Read Online The Survivors Book III: Winter by V. L. Dreyer - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: V. L. Dreyer
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one way or another."
" Well, aren't you Little Miss Determined now?" Skye teased impishly, and gave me a nudge in the side. I stuck my tongue out at her and gave her a shove back.
" Someone's got to be." I folded the blanket I'd been shaking over my arm, and turned to look her in the eye. "We may be all that's left of humanity in this country right now. Even if we aren't, we have a duty to try to protect ourselves, and to grow this group so that the next generation can have a decent chance. We owe them that much, don't we?"
" True." Skye sighed heavily, the humour draining out of her face. "I barely remember what it was like before the plague came. I just remember everything being… so clean. And smiling people everywhere. It would be nice to have that again." Suddenly, she glanced up and gave me a cheeky wink. "I also miss chocolate. Chocolate was awesome."
All of us laughed at that.
Chapter Five
By the time full darkness fell, everyone had returned safely from whatever mission they'd been about. The last people to return were Michael and his crew, who had taken responsibility for keeping the rest of us safe. Not really a huge surprise.
I won't lie and pretend that I was all dignified or coy about seeing him again. The second he came through the door, I threw myself into his arms and smothered him in kisses, much to the amusement of everyone around us. And you know what? I didn't care. I didn't care at all. After the kind of day that we'd had, we had both earned a moment of weakness.
Once we had finished reuniting, we closed, locked, and barricaded the front door with the heaviest things we could find, then we filtered upstairs into the crowded loft.
"Elly and I will take care of dinner," Skye volunteered, heading off to the kitchen. That left the rest of us standing awkwardly in a small living room, crammed with way more people than it was ever meant to hold.
" You know, I really hope the floor doesn't collapse or something," I joked lightly, nudging Michael in the side.
He smiled faintly in response to my joke, but his expression stayed serious. "We should probably do something about getting people bathed, though. It smells like a frat house in here."
" Good point." I nodded and cleared my throat loudly, putting an end to the quiet conversations taking place around the room. One by one, they all turned and looked at me expectantly. "All right, everyone. Michael says you stink. Bathroom's through that door there, on the left. I'd like the kids to go first, since they have to go to bed earlier than the rest of us – Doc, Zain, can you please take care that?" I glanced at them. They both nodded, and stood to round up their respective progeny. "Thanks, guys. As for the rest of us… well, there isn't going to be enough hot water for everyone to have a warm shower. Sorry. No fist-fights, okay?"
There were some groans from the younger men, but there was really nothing that any of us could do to alleviate the situation so there were few real complaints. A cold shower was better than no shower, and most of us were used to going without modern conveniences when we had to. The conversations resumed, but with so many people crammed into a single room it was hard to follow any of them. Michael was clearly in one of his dark moods, and that always bothered me.
Ever since the death of his niece, there were times when he went into a strange, black place that was so out of keeping with his personality that it made me worry. I hated to watch him brood, so I gently reached out and touched his arm. When he looked at me quizzically, I tilted my head towards the door, silently telling him I wanted to talk to him without alerting the others that anything was amiss.
He followed me out onto the landing without a word, and closed the door softly behind him. Before I could say anything, he grabbed me and drew me into a fierce hug. The gesture
" Well, aren't you Little Miss Determined now?" Skye teased impishly, and gave me a nudge in the side. I stuck my tongue out at her and gave her a shove back.
" Someone's got to be." I folded the blanket I'd been shaking over my arm, and turned to look her in the eye. "We may be all that's left of humanity in this country right now. Even if we aren't, we have a duty to try to protect ourselves, and to grow this group so that the next generation can have a decent chance. We owe them that much, don't we?"
" True." Skye sighed heavily, the humour draining out of her face. "I barely remember what it was like before the plague came. I just remember everything being… so clean. And smiling people everywhere. It would be nice to have that again." Suddenly, she glanced up and gave me a cheeky wink. "I also miss chocolate. Chocolate was awesome."
All of us laughed at that.
Chapter Five
By the time full darkness fell, everyone had returned safely from whatever mission they'd been about. The last people to return were Michael and his crew, who had taken responsibility for keeping the rest of us safe. Not really a huge surprise.
I won't lie and pretend that I was all dignified or coy about seeing him again. The second he came through the door, I threw myself into his arms and smothered him in kisses, much to the amusement of everyone around us. And you know what? I didn't care. I didn't care at all. After the kind of day that we'd had, we had both earned a moment of weakness.
Once we had finished reuniting, we closed, locked, and barricaded the front door with the heaviest things we could find, then we filtered upstairs into the crowded loft.
"Elly and I will take care of dinner," Skye volunteered, heading off to the kitchen. That left the rest of us standing awkwardly in a small living room, crammed with way more people than it was ever meant to hold.
" You know, I really hope the floor doesn't collapse or something," I joked lightly, nudging Michael in the side.
He smiled faintly in response to my joke, but his expression stayed serious. "We should probably do something about getting people bathed, though. It smells like a frat house in here."
" Good point." I nodded and cleared my throat loudly, putting an end to the quiet conversations taking place around the room. One by one, they all turned and looked at me expectantly. "All right, everyone. Michael says you stink. Bathroom's through that door there, on the left. I'd like the kids to go first, since they have to go to bed earlier than the rest of us – Doc, Zain, can you please take care that?" I glanced at them. They both nodded, and stood to round up their respective progeny. "Thanks, guys. As for the rest of us… well, there isn't going to be enough hot water for everyone to have a warm shower. Sorry. No fist-fights, okay?"
There were some groans from the younger men, but there was really nothing that any of us could do to alleviate the situation so there were few real complaints. A cold shower was better than no shower, and most of us were used to going without modern conveniences when we had to. The conversations resumed, but with so many people crammed into a single room it was hard to follow any of them. Michael was clearly in one of his dark moods, and that always bothered me.
Ever since the death of his niece, there were times when he went into a strange, black place that was so out of keeping with his personality that it made me worry. I hated to watch him brood, so I gently reached out and touched his arm. When he looked at me quizzically, I tilted my head towards the door, silently telling him I wanted to talk to him without alerting the others that anything was amiss.
He followed me out onto the landing without a word, and closed the door softly behind him. Before I could say anything, he grabbed me and drew me into a fierce hug. The gesture
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