Read Online Sanctuary: A Postapocalyptic Novel (The New World Series) by G. Michael Hopf - Free Book Online Page A

all a bit fuzzy,” she said as she struggled to sit up in the bed.
    “Hey, just lie there, you shouldn’t be putting a lot of pressure on that shoulder.”
    Struggling, she moved herself into a more comfortable position to talk. She asked, “So . . . are you getting ready to leave us?”
    “It’s not like that.”
    “Then what is it?”
    Gordon knew that it was time to have the dreaded conversation he had put off for so long.
    “Tyler, do you mind if I talk with your mother in private?”
    “No, Tyler, you can stay,” she commanded him, then turned to Gordon and stated, “Whatever you tell me, he can hear.”
    Gordon looked at her, then him, then back to her, and took a deep breath.
    “I haven’t been totally honest. You see, I’m heading to Idaho but via Oregon,” he said, then stopped. “Can we please talk about this in private? Trust me, I don’t want him to hear some things.”
    She looked at Gordon intently and nodded, resigned. “Okay.”
    Surrendering to his mother’s wishes, Tyler grunted something unintelligible and left the room.
    “Go ahead,” she said to Gordon.
    “Just before I found you two, I had been held hostage by a group of people. They murdered my son and left me to die. I had a chance to meet back up with my wife and daughter but chose to go after this man instead.”
    “Wait a minute. You have a wife and daughter and your son was murdered?”
    Gordon looked at her. He felt like all the trust that had been built up between them over the past weeks was being destroyed in the matter of seconds.
    “That’s exactly right. I have a wife and daughter who are still alive.”
    “Where are they now?”
    “By now they should be in Idaho.”
    “Should be?”
    “If I were to guess, they probably made it there by now.”
    “If you were to
guess
?”
    Gordon was feeling very nervous and even he knew the story he was telling just sounded bad. His own story, if being told to him by someone else, would have sounded like that of a man who had abandoned his family.
    “I know this sounds bad in some ways.”
    “So you abandoned your family to go get this man and now you’re abandoning us?”
    Her point hit him like a ton of bricks.
    “You don’t understand,” Gordon said defensively.
    “Then
make
me understand.”
    “I made some decisions. I put myself in the situation that resulted in being captured by this group. I attempted to escape but it wasn’t successful,” Gordon said somberly. He lowered his head and could feel emotions rising.
    Brittany just looked at him. She wasn’t angry with him, nor was she disappointed. She just wanted to have him honestly explain himself.
    “They tied me and Hunter to a cross.” Gordon paused. The vision of it was now front and center in his mind and the pain from that moment was fresh. “Ahh, they tied us each to these X’s, like this.” Gordon raised his arms in the shape of an X. “They tied our legs and arms. He was so scared and I couldn’t do anything to protect him. I couldn’t comfort him. It was my fault he was there. I made a stupid, stupid decision that got my son killed.”
    Brittany could see the pain etched across Gordon’s face. She reached over and touched his hand, but he pulled away.
    “The man I’m after murdered my son in cold blood. He took a knife and drove it into my son’s chest right in front of me. I watched the life drain from my boy and there wasn’t a goddamn thing I could do about it.” Tears welled up in his eyes. “This here was a parting gift so I’d never forget,” Gordon said, pointing to the bandage on his face.
    “I’m so sorry. I’m so very sorry, Gordon,” Brittany said compassionately.
    “My friend found me not long after. I was all set to go back with him but I couldn’t. I couldn’t face my wife. I had let my son down and I had failed her as a husband. I did stupid and foolish things that ended in getting people killed.” Gordon paused again. It was hard for him to express himself