who knows how long the storm is going to last?”
    “I always sleep better in storms,” Kari added. She curled up in a ball on the floor. Neil tossed her a blanket and she yanked it over her body. Within minutes, she was snoring, oblivious to everything around her.
    Cody looked at her, then turned to the guys.
    “Um,” he hesitated for just a second. “Anyone care if I sleep there?” He pointed to the other end of the couch where Emily was passed out. He looked like he was going to say something, but Neil didn’t make him explain. Cody tried to be tough, but the truth was he’d messed up his back in high school and had never quite recovered. He would sleep on the floor and he’d do it with a positive attitude, but he’d be sore for days.
    “Go for it,” Neil nodded, looking away, trying not to make a big deal about it. Butter made himself a bed on the floor and soon it was just Neil and Robert, sitting in silence, listening to the wind howling. He’d heard Kansas storms were a bitch, but this was his first experience. The weather was unpredictable in Colorado, but it was never quite as loud as the weather in Kansas was turning out to be.
    “I’ll take first watch, boss,” Robert said, and Neil knew there would be no arguing with the man.
    “Let me know when you’re ready to switch.” He climbed onto the recliner and closed his eyes, yet sleep eluded him for a long time. When was the last time Neil had just…been?
    The world had changed in the blink of an eye and while he was grateful to be alive, he sometimes wondered what the point was. They had been traveling for a month, trying to find a place to live, to be, to escape.
    They hadn’t found an escape.
    The whole world, as far as they could tell, had been taken. The world had been overcome, at least in the Midwest, and help was not coming.
    They could keep pushing, he knew, and try to get to a coast. Then what? They’d still be boxed in. They’d still have to deal with hurricanes and tropical storms, earthquakes, Infected.
    What was the point?
    Soon the leaves would begin to fall and winter would arrive: a harsh bitch of a cherry to top off the zombie sundae he’d been eating all month.
    Would they make it to a coast in time?
    Should they go south?
    Somehow, Neil didn’t think it really mattered. There was no such thing as the “right” choice anymore. Just look at Emily. She had gone somewhere, she’d gone somewhere for a whole month, and she had come back alone.
    What had she been doing?
    What had she encountered?
    He wished he knew her better so he could pry, carefully extricating information that might make it easier to know what to do, how to proceed. He wanted to know what he should tell his men. He wanted to know how he should lead them.
    Maybe they should just hunker down somewhere and let the world pass them by. Maybe they could make a life in Nowhere, USA.
    Maybe they could find a way to live in spite of their surroundings.
    Maybe.
     
    **
     
    When Emily woke up, the candles were out. One lone flashlight shone in the middle of the room. Around it, everyone was asleep. Cody was curled up on the other end of the couch. Neil was passed out in a recliner. Kari and Butter were asleep on the carpet, covered in blankets.
    Robert sat up next to the flashlight, gun in hand, eyeing the staircases. His eyes flittered back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.
    He looked tired.
    Outside, the storm howled and the house shook. Plates fell and cracked upstairs. Pictures fell off the walls and the sound of frames shattering could be heard throughout the basement.
    Still, the group slept.
    Emily wondered how long it had been since they had a decent night’s sleep. Were they like her? Were they wandering