Home Free - A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Thriller (Sound of Survival Book 3) by Sean Patten

Author:Sean Patten [Patten, Sean]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-10-31T16:00:00+00:00

14 Ed

The first half of the drive back to Sandy Vista took place in total silence, nothing but the growl of the engine to fill the air. Amy didn’t seem to want to hear any more. She didn’t need to, really. I figured she’d found out what she needed to know, and that was that.

After a time, however, she finally broke the silence.

“What is it?” she asked. “How are you dying?”

“Why?” I asked. “Want to try and open me up and fix what’s wrong?”

“Don’t be a smart-ass,” she said. “I’m asking because I’m concerned.”

I checked myself, knowing that she was right. Amy wasn’t the scolding type, and after all that lies and half-truths I’d fed her I figured a little straight shooting was the least I could do.

“Been so long since the doctor told me what was going on that I can barely remember the exact diagnosis,” I said. “But there’s no cure. I know that much.”

“Be more specific. Please, Ed, I just want to know.”

I sighed. “You hear me talk about the shit I used to get up to when I was younger?”

“Kind of,” Amy said. “Just that, whatever you did, you ended up crossing paths with the Black Mountain guys.”

“Hung around in bad circles, yeah,” I said. “Lived hard. Drank, smoke, did whatever drugs and pills I could get my hands on.”

I shook my head in disbelief in the way I always did when I thought back to my reckless-as-hell youth.

“Eighteen to twenty-five’s like a damn blur,” I said. “Only got my act together when I met my ex. But that’s a whole other thing.”

Amy said nothing, waiting for me to go on.

“Now, for most people wild years are something that their bodies can recover from. Humans are tough, and it takes more than a few wasted years to do lasting damage. But not for me. Around thirty I had my first ‘event,’ as they put it. One second I was with my ex and my baby girl eating some fast food in the park, the next I was clutching my chest, feeling like I was gonna die.”

“You had a heart attack?”

I nodded.

“One of those. Shit hit me hard and fast, and I woke up in the hospital surrounded by doctors. They ran some tests, trying to figure out what the hell a reasonably young man in reasonably decent shape would be dealing with old-man shit. I figured it was a consequence of my party years, but a few days later they got back to me with the bad news. Turns out that I had a weak heart from birth, and it was finally catching up with me.”

“You didn’t know about it until then?” Amy asked.

“My parents didn’t exactly spare no expense when I was born,” I said. “She stopped in, popped me out, and sent us on our way. And besides, this was before genetic testing or whatever they do now was as good as it is. Easy to be born with something that you didn’t know about until it reared its head decades down the line.

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