Purge of Babylon (Book 6): The Isles of Elysium

Author:Sisavath, Sam [Sisavath, Sam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Post-Apocalypse, Thriller
Publisher: Road To Babylon Media LLC
Published: 2015-05-02T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

“You’re pregnant,” he said.

“You always were a master of observation, Keo.” She smiled at him, though he thought it was probably a little more forced than she had planned.

“How long?”

“Four months.”

Four months.

It had been three months since Jordan escaped T18, and what had she said when he pressed her on why Gillian hadn’t left with her?

“She was different in the weeks leading up to the escape. To this day I don’t know what happened, but when the time came I was the only one who left. Only she can say why.”

Four months…

Keo watched her pour hot water from a pot into a pair of ceramic mugs, then open a package and dipped two tea bags into them. He was in too much of a daze, and had been for the last few minutes, to recall where the hot water came from.

“Tea?” he said.

“Black tea. The green ones expired a long time ago, though the guys running the farms say we might be able to grow our own very soon.”

She brought the mugs over and sat down across from him. Keo stared down at the tea, then at her.

“What?” she said. “You think I’m trying to poison you?”

He smiled. Or thought he did. “Of course not.”

“It’s really not that bad. I hated it in the beginning, but you learn to get used to things. Tea’s a luxury these days.”

He picked up the mug and sipped it. It wasn’t bad, but he was never much of a teetotaler. The Gillian he remembered had never been one, either. He remembered the two of them finishing off bottles of whiskey they had found in Earl’s basement. Then there was the occasional good red wine he and Norris would pick up during one of their scavenging trips.

But not tea. Never tea.

“It’s better with some milk or honey,” she was saying. “Or sugar. But those are rationed.”

I bet Steve has plenty at his house. Maybe I can go and borrow some.

“Hey, Steve, you got some milk or honey? My pregnant girlfriend would sure like some with her black tea.”

Girlfriend. Did he just refer to Gillian as his girlfriend?

Christ, maybe Tobias’s love-tap had done more damage to his brain than he thought.

Keo took out the pill bottle Jordan had given him and shook out two.

“You okay?” Gillian asked.

“Headache.”

“Does it have something to do with that?” She touched her own forehead.

“Lucky guess,” he said, and tried to force a smile, but gave up about halfway.

He swallowed the pills and put the bottle away. Then he watched her sipping tea across from him, sunlight from the open windows splashing across them. He wished it were darker inside the living room so he wouldn’t have to see her belly. The most painful part was that she was still as beautiful as he remembered; maybe even more so.

“I was wondering why they told me to come home,” Gillian said. She put the mug down and placed her hands over her belly. “It’s supposed to be safe for me to work until the end of my second trimester.

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