After the Event Read Free

as the eye could see, only being interrupted by the trees sprinkled throughout the land. The house sat on 40 acres of land broken up by only fence lines in the distance, beyond that were more fields that had once been used for farming and feeding livestock. A couple of miles north was another house, Grant no longer knew who lived there but that place was the nearest. The only other house was 4 miles west of them, but again Grant had no idea who lived there.
                  The nearest town, Centralia, was over 30 miles away and used to have a population of around five thousand. Grant made a point to drive around the town in order to get to this house. When they had left the city it was on the cusp of falling into chaos and he didn't want to be in any heavily populated areas when that occurred.
                  “You leaving?”
                  Grant had been so lost in his own head that he didn't hear Alec walk up behind him. The boy had grown so much since he last saw him. The baby smoothness his face once reflected was replaced by a spattering of acne and tufts of hair sprouting from his upper lip. The boy’s face had also hardened; Grant believed he was more responsible for that then age. “I'm going to try and see if there is anyone in the old house just north of us.” Alec had the same wary look that had been on his face since Grant had come back in his life. “Can you watch everyone while I'm gone? I should be back before it starts getting dark.”
                  “We will be good without you.” Alec's eyes met his without flinching. Not reassurance, a statement.
                  Grant let out a small breath. “Alright, I'll be back soon.” With that said he turned around and began walking towards where the old house was. He was going to have to work out the issues that Alec had with him sooner or later, he just preferred for it to be later. It was no longer about trying to simply make up for lost time with his son, it was about survival. Alec was the oldest but he was still only a child, a child that because of what happened was going to have to become a man much sooner than Grant wanted. The world was descending into chaos and Grant couldn't protect his family alone.
                  The green plains soon became populated with heavy brush and trees that blocked out the sun. As he made his way in and around the various shrubbery he realized he was in horrible shape. By the time he had finally caught sight of an old white house seemingly placed in the middle of nowhere the back of his shirt was nearly soaked through.
                  He had left the gun back at the house. The last thing he wanted was for whoever lived in the house to think he was trying to rob them or worse. He took a wide berth around the house in order to come up to the front door, again to convince anyone inside that he wasn't a threat. The yard appeared to have been recently mowed and Grant noticed the nearby bird feeders were full. Almost as if the world had never gone black.
                  “Not another step.” Came a voice from behind him.
                  Grant froze and raised his hands in the air.
                  “Keep your hands in the air and turn around slowly, make a wrong move and I will end you.”
                  Grant's mind raced. This was a stupid idea he never should have left, once again he was going to leave them but this time they would be all alone. He slowly turned around and the only thing he noticed was the gun barrel pointed at his face.
                  “Who are you and what do you want?”
                  He managed to pull his attention away from the gun and look at who was holding it. The man had to of been in his mid-60's with a head full of grey hair and a face that was worn with age. Besides the enormous gun in his hands the rest of the man's dress