RecruitZ (Afterworld Series) Read Free

country—and the world—faced, I found it odd that guaranteeing we had a place to buy furniture and electronics was a top priority. But I guess they felt we needed a sense of normalcy.
    I was willing to buy into that dream until Gavin was taken from me. We’d barely finished the remodel when it happened—when he was killed. There my mind went again, wandering back to Gavin.
    God, I missed him.
    Looking around the space now, it looked like some makeshift army command post with maps and photographs pinned to the walls.
    The doorbell rang through the house. It was time to play ‘let’s pretend’ with Abby, who was one of my many friends I’d managed to ignore since everything happened with Gavin. The world was supposed to be a safer place now, and there was an evolving sense of community if a person chose to participate.
    I did not.
    The epidemic had been stopped, or at least that’s what the general public was told. We were all vaccinated and to the government that was enough. Yet, here I was without my soul mate, hiding from my friends, and attempting to understand what happened.
    I locked the basement door behind me and did a double jiggle of the lock to ensure she didn’t accidentally wander down there. I was sure it would just be another bit of gossip that my friends would toss around for awhile before approaching me to perform an intervention. That was something I could really do without.
    “Hey,” my voice sang out as I flung open the front door. “So good to see you.”
    I hoped my acting skills were up to par.
    Abby sailed through the door and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. She was dressed in grey yoga pants and a navy sweatshirt. She had straightened her normally wavy, blonde hair, and she looked really nice and healthy. That was a look of progress I enjoyed seeing. Most of us had gone without for so long during the outbreak, a gaunt appearance was the norm.
    “Ready for dinner?” Abby asked, holding up two brown bags.
    “Sounds good to me,” I said, realizing I wasn’t even sure when I’d eaten last. “Let’s spread out in the family room.”
    “You look amazing, Becky,” she complimented me. My brown hair hit just below my shoulders, which helped to hide how skinny I’d become, or at least I hoped it did.
    “Thanks. You’re not looking so bad yourself,” I said.
    “It’s amazing what a constant food source can do for a person. I’m filling out again in all the right places.”
    “I’m sure Caleb is happy about that,” I laughed, following her down the hall toward the family room. I turned my eyes away from the wall where all of the photos of Gavin and me hung. After the outbreak, anywhere we went I made him take a picture of us. I was just so excited to be participating in life again—even our first trip to the grocery store was documented. I was grateful to have those photographs. Nevertheless, I usually avoided this route to the back of the house.
    The family room was one of the first rooms Gavin painted when we got back in my family’s house. A gnawing sensation in the pit of my stomach crept up as I thought about that day, how much fun we had. I glanced around and saw the bright, cheery yellow walls. Back then it seemed fitting somehow… Now, not so much.
    Once I flipped on the lights, I noticed that every surface had a thick coating of dust. I never really came in here unless I was grabbing a book off one of the shelves.
    Oops!
    The ivory curtains were closed along with all of the drapes in my house. After seeing the dust on the furniture, I could only imagine what a good shake of the curtains would release.
    “What do you have to drink?” Abby dumped the bags on the coffee table, ignoring the tiny dust particles that floated around. That’s what good friends were for.
    “I’ve been specializing in beer, coffee, and more coffee.”
    “Sounds good and in that order.” She plopped on the couch and began looking around the room as I went to the kitchen to get our