Alternative Universe: by Nick Venom (free novel reading sites .txt) 📖

stuff.”

“So, he never hurt you but broke stuff. Has he hurt your sister?” Braiden interrogated him.

Grant shook his head again. “He only breaks stuff when he’s mad, but he never touches us.”

“Good, good, good.” Braiden released Grant and inspected his crude craftsmanship with the cardboard. “If he does, tell me. I understand that some people have anger issues, but he needs to keep it in check.”

“Did he… hurt you?” Grant asked, staring at the bruise on Braiden’s face. Braiden looked away, hiding the obvious bruises.

“It was my fault. I provoked him and this happened. I said something about his parents… your parents and he got furious.”

Grant nodded his head, inspecting the cardboard. “He was mad because our parents never returned. He was cursing and everything, throwing stuff around.” Something shot through like lightning. “But he never hurt us. Only once did something he threw hit us, but it was an accident.”

Braiden crouched down and met Grant’s eyes. “No, that’s not good. I could write it off - if it happens once or twice, but if this is a common occurrence, then it’s not right. Anger is an emotion that drives people to do good things, but can also lead to murder. I’ve seen it with many of my past students. One kid snapped on his bullies and murdered them without a second thought. He was about to be the valedictorian of his class, but that went down the drain.”

“What… what happened to him after?”

“Sent to jail, should still be in prison. Even though the murder was, technically, justified, it’s still wrong. Now he’s repenting for his sins. Anyways, I’m going off-topic, but you can’ let him do this to you and your sister. He needs to keep his anger in check for stability. Too much anger and it pushes into a path of evil. Not enough anger and he lives an unfulfilling life. Don’t forget that as it applies for everybody else, including you.”

Grant nodded, cracking out a small smile. “Thank you.”

“Of course, Liam.”

Grant’s smile turned into a frown. “My name’s Grant, not Liam.”

Braiden’s eyes widened as he looked away from Grant. Liam was the name of Braiden’s deceased younger brother, who resembled Grant almost to a T. “Yeah, sorry about that. I’m going back to farming, but don’t worry. I’ll tell your brother that you did this on your own.” He pointed at the cardboard. “Maybe, he’ll give you a gold star.”

Grant thanked him again as he returned to his fields. However, the thought of his brother interrupted him to the point that he quit for the day. Memories of him flooded in, overwhelming him. It was because of his anger that Liam died.

 

TBC...

Episode Eleven "Horde"

The next day arrived quickly. The threat of Percy and his men hovered over their heads, but it slowly floated down. Nikki and the others were feeling safer at Nick’s ranch than Amanda’s house, miles farther away from Percy. Or that’s what they believed, at least.

While the others were busy with their tasks, Amanda was peering through the scope on the hunting rifle. She could see a few hundred yards in front of her with ease. 

Nick approached her. He carried his bow and quiver with him. He laid his hand on her shoulder, starling her. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay.” He dropped his hand, focusing it on his bow. He caressed the bow’s wood. It had slight cracks in it, small enough not to pose a problem - it showed its age. His father gave him the bow.

“You ready?” He asked. She nodded his head. “Have you killed an animal before? If you haven’t, then I’ll teach you.”

She nodded her head. “My parents were hunters. They took me out with them and I’ve shot my fair amount of squirrels and deers.” She cracked a half-certain smile. “I’ll be fine.”

“Perfect, then let’s go.” Nick went towards the southside fences, jumping the five-foot crude defense mechanism. He headed towards the forest. It stretched tens of miles in length and half of that in width. Amanda followed him through the forest, carefully making their way through the dense vegetation. Zombies could be hidden in any section of the forest, waiting in hopes of grabbing them and killing them. Nick wanted to avoid that fate, glancing around his surroundings. Wherever his eyes went, his bow went. 

Amanda followed behind him, her eyes drifting to where Nick’s eyes went. However, she couldn’t keep up with him. While he looked around at every angle they passed and were coming up to, Amanda was lingering at the spots far behind them. 

“Do you know where we’re going?” She whispered, a few feet behind him.

“I’ve been hunting in this forest for years. I know it like the back of my hand. We’re coming up to a-” He pointed at a pond some distance from them. “-pond. My father called this pond, the Lifesaver Pond.”

“Lifesaver Pond?” Amanda questioned.

“My father got lost one time and couldn’t figure his way out. Fortunately, he found this pond. He recognized it on his way in, knowing which way he came in from. He returned safely, only losing a few hours and not his life.”

“Wow,” was Amanda’s only response. 

“Yeah, he got lucky. If he didn’t find the pond, who knows what would’ve happened.” Nick crouched low, detecting something. Amanda followed suit.

“Keep low, I hear zombies.” He whispered to her. She nodded her head, holding the hunting rifle close to her chest. The pair crouch-walked in near silence with the occasional crunch of leaves. They moved closer to a small open clearing, noticing a zombie standing still - with sunlight shining in from above. It didn’t move nor did it hear the pair nearing it. 

