The McClane Apocalypse: Book Two Read Free Page A

skill set that he excelled at and something for which he could thank his worthless real mother. When you were constantly disappointed in the one person who should never disappoint you, you get really good at closing off your feelings. But Cory is going to be a lot like Derek as he gets older because of his love of electronics and engineering. Kelly had hoped that his brother would go to college and forgo the military career altogether and just be a computer geek or run his own business somewhere nice and quiet and safe. Now, they’ll never know.
    “Man, I’m glad you didn’t, Cory. There’s a lot of nasty shit out there, kid. People can be cruel sons a’ bitches when they wanna’ be,” he tells his impressionable brother. What he says is true. He’s seen it all, literally.
    Of course everywhere in the world, including their own damned country is a mountain of pure evil filled with hatred and devoid of humanity. If his little brother can avoid any small amount of the dehumanization of people, then Kelly will be happy. But in the end, Kelly’s a realist and he’s glad that his dad taught Cory how to shoot, hunt and fish. Living on the farm is the best place for the kids, and it is sure as hell the safest for the time being. They’ve adjusted about as well as anyone could expect for losing both of their parents in one night, surviving on their own for days, being uprooted from their home, losing their way of life, their youth and coming to live in a strange place with unknown people. Em still worries him, though. She interacts great with Derek’s kids, but she hardly speaks to any of the adults. She clings to Cory as if her life depends on it. Wherever he goes, she usually follows. She’d not dealt with him moving to the second floor to his own bedroom very well, either. Em had even cried, and Kelly had had to console her and talk to her in private about the fact that her brother was only going to be two floors up. He’d patiently explained that he’d still be right in the next bedroom and that Cory was much older than her at seventeen and needed more privacy. He knows that most of what he lectured her about went over like a lead balloon, but in the end she’d relented and become even more withdrawn, lost. The three youngest kids are still sharing a bedroom in the basement, but she just hadn’t been ready to give up her big brother. He’d been the one to keep her alive when their parents were killed. She was his little shadow; he was her great big protector.
    Many times, Cory has told Kelly how much he likes it in the cow barn and helping with the milking duties and Kelly is more than glad to have his assistance. John isn’t wild about the cows, though, and is vocal in giving his opinion about them and his opinion on the milking of them, more specifically. And Derek is better suited to working on the tractors with Doc McClane and doing the field work with them than he is around any of the animals. He doesn’t much care for the horses, either, and had only taken a few of Reagan’s drill sergeant style riding classes. In short, he just isn’t an animal person and much prefers something with a motor. Kelly can ride almost as well as John, but he’d not wanted to leave the farm for the city in his friend’s place because of the responsibility of the kids, and John knew it. His friend knows him better than anyone and had approached Kelly first about not taking the risk of traveling with him to which Kelly had objected and then seen the reasoning behind it.
    “Yeah, I know. I got to see some of that shit first hand,” Cory says over the back of his cow. The men all allow Cory to swear because it gives him a sense of belonging with them, and he’s smart enough not to do it around the kids or, most importantly, Grams. Doc may be the man of the house, but his wife is in charge of it.
    “I know, bro. You shouldn’t have had to deal with that alone,” Kelly tells him, referring to the murder of their parents.