After the End: Survival Read Online Free PDF

best stew I've had in a long time," said Pete, wiping his mouth.
    "Well thank you. My mother taught me how," and for an instant, a cloud came across her face. "A long time ago," she added, and her face cleared. "You come back and see us again real soon. You got a girlfriend?"
    "Uh, no."
    "You need one. I'll see what I can do."
    David kissed his daughter and wife goodbye, promised to be home in time for supper.
    "Quite a woman," Pete ventured, as they walked down the sidewalk to their vehicles.
    "Yep. She's like a Texas tornado. Funny thing. She won't forget a single word you told her today. Hell of a memory."
    "She can sure cook."
    David smiled. "Yessir, she surely can. And you better watch your ass because she's likely gonna come up with some kind of girlfriend for you."
    "Just so she knows I'm not partial to barnyard animals."
    "I'll tell her," David said, his face slipping back to a neutral expression, "but it may be too late."
    Pete and David drove east eight blocks to talk with the two boys who'd found the body. As they approached, Pete saw the youngsters in the front yard of a house with a huge elm. A tire hung from the tree on a rope. It was swinging in a wide arc and the two were throwing sticks through the middle. They stopped their play when the two vehicles pulled up to the curb.
    "Hey, guys," said David, walking up the sidewalk.
    "Hi, Mr. Rodriguez," answered the taller boy.
    "Hi, David," said the other, grinning at the look of reproach he received from his friend. Being on a first name basis with an adult was considered a little suspect.
    "This is Dr. Pete Wilson. We need to visit with you about that girl you found yesterday."
    Pete walked up to the two and shook hands.
    "Pleased to meet you," Pete said formally. "If it weren't for your sharp eyes that poor girl might still be laying out there." The boys looked pleased. Most often boys do not get appreciated for much of anything.
    "I was the one who saw her first," offered the taller boy, Shane. He was about twelve, blond hair that appeared to have been cut by scissors with a bowl used as a guide. He was shirtless and barefoot with a deep tan and calloused feet indicating he'd been that way all summer.
    "You wouldn't have seen her if I hadn't found her shirt first," groused Jimmy, brown haired, short and husky.
    "She was naked," Shane explained.
    "And her guts were hanging out," said Jimmy.
    "OK," Pete nodded, carefully considering this information. "Let's go over in the shade and sit down and talk about this."
    The boys sat cross legged under the tree on the hard earth. The men squatted on their haunches.
    "Now, I need you to tell me about yesterday, starting from the early morning."
    "Well, first off, we ate breakfast," Shane began.
    "I had pancakes," offered Jimmy.
    "Shut up," Shane said resignedly. "Then we dug up some worms and rode our bikes down to where the creek joins up with Palo Duro Lake." He paused, chewing the inside of his lip for a few seconds. “Then we parked our bikes and hiked east a little ways to a little pool coming off the lake. That's where we mostly like to fish."
    "Did you see anybody while you were hiking?"
    "Nope. Didn't see no one."
    "All right. What happened when you got to the pool?"
    "We started fishing. I caught a couple of catfish, and Jimmy caught one."
    This was Jimmy's cue.
    "I had to go take a leak. I don't ever piss in the creek." He looked over to Deputy Rodriguez for his nodded approval. "So I went over a little ways to a bush and saw a shirt kind of mashed down underneath it. I yelled over to Shane and we started looking around."
    "What made you want to start looking around? I mean, all you found was a shirt."
    "Well it was clean, like it hadn't been there very long."
    "OK. Then what?"
    "We just kept looking. Then Shane yells over to me."
    "I saw something white just off to the side of a clearing. It was her. That naked girl."
    "Then what?"
    "We came back home, I told Kay..."
    "Who's Kay?"
    "She's like my mom. I told her