Elixir by Anna Abner

Author:Anna Abner [Abner, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Literature & Fiction, Romance, Paranormal, Teen & Young Adult, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Science Fiction, Dystopian, zombie, teen, horror, apocalypse, plague
Amazon: B00IOOZY6E
Goodreads: 20698546
Publisher: Mild Red Books
Published: 2014-02-26T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

After the memorial service for the girl I never even knew, I couldn’t sit still. My fingers itching to do something, I organized the restaurant’s dining room, which doubled as the group’s bedroom and living quarters.

Hunny returned to the convenience store and gorged on more cookies and flavored water while Simone took Russell up to the roof for some privacy. Pollard busied himself cooking in the kitchen.

Whether Pollard appreciated my organizational efforts or not didn’t bother me. I couldn’t stay in a place, even for one night, that wasn’t clean. My dad had drilled the merits of cleanliness into my head long before the spread of 212R.

I didn’t waste any more time sorting laundry, but decided it was all dirty and piled it behind the hostess station. Either someone would wash it when I was gone, or not, but it was out of the way for the night. Then, after exploring the shadowy janitor’s closet, I borrowed a broom and dustpan and swept the entire dining room. Nothing remained on the floor but microscopic dust particles, and I felt much safer.

I’d sprayed cleanser on the tabletops and was ready to wipe them down when Pollard emerged from the kitchen carrying a steaming pan of food.

He groaned when he realized what I’d done to his fortress. “You just can’t help yourself, can you?”

That sounded like an insult. I rubbed hard at the plastic tabletop. “Cleanliness cuts down on disease. Everyone knows that.” I shuffled on to the next table.

Pollard set dinner on the surface I’d just vacated. “Well, it looks better. I guess. But where are all our clothes?”

“Behind the counter.” I moved on to the next table, and then the final one. “If you’re serious about rebuilding civilization you need to think about keeping things organized.” I glanced up. “Or are you more interested in a Neanderthal kind of world?”

“Very funny.” But he wasn’t mad. In fact, he closed the distance between us to poke me playfully under the ribs.

I giggled. Couldn’t help it.

Simone stuttered to a stop under the archway between the convenience store and the dining room. “Holy cow, girl. You work fast.” She grinned. “I can finally see the floor.”

She turned on three battery-powered camping lanterns and the feeble light chased away the shadows.

“Hey,” Russell complained. “Where’s my stuff? You didn’t throw away my board shorts, did you?”

“It’s all behind the counter. Maybe you could wash the clothes in the morning,” I proposed. “They stink.”

“Gee, thanks,” he said, laying on the sarcasm.

Once Russell confirmed his clothes hadn’t been trashed, we all found a seat at a super-sized booth and helped ourselves to disposable plates.

Dinner wasn’t simply wild game. No, Pollard had rolled little chunks of meat in a crushed cereal coating and fried them in a skillet over the fire. I didn’t even care that I was eating squirrel. It was so delicious I wished I could eat more, however Pollard had seconds and then Hunny gobbled down the last pieces before anyone else could call them.

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