The Resistance: Book 5 of the After The Event Series by T.A. Williams Page B

was hard.
                  Ty had broken a few ribs and hadn’t woken up for days, and when he did wake up he wasn’t the same for a while. It took several weeks for him to get his sense of humor back. He and Crimson had been behind the apartment complex when the missile hit. Ty had found some cigarettes and was trying to use them to butter up Crimson. It was the only reason the two were still alive.
                  While Ty was healing Ghost and Dex were the hunters. Originally the hope was that they would be able to bag a few deer to keep everyone hunger free. After a few days of nothing they had to switch tactics. There was still a huge rat population in New York, rats which were fond of the hard granola provisions that they still had. A few crumbs left out in a handmade trap and they had soup for everyone. Catch a couple in the trap and you have a legit meal for everyone. Ben never thought his mouth would water at the sight of a dead rat. It was amazing how things changed.
                  Once Ty and Reaper were fully healed they moved around again. They managed to find another supply depot to fill up on rations and extra ammo but the plans to use it never materialized. Reaper still studied his map and had Crimson and Ben scout for local patrols but no order was ever given. It soon became clear to Ben that they weren’t fighting back, they were hiding. No one said it but everyone was aware and a feeling of hopelessness underlined everything. Reaper didn’t say much to him, let alone acknowledge their confrontation. Ben didn’t care. He didn’t need the man’s approval; he knew what he had done was right.
                  The weather warmed up and as the snow melted so did the feeling of hopelessness. Reaper began to finalize plans of attack and fall back points that lined up with more supply depots. Ty had fully returned to his sense of humor and was still desperately trying to get Crimson’s attention and Crimson did everything in her power to make it seem like she was unaware, but she wasn’t.
                  Ben found himself sitting back in an old storefront staring across the street at a graffiti-covered wall, waiting to see if they were merely going to watch the patrol go by or actually take steps to hit it. 
                  “Yo, B… you put in a good word for me yet?” Ty asked as he leaned back in a nearby chair with his feet up on a table.
                  “Yep,” Ben said.
                  Ty sat up quickly, almost falling over. “You serious?”
                  “Nope.”
                  Ty threw an old cup at him. It missed wide. “You’re supposed to be my boy, B.” Ben just laughed. “Uh, look, I’m not trying to make things weird or nothing but, uh, I never did thank you for saving my life.”
                  Ben looked over at Ty and the man was looking off at the far wall, refusing to make eye contact. “Don’t worry about it. You just owe me one, fair enough?”
                  Ty smiled and glanced toward him several times in quick succession before finally settling back outside. “Yeah, fair enough.”  They sat there in silence for a few more minutes. “Sucks about Ohio.”
                  Nothing was said about Ohio; nothing was said about any of the people that were killed. Reaper wouldn’t allow it. Ben felt bad that his feeling of loss was greater for Ohio than it had been for any of the other soldiers they had lost, but it was true. Ohio had been a part of the world where Ben was still with Mason, a world before they were constantly on the run.
                  “Yeah, it sucks,” Ben said simply.
                  The sound of footsteps echoed down the street outside and both Ben and Ty picked up their guns. Crimson and Ghost strolled in to the storefront.
                  “You’d