Read Online Abandon by Stephanie Dorman - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Stephanie Dorman
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that sure in her relationship with Cort? Shaking the thought of her head, she continued to stir the grits.
“I know you don’t like grits Cort, so I made sure to load them with tons of things you actually do like,” she said laughing. It was a low blow, to show off her knowledge of Cort’s eatings habits, but she couldn’t help herself.
Cort moved to the table where Jake was sitting, still doing his cross word oblivious to the people around him. “We’ll see how it tastes. Have any of you managed to get reception on your phones yet?” A choruses of no came from the members of the room and Cort began rapidly tapping his fingers on the table. “No cell service, no power. We have to assume something happened and we’re not getting it back.”
Katy took the seat next to him and began rubbing her fingers through his hair as Annalise leaned against the counter looking at them. That used to be her job, and her spot. A feeling was coming over her that this was going to be more difficult than she anticipated. “One of us could try to go to Cumberland and see what’s going on there,” she suggested.
Cort nodded. “We should have a group meeting over breakfast. We need to set some ground rules and discuss what the overall plan is. When is it going to be ready?”
“Right now,” Annalise began to pour the grits out onto a plate for everyone, topping them with bacon bits. “Grab Jenna and Kevin, they’re outside by the lake, and we can get started.” She put a plate down for everyone at the table and went back towards the kitchen to get silverware. By the time she reached the table, everyone had already picked their seats leaving her the only seat left. Right next to Katy. She scowled at Jenna as she sat down for leaving her next to Katy and began eating her food.
Cort immediately began explaining to the group various plans and details. They would be scouting around the nearby areas for resources, always in groups of two. There were various guns by the door, but only people who knew how to use them would be able to take them to avoid self injury. Every scouting group had to have at least one person who was familiar with guns. Annalise already knew all these plans since they had fleshed them out together so she let herself zone out and reminisce on the time they had spent together. She had always known if this situation came that she wanted to be with him. He had a kind of charisma and ability to relay and process that information that made him a natural leader. Even now, in a group of friends that consisted of some fairly strong personalities, not a single person questioned him. Everyone was just nodding along and taking mental notes.
Even his voice was soothing. He had a deep voice that sounded like rich velvet over your soul. It was an overly poetic way of thinking about it, but she didn’t realize how much she missed hearing that voice next to her until he was speaking continuously. She had missed hearing him hypothesize about life, and politics. She had missed hearing his soft laughter, and even the way he coughed after every laugh. She knew it was a fact of life that confronted with traits of those you loved and lost you felt like you missed them more, she just didn’t think confronted with Cort she would feel the pain of the past couple months without him so acutely.
“Annalise, are you okay with that?” he asked, pulling her out of her internal thought process.
“Huh?”
“I asked if you were okay with us using your car for anything we need a car for.”
“Oh yeah, that’s fine.”
Upon Annalise’s response, Cort began speaking again about various teams and what assignments were. Annalise and Jenna were the first scouting pair, while Jake and Kevin were to reinforce the house as best they could. Cort and Katy would be taking Annalise’s car to Cumberland to see what was going on with the power and the world outside.
“I know you don’t like grits Cort, so I made sure to load them with tons of things you actually do like,” she said laughing. It was a low blow, to show off her knowledge of Cort’s eatings habits, but she couldn’t help herself.
Cort moved to the table where Jake was sitting, still doing his cross word oblivious to the people around him. “We’ll see how it tastes. Have any of you managed to get reception on your phones yet?” A choruses of no came from the members of the room and Cort began rapidly tapping his fingers on the table. “No cell service, no power. We have to assume something happened and we’re not getting it back.”
Katy took the seat next to him and began rubbing her fingers through his hair as Annalise leaned against the counter looking at them. That used to be her job, and her spot. A feeling was coming over her that this was going to be more difficult than she anticipated. “One of us could try to go to Cumberland and see what’s going on there,” she suggested.
Cort nodded. “We should have a group meeting over breakfast. We need to set some ground rules and discuss what the overall plan is. When is it going to be ready?”
“Right now,” Annalise began to pour the grits out onto a plate for everyone, topping them with bacon bits. “Grab Jenna and Kevin, they’re outside by the lake, and we can get started.” She put a plate down for everyone at the table and went back towards the kitchen to get silverware. By the time she reached the table, everyone had already picked their seats leaving her the only seat left. Right next to Katy. She scowled at Jenna as she sat down for leaving her next to Katy and began eating her food.
Cort immediately began explaining to the group various plans and details. They would be scouting around the nearby areas for resources, always in groups of two. There were various guns by the door, but only people who knew how to use them would be able to take them to avoid self injury. Every scouting group had to have at least one person who was familiar with guns. Annalise already knew all these plans since they had fleshed them out together so she let herself zone out and reminisce on the time they had spent together. She had always known if this situation came that she wanted to be with him. He had a kind of charisma and ability to relay and process that information that made him a natural leader. Even now, in a group of friends that consisted of some fairly strong personalities, not a single person questioned him. Everyone was just nodding along and taking mental notes.
Even his voice was soothing. He had a deep voice that sounded like rich velvet over your soul. It was an overly poetic way of thinking about it, but she didn’t realize how much she missed hearing that voice next to her until he was speaking continuously. She had missed hearing him hypothesize about life, and politics. She had missed hearing his soft laughter, and even the way he coughed after every laugh. She knew it was a fact of life that confronted with traits of those you loved and lost you felt like you missed them more, she just didn’t think confronted with Cort she would feel the pain of the past couple months without him so acutely.
“Annalise, are you okay with that?” he asked, pulling her out of her internal thought process.
“Huh?”
“I asked if you were okay with us using your car for anything we need a car for.”
“Oh yeah, that’s fine.”
Upon Annalise’s response, Cort began speaking again about various teams and what assignments were. Annalise and Jenna were the first scouting pair, while Jake and Kevin were to reinforce the house as best they could. Cort and Katy would be taking Annalise’s car to Cumberland to see what was going on with the power and the world outside.
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