Wind and Chaos: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller by Harley Tate

Author:Harley Tate [Tate, Harley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-04-26T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

ELIZABETH

Calvary

Tuesday, July 11th, 2:37 pm EST

The panic managed to distract Elizabeth from the work, and once the chore of mixing the soil and fertilizer was done, the task changed to planting. For that she was given a new partner—Cleophas. She was slight, dark-haired, at least forty or nearly there.

There was a familiar lack of light in her eyes that Elizabeth recognized immediately as someone so traumatized, that she’d begun to shut herself down. A potential ally. She made it her mission to open the woman up as quickly as possible.

As Hester led the women in another hymn, Elizabeth reached for a spot in the container where Cleophas was pressing a seed into the soil, and touched her hand. “Oh, sorry. It’s easy to get swept away and not pay attention. This song takes me back.”

The narrow-faced woman gave a quick nod. “It’s fine.”

Was she just unwilling to connect, or so beaten down that she wasn’t able? Elizabeth couldn’t tell, but she got an unmistakable sense of unease from the woman. “I’m El—ah, Rachel. Hester called you Cleophas? That’s a pretty name. I don’t think I recognize it?”

Cleophas shrugged one shoulder. “Neither do I. We should focus on planting.”

At that, Cleophas’s eyes flitted to one side, tracking one of the guards, or maybe Hester. She was clearly nervous. A genuine zealot didn’t get nervous about breaking the rules, though. If she was committed to all of this, she’d have looked at Elizabeth—given her a warning, rather than worrying about them both getting into trouble.

It didn’t remove the risk, Elizabeth thought, but it did mean that Cleophas wasn’t entirely all in. She might be open to the possibility of hope. “A little talk makes the work go faster,” she argued quietly. “How long have you been here?”

At first, Cleo didn’t answer. She looked around again, then focused on pressing seeds into the neat little rows they were making. At length, she replied in a low murmur. “A week after it happened. It started coming down on the city. We had friends over here. They took shelter in the church, and we came with them.”

The destruction of Greensboro flashed through Elizabeth’s mind. Was that what Elizabethton had undergone? It didn’t take much. Places like that, dense with buildings and vehicles—just a few meteor strikes would collapse buildings or start fires that spread rapidly. “We were in Greensboro. It was terrible.” She flashed a smile. “You said we—your husband is here? Or your kids?”

Cleo’s lips thinned. “Boyfriend.”

“Is he with the guards?” Elizabeth asked.

The woman shook her head slightly. “No, he… he’s… not here. He left.”

From the way she said it, Elizabeth had a gut feeling her boyfriend had not ‘left’ in the sense that he walked out of the place. Unless he’d abandoned her here after things took a turn. Either way it would have been devastating. It was the note of deep, terrible fear that made Elizabeth think it was the former, though.

“Cleophas, my husband was with me when I came here, and we were separated.

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