The Last Peak (Book 2): The Darwin Collapse by William Oday Read Free Book Online

belt. Finally, four pairs of disposable handcuffs clipped to the belt at the small of his back.
    No tie this evening.  
    That part was unusual, not that he missed it. He never understood why hanging a cloth noose around your neck made you more respectable.
    He remembered the last time he’d geared up, tie and all, and ended up meeting Iridia at her hotel room. Him praying she didn’t turn out to be crazy. Her opening the door completely naked but for the towel wrapped around her head.
    If only the insanity had stopped there.  
    Unfortunately, that was just the beginning.
    He checked himself in the mirror and laughed when he realized he was staring. He looked suspicious. Made sense. He wouldn’t trust anyone dressed like he was. But the dark color made situational sense. They were going out at dusk and darker clothes drew less attention.
    Above all things, they wanted to avoid attention.
    He grabbed a black LA Galaxy cap on his way out of the bedroom.
    Time to check on Theresa and load up the Bronco. He didn’t relish the thought of what she might be exposed to this evening.  
    But shielding her from the new world was no longer an option.

CHAPTER TEN

    ELIZABETH WEST carried a stuffed backpack out to the Bronco in the backyard. Her hands trembled, not from the weight of the pack but from the weight on her heart. The two people she loved most in the world were about to risk a supply run. She understood the need, but it didn’t make it any easier to accept. Her tongue felt fat and useless in her mouth. Her thoughts veered toward mad despair, and she fought to rein them in.  
    Borrowing future grief wasn’t a useful propensity in a world where the present had plenty of its own.
    A cool evening breeze tickled her nose with the welcome scent of lavender. She’d taken to plucking a few leaves from the overgrown bush in the backyard each morning, and then rubbing them on her wrists and neck. She’d never been super-girly, but she still liked to smell nice. And that was getting more and more difficult as the days ticked by.
    She recognized the dim outline of the giant Ford truck. The old beast didn’t have a single edge that wasn’t rough, but that just made her appreciate it more. Mason claimed to love it like a fourth family member, and she could understand the attachment. You invested a part of yourself into fixing something, into keeping it alive. Whether it was healing sick animals or fixing Spock, her old Kawasaki Vulcan 750, Beth knew more than most about not giving up on things.  
    Spock had all the badges of old age and failing faculties. It hadn’t been treated well before she adopted it. The bucket of bolts should’ve given up the ghost long ago. But Beth didn’t give up on a patient, whether made of flesh or metal. She’d nursed the blown bike back to health and it now rode as good as ever.
    Her persistence didn’t always pay off so wonderfully. Jane hadn’t pulled through despite Beth’s best efforts. Beth shook off the dark memory as a light flashed across her chest.
    Mason stood at the open door with a headlamp around his head. Light from the fading sky bathed the backyard in soft contrast. He accepted the backpack and unzipped it.
    “Gloves, dust masks, cloth bags, extra flashlights…” he said as he rifled through the contents. He finished and zipped the pack shut. He tossed it up onto the front seat—the ginormous tires put the Bronco a few feet above most other vehicles on the road.
    The things she’d seen while riding in the passenger seat.
    The things she’d done while riding in the passenger seat.
    Riding being the operative word.
    She grabbed Mason’s waist and looked up into blue eyes that appeared a shade darker than usual in this light. He was as devastatingly handsome as the day they met, if a little more lined with experience.
    “You look positively nefarious,” she said with a forced smile. A joke was better than what she longed to say.
    Stay here!
    Don’t go!
    There’s