Conflicted Home (The Survivalist Book 9), A American [top android ebook reader TXT] 📗

our route. I saw the rest area and Perry. The spot where we found Thad. All of it.”

She was thinking about what I’d said. After a moment, she shook her head. “No. I’m glad I wasn’t there. I don’t need to see any of that again. But I’m glad you guys made it back.”

I smiled at her. “Me too.” Then I looked at Taylor and asked, “How’s mom?”

“She’s good. She’s at home. She knows you’re back.”

“You guys got a lot of stuff,” Lee Ann said. “That tank is super cool. Can I get in it?”

“You want to see inside?” Mike asked. With a huge smile on her face, she nodded. He waved them on, “Come on. You can check it out.” Taylor went as well, and Mike opened the rear doors and started explaining the ammo storage system and showing them the inside.

I leaned against the truck as everyone talked. Doc walked up to me and leaned beside me. “Man, am I glad to be back here. I don’t like doing shit like that anymore.”

“Yeah, me neither,” I replied.

He reached into a dump pouch on his belt and took something out, holding his hand out to me. “Here. Got you something.”

I held my hand out and he dropped a can of Copenhagen into it. I was stunned. “Damn. Where in the hell did you find this?” I was inspecting the can. It was still sealed. Turning it over, I saw it had a manufacture date that was nine months old. But I didn’t care, as I pulled my knife and cut the can open.

“Just a little horse trading. I saw it and thought of you. Guy that had it kept it stored in a freezer. They said they salvaged a truck off the road that was packed with product from the US Tobacco Company. He had a lot of it.”

Putting a pinch in, I said, “I really appreciate it, man. Thanks. What do I owe you for it?”

He waved me off, “You don’t owe me.” He stood up and slapped me on the back. “Happy to do it.”

He walked away towards the Stryker and was intercepted by Jess. Even from where I stood, I could see the excitement in her. She made a bad job of hiding it. She laughed and leaned in, bumping him with her shoulder. It made me smile. Doc was a good guy and I thought of Jess as another daughter. A step-daughter that was kind of annoying. But a daughter, nonetheless. For his part, it was obvious Doc was just as interested. But he was respectful and didn’t do anything inappropriate, which increased my opinion of him.

I walked out to where everyone was gathered up. Sarge was talking to Wallner. I could hear him cussing about Sheffield’s visit. I interrupted his tirade, “I’m going home. I’m tired. This shit can wait until tomorrow.”

“I’m with you,” Sarge replied. “We’ll go through this load tomorrow, then take it to town.”

“Sheffield’s going to give you an ear full,” Wallner said.

“That’s alright. I got something for him. But he should be happy with everything we’ve brought. We’ve got food for the folks in town.”

I didn’t know what he was talking about and didn’t care. I was tired and just wanted to go to bed. “Alright. Tomorrow then,” I said.

The air smelled especially clean as I walked towards the house. With all the rain the last several days, the air was scrubbed clean. But there was also an earthy aroma as well rising up from the ground as my boots squished into the sodden earth. It made for a pleasant mix. It was also very quiet. The only sound was the drips from the trees thudding into the saturated ground.

As dusk fell early because of the cloud cover, the dogs came trotting past me on their nightly patrol. They paused for a moment as they strode by. Just long enough for me to pat their heads before continuing on their way. They may be useless, but they did manage to bring a smile to my face whenever I saw them. Even if it was just them lying on the porch.

There was a dim glow coming from the windows as I came through the gate. I thought it odd. Then I remembered it had been raining for days. The solar system was probably very low. Coming through the door, I was greeted by the dim yellow light of oil lamps. There were two burning in the living room. Little Bit was lying on the sofa with a stuffed bear in her arms, asleep.

Mel was sitting in the chair with her feet up on the ottoman, also asleep. She looked up at me, bleary eyed, and smiled. I leaned my rifle in the corner and went over to her, leaned down and kissed her head.

“Are you hungry? You want me to fix you something?” She asked, always willing to feed me.

I kissed her head again. “No, babe, I’m tired. I want to go to bed.”

“I’ll put Little Bit to bed and I’ll join you.”

“You get ready, I’ll put her to bed,” I replied.

As she got up, I went around and picked Little Bit up in my arms. She half woke up and looked at me, smiling and hugged my neck. I kissed her head and carried her to her bed and laid her down. “I love you, daddy,” she said as I pulled the sheet up over her.

She rolled over on her side, facing away from me, already back asleep. I kissed her head, “Love you too, Little Bit.”

I stayed to watch her for a moment before quietly leaving her room. Mel was coming out of the bathroom when I came into our room. She was carrying one of the LED lanterns. As I took my vest off, I asked, “Are the batteries dead?”

“They’re really low,” she replied as she placed the lantern on the nightstand. “I had to unplug the fridge.”

“I’ll hook up a generator in the morning to charge it