Read Online American Revenant (Book 2): Settlers and Sorrow by John L. Davis IV - Free Book Online

father.  He reached forward, reset
the choke and gave the cord one good hard pull, nearly falling over in the
process. 
                The
engine coughed to life with an unsteady rumbling.  “Doesn’t sound bad,” Gordy
told the other two men.  “Has it always run like that, like it has a miss in it?”
                “No,
can’t say it did.  I kept it tuned up pretty good, and if I ever had trouble
with it I took it to Jack Humbell.  That man did fine work with any kind of
motor.”
                “Well,
Sam has always been pretty good with fixing these kinds of things,” Cal
offered, “Maybe we should let him take a look at it.”
                “Yeah,
we can do that.  Jonathan, does that little trench digging attachment work?”
                “It
did the last time I used it, about three years ago.  You bolt it up to the same
holes as the blade would go, connect that line there and use that little lever
to operate it,” He told them, pointing out each item as he said it.
                Gordy
looked at Cal, “We could use that to dig a trench for the palisade wall your
brother was talking about.  The work would go quickly, and having that wall
would be a huge relief to everyone.  I would bet we could have it done in a few
weeks.”
                “When
we use up the railroad ties when can just use the trees we’ll have to cut down
for the rest of the wall.  I think it’s a great idea, Dad.  With the little
chainsaw and the trencher, I think you’re right, a few weeks and we have a
wall.”
                Pleased
with what they had found, the men went back to the house to share the
information with the rest of the group.  The use of Jonathan’s equipment and
tools, and the news that building their security wall would be far easier than
they had initially planned buoyed everyone’s spirits. 
                “Before
we all get to work up at the Camp, I need to talk about something.  Getting set
up and secure in this new place is going to be hard work.  Life itself is going
to be hard work for the foreseeable future.  Everyone needs to get used to that
idea very quickly.  We have the use of tools that will make what we have to do
easier, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy.
                “As
much as we would like to simply wall ourselves off from the rest of the world,
we can’t.  Teams will have to be sent out into Saverton, to clear homes, making
sure there are no undead walking around out there, as well as looking for
survivors and supplies.  Safety and security always come at a risk, though we
will work to minimize that risk as much as we can.
                “Eventually
we’re going to have to send people back to Hannibal or even further away, to
find supplies like medicines and things that we can’t make for ourselves. 
Eventually we hope to be self-sufficient, but that time may be a long way down
a very hard road.”
                Dean
lay on the couch, listening to his father and hating that he wouldn’t be able
to help with the early work at the Camp.  Even if he wasn’t in constant pain,
he knew his mother would never let him help with all of the hard work that
would be involved, out of worry that he would aggravate his wounds.
                With
half his face still bandaged and his arm tied up in a sling he also knew he
wouldn’t be much help, but he wanted to be part of it.
                “Alright
everyone, let’s neaten this house up before we go.  Then we can all head up to
the Camp and get to work.”

 
    Chapter 10
                “I
wish we could use the truck,” Jack said, “I hate all this damn walking.”
                “We
all want to use the truck, but until we clear out some of this little town it’s
just too much of a risk with all the noise.  If we have to hunt zombies I’d
rather