Upheaval by T. L. Payne

Author:T. L. Payne [Payne, T. L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Post-Apocalyptic | EMP | Survival | Thriller
Publisher: Shaky Rock Publishing LLC
Published: 2019-11-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

The Farm

Evening Shade, Missouri

Event + 26 days

Once again, Maddie stood over a freshly-dug grave. This had become an all too familiar scene. Maddie held her mother’s hand as Maria reminisced about times spent training with Roger back at the compound in Arizona. Beth wiped a tear from her cheek. Maddie stared down at her mother’s hand. Jason put his arm around his wife’s shoulders and gave her a light squeeze.

Maddie felt a tug on her left sleeve and looked down at Emma. Her bright red curls were pulled back into a ponytail with a yellow ribbon—a gift from Harmony. The rash on her hands and face was fading. Beth had assured Maddie that by the time Emma finished her course of antibiotics, the rash should be completely gone.

The medical supplies Roger had died to get would do more than save their group from whatever plague Larry’s group had picked up at the shelter. They’d brought back enough to save the lives of many more in their little community. Jason, Beth, and Ella had big plans of opening a medical clinic in Evening Shade.

Maddie and Ryan had discussed setting up a trading post in the parking lot of the former general store. The clinic would bring people from neighboring communities seeking medical treatment. It would be the perfect place for people to trade for much needed goods and services.

Maria took a seat in a lawn chair beside Rank. His eyes were still swollen and he still couldn’t see, but he’d insisted on being there to pay his respects to Roger. Of course, Jason and Beth had protested. He did have six broken ribs, a fractured forearm, three broken fingers, and a concussion. He was also frustrated by memory loss. He couldn't remember anything after the team was surrounded by the black-clad thugs in St. Louis. He had no memory of the beating he’d received at the hands of the attackers who’d killed Roger.

Maddie looked at Gerald Aims and Reginald Harding—the FEMA guys, as Lugnut referred to them. He was sure they knew more than they were saying about the black-clad group patrolling the streets of St. Louis and about other secret FEMA supply caches. Aims and Harding had accepted their invitation to join the group, for now. They were assisting Jason, Beth, and Ella with setting up the clinic, and Ryan with the trading post. Maddie hoped that the FEMA guys’ contributions outweighed their risk to the group. They’d fled Illinois for a reason. She just hoped they didn’t bring that trouble down on her people.

“Can I go help Harmony and Miss Ella with lunch?” Emma asked.

“Sure. But this time, could you leave a few of the cherries in the fruit cocktail? Maddie whispered in Emma’s ear.

Emma smiled sheepishly and nodded before turning and running off to the house.

Beth placed black licorice candy on top of Roger’s grave and stepped back. Roger had been the only person in the group who’d liked the candy, a fact he had been thrilled with at the time.

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