Eschaton by Shane Woods

Author:Shane Woods [Woods, Shane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severed Press
Published: 2019-04-14T22:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-ONE

I was awoken some time later by a nudge to my arm, and Jennifer’s voice.

“Hey,” she chided. “Everyone else is hard at work, and I find our fearless leader passed out in a deck chair on the balcony. Come on hero, dinner’s ready, everyone is heading up to eat outside again.”

I groaned, then grunted a response as I stretched and she scooped Gwen up to head upstairs. I heard Shannon and Ashley say something and the three of them laughed, presumably at my expense.

Making my way onto the balcony, I was greeted by a cacophony of scents. I could smell chicken, beef, what smelled like beef stroganoff, and an undertone of B.O. from a herd of hard-working people who didn’t have access to clean showers. We’ll have to find a way to remedy that. Personally, I’d been sneaking and using baby wipes, but for a guy who was accustomed to daily showers, even that didn’t feel like it was enough. And it was a bitch shaving with little more than a large bowl of water and a bar of soap, especially for those of us who chose to remove a whole head of stubble every three days.

I sat at my spot at the head of the table and began eating. Hamburger Helper and a pile of chicken tenders and fries for each person. The fries had a kind of smoky taste, and I would bet that they’d been done on the grill, too. Probably on a baking sheet, but it was actually quite nice. They were likely healthier than when done in the fryer, and the addition of grill smoke added a level of flavor that kind of made me wish I’d thought about doing them this way pre-infection.

Conversation was kept light, though I was so deep in thought I didn’t take part in it. For the most part, families and friends stuck with each other, but banter was spread around the tables as a whole. I did notice Dave and Bri sitting unusually close, talking quieter and amongst only themselves. I wondered what was going on there.

Jennifer, Shannon, and Ashley sat together, nearer to me, with Gwen among them and they all seemed to be getting along very well. It was interesting, to say the least, if you could just sit back and observe as I was doing, you could see groups and cliques forming up. Mostly for the better, but I didn’t like the way that my two least favorite people, Katie and Parker, had glued themselves together and always seemed to be conspiring about things while they avoided doing any real work. That’s fine, I’ll be remedying that, as well. I’ve got the perfect idea for those two.

As the meal began to grind slower and slower, people obviously getting their fill, I figured this would be the best time to start directing their attention towards our next steps, and what needed to be done for the community as far as safety and prosperity. I drained the last

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