Desolation: A Post-Apocalyptic Novella by David Lucin

Author:David Lucin [Lucin, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-03-04T16:00:00+00:00

10

“Hold that light steady,” Maria instructed.

“Shit, sorry.” Jenn readjusted the grip on the flashlight and focused the beam on Sam’s face.

The sun had set while she and Sam walked back from Minute Tire, and now the Ruiz house was dark. Gary and Maria had set up several candles on the dining room table, but Jenn still struggled to see, so Gary brought in his old camping gear from the shed. In it were three LED flashlights. The batteries worked, so Maria tasked Jenn with holding a light on Sam’s face while she dabbed the blood from his lip and put ice on his jaw. Better use it while they could, Maria had said, because it’d melt if the power didn’t come on soon.

Sophie might have been wrong about the fallout, but Jenn believed the story about the EMP. The cars, the phones, everything else—Sophie’s theory fit, and it made Jenn feel sick. Her phone died on their way back from Minute Tire. Even though she hadn’t had a signal all day, only now, that old comfort finally stripped away for good, did she feel truly cut off from her parents. She hadn’t found them waiting at Gary’s when she got back. No red hybrid pickup parked in Gary’s driveway. No bear hugs from her father and no annoying kisses on the cheek from her mother. None of that. Just a dark house and a boyfriend with a swollen lip.

“There you go,” Maria told Sam, letting him hold the ice-filled plastic bag. “How’s it feel?”

“Much better,” Sam said, jerking his jaw to loosen it. “Bit of a headache, but I’ll live.”

“We’re just glad you’re back,” Maria said. “We were so worried. And then Gary went out but couldn’t find you guys and—”

Jenn rested a hand on Maria’s shoulder, eliciting a smile and a deep breath as the oxygen hissed. “It’s okay,” Jenn assured her. “We made it.”

Maria, her eyes tearing up, patted Jenn’s hand with her own. She sniffled and pushed up her glasses. “Sam,” she said, her voice cracking. “I’ll find you a couple aspirin.”

Gary shot up from his seat at the table. “You okay, dear? I can get them for you.”

“No, no.” Maria grabbed her cart with the oxygen tank. “You sit. It’s no problem.”

Gary lowered himself into his seat and rested his elbows on the table.

Jenn leaned in close to Sam, keeping the flashlight on his face. She wanted to tell him again that she was sorry for lashing out at Minute Tire. Sam only wanted to help. Jenn forgot it sometimes, but he always put her first. After she barked at him and left him behind, then stirred the crowd and instigated anarchy in the shop, he came for her when she needed him most. She didn’t deserve that.

She rested a hand on his cheek and pressed her lips to his.

Gary cleared his throat, and she pulled back. The flames on the candles danced, flickering light and casting shadows across Gary’s face. “So the officer said there was no radiation?” he asked, continuing the conversation from before Maria brought Sam the ice.

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