Page 61 of Demon Shock

“Anytime.”

I jogged back to the house and had many pancakes made by the time I heard Ava moving in the bedroom. She appeared in the hallway, smoothing down her hair with her hands.

“Good morning, my Ava. Are you sore?” I asked, watching her walk.

“A little.”

“I’m sorry. I promise to be more careful today.”

She stopped patting her hair and stared at me for a second.

“Um, I’m starting to understand where Allison was coming from yesterday.”

My heart clenched in fear.

Ava chuckled and wrapped her arms around my waist.

“I’m still not going to share you. We just might need a few more timeouts today. I didn’t realize that your stamina while running also carried over to bedtime fun. Now, what are you making me?”

“Pancakes.” I kissed the top of her head and hugged her in return, loving how she felt in my arms. “With real maple syrup.”

“You are so perfect, Gyrik.”

I smiled widely, glad I’d gone to Ryan’s house.

“After you eat, Ryan wants to show you the red greenhouse. He’ll assign you an area to use for your grandpa’s seeds.”

“Perfect.”

I stacked two pancakes on a plate for her while she went to the table and pulled one of the seed binders closer to her. As I set her plate and syrup beside her, she opened it and started laughing.

“What is it?”

She pulled a small note from one of the clear pockets that held three seeds.

“It’s a note from my grandpa to my mom. It says, ‘Don’t throw these away this time. Quality seeds are hard to buy.’

“They’re marijuana seeds. He even labeled the strain.” She shook her head, still smiling. “I hope Ryan’s okay with pot plants.”

“He’ll be okay with anything,” I promised her.

EPILOGUE

AVA

The warm summerbreeze moved the hair that had escaped from my sun hat, and I straightened to brush it back from my face as I looked at the rows of chamomile and lavender I’d planted.

It turned out that I didn’t just love growing things. I was good at it.

And I was learning so much. Grandpa’s notes had gotten me started on the concepts of yield and hardiness, and the books I’d been reading over the past several months only expanded the knowledge.

We now had experimental plant groupings in different fields using a variety of compost mixes.

It was exciting. Fun. Challenging. And I felt like I was a part of something that actually mattered now.

While there were still numerous supply caches in zombie-infested areas that the fey could raid, we all knew they wouldn’t last forever. Laying the groundwork for self-sufficiency now would help set us up for success later when the pre-apocalypse provisions ran out.

An engine started, and with a sense of satisfaction, I watched one of the fey move the water tanker closer to the cornfield.

---