Notes from the Edge 05-16-24

 Notes from the Edge 05-16-24

👁📱📸

I am working on getting healthy, battling an insurance
company that screws me over every month or so. I have never actually
experienced a fair insurance company. I have seen commercials, and they seem so
nice: Go ahead, drive that Porsche into a pool, you’re covered! Your house
burned down? We’ll look into it, maybe not as quick as you would like, but we
will, and maybe we’ll get back to you, maybe not. And when it comes to health
care, wow. Hopefully you will not have to deal with it, or if you are, advocate
for yourself. Be firm, make sense, research what you are saying, and if you
can’t get anywhere else? Notify the Attorney General of your state. Believe me,
once the insurance company gets an inquiry from the Attorney General’s office
concerning you, they will get their heads out of their a$$ and do something.

Okay, I am not a complainer, we’ve all been through a rough
year, and it ain’t over yet. And I know everyone has their own horror stories.

Other than books and podcasts I am narrowing down my focus
on the world and what is and what isn’t important. It is what you do, keep
going forward. What is forward? Good question, no one knows, even if someone
tells you they know how this will all turn out? Full of it. I have never met
anyone who can really predict the future. Look at your world, circumstances, and
do what you have to do for you.

That is, it, except my Amazon Author Page
Suggestions? Feedback? Otherwise, I stumble along blind.

Short Story Collections:

Mister Bob: Collected Short Stories

Seventeen stories from Dell Sweet, from True stories to
horror and even humor. #Horror #Humor #ShortStories #Kindle #Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08ZDRC48G

Crime Time

Crime Time is a collection of nine crime stories from author
Dell Sweet. From short stories to near novel length… #Crime #Fiction
#DellSweet #Kindle #Amazon

Billy Jingo

5.0 Rating

Billy Jingo contains 22 short stories, from crime to Horror
and the title story, Billy Jingo. #Crime #Horror #ShortStories #Kindle #Readers
#BookLovers https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08351CLTL

Zombie Fall

Zombie fall is a collection of seven short stories including
the title story Zombie fall. These stories have been best sellers on their own
but never before offered in a collection. #Horror #ShortStories #Kindle
#Readers #BookLovers https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CHN7NLQV

Mister Johnson: Short Stories

W. G. Sweet #KindleUnlimited

This is a new collection of short stories. They are not similarly themed and
include, #Western (The title story), #apocalyptic #horror #scifi #drama and
more. Six stories total… #Readers #BookLovers #BookWorkk #Kindle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3G9SFNK

A free peek at the new Earth’s Survivors story: Los Angeles

EARTH’S SURVIVORS: LOS ANGELES

Copyright
2023 W. G. Sweet all rights reserved.

Cover
Art © Copyright 2024 Dell Sweet

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold
or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with
another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you
are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your
use only, then please return to your bookseller and purchase your own copy. Thank
you for respecting the hard work of this author.

LEGAL

This is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, places or incidents depicted are
products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual living person’s
places, situations or events is purely coincidental. No part of this book may
be reproduced by any means, electronic, print, scanner or any other means and,
or distributed without the author’s permission. Permission is granted to use
short sections of text in reviews or critiques.

 Beth awoke long before Billy, and now sat outside the small tent, watching the last
rays of light fade from the sky. It seemed to seep slowly away, and darken the
sky above the pines. The wind kicked up briefly, blowing the dead leaves across
the ground. They scratched and rattled as they went, making her think of small
skeletons rattling in the wind. She felt afraid, and had since she had awakened
earlier. She could not explain it to herself. She had been tempted to awaken
Billy, but had decided after twice starting to do so, to wait until he awoke on
his own.

She could tell now though, by the change in his breathing, that he would soon awaken, and she
walked to the small fire she had built earlier to start some coffee brewing.
She placed the small tin pot on the coals next to the fire.

She was sitting by the fire wondering how to approach the subject of what next, when Billy rolled
out of the tent. She turned around to face him, and she saw the sadness etched
into his face. He is worried too, she thought, and before she could complete
the thought, he proved her right.

They had been undecided for a short time after they had found the highway arcing down into
the water somewhere inside what had been the border of Alabama. They would have
to go back, but where? They had been heading south, not an absolute place, but
south nonetheless. South was now out of the question. The water had stretched
away as far as they could see to the south, east, and then arced away forming a
new coastline to the west. They had starting backtracking the next day.

Beth poured coffee in the small tin cups for both of them before she spoke. “Where are you thinking?”

