The Survivors (Book 1): Pandemic by Burns Alex

Author:Burns, Alex [Burns, Alex]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: Science Fiction | Post-Apocalyptic
Published: 2018-01-27T05:00:00+00:00

Mum and I decided to go up early to help set up. Hovering around the house waiting was driving Mum nuts. The town hall was less than a ten minute walk from Mum’s house. We went next door with Charlotte to see if Ina wanted to come with us. I felt a twinge of guilt that I hadn’t come over to see her yet. I’d been so lost in my grief for the dead and missing that I hadn’t really given all that much thought to the living.

I let Charlotte ring the doorbell.

I shot Mum a worried glance when there was no answer, but she didn’t look too perturbed.

“She’s a bit slow these days,” Mum whispered. “Give her a minute.”

Sure enough, just as I was starting to think Ina had kicked the bucket as well, the door creaked open. The old lady looked frail and smaller than I remembered. Her wispy white hair swam around her head like a cloud.

“Oh my,” Ina croaked. She cleared her throat with a mildly disgusting cough. “What do we have here?” She was looking down at Charlotte, who smiled up at her shyly. The old woman’s eyes slowly drifted upwards to Mum and me.

“Is that you, Alice dear?”

I nodded. “Yes, it’s me.”

“You’re home,” she said, sounding relieved.

“Yes, I’m home,” I said.

“Good,” she said shortly. “And who do we have here?” Ina bent down to look at Charlotte more closely. Charlotte took a step towards Mum and half hid behind her.

“This is Charlotte,” Mum said, putting a reassuring arm around her. “Sarah’s little girl.”

“Ah. Yes. She does look like Sarah. Except for the hair colour of course.”

Mum smiled down at Charlotte, and stroked her hair. “Just like Sarah,” she echoed.

“It’s good that you’re home. Safe and sound. It’s good to be home at times like this, yes.” She regarded us through the screen door, still nodding. “Do you want to come in?”

Mum shook her head. “No. We wondered if you wanted to come to the town meeting with us?”

Ina shook her head. “Oh, no. I can’t walk that far. I was going to drive. I still have some petrol left. You’re welcome to come with me.” I eyed Mum cautiously. She’d always been a bit leery of letting us in the car with Ina. Bit of a speed demon, the old lady was.

“All right,” Mum said.

“Let me get my coat.”

Within a few minutes Ina was back, bright red coat slung over her arm. She came out and shut the door firmly behind her. “Not much point locking it anymore,” she said in an oddly bright voice. I quirked an eyebrow at her. No one usually locked anything in Turalla anyway, even before. Lucy hadn’t understood my excitement at having my very own set of keys when we got our first apartment together. I’d had to explain to the bewildered city girl that you couldn’t even lock my parents home even if you wanted to (broken door handle), and I’d never had a key. I didn’t

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.