Impetus Read Online Free

as if reading his mind. “They’re missing a can of beans.” She rolled her eyes. “Chester thinks they miscounted. Sandeep thinks something nefarious is going on. You know how those two can be.”
    “ Like an old married couple,” Mick said, followed by the tiniest of chuckles.
    He ’d brought his children to the shelter shortly after the world began to crumble from within. This was his extended family now. They had their quarrels like any family would, but they also watched out for the other, cared for the other’s well-being.
    “ Did you see anyone out there today, Daddy?” Kathryn asked. “People, animals, anything?”
    Mick could see in her eyes that she wanted him to say yes, wanted him to tell her that the sky had cleared and people had begun their migration back to rebuild what had been lost.
    “ Not today, sweetie.” He smiled halfheartedly as he removed the rifle from his shoulder and leaned it against an old metal desk near the door.
    Unless it was g ood news, which it rarely was, Mick kept the finer details of his outings to himself. They lived in an adult world full of adult things. There was no hiding that. There was no time for a kid to be a kid. But he refused to subjugate his children to undue stress until it was absolutely necessary. They did not need to know about the gunshots and how they seemed to get closer each day. Nor did they need to know about the howling he’d heard last week a few blocks from the shelter. Or the myriad other things that were better left untold. When and if an emergency arose, and he was sure it eventually would, he would deal with it then. Until that time, Mick resolved to paint as bright a picture that he could on the sullied canvas they had been forced to create a life on.
    Mick leaned against a support pillar. “Are you both finished with your studies for today?”
    Kathryn and Nate nodded at the same time and in the same manner as only twins could.
    “ What subject did Sandeep teach you today?”
    “ History,” Nate said dejectedly.
    Math was Nate ’s strength. He seemed to truly enjoy it, often making a game out of solving for x and y . It was just how his mind worked: computer-like and step-oriented. But Nate detested history, which, ironically, happened to be Mick’s favorite subject in school. He still loved it. History held better times in its grasp.
    Mick turned to Nate. “I keep telling you—”
    “ I know. I know,” Nate said, cutting him off. He then furrowed his brow, what Mick could see of it beneath his hair, and said in his best impersonation of his father, “You can’t move forward without knowing where you’ve been.” His voice traveled the road of puberty, crackling as it went.
    “ It’s true,” Mick said, smiling at his son’s impression. He was getting better at it. “Besides, you need to be well-rounded.”
    N ate scoffed. “I still don’t get it, Dad. Why, exactly, do I need to be well-rounded? It’s not like I’ll be applying for jobs anytime soon. I should be out there with you. Not stuck around here all day.”
    Nate was right. What better way to teach him than for Mick to show him firsthand? But in Mick’s mind, Nate would never be prepared to venture out with him. It was safer around their building. He could get hurt out there, or worse. It was a state of mind that Mick knew he would eventually need to change. It did neither of them any good to use yesterday’s standards as a crutch. For now, though, he was perfectly content with Nate learning about better times and broadening his horizons. He would protect his children from certain aspects of reality for as long as possible. That was his right as a father.
    Kathryn, who casually leaned on the table, piped up. “You think you know so much, Nate. The world can change. Sandeep is always teaching us how society will find a way to rebuild from its ashes. It’s happened before. It’s bound to happen again.”
    “ Keep dreaming,” Nate said.
    To which Kathryn