They had backtracked all the way into Kentucky. Stopping last night at what they assumed was the
Ohio River, too tired to decide what was next.

He shrugged his shoulders as he responded. “I think we can start heading for the East coast.
What do you think?”

“I guess so, I… I do not know. It certainly won’t hurt, and where else would we go?” she stared into
the fire as she spoke. “I think we should be a lot more careful though. I get
the feeling that those people we ran into are not the only ones around who
would just as soon kill us, and I am not kidding myself about it, I think it
was clear. They did not want to talk, or even to just take us prisoner or
something, they wanted to outright kill us. No sense pretending about that.”
She paused.

“I mean, I really thought there, for a second, that they were just scared or something, or maybe
saw me and… Well, you know. But that wasn’t it.”

When she finished he nodded silently, and then sipped from the cup before he spoke.
“You’re right, I just didn’t want to think about it, Hell, I couldn’t think
about much of anything except getting as far away as possible, and I kept
thinking about the truck too. Did they do that before they tried to kill us,
after, or was it someone else? There is no real way to tell, but even if they were,
alone I am not kidding myself that there will not be others just like them. We
do have to be careful,” he paused, thinking. “In fact I think we need to get
off the main road from now on. These parks, rural areas seem better. No dead…
Few dead anyway… Fewer people. I never thought I would say fewer people was a
good thing, but,” he shrugged, “guess I just did. I do not think it’s safe… You
agree. I mean, there are many other roads that parallel the main highway. I
guess it just seems like the smart thing to do, and it feels like the right
thing to do. What do you think?” he asked.

“I think you’re right. I have been sitting out here thinking about pretty much the same thing
for quite a few hours, and you are right, we have to be careful, and you are
right about the main road… It just doesn’t seem safe, or the safest way to
get anywhere anymore.”

“Well,” Billy said, “if we’re going to take side roads, we’re going to have to get another map, and
that means we’re going to have to go into the next city to get one. I am not
thrilled about that, but we are also going to need to pick up more ammunition
too. Either way, we have to at least follow the highway into the next town down
the line. No way around it,” he almost seemed as though he were hoping that she
would come up with some alternative as he spoke.

“No other way,” she said, “so… I guess we better get moving?” She allowed what she had meant to
be a statement to rise at the end and turned it into more of a question.

“No,” Billy said immediately. “No way. It will be dark soon, and I really do not think that
would be a smart move at all. No… I think we should wait it out here tonight,
and get on the road early in the morning. We should be able to make the next
town without a map. I don’t even know what the next place is, but it can’t be
too far, can it?” he did not wait for a response; he had asked more for himself
than her. “No, I’m pretty sure it won’t be far. We have been running into lots
of small towns every twenty, thirty miles or so, and most of them at least have
gas stations. We should be able to get a map easily. After we do though, that
is it. We get off the main road, and stay off it.”

As darkness closed in, they had both turned quiet. Beth had begun a small dinner over the coals in
the fireplace, they had hastily thrown together earlier that morning when they
had arrived, and Billy had walked over to the truck and occupied himself with
checking the mechanics, making sure that nothing had been damaged the night
before as he had driven.

Several times, he had driven over debris in the road, but in his haste to put miles between them, he
had ignored it. He had also become convinced during the night as he drove, that
they were being followed. He had kept glancing into the mirrors, sure, that he
would see glowing headlights closing in on them from behind. It had not
happened though; the road behind them had remained empty all night, as he had
driven.

He had another thought as he stood looking over the truck. What if they had done something to
this truck? He wondered. He knew it was irrational, there had to have been over
a hundred trucks on that lot, and… How would they have known to choose this
one? In addition, if they had, would not something already have happened?

In spite of how ridiculous it seemed, he checked the truck over anyway. There was one small
gouge in the front passenger fenders paint, probably due to some debris flying
up and hitting it, but other than that the truck seemed fine, and none the
worse for the hurried trip. He pushed it from his mind as he walked away from
the truck and back to the fire.

Beth was stirring a stew like mixture, to keep it from burning on the hot coals.

“I think it’s ready,” she said as he approached the fire, and squatted down beside her. “Hungry?” she
gave him a small spoonful to taste.

“Oh yeah,” he responded, and rubbed his stomach with one hand to show her it was true. He sat
down close to the fire, and turned his thoughts away from the truck.

Billy tried a tired smile on his face as he took a bowl of the stew. Beth sat down next to him, and they began to eat as the
last traces of light seeped from the sky…

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 Stay safe, Dell.

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