Endure: A Post-Apocalyptic Adventure (The End of Times Book 3) by Nate Johnson

Author:Nate Johnson [Johnson, Nate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-07-29T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Meagan

I was still seething about Jimmy defying me when we left the next night. Chase, Jimmy, it was as if they had hatched a conspiracy to piss me off to the maximum. The idea of Jimmy going off by himself into the desert. Remember the whole forty-eight things that can kill a person.

No. It wasn’t right.

And yes, I understood the whole needing to grow up. Boys having to push their independence. But he was only eleven. And I wasn’t ready for him to start breaking away.

Chase of course was oblivious to my anger. I swear, he was enjoying the silent treatment I was giving him. Again, one more thing to make me furious. I wasn’t worth worrying about.

The lack of power in this entire situation was becoming unbearable.

We left at last light. The heavy ash cloud still hung over us blocking out the stars but it was no longer falling. The flat endless desert mixed the rain and ash into a concrete-type mush.

Chase said we could use one flashlight to make sure we stayed on the road. “There isn’t anyone out here anyway,” he added.

I scoffed. He wasn’t wrong. We were in the middle of nowhere. Surrounded by flat desert and mountains in the distance. Nothing but cactus and sagebrush as far as a person could see. All of it covered in a gray ashy mud.

As we walked, I noticed Jimmy hurry up to walk next to Chase. Which of course made me grind my back teeth. So instead I hugged Austin. Big mistake, he pulled away from me and shot me a confused look. Like, yes, we might be in the middle of nowhere, but that still didn’t mean he wanted to be hugged by his big sister. So uncool.

I let my head drop. My world was changing in too many ways too fast. I was losing the boys and there was nothing I could do about it. If I tried to hold on tighter they’d only rebel more. And Chase wasn’t helping things. I mean he had hero stamped all over him. Big, strong, brave, competent in everything. Of course the boys wanted to emulate him. And at another time, I might have been okay with it. But not now. Not here in the middle of nowhere with the world ending around us.

No. I just wasn’t ready for it.

The road continued to follow the river, winding back and forth. We stopped at midnight for a quick meal of cornbread and beef jerky then started again. The sun was getting ready to come up when Chase pointed to a sign. Wild Horse Camp Ground. He raised an eyebrow asking if we wanted to check it out.

When we got there I wished we’d passed it by. Six RVs were parked in camping spots and two partially collapsed tents in two other spots. The lake was just past the campgrounds. A cool blue inviting us.

Chase stopped and held out a hand to stop us as he glared at the campground. I followed his gaze and froze.

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