by Bowman, Dave
"Getting this garden in shape is going to take some work," Annie said. "Oh, and some animal protein would be good. Maybe someone in town would trade us a couple of chickens for some packaged food. Eventually, we’ll need more animals if the power doesn’t come back on anytime soon. And goats, too. But well, the garden and maybe some eggs would be a good start."
"Good idea," Jack said. "And we'll have to do some repairs to the house. The roof looks bad in a few places. But first things first – we'll need some kind of outhouse. Maybe a composting toilet."
Annie nodded. "Yeah, definitely."
"And this garden won't be big enough," Jack said, staring at the patch he used to work in as a teenager. "We'll have to expand it by quite a bit."
Annie nodded. "I can start today. Brent and Naomi can help us, right?"
Jack smiled. "Yeah, I think they both have experience digging."
Annie bent and pulled at some weeds. "This native grass is tough. Strong root system."
Jack nodded. "I know those weeds well." He walked along the edge of the garden, where he and his brother had spent so many hours weeding and watering. Now that he was back in his old childhood home, his thoughts often turned to Paul. Jack wished they had sorted things out between them years ago. Now, there was no way to contact his brother. Wherever he was, Jack hoped he was well.
And Jack knew that Annie was thinking about her own family. Her parents lived in an isolated spot, and her brother, sister and niece were scattered throughout their pockets of the southeast. Jack could sense Annie’s growing worry over her family, and her desire to see them again.
As Annie inspected the soil, Jack looked over the property, his eyes drifting out to the empty highway. The five of them had a lot of work ahead. They weren't in the lap of luxury by any means, but they had a lot more than many people, especially after the attacks. And their relative advantage meant that they would be a target.
Out there in the country, several miles away from even a tiny town, and sitting on several valuable resources – they were vulnerable. They'd have to be vigilant to protect their food, water, weapons, and home.
Somehow, Jack knew the fight wasn’t over. He’d have to go on protecting what he cared about, and fighting to ensure they could go on living.
“Jack? You okay?”
Annie looked over at him from her corner of the garden, then began to cross the distance toward him. He met her halfway and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“Fine,” he said, smiling and pulling her close.
“You look lost in thought,” she said, smiling at him.
“I was just thinking about what it took for us all to get here,” he said. “How hard it was to get to this place right here.”
Annie nodded. “We did the impossible – we found each other. And we made it out here.”
“If we can do that, we can do anything,” Jack said, smiling at his wife. “As long as we’re together, we’re going to make it.”
Thank you for reading Books 1-3 in the Atomic Threat series.
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About the Author
Dave Bowman is a writer and native Texan. When he's not writing about the end of the world as we know it, he can be found planning for his future homestead or haunting his favorite barbecue joint.
Also by Dave Bowman
Read my other post-apocalyptic thrillers:
Fight to Survive (After the Outbreak, Book 1)
Fight to Live (After the Outbreak, Book 2)
Fight to be Free (After the Outbreak, Book 3)
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