EMP Catastrophe by Hamilton, Grace (best ebook reader for pc .txt) 📕

eyes a crack. Jade’s worried face filled his field of vision. His heart gave a pathetic squeeze and he felt a wave of disappointment wash over him. He hated being so weak, hated that he had to keep such a close watch on his ticker at all hours. Jade’s ponytail had come loose and her dark hair framed her face. She grinned and he groaned again in response. “Rise and shine,” she said.

A dark-haired man stood next to her, his own hair cut high and tight. A black goatee framed his mouth. The stranger held out a glass of water to David. “Sorry about my friends knocking you out,” the man said. “They were playing it safe. Are you thirsty?”

David’s vision swam. He eased up on one elbow and was grateful when Jade helped him up into a sit. He took the glass of water and sparingly sipped. The water was tepid, the glass half-full, and David started to put two and two together. “So you’re the mysterious Carpenter Country Gun Club,” he said, eyeing the man.

The man stepped back and crossed his arms. “I’m Wyatt,” he said.

David eyed the cinderblock walls and realized that he was blinking at the harsh glare of an electric light swinging above them. “You have electricity?” he asked.

“Crazy, huh?” Jade said. “I asked the same thing.”

A kind smile broke over Wyatt’s face. “Yup. Couple generators in here will keep us up and running for a while.”

The world stopped sloshing and finally David was able to see straight. A couple of old paintings of wildlife had been hung on the walls. Wyatt wore a button-up shirt and jeans. His sleeves were rolled up, and David caught a glimpse of the tail end of a tattoo spilling out and down his forearm. Familiar. He took another sip and felt as if his brain was rewiring itself. Finally, he put the image together with some old memories. “Marine?” he asked.

Wyatt glanced at his arm and laughed. “Yeah. Good eye.”

“Army,” David said, patting his own knee.

“What are the odds,” Wyatt said, and pulled his shirt sleeve up further to let David see the full tattoo. “It’s a pleasure to meet another who’s served. Now I feel even worse that my friends knocked you out.”

“Well, we must’ve looked like raiders. I would’ve done the same thing,” David said.

Jade nudged his shoulder. “Wyatt here is eager to meet the hoteliers at the River Rock Hotel,” she said, saying the words as if they were incredibly formal.

“Yes,” Wyatt said, sounding hopeful. “We’re looking to start a negotiation with them about trading supplies. Do you know them?”

“You’re in luck,” David said as he finished the water. “You’re staring at one of them.”

Wyatt grinned. “That’s great to hear. Honestly. We’ve been trying to figure out how to approach people without getting shot or run off.”

“What kind of things are you looking to trade?” David asked.

“Water, mostly.” Wyatt’s eyes flickered to David’s empty glass. “We’re running low. We have a few bottles left, but most of our gallon jugs are almost out.”

David shook his head in disappointment. “I’m sorry to say we’re in a similar state. We have bottles of water, but not enough to share.”

Wyatt looked confused. “I’ve lived in Galena my whole life,” he said slowly, “I played on River Rock land when I was a kid. You guys do know you have a well, right?”

David felt stunned and then abashed. He looked at Jade to see if she would confirm. She shrugged. “I guess I didn’t,” David said.

Wyatt chuckled. “It was pretty run down back in the day, but it definitely worked. We used to throw stones in and listen to them plonk. It might not be functioning now, but I bet with some work and love, it could be up and running in no time.”

Hope blossomed in David’s chest. “If we could get it working again, we wouldn’t have to worry about fresh water,” he said.

“I could help you fix it up,” Wyatt offered. “Maybe you’d let me and mine have access to it. I could even help you locate it.”

David pondered for a moment. “We’re in need of a lot of things,” he admitted. “Would you be open to trading other things in exchange for water?”

“Things like bullets?” Wyatt asked.

“Are you reading my mind?” David asked with a laugh.

“Nah,” Wyatt said. “I just saw your family dry-firing yesterday. I figured if you were doing that, you must be low on ammunition.”

“So you’re the one who’s been watching the hotel. You’ve given my daughter-in-law quite the scare on more than one occasion.”

Wyatt looked ashamed. “I am sorry about that. I was being cautious.”

“It’s all right. Just rethink your tactics next time, or we wouldn’t have wasted a bullet thinking someone was after us. Yes, we are running low on ammunition,” David admitted. “We wanted to conserve our resources as much as we could.”

“I hear ya.” Wyatt pulled up a chair and sat in it and pointed at Jade. “This one almost took out one of our guys while we were bringing you in. Almost fired her gun on us.”

Jade snorted without shame. “Shouldn’t have tried to break my arm then,” she said.

“We explained to her that we were looking for partners,” Wyatt said to David. “If the River Rock would be willing to work with us, we could make a fine partnership to get through whatever has happened with the world.”

“I’d like that,” David said, “but I do need to speak with my family. Especially my son.”

“Understood,” Wyatt said. “If you could do that sooner rather than later, I’d be most appreciative. I can give you my water jugs to show good faith while we find the well. Or, I can give you the empties and you can bring them back once you’ve found the well. Then we can trade for ammunition.”

David felt as though Wyatt was pressuring him. The man must be much lower on water than he’d first led David to believe. “I’ll need to talk to my