Free Foamers by Justin Kassab Page A

him a practical application of surviving in the
Primal Age. He rubbed the sore spot on his chest. He wasn’t prepared for this. The
possibility of the Wilsons turning on them hadn’t crossed his mind. They had met
in a standoff, but seemed to work well enough together. If they had planned to attack,
he didn’t know why they didn’t when he gave them their guns back.
    “Grab a flashlight, and we’ll find those nuts. You already have one on, so as long
as we find two more we’ll be good to go,” Kade said.
    It took them a few minutes to locate the lug nuts, but eventually they secured the
spare tire. When they finished, Kade grabbed his shotgun. The action caused Grace
to flinch.
    “What’s wrong?” Kade asked.
    “Part of me thinks that the hole your friend is digging is going to be for me,” Grace
said.
    “Why would I have you fix the tire before I killed you?”
    “So, you didn’t have to fix the tire.”
    “Good point, but we’re not going to kill you.”
    Tiny strolled over, interrupting their conversation.
    “Mick’s ready for us,” Tiny said.
    “We really should be getting back on the road,” Kade said, as the three of them made
their way toward the overturned cop car.
    “I know you are anxious to catch up to Ash, but we will do better if we bury Lucas,”
Tiny replied.
    They continued walking in silence, and Kade felt guilt sprouting in his conscious.
When he had told Tiny not to worry about Lucas’s confession, it might just blow over,
this wasn’t the intended result he had hoped for. Lucas was their most valuable resource,
and now they had lost him. He had died. He was dead.
    The situation had blown over.
    When they reached the grave, Mick had Lucas’s body beside the hole. Victoria stood
next to the cop car, as the other three filled in around the grave.
    Kade joined Mick, and they grabbed opposite ends of Lucas’s corpse and lowered him
into the shallow grave. This was the first time Kade had seen Lucas’s body. He looked
normal except for everything was missing between his nose and chin. Mick draped an
emergency blanket over the body and began shoveling the pile of dirt into the grave.
    “If anyone has anything to say, now’s the time,” Mick said, keeping his eyes on the
spade.
    The night was silent as they waited for the first one to speak. Kade noticed Tiny’s
tears, but didn’t want to draw any attention to them.
    “Lucas was a great friend, and prepper. I felt much safer having him along, and he
will be missed by all,” Kade said.
    “In my brief time with Lucas he seemed like a really smart guy, and I’m sorry I didn’t
get to know him better,” Grace added.
    Tiny wiped her eyes. “No one in my life ever showed they cared like he did.”
    “He was-” Mick said, resting on his shovel. “I never-”
    Mick threw down the shovel and stormed toward Grace. She froze as he closed the distance.
Kade rushed to intercept Mick’s charge, but Mick stiff armed his bruised chest, which
dropped him to the ground.
    “This is your fault,” Mick growled as he threw Grace to the ground.
    Grace positioned herself belly down, protecting herself in case of a beating.
    “Your fault.” Mick drew his pistol, and that was all Kade needed to fight through
his pain.
    Kade couldn’t find enough air to get to his feet, but he scurried on all fours until
he could block the line of fire.
    “Mick. Holster your gun, now,” Kade said, glaring into the barrel.
    Tiny snagged Mick’s wrist and raised his aim above the other two.
    “It’s her fault,” Mick said, as he buried his face into Tiny’s shoulder.
    Kade took a deep breath to compose himself. He had lost his parents over the years,
which made him practiced at loss. The initial shock, the following rage, the nothingness,
and then the normalcy with the occasional phantom pain were all things he understood.
Losing Lucas hurt him too, but he was able to recognize the stages he was going through.
He didn’t expect Mick to be able to take