This World We Live In (The Last Survivors, Book 3) Read Online Free Page B
Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer
toilet paper as wel .
But the most interesting thing I found was a smal electric heater. By the time she'd died, electricity was a thing of the past, so no one had bothered taking it.
But now, at least sometimes, we have electricity. I lugged the heater back to the house, along with whatever else I could find.
"We can use it in the kitchen," I told Mom. "Or turn it on anyplace whenever we have power."
"That's a good idea," Mom said. "We could put it in the sunroom and cut down on the firewood."
Of course when you want electricity is exactly when you don't get it. We haven't had any since those fabulous four hours a few days ago.
Mom and I then had a lengthy discussion about the causes of World War One so she could feel like we got something done. It seems like a pretty dumb war to me, but most wars seem pretty dumb to me, given how things worked out.
She had just finished tel ing me how the Russian royal family had al been murdered but some people thought Anastasia had survived, when Matt and Jon returned. They brought the same four bags, but there was more food in each. I knew I should feel bad about that, but I couldn't make myself.
If Mom noticed the extra two cans in each bag, she didn't say so. Instead she asked how the roads were.
"A lot better than last week," Matt said. "Almost no ice."
"We biked the whole way," Jon said. "I bet we won't have any problems getting to the river."
"Al right," Mom said. "You can leave tomorrow 37
morning after breakfast. But no traveling after dark, and I'l expect you home by Friday."
"Saturday," Matt said. "That way we'l have three days if the fishing is good. We'l leave first thing Saturday morning."
"Saturday, then," Mom said. "Before then if there aren't any fish. Or if either one of you doesn't feel wel . No heroics. And no traveling separately. If one of you leaves, you both leave. Is that clearly understood?"
"Clearly," Matt said, but he was grinning, and Jon could hardly keep stil , he was so excited.
I don't blame them. If I got to go away for five whole days, I'd be landing triple axels on the living room floor.
38
***
Chapter 3 May 9
Mom made Matt and Jon eat an extra can of spinach for breakfast, and then we helped them load the bikes.
Matt remembered a folding grocery cart in Mrs.
Nesbitt's cel ar, so he ran over there and brought it back. He rigged it to the back of his bike to hold the fishing equipment and the sleeping bags. They both wore their backpacks, which Mom had fil ed with food and bottles of rainwater.
"We'l bring back trash bags ful of shad," Matt promised us. "Everything's going to be better once we get back with food."
"Wear your face masks," Mom said. "And boil your drinking water. Matt, you have to be real y careful."
"We wil be, I promise," he said. He and Jon kissed Mom good-bye, and then Matt bent over and gave me a good-bye kiss, too.
I didn't like that. It felt too final.
We walked out with them and watched as they began their ride down Howel Bridge Road. The air is so bad you can't see too far ahead of you, but I bet they tore off their face masks a half mile down the road.
39
I was reading Romeo and Juliet (Mom figures it must be in the curriculum somewhere) and Mom was working on one of her il icit crossword puzzles when the electricity came on. We jumped into action. We put al our pots and pans in the dishwasher, threw in detergent and buckets of rainwater, and hoped for the best.
"I had a thought," Mom said, which always means More Work for Miranda. "If we could find another electric heater, we could put one in the kitchen and one in the dining room."
"The firewood's in the dining room," I said.
"Besides, why would we want to eat in there?"
"We wouldn't," Mom said. "But if we stored the firewood in the pantry and had heaters for the kitchen and dining room, then Matt and Jon could share one room and you and I the other. Both rooms have windows that face the sunroom, from when it was the back porch, so they get a
But the most interesting thing I found was a smal electric heater. By the time she'd died, electricity was a thing of the past, so no one had bothered taking it.
But now, at least sometimes, we have electricity. I lugged the heater back to the house, along with whatever else I could find.
"We can use it in the kitchen," I told Mom. "Or turn it on anyplace whenever we have power."
"That's a good idea," Mom said. "We could put it in the sunroom and cut down on the firewood."
Of course when you want electricity is exactly when you don't get it. We haven't had any since those fabulous four hours a few days ago.
Mom and I then had a lengthy discussion about the causes of World War One so she could feel like we got something done. It seems like a pretty dumb war to me, but most wars seem pretty dumb to me, given how things worked out.
She had just finished tel ing me how the Russian royal family had al been murdered but some people thought Anastasia had survived, when Matt and Jon returned. They brought the same four bags, but there was more food in each. I knew I should feel bad about that, but I couldn't make myself.
If Mom noticed the extra two cans in each bag, she didn't say so. Instead she asked how the roads were.
"A lot better than last week," Matt said. "Almost no ice."
"We biked the whole way," Jon said. "I bet we won't have any problems getting to the river."
"Al right," Mom said. "You can leave tomorrow 37
morning after breakfast. But no traveling after dark, and I'l expect you home by Friday."
"Saturday," Matt said. "That way we'l have three days if the fishing is good. We'l leave first thing Saturday morning."
"Saturday, then," Mom said. "Before then if there aren't any fish. Or if either one of you doesn't feel wel . No heroics. And no traveling separately. If one of you leaves, you both leave. Is that clearly understood?"
"Clearly," Matt said, but he was grinning, and Jon could hardly keep stil , he was so excited.
I don't blame them. If I got to go away for five whole days, I'd be landing triple axels on the living room floor.
38
***
Chapter 3 May 9
Mom made Matt and Jon eat an extra can of spinach for breakfast, and then we helped them load the bikes.
Matt remembered a folding grocery cart in Mrs.
Nesbitt's cel ar, so he ran over there and brought it back. He rigged it to the back of his bike to hold the fishing equipment and the sleeping bags. They both wore their backpacks, which Mom had fil ed with food and bottles of rainwater.
"We'l bring back trash bags ful of shad," Matt promised us. "Everything's going to be better once we get back with food."
"Wear your face masks," Mom said. "And boil your drinking water. Matt, you have to be real y careful."
"We wil be, I promise," he said. He and Jon kissed Mom good-bye, and then Matt bent over and gave me a good-bye kiss, too.
I didn't like that. It felt too final.
We walked out with them and watched as they began their ride down Howel Bridge Road. The air is so bad you can't see too far ahead of you, but I bet they tore off their face masks a half mile down the road.
39
I was reading Romeo and Juliet (Mom figures it must be in the curriculum somewhere) and Mom was working on one of her il icit crossword puzzles when the electricity came on. We jumped into action. We put al our pots and pans in the dishwasher, threw in detergent and buckets of rainwater, and hoped for the best.
"I had a thought," Mom said, which always means More Work for Miranda. "If we could find another electric heater, we could put one in the kitchen and one in the dining room."
"The firewood's in the dining room," I said.
"Besides, why would we want to eat in there?"
"We wouldn't," Mom said. "But if we stored the firewood in the pantry and had heaters for the kitchen and dining room, then Matt and Jon could share one room and you and I the other. Both rooms have windows that face the sunroom, from when it was the back porch, so they get a
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