Finding Home - A Post Apocalyptic Novel (The Ravaged Land Series Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

stay here and rebuild his strength but he didn’t get to know about me. Even if it seemed as though I could trust him, I didn’t. After all, he had killed two men, but what if it hadn’t played out exactly as he had said? He had come here unarmed and wasn’t hiding a gun anywhere, so what happened to it? The risks of him staying here permanently were just too high.
    I would have to come up with a believable story, one that I would remember in case he asked questions. The last thing I’d want was to get caught in a lie. I’d keep it very simple. He didn’t need to know anything more than I had gotten lucky and survived.
    I could tell him I traveled north after I had gotten separated from my mom and found this place. It had a hint of the truth, it only left out every single thing that had happened in between then and now. It would be easy enough to remember and I knew I could make it sound believable. I decided that would be my story when he asked again. And I knew he would.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter four.
     
     
    Over the last three weeks, not only did Penn get stronger and healthier, he had also become a huge help. He’d go outside to gather and chop wood in the cold, prepare meals, collect, boil and bottle water, anything he saw that needed doing, he did. And without me asking him for help. He had observed how I had been living while he healed, and then as he got better just sort of fell into the groove. We had become a team. And even though I didn’t say much to him, I didn’t feel as lonely.
    I put down the book I had been reading when he came in from chopping wood. I couldn’t help but notice how much better he was looking. He looked healthy. His hair was damp from sweat and little beads of perspiration dripped down from the hair at his temples.
    He closed the door behind him, walked towards the living room and peeled off his shirt. Penn wasn’t skin and bones any more. Even though he was still thin, he now had some meat on his bones, and his muscles were more defined. His skin had color again and even his eyes gleamed with life. That undead glassy appearance and his big dark circles were gone. He wasn’t even close to the same person who had collapsed at my doorstep weeks ago.
    The bad news was that since he had been here, I hadn’t been able to venture out and continue my search to find where HOME was located. But it wasn’t completely his fault. The brutal winter didn’t want to let go. But each day it was reluctantly releasing its grip.
    Even though I was beginning to trust Penn a little, I still didn’t fully trust him and I probably never would. But now that he seemed to be doing better, I could send him on his way and back out into the cold and treacherous snow. Spring would come sooner or later. Surely he was well enough that he could leave and find his own place.
    “You’re getting stronger,” I said while we ate our noodle soup dinner he had prepared for us. I avoided making eye contact with him. Penn was resting his back against the side of the sofa with a blanket half draped over his naked chest. Even with how much stronger he seemed to be, it didn’t make me feel any better about having to send him away.
    “I am,” he said as he slurped a spoonful of the soup. I couldn’t get a read on his tone or his expression. That was something I found difficult with Penn and it certainly didn’t help with the trust factor.
    “We should probably ta—”
    “I know… I’ve been dreading this. I’ll admit, I’m not excited to leave.”
    It was my turn to slurp the soup to avoid talking. It really wasn’t hurting anything to have him here. If he was here to kill me, he would have done so by now. It’s not like he had just been waiting weeks for that perfect moment that he could sneak up on me and slit my throat. Even though I barricaded myself in my room every night, he could have made his move after the first couple days. But he hadn’t. He never once seemed anything but normal.