Read Online Rebirth by Michael Poeltl - Free Book Online

and Gareth. But, for some reason, Earl was still just Earl to me, my boyfriend’s sycophant.
     
    “You won’t get that out of me, Earl.”
     
    “Why do you hate me so much, Sara? Why, after all I’ve managed to accomplish here, why do you hate me so much?” His voice lowered to a menacing hiss.
     
    “Are you kidding, Earl? You know exactly why I hate you. You, Kevin and Fred.” His eyes narrowed as he understood.
     
    “So, you know.” He stood upright and his hands shot down to his sides. “Get over yourself, you little bitch! She wanted it! And that’s between her and me.”
     
    My eyes widened and he knew he’d said the wrong thing to the wrong person. He took a step back as I got to my feet. I slammed my open palms against his chest and shoved him out the door. “You just pray I don’t tell Sid and Seth. Caroline asked me to promise. But I’m rethinking the whole thing now.”
     
    “Careful, Sara. You be careful what you say to who.” His finger was in my face. I slapped it away. “I’m the leader of this group now,” he hissed through clenched teeth. “You get comfortable with it. Disrespect me again and I’ll show you what it is to go against me.”
     
    I slammed the door and paced. I could hear the addition door slam also. I fanned my face and sat on the bed, breathing deeply and exhaling slowly. We had to remove Earl altogether. But how?
     
    Chapter Sixteen
     
    We spent the ensuing months tending the barn garden, collecting seeds from the plants and replanting them. This garden had been nothing less than a miraculous discovery during the early days after the Reaper had struck. In the midst of all of the chaos, we discovered a barn facility, untouched by the fall out, complete with hydroponics equipment and a lifetime of marijuana. What had been someone’s (perhaps the government’s, based on the size and level of operation) enterprise had become our lifesaver. We had replaced the marijuana with vegetable seeds we’d scavenged from hardware and department stores, and began using the barn garden as a source for fresh vegetables and fruit. The barn had a similar setup to Joel’s house, boasting a private well to feed the crop and a generator that ran on the same fuel we used at the house. Without the hydroponic garden we would surely have suffered a bout of scurvy or worse, seeing how the last of our canned fruits and veggies had been consumed within the first year. At just a few minutes’ drive from the house on the ATV, the barn was a welcome change of pace from the stresses at home.
     
    When I wasn’t in the barn garden, helping out, sorting seeds or checking hoses I’d spend time alone, usually in the bathroom adjacent to Joel’s room, staring into the shattered mirror as my hand gently caressed my baby bump.
     
    More often than not I would cry. Not because my pregnancy upset me, or that my hormones were getting the better of me, but because I missed Joel, my baby’s father. That the baby would grow up without a dad made me anxious. Then again, if he had survived, what irreparable damage would he have suffered and how would his pain translate to his child? Jesus, I was studying myself in the very mirror he’d smashed the night he chose to take his own life.
     
    The bump had grown slowly in the last couple of months. With these limited resources, I didn’t have the privilege of eating whatever I craved. Had that been the case, I was sure I would have been bigger by now. Still, I tried to eat as well and as often as I could and the size of my belly had proven that my attempts at proper nutrition were at least growing something in there.
     
    Nothing made me happier than feeling my baby move. It was a constant source of relief for me. In our present circumstances, with no vitamins and barely any meat products save the recent stash of jerky Earl had found in an abandoned trailer, my diet consisted of berries, lettuce, and canned beans for the most part. Feeling the baby move