Desperate Times Three - Revolution Read Online Free Page B

don’t want Doc to get worried. If he asks where you are, I’m not going to lie for you.”
    “Nobody asked you to lie, dude,” Vetter said, with a distinct hint of challenge in his voice.
    Jimmy turned and walked away. He was already deeper into this situation than he cared to admit to himself, and he didn’t want to say anything to make matters worse. He cursed Paula under his breath as he walked the gravel road and wondered about their uncertain future. Things were quickly going to hell in a handbag, and Jimmy knew he was powerless to stop it.
    Ken met him just inside the gate, and Jimmy’s heart fell when he saw that his eyes were wet with tears. “What is it?” he asked, dreading to find out.
    “Doc doesn’t know for sure and says it could be a hundred different things. It doesn’t look good. I don’t know if she’s going to make it.”
    Jimmy felt as if he’d been kicked, and his eyes were immediately full of tears. His bottom lip quivered as he spoke. “You can’t think like that. She’s going to be fine, do you hear me? Doc is going to fix her up as good as new. You’ll see.”
    Ken shook his head, and his face suddenly looked twenty years older. “I can’t talk right now. Please, just leave me alone.”
    Jimmy wanted to give him a hug, but he knew that it was the last thing that Ken wanted. He stared at his friend for a moment, but Ken covered his face in his hands and turned away. Jimmy walked away to the sound of Ken’s wrenching sobs.

Chapter 4
    “By the skillful and sustained use of propaganda, one can make people see even heaven as hell, or an extremely wretched life as paradise.” ~ Adolph Hitler
     
    The cars continued to trickle in next door in ones and twos, and by mid afternoon, Jimmy counted thirteen vehicles parked over at the lodge. Jimmy and Julie spent the day outside, enjoying the sunshine, avoiding reality, and watching the show unfold next door. Dundlemore and his friends looked to be drunk before dinner, and by the time the sun started to settle over the western sky, a towering fire had been sparked, and ʼ80s era rock-n-roll music was being pumped through an expensive sound system.
    Ken and Doc had spent most of the day at Patty’s bedside while Cindy looked after her father. This had left Paula free to do what she wanted, which was hang out with the new neighbors.
    “Look at her,” Julie said, glaring down over the wall from the deck. “Did she dress like that when you two were together?”
    Jimmy shook his head, but only because he was embarrassed to tell Julie the truth. Paula had always been proud of what God had given her, and it wasn’t unusual for her to dress provocatively. Jimmy had asked her on more than one occasion to put on a bra or to find a longer skirt to wear, but Paula only seemed to rebel against his sense of conservatism. He quickly learned that commenting about her lack of clothing would only fuel her attitude. Jimmy could see Paula clearly from where he stood. She was wearing a tight white T-shirt over a short black skirt and sandals. With temperatures rapidly falling, Jimmy could plainly see three indicators that Paula was feeling the cold, one of which was her breath.
    “She is such a tramp,” Julie spat. “Doc’s in love with her. You know that, right?”
    “Yeah,” Jimmy replied over the metallic screaming of Twisted Sister. “What do you want me to do about it? They’re both adults, Julie. Sure, I feel bad for Doc, but he knew what he was getting into. Christ, it wasn’t like I sold her to him.”
    “I hate her.”
    “I know you do.”
    Julie scowled as Paula began to dance seductively to the music. The group she stood in was nearly twenty strong. Paula, smiling and brimming with feminine confidence, was obviously enjoying the attention as she danced in the early evening firelight.
    The door to the porch suddenly opened, and Cindy stood holding it as Bill hobbled outside on his crutches. His eyes looked clear for the first time in