Read After The Fires Went Out: Coyote (Book One of the Post-Apocalyptic Adventure Series) for Free Online Page B

Matt had brought Ant home. I knew she was hiding up in Lisa’s bedroom. She still likes to think she shares a room with Lisa whenever she doesn’t want to share a bed with me. When that happens I’m never sure if it’s because she’s angry with me or if it’s the only way she knows I’ll leave her alone.
    That last time she’d ended up staying in there all night, not appearing again until after we’d finished breakfast. I didn’t want that to happen again.
    I knocked on the door but she didn’t answer. I opened it slowly, trying to make my intrusion seem a little more polite.
    She was lying on her old bed, the blankets pulled up to her shoulders.
    “You just left,” she said.
    “I’m sorry,” I said. I meant it. “I didn’t want to get carried away with all of it.”
    “What the hell does that mean?”
    “We need to be strong.”
    “Are you kidding me? Seriously?”
    “What?”
    “You need to support me, alright?”
    I sat down on the bed beside her, running my hand through her half-curled hair. “I’m sorry... I should have stayed.”
    “Damn right you should have stayed,” she said. “Christ... no one needs to see you acting like a goddamn robot. I know you’re hurting, Baptiste.”
    I shook my head. I tried not to cry.
    “It shouldn’t have happened,” I said. “I should’ve been there to keep him safe.”
    “He was the one who chose not to be safe... that was Ant... not you.” She brought up her hand and squeezed my thigh. She’d forgotten who was supposed to be doing the comforting.
    “Do you think we made the right choice?” I asked her.
    “We took him in and gave him a family,” she said with a hint of a smile. “Ant was happy.”
    “I don’t mean that... I mean by staying here. Maybe if we’d made the trip out over the summer we’d be down in Temiskaming or somewhere, and Ant would be out spray-painting stop signs and humping fire hydrants.”
    “We made the right choice,” she said. “Staying here meant bringing in the Porters and the Tremblays, maybe saving their lives. As much as Justin pisses me off sometimes, I’m glad he’s here and that he’s on our side.”
    “That doesn’t mean it was the right choice.”
    “Bad things happen. And they’ll happen no matter what.” She sat up and leaned in against me. “At least Ant wasn’t alone when it happened.”
    “He was with Matt.”
    “Yeah, with Matt... his friend. And the rest of us are still here, Baptiste. And we’re doing okay.”
    “For now...”
    “No... we’re not doing that. No more doom and gloom...”
    “We’re running out of fuel,” I said.
    “We’ll talk to the Walkers. Or the Smiths... they must have some to share. They owe us for the extra eggs we’ve been sending them.”
    They owed us for far more than that.
    “That’s not how it works,” I said. “No one shares fuel.”
    “We’ll find a way,” she said. Her voice didn’t waver as she said it. “You’ll figure it out, Baptiste. You always have and you always will.”
    I smiled; I was tired of talking about it, of fishing for reinforcement. It’s not like I could just wave my hand and lose the guilt I feel about Ant... or about everything else.
    “We’re lucky to have you,” she said.
    “You’re just sweet-talking me...”
    She pursed her lips. “Is it working?”
    I nodded.
    “You’re an easy man to please, Baptiste.”
    “And you’re the perfect piece of tail to do it.”
    She giggled a little as she leaned over and kissed me.
    I kissed her back and wrapped my right hand around the back of her neck, drawing her closer to me. And then I kissed her neck, listening to the slow deepening of each breath.
    “I love you,” she said.
    “I love you...” I kissed her neck some more.
    She moaned and it shot right through me.
    I made sure to move us to the right bedroom.
     

    Today is Friday, December 7th.
    The weather was good, so Graham and I went into Cochrane today in the old grain truck. We skipped the weekly