Tsunami: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller by Crawford Kilian

Author:Crawford Kilian [Kilian, Crawford]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Venture Press
Published: 2017-09-20T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

“God damn it, Bob Tony, I can’t take much more of this shit.” Shauna sat tensely on the bed, smoking her fourth cigarette in an hour.

The bedroom was dark, except for a single candle burning on a dresser. Rain rattled on the skylights, and occasionally a blue Hash of lightning glared through them. It was almost five in the morning, not long before dawn; Allison was undressing for bed and thinking tiredly that he would have to rig screens over the skylights if the group switched over to a completely nocturnal lifestyle.

“What’s the problem, kid?”

“Living like this. Sitting in the house all day, listening to Diana and Aline and Suzi. Telling Lupe one thing and finding out someone’s told her the exact opposite. Trying to get Sarah to act like a human being, and then having somebody sabotage me. Eating crappy food and wondering what the hell is happening out in the civilized world.”

“Kid, did I ever say this would be a house party? No, wait a minute. You had your say, so let me have mine. Okay, you sit in the house all day? Get out to the barn and help with the animals, or work in the greenhouse. You don’t like what the women are talking about, change the subject or go find someone else to talk to. If Lupe doesn’t know what to do, you tell her to check with you. But that means you have to pay attention to what’s going on in the kitchen.

“And as for that dig about Sarah and somebody sabotaging you, you can be up front with me. I don’t like the way you’re treating her. She’s my kid, not yours, and I’m responsible for her. She’s had a hell of a time, and I think she deserves a few breaks instead of all this drill-sergeant shit you lay on her. As for the food, I agree it’s pretty boring even with Lupe and Diana working on it, but be glad we’ve got it. And as for the civilized world — kid, this is it.”

“The hell it is.”

“Come on, you’re not stupid. What happens when we splurge a little extra gas on the generator and turn on the TV? The radio? Nothing, right? They just crackle. When was the last time the mail was delivered here? How long since we’ve seen a Highway Patrol car in the canyon? Shit, the army doesn’t even come up here. And you want to pretend that things are okay out there? Get serious, kid.”

“It can’t be all that bad,” she snapped. “Jesus, it was just some big waves, not the end of the fucking world. We aren’t exactly fighting off the invading hordes or anything. We’re just — sitting here.”

“That was the whole idea. Kid, kid — ” He sat beside her on the bed. “It hasn’t even been a month yet. Sure, we don’t know just what’s going on. But we can get a pretty good idea from what we don’t hear, you know. I’ll tell you this: by summer things’ll be a lot better.

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