Edge of Defiance: An EMP Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller by Stone Kyla

Author:Stone, Kyla
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Paper Moon Press
Published: 2020-09-15T16:00:00+00:00

32

Noah

Day Fifty-Two

“I don’t understand,” Milo said. “Where’s Mom?”

Noah stiffened. Morning light flooded through the oversized picture windows. He stood in the kitchen at the enormous island, busy whipping up a batch of pancakes with an eggless mix.

He scooped a ladleful of batter and poured it onto the sizzling griddle. Some days, Noah was so grateful for electricity that it physically hurt.

Milo needed a treat—his favorite meal of pancakes smothered in peanut butter and whipped cream for breakfast. The jar of Jif peanut butter stood beside the stainless-steel mixing bowl. Whipped cream was impossible to find anymore, but he’d gotten a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips to make up for it.

Milo needed a lot of things, some of which Noah couldn’t give him anymore. The thought infuriated him. He mixed harder, until his bicep burned.

His son perched on a stool on the other side of the island, the counter a mess of colored pencils, crayons, and markers. Milo had been busy drawing his latest superhero fascination—Wolverine—on colored sheets of construction paper.

Now he looked at Noah expectantly, waiting for an answer that made sense.

There were no answers that made sense. The world was crumbling beneath him, and he had no idea what to do about it, or how to explain any of it to his eight-year-old son.

Milo had been asking after Hannah since she’d left four days ago. Noah was out of lame excuses.

He glanced at his bare ring finger, the lightened circle of skin. Yesterday was Valentine’s Day—yet another knife to his heart. Not that they could have celebrated.

“Mom—” The word curdled in his throat. “Your mother…she had to go.”

“Where?”

“She’s staying somewhere else. At our old house.”

“Why?”

Noah had been raised in a contentious household, his embittered parents at each other’s throats, often pitting their child in the middle. He’d sworn he’d never do the same.

He swallowed his rancor and resentment, acrid though it was, and forced a smile. A facsimile of a smile. “She needs some space. She’s been through a lot.”

He added a dash of salt to the batter. Salt was still plentiful, but what about when it wasn’t? Salt was a necessity for food preservation, for the human body to survive. He pushed that thought out of his mind.

Milo chewed on the end of a marker, frowning. “When is she coming back?”

Never. She left you, and she’s never coming back. You will never be whole again. “I don’t know.”

“Can’t we visit her? I bet she wants us to come see her. I can play with Ghost and help her and Miss Molly with all their preps. We could hang out with Quinn. Can we go right now?”

“I have to work.”

“After work?”

“Not today.”

Milo set the marker down and leaned forward, his face eager and hopeful. “Tomorrow, then?”

Hannah had asked him—begged him—to bring Milo to visit her. She’d wanted to see Milo every day, offering to care for him while Noah worked.

Hannah could no longer enter Winter Haven, but Noah could leave. He could take Milo to her if he wished.

He didn’t want to.

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