This ends my posts of the first three books in the Surviving the Fog series. Next, I will check my work with a comparison to previous versions, and if everything looks good, I will upload the latest version to KDP and Draft2Digital. Mahalo, for reading.
#survivingthefog
All of our accounts must have the same title, or almost the same. So, this is the account of me, Kathy, Mayor of Petersburg, titled Surviving the Fog-Kathy’s Recollections.
The End
#kathysrecollections #survivingthefog #howardthered #doulgaslives #sasha,thescarred #postapocalypse #newadult
Mike waved to them, walked down to his cabin, opened the door, and went inside. Annie was sitting in the rocking chair Hector had made for her.
“Are you pregnant?” Mike asked.
“Yep.”
“Then everything is okay.”
The End
#survivingthefog #kathysrecollections #howardthered #douglaslives
“Eric should have asked you to serve on the Council,” Desi complained.
“Nah,” said Mike. “He doesn’t need me looking over his shoulder.”
Mike looked at Gabby again, and then he looked at Kathy. “Oh!”
“Finally,” Desi muttered.
“Gotta go,” Mike said. #survivingthefog #postapocalypse #newadult
Mike noticed Eric step out of the Mayor’s Office. Tyler and Gabby were close by. Gabby’s belly was growing. Tyler kissed Gabby and walked over to Eric.
“Time for Council,” John said, observing the gathering.
Mike watched Eric and Tyler enter the office. #survivingthefog #postapocalypse #newadult
“Poor Star,” said Mike. “She’s going to miss Paige.”
“I miss Yuie,” Desi said.
“She and Lincoln will be back next year,” John said. “Besides if she was here, Mike would be at East Post.”
“I hate this arrangement. We never get to have them here at the same time.” #survivingthefog #postapocalypse
“Yeah, but the mayor wants them to wait one more year before leaving the farm. I wonder if Paige and Makayla will go with them. And Don is talking about moving there, too. Since Major Collins moved his command to the Retreat, it’s become a popular place to live.” #survivingthefog #postapocalypse
“Something like that,” John added. “That’s what some scientist is saying over the radio. Supposedly the Earth drifted through a cloud of something in space, and that caused something to be triggered in our atmosphere. Kevin says that he understands.” #survivingthefog #postapocalypse #newadult
“The Fog is down to five thousand feet now,” John replied. “We’re going to be finding all kinds of stuff in the next couple of years.”
“What did Eric mean, when he said that someone knows what happened?” Mike asked.
“The mayor thinks it was some kind of ‘Dark Matter’,” Desi replied. #survivingthefog
On the southern exposure of each cabin roof was a window, made from a pane of glass taken the old school bus. It allowed the sunshine to heat the cabin. Around the four dwellings, a covered walkway with a high-pitched roof had been constructed. #survivingthefog #postapocalypse #newadult #village
“Eric says that they have the airport up and running. I suppose that they would have to, since that’s where they moved the Capitol.”
“Something’s wrong,” Mike said, a frown on his face.
“Nothing’s wrong,” John answered.
“I’m telling you; something is wrong." #survivingthefog #postapocalypse #village
The little boys were just below them, giggling and laughing as they chased butterflies.
“There’s another contrail,” John said, pointing at the sky.
“Yeah,” Desi responded. “I wonder where the plane came from.”
“Maybe Denver,” her husband suggested. #survivingthefog #postapocalypse #village
Epilogue
Mike, age eighteen and a half, sat on the lawn below the Lodge. It was the middle of May, in the late morning. Desi sat on his right, nursing her daughter. John sat on his left, and they were watching Michael and Diego. #survivingthefog #postapocalypse #newadult #mountains
She laughed long, and she laughed hard. Finally, through tears of laughter, and maybe some of relief, she sat up and wiped her eyes.
“When will you be sixteen?”
“Next week,” Mike answered eagerly.
“Ah." #survivingthefog
Eventually, she let her hand slide down the front of his body.
“I…” she began in a soft hesitant voice. “I think you’re ready.”
Mike stiffened. “I can’t.”
“Oh, I think you can,” she replied, her voice changing to a confident promise.
