LIGHTS OUT: Book 2: After The Noise by Devon C. Ford

Author:Devon C. Ford [Ford, Devon C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-05-09T16:00:00+00:00

Abbie awoke to sounds of excitement outside after a night of fevered tossing and turning. Despite the icy temperatures, she had soaked the bedsheets in sweat, and the resulting film on her skin was uncomfortable.

Her head banged like a drum, her spine felt like it had been used to drive in fence posts, but the fog that had gripped her tightly from the previous evening was lifted.

She staggered to the kitchen, opening a bottle of water and draining it like a newly released prisoner of war, fumbling with the packet of tablets to get the drugs into her system quickly.

Lydia appeared at her shoulder, popping the capsules out with steady hands before adding two more from another blister pack.

“Ibuprofen. It’ll help with the muscle aches.”

“When did you become a pharmacist?” Abbie asked, her teeth chattering as she spoke.

“Last night,” Lydia said, giving her earlier joke another airing.

Abbie gulped down more water with the tablets, gasping for air when she’d finished, then headed for the bathroom.

A yelp rang out, making a smile crack on Lydia’s face despite herself as she knew that shocking sensation of a freezing cold seat all too well. By the time her mother emerged from the bathroom, the kettle atop the stove was beginning to issue the first low huff of a growing whistle.

Abbie gauged the time that whistle gave her, walking back into their shared bedroom to shiver as she stripped off and put clean layers on over her clammy skin.

When she came back the whistle was beginning to sing out, but Lydia was already there with an oven glove to lift it clear and carefully pour the water into mugs.

Abbie sat by the fire, pulling one of the blankets on their little sofa into her lap to add another layer, and watched the flames flicker and dance behind the glass. The arrival of the mug wafting sweet steam under her nose snapped her out of the trance.

“What’s this?”

“Honey and lemon,” Lydia said, sitting on the thick rug in front of the fire to sip at a frothy, lumpy concoction that sent an aroma of chocolate from the top of her mug.

Abbie sipped, feeling the instant hit of sugar as the honey hit her tongue and the sharp shock of citrus that opened up her sinuses in an almost unpleasant way.

The temperature wasn’t excessive – not like an electric kettle would deliver – so she took a large gulp of the hot drink and swallowed it down to feel the warmth work on her from the inside.

“Ty left at dawn. Karen’s big mouth started running afterwards, now everyone’s running around looking for the missing food…”

Abbie’s head slumped as Lydia was speaking. It wasn’t because she was unwell, but because Tina – who Lydia had taken to referring to as Karen – had prompted the exact kind of panic they’d hoped to avoid. She hoped Nick was there to temper her attitude and reassure the others, but she wasn’t too hopeful on that front.

It was Ty’s task

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