The Resolution: The New Homefront, Volume 4 by Steven Bird

Author:Steven Bird [Bird, Steven]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Science Fiction & Fantasy, Science Fiction, Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic
Amazon: B00ZFSWSIO
Publisher: Steven Bird at Homefront Books
Published: 2015-06-10T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty: Wisdom

Ed awoke beside his friend Nate, lying on the floor, wrapped up in several blankets in front of the sofa. With no access to outside light from the cellar, he had no idea how long he had been asleep. A candle placed on the small table in the middle of the room flickered as the wick floated in the pool of melted wax, with very little of the candle remaining in solid form.

“Hello,” Ed said quietly, unsure if Henry or Meredith were in the room. He sat up as his eyes adjusted to the low light and looked around the best he could. As he began to stand, he flinched with pain as his back and his right hip tightened up, causing him to momentarily drop back to his knees to recover. “Damn it. Damn it. Damn it,” he whispered. “Oh, I took a beating last night.”

Taking it slowly, Ed stood up fully erect and stretched as best he could in an attempt to work out the stiffness and the pain. “Mr. and Mrs... um... Henry and Meredith?” he asked again, wondering if they were in the cellar with him, still unable to see as the faint light of the candle finally extinguished itself in the puddle of wax. “Damn,” he said aloud.

Not having another light source readily available, Ed wondered how he could possibly get some light so he could check on Nate’s condition.

Just then, the door to the closet overhead opened, casting light down the stairs. Ed’s heart felt as if it skipped a beat as he wondered who was walking down the stairs to join them in the cellar. Seeing Meredith’s legs appear, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Meredith... is that you?”

“Yes. Yes, it’s me. How is your friend?”

“I was just about to try and figure that out, when the candle went out,” he replied.

“Oh, I’m so sorry about that. I didn’t think I would be gone that long. Here, I made you some breakfast,” she said as she handed him a towel wrapped around a glass bowl.

Opening it to look inside, Ed was elated to see homemade biscuits, some sort of potted meat, and grape jelly on the side. “Thank you so much, ma’am. This is amazing.”

“I’m sorry there aren’t any acceptable breakfast meats to give you. We are down to canned meats at this point, so that’s the best I could do.”

“No need for apologies, ma’am. None at all,” Ed said as he picked up one of the hot, freshly baked biscuits and took a bite, savoring the flavor as he chewed.

“It’s nice to have someone to cook for. Henry and I don’t get to see many people on a friendly basis these days.”

“Where is he?” Ed asked.

“He’s shopping.”

Looking at her with a confused expression, Ed said, “Shopping?”

“Oh, that’s what we call it when we scavenge from the other homes in the area. There isn’t any food left, but it’s still possible to find clothes and things of that nature here and there.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.