The Renegades (Book 5): United Read Online Free

issues seem trivial. You were always so focused on gathering the bare essentials and protecting what you had that there was no time to dwell on what your partner wasn’t giving you in a relationship, or how someone had wronged you.
    It was funny how a safe zone could bring to the surface what had already been bubbling underneath.
    I felt a pair of hands wrap around my eyes. I was pretty damn sure they weren’t Wren’s as they felt too callused. “Elijah.”
    “Oh come on, how did you know?”
    “I was about to say it’s the fragrant body wash that you use — Old Spice. But then I remembered you opt for the more manly stuff like Oil of Olay.”
    He punched my arm.
    “How’s it going, bud?”
    “Good.”
    I turned to see both him and Ben staring back. “Ben.”
    Ben gave me one of his manly back pats. “Is it strange that we haven’t seen each other in over two months?
    “Well, I was hoping to never see you two again but…”
    The corner of my lip curled up.
    “So did he invite you?” I asked, stating the obvious.
    “Of course.” He paused. “Who else is going to bring the beer?”
    I shook my head. “Why doesn’t he just go down and get some more?”
    “You know him. Why bother when others can bring it?”
    The strange but wonderful part about the whole apocalypse was that beer was still readily available through some of the local beer breweries on Long Island. There were eleven of them in total dotted around the island. One right in Southampton. Of course, none of the machines were working but there were still stacks of beer in warehouses, along with hops and barley that could be used for making more. In a world that had gone to shit, it was definitely that one thing that made the hard days bearable.
    Those days now seemed few and far between. It had almost become unusual. With more joining the community each week, there were more people to rotate in shifts, go on runs and carry some of the weight. While Paradise was split into seven districts, we all had learned to co-exist together under the leadership of the seven. Weekly meetings were held in each district, while every three months we would come together to discuss the larger issues facing Paradise as a whole.
    Some of those meetings had become quite heated. It was probably around then I began to notice that maybe having districts wasn’t a good idea. It created an us-versus-them mentality. It was something that existed before the apocalypse. Whether it was religion against religion, country against country or politician against politician. Humanity always seemed to end up in the same place of seeing someone else’s view as a threat.
    If that had been the cause of so many wars in the past, was it possible that it could happen again and divide us as a community?
    If this was to work, we had to work together and up until now that was happening.
    Those with military background continued to serve in the same facet that they had before. They provided security at the main access points, as well as in and around the shores. There were four police officers whose entire job was to ensure disputes were handled. There were three doctors and several nurses. No matter what trade a person had, others still were required to assist as and when needed. Those who had no skills in medical were taught it, those who had never fired a weapon before were taken through training. In many ways life continued as it had before. We each tried to carve out an existence that went beyond surviving.
    A long road was ahead of us, but the future looked promising. With every run into the city, the number of Z’s seemed to get a little less. So far there had been no talks about expanding beyond the two access points but I was certain if we continued to grow at the rate we were, it wouldn’t be long until that happened. Though right now what we had in our corner of New York was working.
    For how long? — that was to be determined.
    I just didn’t realize that things would change