Adam (Genetic Apocalypse Book 1)

by Boyd Craven Jr

  ~

  Two weeks after Adrian had left Suzy came by in her kayak with another girl I didn’t know. She said that she had a message from Adrian for me.

  “I’m sorry that I haven’t had a chance to tell you sooner Adam. Your brother told me to wait until things calmed down and I could tell you in person. He said to tell you that he’s running away with Donald and Dave to someplace that Dave’s family owns to keep from being locked up, and to get away from your dad. I was there at the farmers market when all that happened. It wasn’t Adrian’s fault. He didn’t start the fire or anything, but your dad slapped him really hard and well, he lost his temper and hit him back. A lot. He said that he was afraid that your dad might kill him after that.

  “He said they’re going somewhere far away where there is no electricity. He said to tell you that he’s going to be ok, so for you not to worry about him. He said he’s not coming back here, but he’ll get hold of you on Facebook for Kids someday. He said to tell you that he loves you.”

  That made me tear up, so Suzy gave me a big hug. “How far is far?” I asked.

  “He said not to tell anyone Adam…”

  “But he’s my brother!” I whimpered, and started crying big time.

  “Alright, alright, but you can’t tell anyone I told you this. Somewhere in Florida, by the swamp, he said.” With that, she gave me another quick hug, and headed back to her kayak.

  Florida. We had never been out of Michigan in my whole life, but I had seen it on maps. It was all the way at the bottom of the United States. I was sure that I’d never see Adrian again and that something terrible was going to happen to him. I stood by the bank of the river throwing rocks at it until I couldn’t hold back any more. I sat down and leaned against a tree in the sunshine and cried my eyes out. I guess I fell asleep there, because the next thing I knew, Mom was calling me to come inside for dinner.

  Mom could tell that I had been crying as we sat down at the table. “Are you missing your brother sweetie?” she asked, touching her hand to the side of my face.

  I just shook my head yes. I didn’t trust my voice.

  “Let’s pray for Adrian’s safety together then. That’ll make you feel better, maybe. Hmm?”

  I shook my head yes again, and the three of us held hands and asked God for blessings on our food and for Adrian’s safety. It did make me feel better that we did that together.

  Dad said, “It’s ok to pray for Adrian’s safety, but we shouldn’t speak of him in front of others any more. Let it drop. The more we keep it in folks’ minds, the more chance he has of getting caught and locked up.”

  I almost blew it and spoke up, but I caught myself. I doubted very much that he was ever gonna get caught where he was. I actually felt better that it was someplace far away after hearing that. I felt kinda weird about it, but I agreed to obey.

  “Did you find any more chicken eggs in the woods today Adam?” Mom asked.

  “No, I think they’re all laying in the boxes again. We had almost as many eggs as we have hens today,” I told her.

  “Good. I don’t like having eggs go to waste. I’m glad they’re all settling down,” she said.

  “I’m all done moving the rabbit hutches that are left up here near the house, on higher ground son. Tomorrow, I need you to sort through where all of them used to be and gather up every red worm you can find and put them under the hutches up here,” Dad told me. “After you do that, I’m going to start planting raspberries down there. That’s a perfect spot for them, and if they ever get wet, it won’t kill them. I should have thought that through better in the first place.”

  “Yes sir,” I answered. I liked the chore of raising red worms for the birds to eat. We had way more quail now than we had chickens, but we already had gathered up enough chicken eggs to fill the incubator. Dad said we maybe had time to raise one more batch of meaties most of the way, before it got too cold. Normally, we were all done with that by this time of the year, but we were helping to stock up our neighbors that had lost everything, and put away some extra, too.

  “Why don’t you keep a can of big juicy ones to catch some fish with? You said there’s a ton of fish in the river everywhere now from the lakes and the mill pond. We have plenty of jars left, and may even be able to get more. Let’s jar up a bunch of fish too while we have the opportunity,” Mom told me with a little smile. That was a good job for me. I loved fishing. Adrian did too. I hoped there was good fishing for him down in Florida.

  The End

  A note from Boyd:

  Thanks for reading ADAM.

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