Read Online The Spears of Laconia (Purge of Babylon, Book 7) by Sam Sisavath - Free Book Online
Authors: Sam Sisavath
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house out here for summer vacations.
“What do you think those trucks were doing out here?” Jordan said after a while.
“Sightseeing?”
“You think it’s worth taking the time to search them?”
“Be my guest.”
“Maybe later.”
Keo closed his eyes and listened to her breathing softly next to him. Jordan was sticky with sweat, but he thought she smelled just fine against the fresh ocean breeze.
“I can’t help but notice that I don’t see a luxury yacht anchored anywhere out there,” Jordan said. “How about you? You see a boat out there, Keo? Maybe it’s me. My parents had cataracts. Maybe I’m getting them, too.”
He smiled to himself. “I don’t see them.”
“So we’re screwed.”
“Even if they’re out there, we couldn’t see them anyway. We agreed they’d anchor twenty miles out to stay out of view. I was supposed to radio them when we reached the beach so they could swing by and pick us up.”
“Ah,” she said, almost wistfully, “the best-laid plans and blah blah blah.”
“It’s not all bad.”
“No?”
“We’re the only two souls on a beach, staring at a glorious sky and listening to waves crashing. I could think of worse places to be right now.”
“I can’t tell if you’re serious.”
“I am.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why are you serious? This last week could have been for nothing, especially if Frank’s dead.”
Keo sat up and brushed sand off his elbows. “Jordan…”
“What?”
He reached into the gym bag and took out two bottles of water, opening them and handing one to her. “Salute,” he said, holding up his.
She rolled her eyes but smiled anyway and bumped his bottle with hers. “A tall glass and some ice would be nice.”
“How about a bottle of red wine while we’re at it?”
“Cabernet?”
“Of course.”
“Now you’re talking.”
He took a long drink before lying back down. He buried the bottle halfway into the sand next to him, then closed his eyes again. The warmth of the sun against his face was like a soothing pair of massaging hands, and Keo let himself embrace it. If he was going to die out here, right now, he could think of worse ways to go.
“Hey,” Jordan said after a while.
He didn’t open his eyes, but said, “Hmm?”
“What do you think Gillian’s doing right now, back in T18?”
Fucking Jay, he thought, and said, “I don’t know. Why?”
“I was just wondering.”
“Jordan…”
“What?”
“Shut up and enjoy the beach,” he said, letting his body sink deeper into the soft sand underneath him.
After a while, all he could hear was the sloshing waves in front of him and the soft, comforting sound of Jordan’s breathing next to him.
CHAPTER 5
GABY
It was a small town on the outskirts of Cleveland, Texas, hidden away from prying eyes, or anyone who might have been traveling along US59. Once upon a time it’d had a name, but it had since been given a letter and a number and been resettled with survivors—men, women, and children who had accepted that the world was no longer a safe place, that surviving was better than fighting.
The A-10, or Warthog, as Danny called it, had been thorough. If it had left survivors behind, she couldn’t see them from the hillside where she was crouched alongside Danny and Nate. The buildings that once lined an unnamed main street had been reduced to rubble, the result of the 30mm cannon she had heard belching out something that sounded like a creature from a monster movie. What the plane’s Gatling gun hadn’t obliterated, the air-to-surface missiles underneath its wings had taken care of. There were four large craters spread across the length of the resettlement from south to north, and thick plumes of smoke hovered above it like storm clouds.
Gaby thought about those old World War II documentaries her dad used to love watching, remembered marveling at the unreal sight of cities buried under the remains of buildings that once stood so proud.
“What do you think those trucks were doing out here?” Jordan said after a while.
“Sightseeing?”
“You think it’s worth taking the time to search them?”
“Be my guest.”
“Maybe later.”
Keo closed his eyes and listened to her breathing softly next to him. Jordan was sticky with sweat, but he thought she smelled just fine against the fresh ocean breeze.
“I can’t help but notice that I don’t see a luxury yacht anchored anywhere out there,” Jordan said. “How about you? You see a boat out there, Keo? Maybe it’s me. My parents had cataracts. Maybe I’m getting them, too.”
He smiled to himself. “I don’t see them.”
“So we’re screwed.”
“Even if they’re out there, we couldn’t see them anyway. We agreed they’d anchor twenty miles out to stay out of view. I was supposed to radio them when we reached the beach so they could swing by and pick us up.”
“Ah,” she said, almost wistfully, “the best-laid plans and blah blah blah.”
“It’s not all bad.”
“No?”
“We’re the only two souls on a beach, staring at a glorious sky and listening to waves crashing. I could think of worse places to be right now.”
“I can’t tell if you’re serious.”
“I am.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why are you serious? This last week could have been for nothing, especially if Frank’s dead.”
Keo sat up and brushed sand off his elbows. “Jordan…”
“What?”
He reached into the gym bag and took out two bottles of water, opening them and handing one to her. “Salute,” he said, holding up his.
She rolled her eyes but smiled anyway and bumped his bottle with hers. “A tall glass and some ice would be nice.”
“How about a bottle of red wine while we’re at it?”
“Cabernet?”
“Of course.”
“Now you’re talking.”
He took a long drink before lying back down. He buried the bottle halfway into the sand next to him, then closed his eyes again. The warmth of the sun against his face was like a soothing pair of massaging hands, and Keo let himself embrace it. If he was going to die out here, right now, he could think of worse ways to go.
“Hey,” Jordan said after a while.
He didn’t open his eyes, but said, “Hmm?”
“What do you think Gillian’s doing right now, back in T18?”
Fucking Jay, he thought, and said, “I don’t know. Why?”
“I was just wondering.”
“Jordan…”
“What?”
“Shut up and enjoy the beach,” he said, letting his body sink deeper into the soft sand underneath him.
After a while, all he could hear was the sloshing waves in front of him and the soft, comforting sound of Jordan’s breathing next to him.
CHAPTER 5
GABY
It was a small town on the outskirts of Cleveland, Texas, hidden away from prying eyes, or anyone who might have been traveling along US59. Once upon a time it’d had a name, but it had since been given a letter and a number and been resettled with survivors—men, women, and children who had accepted that the world was no longer a safe place, that surviving was better than fighting.
The A-10, or Warthog, as Danny called it, had been thorough. If it had left survivors behind, she couldn’t see them from the hillside where she was crouched alongside Danny and Nate. The buildings that once lined an unnamed main street had been reduced to rubble, the result of the 30mm cannon she had heard belching out something that sounded like a creature from a monster movie. What the plane’s Gatling gun hadn’t obliterated, the air-to-surface missiles underneath its wings had taken care of. There were four large craters spread across the length of the resettlement from south to north, and thick plumes of smoke hovered above it like storm clouds.
Gaby thought about those old World War II documentaries her dad used to love watching, remembered marveling at the unreal sight of cities buried under the remains of buildings that once stood so proud.
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