In the After Read Online Free PDF Page B

syllables of words. The rest of our friends got annoyed with us real fast, but subbing fan for fantastic stuck.
    “Fan.” Jake tilted his head and stared at me. “I like that.”
    “What kind of music did you play?” I asked, mostly because I didn’t know what else to say to him. I read in Cosmo once that you can put people at ease by asking them questions on topics that interest them. The problem was Jake seemed completely comfortable, I was the one who needed to chill. I had wanted to see someone for so long, but now it all felt so strange and unreal.
    “Death metal,” he told me with a grin. “We used to make a ton of noise in here.” He motioned toward the walls. “That’s why we can talk; I had the place soundproofed. The neighbors were always bitching about the noise.”
    I looked around, uncertain of what to say. Jake’s condo was nice. He had fancy furniture and paintings on the walls. One in particular caught my eye.
    I gawked. “Is that . . .?”
    “A Picasso,” Jake shrugged. “I know what you’re thinking, but it would have just sat abandoned in the Art Institute. Besides, we have to enjoy the finer things in life, otherwise what’s the point of surviving?”
    “I suppose.” I was uneasy about it but wasn’t sure why it bothered me. Why not take priceless art? . . . It was hardly stealing. There was no one else around to enjoy it.
    “What about you, Amy?” he asked. “How did you survive? You look like you’re about twelve.”
    “I’m fourteen,” I corrected him. I wanted to add that I read at a college level and was very mature for my age, but I didn’t. It would have sounded stupid, and what did that matter now?
    “How have they not gotten you? They’ve gotten everyone else.”
    “My parents,” I explained. “One was a hippie and one was paranoid.”
    Jake frowned, not understanding.
    “My mother put in an electric fence; my father made sure we had solar panels, a vegetable garden, a rainwater basin. . . .”
    “You have running water?” he interrupted me.
    “Mostly . . . when it rains anyway. The filters work because of the solar panels.”
    He stared at me. “Where do you live?” I felt my body tense. There was something in his tone that I didn’t like.
    I looked at him, unsure of what to say. “Lakeview,” I answered vaguely. “But you have electricity too,” I quickly pointed out.
    “A generator. It runs on gas . . . plenty of cars lying around to siphon fuel from. I also hooked a couple up in empty houses to attract those things.”
    “Why?” I asked, truly curious. There were so many of Them, what would killing a few stray ones do?
    “It makes me happy.” He scowled, looking anything but happy. “I feel like I’m actually doing something. Every night I go on my rounds, up to the lake and downtown and back. I check on the traps every third night.”
    He stepped toward me and I backed away. I smiled awkwardly. Something about him had me on alert.
    “I’m just heading to the fridge,” he told me, his hands up in the air. He opened the door and grabbed a couple of bottles. “Do you want a beer?”
    “Uh . . .” Out of habit, I hesitated. “I don’t know. . . .”
    “In case you haven’t noticed, society is in shambles. Our government has collapsed and we’ve been overrun by creatures from another planet. I don’t think the drinking age applies anymore,” he told me with a smirk.
    He was right. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t drink. “Sure, I’ll have one,” I said, feeling a little embarrassed.
    Jake returned from the kitchen and held out the bottle to me. I reached for the beer uneasily. As I stretched out my fingers the bottle slipped. The glass crashed to the floor and shattered, the noise startling me. I stared at the broken bottle, the beer fizzing in a puddle. It was unsettling not to be silent. Everything felt all wrong.
    “I’m sorry,” I told him lamely. “Do you have a towel or something?”
    “Don’t worry