“No, I mean, it’s against the rules.” #survivingthefog #village
Mike rolled over and took Annie’s head between his hands as if it was the most natural thing. He kissed Annie long and tenderly, just as Desi had taught him, so long ago, and Annie kissed him back. She kissed his mouth and his forehead, and she kissed his ears and his chin. #survivingthefog #village
Mike stirred and turned over.
“Mike,” she whispered softly, not sure she wanted him to hear.
“Yeah?”
“Come here.”
Mike crawled out of his bag and dropped down next to Annie, still in her bag. He rolled onto his back.
Annie tried to speak. “I... about today...” #survivingthefog #postapocalypse
As she had watched the mares running, and the yearlings prancing against the backdrop of those majestic, snow covered granite peaks, she had felt real joy for the first time since the coming of the Fog, and she was glad that it was Mike who was there with her. #survivingthefog #postapocalypse
In the past five weeks, she had sensed the growing attraction he felt for her. Why? She hadn’t been exactly friendly towards him, and she had ignored his feelings, and she had ignored the change in the way she felt about him. But she was attracted to him, too. #survivingthefog #postapocalypse
Annie awoke just after midnight. She lay there in the darkness, thinking about the incident with the bear. She remembered vividly the sight of Mike fearlessly facing the bear. No, not fearlessly. He was afraid. He was very afraid. Somehow, she knew that. #survivingthefog #postapocalypse #village
They caught a break. Before nightfall, they blundered across an old miner’s shack. Inside, they found two ancient beds with plain, old-fashioned springs covered by filthy mattresses. They were too tired to care, so they threw their bags on the mattresses and sacked out. #survivingthefog #village
Annie’s body began shaking, and she felt the need to pee, or to hit something. Her fear morphed into anger. Growling, not unlike the bear, she sprang to her feet, and when the boy turned, she grabbed the front of his jacket and lifted him to his toes. #survivingthefog #postapocalypse #newadult
“Mike,” she whispered, fear for his life and wonder at his brave audacity, surging through her.
“Be quiet, Annie,” he murmured firmly.
The bear’s growls subsided to huffs. The huge animal stood there silently watching Mike. The teenager did not move, and Annie held her breath. #survivingthefog
The California brown bear stood on all fours, growling, its snout thrust forward. Mike was standing motionless, facing the bear, holding his spear cocked behind his ear. Annie sucked in a breath and held it. She could only watch; there was no time to clear her rifle. #survivingthefog #postapocalypse
Her rifle slammed into the snow covered mud.
“Get back!” she yelled again, her fingers working frantically, trying to lever a cartridge into the chamber.
But the rifle was jammed. Cursing, she looked up and froze. It was if she was watching a living image from the distant past. #survivingthefog
“Back, Mike, get back!”
She was slinging her rifle from her shoulder when Mike stumbled backwards on the slick dirt and fell to one knee. He heard another enormous growl. Annie was trying to back away, when she tripped over Mike. She fell to the ground. #survivingthefog #postapocalypse #newadult
They were about a week from the fort, one frosty morning, traveling down a deer trail. There was a light sprinkle of snow on the ground, and as usual, Mike was following Annie. He heard Annie gasp, and at the same moment, he heard a loud, spine chilling roar. #survivingthefog #postapocalypse
Enough melancholy. She searched for a subject guaranteed to take Mike’s mind off the past.
“Since you’re from San Francisco, does that mean you’re gay?”
Mike broke away from his thoughts. “What?”
“Are you gay?” Annie repeated. “Do you like boys?”
Mike laughed. #survivingthefog #postapocalypse
She remembered passing through oil stinky Artesia, the day her boyfriend stole his father’s car and drove them to Roswell to visit the silly alien museum, and the more interesting Goddard Museum.
There were, Annie realized, things that she and this kid had in common. #survivingthefog #postapocalypse
“Yes. My family lived on a small road just off Geary Boulevard. It’s not far from Golden Gate Park. My Dad was a teller at a bank on Market Street. Every work morning, he would take the bus to Powell Street, and then he would ride the cable car down to Market Street." #survivingthefog #newadult
