Earthblood

“I guess so, Kyle. I’ll give you two minutes. Then you give me five minutes. If you haven’t heard anything, just come running.”

KYLE STOOD in the back garden, the snow falling about him in the infinite stillness. The world had closed in, and visibility was no more than thirty paces. No other buildings could be seen. There were lights on in the house, though it was still well short of noon, but the windows were steamed up and he couldn’t make out any details.

He could smell wreathing wood smoke, with an undercurrent of cooking food. Baking bread, was his guess.

One surprise was the number of children’s toys scattered around, some barely visible beneath hillocks of fresh snow. Steve hadn’t mentioned Alison or Randy having any other, younger kids.

Kyle took off his pack and laid it under cover, by an elegant veranda that ran the length of the building. He eased the Mannlicher Model V rifle from his shoulder, checking that there was a .357 round in the chamber, remembering to make sure the safety was off.

Kyle Lynch closed his eyes for a few moments, trying to steady his breathing. Executing the redneck had been a hideous shock. This was different. In the next few minutes he might find himself having to use the weapon against more human beings. Maybe against a woman.

He checked his wristwatch.

Surprisingly only three of the seven minutes had passed. The time moved slowly, and he felt tensely coiled inside.

There hadn’t been a sound from inside the large house.

The tiny numbers clicked over, past the agreed limit of four hundred and twenty seconds.

“Shit,” said Kyle.

The back door was on the latch, and he eased it quietly open, finding it difficult and clumsy with the scope-sighted rifle tucked under his right arm. For a fearsome moment the tall, slender black thought he was going to drop the gun.

The smell of baking bread was stronger, flooding his nostrils, making his mouth water with a sudden hunger.

He could hear voices coming from beyond the half-closed kitchen door. But they were too faint for Kyle to pick out any words.

He edged closer, Mannlicher at his hip, finger lightly on the trigger.

Now he could make out voices. A woman, shrill and angry. A man, speaking more slowly, but overlaid with a ferocious tension. And Steve Romero, quieter and more controlled.

“I knew you’d try this, Steve.”

“Why not? My boy and…” The words trailed off into something Kyle couldn’t catch.

The other man’s voice rose, ragged with uncontrollable anger.

“You seen the signs, Romero! We got a lot of good friends here in Aspen. We run it like always. Tight and clean and no room for outsiders. Might be a lot of folks died with Earthblood, still, around a hundred or more left and we all know each other. Look after each other.”

Kyle heard Steve trying to interrupt the threatening diatribe, saying something about their not needing Sly to stay with them.

“Don’t fucking need the boy! Not the point. He’s big and strong and willing. New world’s going to need folks like him. Doesn’t matter a damn to me about the rest.”

The woman spoke up. Alison. “He can tackle simple…” The rest was drowned out by her husband.

“That doesn’t matter. You come here with a gun and threaten us. You won’t get ten yards from Aspen once I warn the others. Track you easy in this snow. Fucking radio operator! You don’t have the balls to pull the trigger.”

There was a scream and the sound of a blow, fist against flesh. Then the boom of the scattergun and another scream, much louder.

Kyle kicked the door open and burst into the living room.

Chapter Thirty-Three

“A hard time we had of it,” said Angel McGill.

“Times we thought we wouldn’t pull through,” agreed Jeanne.

“Times we nearly didn’t. I think that it was the children made the difference.” Angel smiled and patted Jeanne on the arm. “Paul and John were just amazing, weren’t they?” A brief pause. “And Pamela, as well.”

Mac nodded. “Figured they’d come good. What about all the guns?”

Jeanne shook her head. “First things first, honey. Start of it all was the news bulletins about Earthblood, making it like it wasn’t anything serious. But the first food shortages started almost immediately. Eggs and milk and meat.”

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