Shattered World (Broken World Book 2) by Kate L. Mary Read Free Book Online Page A

million pieces. All I want is for Axl to throw me down and ravage me. But the rational part of my brain knows I need to find out what’s going on. So, I do the right thing and follow the brothers, checking to make sure I’m properly covered as I go.
    We head back out to the pool, where everyone is standing around looking terrified and worried and even furious. Joshua, who wasn’t here a few minutes ago, stands in the center of the group. His expression is darker than I’ve ever seen. There’s talking, but it’s scattered. Clipped and anxious, angry but quiet. Everyone is tense. So tense that my heart suddenly starts pounding for reasons that have nothing to do with Axl’s body being so close to mine.
    “What’s wrong?” Axl asks before I have a chance.
    The muscles in Joshua’s face tighten, and he runs his hand through his hair already messy hair. “I was in the clinic. I wanted to check things out, see if there were prenatal vitamins for Sophia and what kind of meds they had stocked the place with. But I couldn’t find anything. Not even a bottle of Tylenol.”
    I want to shrug his words off. Tell him it’s okay because we took all that stuff from Walmart before the dead even came back. But I can’t, because it’s obvious by the expression on his face more is coming. And it’s worse than a few missing drugs. Axl’s body tenses, and he squeezes my hand so tight I wince. I want to tell him to stop, but I’m afraid if he does I’ll start to panic.
    “What else?” Axl asks. He must realize more bad news is coming, too.
    Joshua sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose like he has a headache or something. His shoulders slump, and it makes him look shorter than his actual six foot seven inches. “It got me thinking. The cabinet I got food out of in my kitchen this morning only had a few meals in it. I figured it was no big deal, that there were more in a pantry or closet, or in a storage area in another part of the shelter.” He shakes his head, and my heart almost stops. “I searched the entire condo and then went down to the storage area on the bottom level. Nothing. No extras anywhere. So I came down here to check with everyone else and found out the other condos are all the same. Almost no food.”
    “He’s right,” Sophia says. “I noticed it this morning when I grabbed one of the prepackaged meals for breakfast.”
    My stomach tightens, and I grip Axl’s hand harder. “How much do we have?” I manage to get out. I’m sure they’ve talked this through before Axl and I got here, but I need to know how long we have before we starve.
    “If we gather all the packaged food and ration it, cutting down to one or two meals a day, we’ll have enough for about two weeks.” Joshua can’t even look anyone in the eye when he says it, as if it’s somehow his fault.
    “Okay, but we still have the gardens,” Hadley says calmly. “At least we’ll have some fresh fruit and vegetables.”
    Joshua nods but his face is still tense. He’s still having trouble meeting our eyes, and my stomach sinks even lower. All the way to the bottom level of the shelter like it’s trying to reach the pits of hell. That’s stupid though, because I’m pretty sure this is hell. Or something like it, at least.
    Axl purses his lips, then lets out a deep breath. “But there’s more?”
    This time I’m the one squeezing his hand so hard that I grind the bones together. Of course there’s more bad news. Why wouldn’t there be?
    “The fuel for the generator.” Joshua keeps his eyes on his feet. “I don’t know without looking at it closely, but there’s no way it’s enough for five years.”
    “What about the wind turbine?” Anne asks.
    We all saw it when we arrived at the concrete building above ground. A huge, white wind turbine about a football field’s length away from the fence. It has to be for the shelter. There’s nothing else out here.
    Joshua shakes his head and finally looks up. “No idea. I don’t