Preppers of the Apocalypse - Part 2: Post Apocalyptic EMP Survival Read Online Free PDF Page B

of the mountain hours earlier, and Ash was loathe to use the
remaining one, but if this wasn’t an emergency, then what was? The glow of the
lamp cast an orange flicker on their faces. Chad, with his forehead and cheeks
covered in oil and sweat, looked like something from Apocalypse Now.
     
    “So
now we’ve got a problem,” said Ellie. “We’re so far into the pass that walking
back would take twice as long as getting here.”
     
    “Triple
if we account your ankle into things,” said Ash.
     
    “Okay,
everyone make fun of the hop-along. Listen, you jerk. What I’m saying is that
if the pick-up is screwed-”
     
    “It
really is,” cut in Chad.
     
    “-
then we’re gonna have to walk. But we gotta carry on the way we’ve been going.
We need to walk to the end of the pass.”
     
    Suddenly
the night air felt a lot colder and looked a lot darker. The mountain seemed to
grow around Ash so large that for the first time in years, he was struck by the
size of nature and how small he was compared to it. The EMP had hit the
mainland and gouged a cut deep into the skin of society, but the natural world
would carry on unaffected. If anything, it would flourish, given time.
     
    “Seriously
then, said Ash. “How long do you think you can walk each day? We need to figure
how long this is going to take us and then ration our supplies.”
     
    Chad
slammed his fist down on the bonnet of the car.
     
    “I’m
gonna sleep this one out. Wake me when you have a plan.”
     
    He
walked around the truck, opened the back doors and bundled himself in. He
slammed the door after him and then lay down. Ellie fumbled in her pocket and
pulled out her tobacco pouch. It was starting to look saggy, and Ash wondered
what it was going to do to her nerves when it ran out completely.
     
    “Why’d
you come out here?” he said. “I know it’s not because you’ve got a vested
interest in seeing me get home safely.”
     
    “It’s
all part of the sheriff service.”
     
    “Seriously.”
     
    “Of
course it’s not, Ash. You’ve been a scum bag to me and the town, and a week
ago, and I couldn’t have cared less what happened to you.”
     
    “Then
why come along?”
     
    Ellie
finished rolling her cigarette. It was much thinner than the ones she usually
rolled, and when she lit it, half the paper burned all at once. She threw it to
the ground in frustration.
     
    “It’s
because of Ben. My son. He’s got a condition. He needs regular blood
transfusions. I have a supply at home, but with the refrigerators broken, the
blood is ruined. So I need to find Ben’s father. They have the same type.”
     
    “And
I take it you don’t?”
     
    “I
wouldn’t be trying to find the asshole if we were. Ben’s father is a prick.”
     
    Ash
grinned. “You’re travelling with a prick so that you can find a prick. From one
prick to another.”
     
    “You’re
not so bad, I guess,” said Ellie. “But one day you’re going to have to find a
way to pay for what you did, Ash. It’s not something people tend to forget, and
I know that I never will. I might forgive, but I’ll always remember.”
     
    Abash
thought of Tony Shore, and the kindness that the man had shown him. Tony had
told Ash that one day all the bad things he had done were going to spill out of
him, and that he was going to need someone there to pick up the pieces when
they did. He had shrugged it off at the time, but he was starting to think that
Tony was right.
     
    “I
know what I did, Ellie. Trust me, I know. And once I’ve found Georgia and made
sure she’s safe, I’ll find a way to pay everyone back. I don’t know how, but
I’ll find a way.”
     
    Ellie
finished rolling a cigarette, and this time it lit perfectly. As she took a
deep drag on it the end flared orange. Ellie screwed up the empty tobacco pouch
and shoved it in her pocket.
     
    “Guess
it’s time for me to quit,” she said, and looked at the ground sadly.
     
    “I
used to smoke. It’s not so