Impact by Nate Johnson

Author:Nate Johnson [Johnson, Nate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-12-18T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Ryan

Okay, maybe not the smartest move. But it was just too good to pass up. I’d spotted a sodden wheatfield when we set up camp. Bent stalks soaking in the mud. But, in the far corner on a piece of slightly higher ground, a clump of wheat not beaten into the ground.

Winter wheat that should be harvested in a couple of weeks. I didn’t want to say anything just in case this didn’t work. I’d noticed that every time they got their hearts broken, it took longer and longer to bounce back.

They were dragging, fighting over the littlest thing. The constant gnawing emptiness of our stomachs torturing us endlessly. I’d heard Julia crying in her sleep last night. One more heartbreak might be too much.

So I snuck into the night, letting my eyes adjust to the dark. The clouds had parted a bit letting in enough starlight to work my way around the edge of the field. I had to slide through a barbed wire fence, cutting my thumb but I ignored the pain as I focused on what I needed to do. The field had that molding wet smell that turned a person’s stomach.

This will work, I kept telling myself as I slogged through the mud to the dry patch. Once I got there I fell to my knees and used my buck knife to start harvesting the wheat, cutting the heads off at the top of the stem and stuffing them into the pillow case.

I was thrilled that I was getting so much when the night exploded with a very loud and very close rifle shot.

Doing the only smart thing, I fell to my gut and crawled out of there, dragging the bag full of wheat behind me. I’d made about fifty feet and stopped to catch my breath, fighting to control my racing heart, while listening but the pounding blood in my ears made it impossible. Someone could be driving a tank six feet away and I wouldn’t have heard them.

Obviously. Some farmer didn’t want anyone stealing his food. I couldn’t blame him. But I had people starving. And I needed to get those people away before we were discovered. The fire was hidden. But the wind was right so he might smell the smoke.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed up and began to run, bent at the waist, expecting a slug to the back at any moment. Thankfully, the clouds shifted and hid the faint starlight. Giving me time to make the camp.

Kelsey stared at me with wide eyes. Jake jumped on me, welcoming me back to the pack.

“Where’s Paul and Julia?” I asked as I frantically began to kick dirt over the fire.

“Here,” Paul said as he and Julia stepped out of the dark.

“What is going on?” Kelsey demanded, giving me a look like she wanted to chew me out for the next two weeks.

“We need to go,” I hissed then began taking down the tarp. “Grab the stuff and let’s go.”

All four of them stared back, unable to process what was happening.

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