Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 67694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 271(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 338(@200wpm)___ 271(@250wpm)___ 226(@300wpm)
“You two are being weird,” says Sophie. Like it’s nothing personal, she’s just making conversation.
Dean pauses. “In what way?”
“All of the smiling at each other. It’s so weird.”
“Were we doing that?” I ask. “I didn’t notice.”
“Hazel noticed,” says Sophie.
Dean winces. “Yeah?”
“You were doing it at breakfast, too,” she says. “Smiling at each other.”
“Is that strange?” he asks. “Us smiling?”
Sophie makes a humming noise. “Not Astrid so much.”
I nod. “She has a point. Your natural resting face does tend to be a frown.”
“I don’t have a resting frown face,” he says, frowning. “That’s not a thing. You just made that up.”
“You’re doing it right now.” I point to his face and he snaps sharp teeth at my fingers, making me laugh. “It’s right there.”
“Oh my God,” moans Sophie. The child is so dismayed by our behavior. “You’re doing it again. You two are being so weird. Is it always going to be like this now?”
Dean stops fooling around and stands tall. “I’m sorry, Soph. Let’s talk about this seriously for a minute. You know you can always ask us anything. We know things changing can be upsetting or confusing at times.”
The child wrinkles her nose at him but says nothing.
“I also know you saw me coming out of Astrid’s room this morning. And I will be sleeping in there with her from now on, okay?”
“Gross, Dean! I know how babies are made and where they come from! You don’t need to tell me!” Such an immense expression of horror and disdain on her sweet little face. She turns and bolts for the house, leaving us in her dust. Where, according to her, we no doubt belong.
“I thought that actually went quite well,” I say.
He grunts.
“You were very brave.”
“Thanks.” He takes a deep breath. “Fuck me. Parenthood.”
I laugh quietly.
“So, we’re gross apparently.”
“This is awkward,” I answer. “I think she only meant you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Shit. Just between you and me, I am not actually sure how babies are made,” he says. “Don’t suppose you could give me a tutorial or something? I find hands-on teaching works best for me.”
“No can do. I am helping with the watch for a couple of hours. And you need to get in there and make sure she remembers to brush her teeth before bed.”
He presses a kiss against my cheek. It’s as quick as can be, with no time for me to react or return the sentiment. The man is there and gone in an instant. “Dental duty it is,” he says. “Be safe. I have watch from three a.m., so I’ll see you in the morning.”
SUNDAY
Wet weather makes for good cover. Nash and Dean head south to sneak up on Porter. Watch his camp for a while and see what’s going on in the vicinity. While Naomi and I take the opportunity to check out some nearby farms. According to the books, citrus, avocadoes, and asparagus could well be out there ready to harvest. More real live fresh food would be amazing. Fingers crossed. And some chickens or goats would make my day. We really need to build a coop and pens for them first, though. Otherwise, we’re just inviting chaos. Or more chaos.
Dean isn’t happy about me heading out without him. The frown appears in full force. But we both have things to do. Life post-apocalypse waits for no one.
Our hopes or dreams for the farms are far and away exceeded from the start. Cows are roaming freely at the first ranch. The doors to the barn have been left open and with a pond on the property, they’re living their best human-free life, so far as we can tell. Most of the farms in the area were organic and followed a sustainable philosophy. This seems to mean the animals have survived better than expected on their own. They weren’t left in a cage due to sad and sorry circumstances.
Something has been preying on the chickens and other smaller animals at some of the properties, though. Wolves or coyotes or dogs gone wild. It could be any or all three. We put out extra food and water for the animals where we can. But on the whole, they seem to be nonplussed by the return of people into their existence. And honestly, who can blame them?
As for crops, we find some citrus. No one is going to die of scurvy. We mark on a map of the local area where apple orchards are to check later in the year. The farms also tend to trade in other useful items. Jerky, olive oil, and preserves, for starters. One farm we find has a bunch of strawberry plants in pots about to start fruiting. And another has blueberry and blackberry bushes ready to go into the ground. Most of them have died due to lack of water. I think I can save some of them, though.