EMP Catastrophe , Hamilton, Grace [phonics readers txt] 📗

to look for any indication of foul play. A struggle perhaps. Nothing. Maybe they were out taking a morning stroll. Maybe Matthew was just overreacting. Yet, they didn’t come back. He kept searching.

He found nothing. No sign of anything. Kathleen had told him that she hadn’t seen their mysterious Carpenter Country visitor watching the hotel the night before. Matthew simply didn’t know what had happened. David and Jade were just gone.

The sun was starting to outline the mountain vistas when he finally spotted two figures walking up the driveway. Matthew saw red. The fear that had driven him all morning seemed to suddenly transform into an inferno of rage. What did his father think he was playing at—just disappearing in the middle of the night? Without a word? A warning? Making Kathleen pace? Making the kids exude that reserved, quiet fear?

Matthew burst out the door and power-walked down the road to meet them. He tried to calm his breathing, but his hands were clenched into fists. He felt ready to explode. “Where have you been?” he hissed when he was close enough. “Do you have any idea how scared we all were? How scared I was—oh god, Dad. What happened to you?”

One of David’s eyes was black and bruised. A dried slick of blood marred his neck. David looked at Matthew with a mixture of shy shame and defiance before glancing at Jade. Matthew’s anger rekindled. Why did he get the sense that the two of them were in cahoots? The way they stood close together reminded him of when he’d find Allison and Patton plotting something they weren’t supposed to.

“We went to meet the Carpenter Country,” David admitted slowly, as if the admission was like pulling teeth.

If Matthew thought he was angry before, now he felt like a kettle overflowing with steaming hot water. “You went where?” he demanded.

“Carpenter Country,” David repeated, and it was as though he’d found his confidence again. He squared his shoulders. “I asked Jade to accompany me. We found out it was a gun club run by a man named Wyatt. Wyatt Carpenter.”

“Oh,” Matthew snapped as his fury begin to poison his heart toward his father. “And how was your social call with Wyatt Carpenter?” He felt betrayed, like David had stabbed him in the back. Why did his father insist on butting heads with Matthew? Suddenly, it felt as though they weren’t in this together. They were on opposite sides of a divide, and neither was trying to reach the other.

“Wyatt served as a Marine,” David said, sounding disapproving of Matthew’s sarcasm. “He’s part of a community of neighbors in Galena and members of the club who are working together to survive.”

“Survive, is it? I thought you had some semblance of a survival instinct. Why would you put yourself in danger like that?” Matthew said and gestured toward David’s face. “Looks like they treated you really well.”

David let out an aggravated sigh. “Don’t think of it like that. You’re missing the point entirely.”

“Enlighten me, Dad.”

“Jade and I made steps toward finding an ally. Partners with supplies that are willing to trade with us.”

“What kind of supplies does this Wyatt have to trade?” Matthew demanded, putting his hands on his hips.

“Well, not supplies exactly—”

Matthew threw his hands up in the air.

“They have ammunition,” David insisted. “A vast wealth of knowledge far beyond what we know. What even Jade knows. More than that, they’re a community willing to help each other. That is invaluable, Matthew. They could help us rebuild the hotel. Wyatt is a Galena native. He knows the area and the people—”

“So is Samuel,” Matthew said. “Do you think maybe he could help us out too? Help us fix up our hotel? Maybe we should just give it to him since he probably has a wealth of knowledge like Wyatt.”

David frowned at Matthew. “I am still your father, Matthew. You do not need to speak to me that way.”

“I wouldn’t have to if you gave me an ounce of respect,” Matthew shot back. “You think you know how to do everything, Dad. Even if people think differently than you, you still go ahead and do what you want.”

“I will not answer that. I know that I’m doing the right thing. Did you know that there is a well on the property? An actual working well? I bet you didn’t.”

Matthew bit the inside of his cheek and tried to keep the vitriol inside him from leaking out. A jealous seed bloomed inside of him. Why did it feel like everyone else was better at handling the apocalypse than he was? He thought he and David could be a team. He never thought his father would turn on him like this.

Matthew resolved to take the high road and stomped down on his anger. He had to think about the overall health of his family. “No. I did not know there was a well on the property.”

Jade pushed her hands into the pockets of her jeans and looked between David and Matthew in discomfort.

“Like I said,” David continued, “Wyatt played on the property when he was young and asked for the use of our well. In exchange they would be willing to trade ammunition. Since they’re in the gun club, they could probably manufacture bullets so we would never run out. We would always have a means to defend ourselves.”

“They could teach us how to manufacture the ammo on our own, too,” Jade piped up. Her voice was small and uncertain. She looked as if she wanted to bolt from the argument as fast as possible.

“I don’t want to hear a word out of you,” Matthew snapped at Jade. She seemed to be the linking factor between David’s lack of foresight and the troubles he had been experiencing with his father. “I can’t believe the two of you have been so reckless. If these people are so great, why would Wyatt be watching the hotel and us? Why wouldn’t he come and introduce himself? Not sign