Read Online Sundered by Shannon Mayer - Free Book Online

seemed to be a scout once or twice a day. He was smaller than the rest, and slightly hunched over with angry red slashes on his upper body and face, with one that went right across his forehead. The scout, who we simply started to call Scout, would attempt to rattle the massive gate, give us a growl, and then wander off.
     
    The long hours, hard work, and emotional stress taxed us, making us both edgy and out of sorts, not even leaving us enough energy to make love, unusual for us. The day before the power went out, we checked the TV as we did each morning and each night. For the first time in over a week there was an announcement of sorts.
     
    “ Mara, come here, the TV’s on,” Sebastian called out. I ran downstairs, a towel wrapped around my hair.
     
    There was no announcer, just a single picture like a page out of a book that scrolled up on a continual loop.
     
    I read it out loud as it went. “All areas of North America are now considered dangerous territory, as is the North and West of South America, all of Australia, Europe, and much of Asia.”
     
    There was a long stretch of blank screen and then a last warning.
     
    I read it slowly, disbelief and a low thrum of resignation settled over me.
     
    “ All remaining residents from these named continents are now considered independent of any government, agency, or military command. We consider . . .”
     
    That’s where it ended. The screen blinked and slid into white fuzzy static, reminding me of the twilight zone. I grabbed the remote and turned the TV off.
     
    “ What does that mean?” I asked, already suspecting the answer, but wanting Sebastian to say it out loud.
     
    He reached up and took my hand. “We’re on our own, babe. That’s what it means. No one’s going to come help us or try to get us out of here. They’re going to let nature take its course, just like Dan said, and hope the Nevermores die off.”
     
    I squeezed his hand and slid into his lap. He circled his arms around me and we held each other tight, the fear surrounding us. “We’ve still got each other,” I said.
     
    Sebastian didn’t answer me, just laid his head against my breast, his breathing uneven as if he were holding back tears.
     
    The next day, two weeks in, the power finally went and we had to break out the flashlights and candles, hoarding them, using them only when necessary. It was at that point that we realized we needed to dig a latrine of some sort. Shit—in the most literal sense of the word.
     
    Worse than that realization, was the fact that we were through half our food stores—not that we had much to begin with—and our garden was a long way from producing.
     
    “ We’re just going to have to cut back some more,” I said, staring at our already meagre meal of pasta and a half a can of tuna cooked over the barbecue. Come winter we could use the wood stove and the old wood-burning stove I’d thought to replace for heat and cooking. But there were so many things on the list of needed items: candles, seeds for the garden, and canning equipment, just to name a few.
     
    Sebastian scrubbed his hands through his hair, his wedding band catching the last rays of the setting sun. I watched as it slid around, bumping up against his knuckle. The weight we were both losing was a testament to our hard work and lack of nutrition.
     
    I started to laugh at the irony of the situation.
     
    “ What’s so funny?”
     
    I gulped the laughter down enough to answer him. “We’ve wanted to lose weight for so long and all it took was for the world to shut down.” Another peal of laughter ripped its way out of me, leaving me shaking and gasping for air, tears running down my cheeks. Hilarity rarely gripped me and now I seemed unable to shake its grasp.
     
    He frowned at me, which only made me laugh harder; lack of food, poor sleep, and hard work making me giddy. I sat on the floor and the laughter rolled out of me, Nero dancing around my head woofing and making