IMPACT (Book 1): A Post-Apocalyptic Tale Read Online Free
Author: Matthew Eliot
Tags: Science-Fiction, Sci-Fi, Zombies, apocalypse, post apocalyptic, Meteorites, meteorite strike, asteroids
glimpses hurt. On other days, they spoke of a past so different, so alien, they hardly caused any pain. Today, it hurt.
He and Hellen, not older than thirty, lying in the garden on a summer’s day. Hellen, in the kitchen, showing off a cake she’d baked. The three of them on a forgotten beach in Greece during a holiday, Hellen holding a caring hand in front of their son’s eyes, to protect them from the blazing sunlight. There was also a picture of the other boy, their nephew on her side. He lived in Switzerland. God knows what had happened to the poor kid, after the impact. But he couldn’t concern himself with that, too. He simply couldn’t.
He thought of a poem he’d once read. It often came to mind when walking past the pictures.
Oh when I was in love with you,
Then I was clean and brave,
And all around the wonder grew
How well did I behave.
But fancy passes by,
And nothing will remain.
And miles around they’ll say that I
Am quite myself again.
Of course, it wasn’t the fancy that had passed, in their case. It was Hellen.
He swallowed.
Another cry came from upstairs. It was the guttural, inarticulate howl of someone suffering. It somehow seemed to rhyme, he thought, with what he felt inside. But those were the thoughts of a drunk.
It felt like he, too, was coated in dust.
* * *
The room was tidy. He had to keep it like that, not only for Toby, but because it represented a small island of innocence inside his dull and pitiful house.
The boy was sitting up in his bed, covered in sweat, his thin limbs weakly beating the air around him as he cried. The pain had got worse in the last year or so, and there were no doctors around to help with his condition, one that he was born with. His blind eyes scanned the perpetual darkness he lived in, in search for his father.
Angus walked over to the bed and gently picked him up. Toby was 19 years old, but weighed just over 100 pounds.
He patted the boy’s back, cradling him as one would a toddler. The crying gradually died down.
“It’s okay darling,” he said, his voice broken, to his unfortunate son whose frowning face now lay against his shoulder.
He felt the tears rolling down his own eyes.
“It’s all okay.”
Chapter 6
Adrian and Alice
There once had been stars beyond the clouds.
Adrian wondered whether there were any left at all.
He stirred in his sleeping bag, Alice breathing quietly by his side. He didn’t want to wake her. They’d have to be on their way soon and he wanted her to enjoy a few more minutes of sleep before they left. Also – although admitting this made him feel uneasy – he liked looking at her while she slept. Not staring or anything, just occasionally taking a peek. Her face had no trace of the concern that haunted each and every one of their waking moments. The silent raising and falling of her chest, now oblivious to the threats that lurked around them at all times, spoke to him of a place of peace and happiness; hinting at the possibility that in a quiet corner of this broken continent they might one day carve out a place for themselves. A place to be together, safe.
Moving quietly, he reached out for the backpack that he’d tucked by his feet and drew a worn notebook out of it. A pencil was fitted inside the spiral binding. He removed it, flipped open the notebook, and began to nibble on the end of the pencil. Centred at the top of the page were five words: Things I missed out on
After a few seconds of deliberation, Adrian started scribbling.
The Oculus 3 (mainly for Monkey Island VR)
The latest filmmersion release
The beach holiday to Sardinia, with Mum (September)
My last year at St. George’s (school)
Actually, in Sardinia, also spying Amanda when she changes into her bathing suit in the old wooden shed, the one by the beach house
(He couldn’t help throwing a quick, guilty glance towards Alice after writing that last line.)
Having a dog
Adrian tapped the end of his pencil on the page. It was
He and Hellen, not older than thirty, lying in the garden on a summer’s day. Hellen, in the kitchen, showing off a cake she’d baked. The three of them on a forgotten beach in Greece during a holiday, Hellen holding a caring hand in front of their son’s eyes, to protect them from the blazing sunlight. There was also a picture of the other boy, their nephew on her side. He lived in Switzerland. God knows what had happened to the poor kid, after the impact. But he couldn’t concern himself with that, too. He simply couldn’t.
He thought of a poem he’d once read. It often came to mind when walking past the pictures.
Oh when I was in love with you,
Then I was clean and brave,
And all around the wonder grew
How well did I behave.
But fancy passes by,
And nothing will remain.
And miles around they’ll say that I
Am quite myself again.
Of course, it wasn’t the fancy that had passed, in their case. It was Hellen.
He swallowed.
Another cry came from upstairs. It was the guttural, inarticulate howl of someone suffering. It somehow seemed to rhyme, he thought, with what he felt inside. But those were the thoughts of a drunk.
It felt like he, too, was coated in dust.
* * *
The room was tidy. He had to keep it like that, not only for Toby, but because it represented a small island of innocence inside his dull and pitiful house.
The boy was sitting up in his bed, covered in sweat, his thin limbs weakly beating the air around him as he cried. The pain had got worse in the last year or so, and there were no doctors around to help with his condition, one that he was born with. His blind eyes scanned the perpetual darkness he lived in, in search for his father.
Angus walked over to the bed and gently picked him up. Toby was 19 years old, but weighed just over 100 pounds.
He patted the boy’s back, cradling him as one would a toddler. The crying gradually died down.
“It’s okay darling,” he said, his voice broken, to his unfortunate son whose frowning face now lay against his shoulder.
He felt the tears rolling down his own eyes.
“It’s all okay.”
Chapter 6
Adrian and Alice
There once had been stars beyond the clouds.
Adrian wondered whether there were any left at all.
He stirred in his sleeping bag, Alice breathing quietly by his side. He didn’t want to wake her. They’d have to be on their way soon and he wanted her to enjoy a few more minutes of sleep before they left. Also – although admitting this made him feel uneasy – he liked looking at her while she slept. Not staring or anything, just occasionally taking a peek. Her face had no trace of the concern that haunted each and every one of their waking moments. The silent raising and falling of her chest, now oblivious to the threats that lurked around them at all times, spoke to him of a place of peace and happiness; hinting at the possibility that in a quiet corner of this broken continent they might one day carve out a place for themselves. A place to be together, safe.
Moving quietly, he reached out for the backpack that he’d tucked by his feet and drew a worn notebook out of it. A pencil was fitted inside the spiral binding. He removed it, flipped open the notebook, and began to nibble on the end of the pencil. Centred at the top of the page were five words: Things I missed out on
After a few seconds of deliberation, Adrian started scribbling.
The Oculus 3 (mainly for Monkey Island VR)
The latest filmmersion release
The beach holiday to Sardinia, with Mum (September)
My last year at St. George’s (school)
Actually, in Sardinia, also spying Amanda when she changes into her bathing suit in the old wooden shed, the one by the beach house
(He couldn’t help throwing a quick, guilty glance towards Alice after writing that last line.)
Having a dog
Adrian tapped the end of his pencil on the page. It was
Readers choose
Ian Whates
Nina Pierce
Tim Lahaye
Margaret McNamara
Nichole van
Daniel Handler
Raymond Murray
Ellen Elizabeth Hunter
R. Cooper