No Easy Hope - 01 Read Online Free
Author: James Cook
head, “I hope you can remember more of it than I can. We were so shit faced drunk, I’m surprised we didn’t cut our own fool heads off. It took me two days to get over that hangover.”
He made another pass over the blade with a sharpening stone.
“I have to say though, this thing has served me pretty well since the world went to shit.” He said, his smile fading.
He tested the edge of the blade with his thumb then returned it to its sheath. He stood and propped the sword up against the wall. As he turned to walk back toward his chair, he jerked a thumb in the direction of the table with the laptop on it.
“You know, you really should start putting some stuff together to post to the Net.” Gabe said. “Once we get past the Appalachian range we should be able to get a signal. We should tell people about everything we know.” He said.
“If you’re so concerned about it, why don’t you write something down?” I asked.
“Because you’re better at it, college boy. Besides, I got bullets to polish.”
Gabe walked over to his pack and took out the duty belt we found that morning. He removed the pistol and the ammo magazines, picked up a cleaning kit, and sat down in front of the stove to begin working on them.
I watched him for a few minutes, thinking about how to start before I picked up the laptop and sat down in the chair next to Gabriel’s. After letting my feet warm by the hot stove for a few minutes, I opened the laptop and began to write.
Book I
Our world has passed away,
in wantonness o’erthrown,
there is nothing left today,
but steel and fire and stone...
Comfort, content, delight,
The ages slow bought gain,
They shriveled in a night,
Only ourselves remain…
-Rudyard Kipling
For All We Have and Are
Chapter 1
Divestiture
I was a wealthy man before the Outbreak. Well, wealthy in monetary terms. I had almost no family by the time the world ended. I was an only child, and when my parents were killed, I had only my Grandmother and my uncle Robert. No wife, no children, not even a dog. Just a big empty house and a pickup truck. My existence could have been the punch line to a joke about a country-western song.
I always knew that Grandma had money. My grandfather was a successful attorney, and when his heart gave out on him, he left everything he had to the woman who had stood by him for more than forty years. Grandma didn’t do much with it. She was involved with her church, and she gave to a few charity’s, but nothing too extravagant. When she passed, she split what was left between me and my Uncle Robert. I inherited more than twelve million dollars in bond investments, and a few pieces of real estate.
That was how I met Gabriel.
He bought a large swath of land and a cabin just outside of Morganton from me. The first time I met him, I had driven to the cabin to clean it up in anticipation of a potential buyer coming to see it with his realtor. My agent told me they would not be arriving until late in the afternoon. Imagine my surprise when I arrived at the cabin and there was a silver Taurus sitting in the driveway, with two people standing on the porch staring at me as I pulled up. One of them was a petite Asian woman in a smart looking pantsuit, and the other was a tall, powerfully built, scruffy looking man in jeans and a t-shirt.
I was somewhat irritated to see them there because I wanted to get the place cleaned up and looking nice before showing it. No one had been inside the little cabin in years, and everything inside of it was no doubt covered in dust. I swallowed my irritation and managed a smile as I approached the cabin. As I stepped up onto the low porch, the Asian realtor pounced forward, flashing a dazzling smile and holding out a
He made another pass over the blade with a sharpening stone.
“I have to say though, this thing has served me pretty well since the world went to shit.” He said, his smile fading.
He tested the edge of the blade with his thumb then returned it to its sheath. He stood and propped the sword up against the wall. As he turned to walk back toward his chair, he jerked a thumb in the direction of the table with the laptop on it.
“You know, you really should start putting some stuff together to post to the Net.” Gabe said. “Once we get past the Appalachian range we should be able to get a signal. We should tell people about everything we know.” He said.
“If you’re so concerned about it, why don’t you write something down?” I asked.
“Because you’re better at it, college boy. Besides, I got bullets to polish.”
Gabe walked over to his pack and took out the duty belt we found that morning. He removed the pistol and the ammo magazines, picked up a cleaning kit, and sat down in front of the stove to begin working on them.
I watched him for a few minutes, thinking about how to start before I picked up the laptop and sat down in the chair next to Gabriel’s. After letting my feet warm by the hot stove for a few minutes, I opened the laptop and began to write.
Book I
Our world has passed away,
in wantonness o’erthrown,
there is nothing left today,
but steel and fire and stone...
Comfort, content, delight,
The ages slow bought gain,
They shriveled in a night,
Only ourselves remain…
-Rudyard Kipling
For All We Have and Are
Chapter 1
Divestiture
I was a wealthy man before the Outbreak. Well, wealthy in monetary terms. I had almost no family by the time the world ended. I was an only child, and when my parents were killed, I had only my Grandmother and my uncle Robert. No wife, no children, not even a dog. Just a big empty house and a pickup truck. My existence could have been the punch line to a joke about a country-western song.
I always knew that Grandma had money. My grandfather was a successful attorney, and when his heart gave out on him, he left everything he had to the woman who had stood by him for more than forty years. Grandma didn’t do much with it. She was involved with her church, and she gave to a few charity’s, but nothing too extravagant. When she passed, she split what was left between me and my Uncle Robert. I inherited more than twelve million dollars in bond investments, and a few pieces of real estate.
That was how I met Gabriel.
He bought a large swath of land and a cabin just outside of Morganton from me. The first time I met him, I had driven to the cabin to clean it up in anticipation of a potential buyer coming to see it with his realtor. My agent told me they would not be arriving until late in the afternoon. Imagine my surprise when I arrived at the cabin and there was a silver Taurus sitting in the driveway, with two people standing on the porch staring at me as I pulled up. One of them was a petite Asian woman in a smart looking pantsuit, and the other was a tall, powerfully built, scruffy looking man in jeans and a t-shirt.
I was somewhat irritated to see them there because I wanted to get the place cleaned up and looking nice before showing it. No one had been inside the little cabin in years, and everything inside of it was no doubt covered in dust. I swallowed my irritation and managed a smile as I approached the cabin. As I stepped up onto the low porch, the Asian realtor pounced forward, flashing a dazzling smile and holding out a
Readers choose
Christine Feehan
Jan Harman
Josephine W. Johnson
Tim Curran
Christina James
Tracy L. Higley
Tom Holt
Elinor Lipman
Sean Cullen