Nick branded a knife and crouched-walked towards the zombie. Within a few feet of the undead corpse, it turned and faced him. The sudden movement startled him but it wasn't enough for him to turn tail and run. He stood up and sprinted around the zombie, stabbing it in its neck. The zombie went down quickly, gurgling out a spoon’s worth of blood. 

He laid the zombie down quickly before motioning for Amanda to follow him. When backtracking home, they’ll have to be wary of this clearing as the zombie’s blood might’ve attracted reinforcements.

Although the zombie posed a problem, it was for the future. Instead, they pushed forward through the forest. They trekked for an hour before coming across their prey; a buck. They slowed their pace, even more, glaring at the deer. It stood confidently over a small pond, glancing around before taking a sip from it. 

“I’ll strike first, be prepared to fire. If I miss,  aim for the head. I don’t feel like eating bullet shells later.” Nick joked.

Amanda nodded, slowly brandishing her hunting rifle. She raised her scope and pointed it at the buck’s head. Nick followed suit, drawing his bow, before standing up and taking quick aim. However, the quick motion attracted the buck’s attention and startled it. It turned tail but was caught in the shoulder blade with an arrow. Nick missed its neck by a few inches.

Fortunately, Amanda was prepared. She slowed her breathing, adjusting the scope to track the buck’s head. She hovered her pointer finger over the trigger, hesitating to pull it. The buck, that she had in her sights, was moving out of her sight and would soon escape. She wouldn’t let it happen. All of her nerves disappeared as she pressed the trigger. A loud gunshot went off as the buck, which nearly escaped, collapsed. It hit the ground hard, smashing into the dirt.

Nick charged to the buck’s side, inspecting the wound. Amanda shot the buck in the back of the head, almost execution-style. He looked up and motioned for her to come closer. She inspected the shot, surprised at the location she hit. She was aiming for its neck, not the head. Even so, she was happy to have caught it before it escaped.

“Good, we’ll have a few pounds of meat for today. Marvelous. Man, I never had the chance to use that word before.” He said, grinning. He was excited to have good meat. He couldn’t kill any of the animals on the ranch as he couldn’t replace them. They were his backup plan.

“Thank god, I hit it before it escaped. I thought my shot was-” Nick shushed her, motioning her to crouch down. She followed his order without an argument. He motioned for her to follow him, grabbing his arrow from the buck’s shoulder, and heading towards the main road. They had gone in a straight line, meaning they had half of the forest’s width to cover before they reached the road.

Once they did, they found something they wished they didn’t. A horde of zombies was marching down the road. They ransacked houses and chewed on old corpses. They were horrific to see. 

“Where are they going?” Amanda whispered.

“There are a few houses here and there, but the biggest one is my ranch. Forget the buck, let’s get going. We need to reach the ranch and warn everybody else before it’s too late.”

Amanda nodded, following Nick back to the buck and down the path they took. They ignored stealth and focused on returning home quickly. They ran as quickly as they could, cutting the hour trip into a half-hour.

On the way back, they reached the small clearing from earlier. A zombie was inspecting the one Nick killed. It noticed Nick and Amanda running past it, but didn't give chase. Instead, it turned around and stumbled away in the opposite direction. It was going in the direction of the horde, acting as a siren.

***

“Five, six, seven, eight!” Alexia exclaimed, counting up the eggs she found from the chicken coop. Kiya and Nikki were by her side, running around in search of eggs. It resembled Easter day.

“I found six, I lost.” Nikki sadly muttered.

“Twelve!” Kiya exclaimed, pumping her fists. “I won, so you will have to make me an extra french toast.”

“Ugh,” Alexia muttered, dissatisfied with her loss. “I’ll make it for you later.” She turned away from them. “I needed four more and I would’ve won,” she muttered to herself, low enough that nobody heard her.

“Good, we’re almost done with this,” Nikki said, glancing at Kiya. She appeared in better spirits compared to earlier. She was broken at that moment, but she appeared differently here. She seemed happy.

“Well-” Kiya started, carefully laying her eggs in one bucket. “-how about we talk about crushes?”

Alexia furrowed her brows. “Aren’t you already dating Nathan?”

Kiya nodded her head as her face changed. “I am, but… he seems different. He isn’t the same person I knew. He became indifferent to me.” She smiled at the others, this smile hiding her true emotions. “We haven’t talked since we arrived here. I know we’re busy with our tasks, but we’re free during the nights. He has never approached me or told me ‘goodnight’ like he usually would.”

“Huh?” Nikki muttered, understanding why Nathan was distant. His feelings for her were relit because of the apocalypse and Percy.

“Anyways, what about you two? Any of the boys catch your fancy?” She asked, smiling another smile to shield her eyes from tears. 

“Well, it’s my brother, your boyfriend, and Braiden. Enough to say about Braiden, plus he’s way older than me. I want someone