Read Online The McClane Apocalypse: Book One by Kate Morris - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Kate Morris
Tags: Fiction
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he wasn’t sure if he was to be deployed to Syria again. Sue sometimes wondered if her husband was “touched” as Grams puts it. He sure was this time, and she is glad for it. She could’ve ended up like Reagan, barely making it to the farm alive or perhaps not at all.
The farm is as secluded as Hannah had described it, though. The nearest neighbors are over six miles away, dairy farmers. The mile and a half long lane isn’t paved or fancy but simple gravel and sometimes muddy during a wet spell. The hidden lane is surrounded on either side by deep woods filled with wildlife. Grandpa and Sue and even the kids had recently covered in the opening of the driveway with tree branches and foliage to better conceal it. Unless someone is flying over in a helicopter, the farm is far from being visible. It isn’t exactly a heavily-traveled road anyway- just a county road filled with potholes and sparse gravel. Basically, if someone didn’t know the McClane farm was here, then they weren’t going to anytime soon.
Feeling discouraged, Sue makes a lame excuse of needing rest and heads outside to find her kids. If anyone can uplift her flagging spirits, her kids sure could. And it doesn’t take long to find them. All she has to do is just follow their laughter and shouts. They are chasing chickens down by the barn. Sue waddles off the back porch and goes to them.
“You’d better not let Aunt Hannah hear you out here doing that!” she warns, but the smile in her voice is evident and she only receives toothy grins from her rugrats. Justin is looking more and more everyday like his father, favoring Derek’s dark looks. And Arianna will forever resemble herself, poor kid. Justin takes his role as older brother very seriously, and Sue thinks it’s because their father gets deployed so often. It’s such an unfair pressure for her young son to feel like he needs to be the caretaker of herself and especially Arianna. But, then again, the struggle for survival may be something that her children will eventually worry more about.
“Mama, watch me!” Arianna yells with glee and does a cartwheel right in the barnyard, her long pigtails dragging the ground while she’s upside down. The little waif has successfully managed to cover herself with dirt and so early in the day. Sue claps and cheers her on and then perches on a swing attached to their wooden swing-set that Grandpa had built after Justin’s birth.
Her daughter may look like her, but she favors her Aunt Reagan in behavior. Heaven help her! Reagan already had her riding. Sue’s heart raced every time she saw Reagan swing her tiny girl up in front of her on a damn, dangerous horse. Arianna is only five but smaller than most kids her age. She’d been a preemie just like Reagan, too. Maybe it is a preemie personality trait to be such a fighter. They had to start out fighting, and they were gonna push their way through life head first. It is probably what had motivated Reagan to plow through school like she had a vendetta against it. But Sue knows her sister is the most accomplished rider on the farm, with the exception of Grandpa. It doesn’t stop her mommy side from panicking. And if she is being completely honest with herself, it isn’t a bad idea to learn how to ride. It isn’t like anyone can just jump in a car anymore to head to the local grocery store. Horses could become a valued commodity. She’d never been much of a horse person, but she’d been older when they had come to live on the farm after mom.
She is glad Reagan is a fighter because if she’d been meek and docile, then she may not have made it home to them. There isn’t much that she knows about the night of her sister’s escape from the university, but she knows enough and had seen the condition of her sister upon her arrival, to know that she’d been through Hell and back. Yes, her little sister is a fighter, and she is thankful that Arianna is going to be like her.
“Mama, when is Daddy gonna
The farm is as secluded as Hannah had described it, though. The nearest neighbors are over six miles away, dairy farmers. The mile and a half long lane isn’t paved or fancy but simple gravel and sometimes muddy during a wet spell. The hidden lane is surrounded on either side by deep woods filled with wildlife. Grandpa and Sue and even the kids had recently covered in the opening of the driveway with tree branches and foliage to better conceal it. Unless someone is flying over in a helicopter, the farm is far from being visible. It isn’t exactly a heavily-traveled road anyway- just a county road filled with potholes and sparse gravel. Basically, if someone didn’t know the McClane farm was here, then they weren’t going to anytime soon.
Feeling discouraged, Sue makes a lame excuse of needing rest and heads outside to find her kids. If anyone can uplift her flagging spirits, her kids sure could. And it doesn’t take long to find them. All she has to do is just follow their laughter and shouts. They are chasing chickens down by the barn. Sue waddles off the back porch and goes to them.
“You’d better not let Aunt Hannah hear you out here doing that!” she warns, but the smile in her voice is evident and she only receives toothy grins from her rugrats. Justin is looking more and more everyday like his father, favoring Derek’s dark looks. And Arianna will forever resemble herself, poor kid. Justin takes his role as older brother very seriously, and Sue thinks it’s because their father gets deployed so often. It’s such an unfair pressure for her young son to feel like he needs to be the caretaker of herself and especially Arianna. But, then again, the struggle for survival may be something that her children will eventually worry more about.
“Mama, watch me!” Arianna yells with glee and does a cartwheel right in the barnyard, her long pigtails dragging the ground while she’s upside down. The little waif has successfully managed to cover herself with dirt and so early in the day. Sue claps and cheers her on and then perches on a swing attached to their wooden swing-set that Grandpa had built after Justin’s birth.
Her daughter may look like her, but she favors her Aunt Reagan in behavior. Heaven help her! Reagan already had her riding. Sue’s heart raced every time she saw Reagan swing her tiny girl up in front of her on a damn, dangerous horse. Arianna is only five but smaller than most kids her age. She’d been a preemie just like Reagan, too. Maybe it is a preemie personality trait to be such a fighter. They had to start out fighting, and they were gonna push their way through life head first. It is probably what had motivated Reagan to plow through school like she had a vendetta against it. But Sue knows her sister is the most accomplished rider on the farm, with the exception of Grandpa. It doesn’t stop her mommy side from panicking. And if she is being completely honest with herself, it isn’t a bad idea to learn how to ride. It isn’t like anyone can just jump in a car anymore to head to the local grocery store. Horses could become a valued commodity. She’d never been much of a horse person, but she’d been older when they had come to live on the farm after mom.
She is glad Reagan is a fighter because if she’d been meek and docile, then she may not have made it home to them. There isn’t much that she knows about the night of her sister’s escape from the university, but she knows enough and had seen the condition of her sister upon her arrival, to know that she’d been through Hell and back. Yes, her little sister is a fighter, and she is thankful that Arianna is going to be like her.
“Mama, when is Daddy gonna
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