The Endgame Chronicles (by Hugh White) novel Chapter 64

Cloudia always felt a natural closeness to Hayley. Honestly, everyone who ended up staying in Hayley’s territory seemed to feel the same.

Even Leonard—once he agreed to be her right–hand man, his loyalty became unconditional.

He trusted her completely and looked at her as if she could do no wrong. Whenever his squadmates complained about Hayley, he honestly couldn’t understand it.

To him, she was kind and good–hearted.

“Ms. Reid, I passed the seeds you gave me to my dad. He said he’ll have them ready in about a week. Please be patient.”

“Alright. You still have food at home, don’t you?”

“Yes! My dad said you don’t need to send us more supplies for now. We don’t have space to store it. We’ll trade again later if that’s okay.”

“Sure.”

Hayley nodded, then turned as if to call for the dogs. But her gaze landed on the soldiers hanging around with nothing to do.

“You two,” she said sharply, “escort her home.”

The men froze. Then, reluctantly, two of them stepped forward to walk Cloudia back.

Once they were gone, Hayley looked at the rest. “Don’t just stand there. Get to work.”

The men groaned silently. Sniff her stew a couple of times, and now they were her farmhands!

Hayley handed Leonard a map and a pile of markers. “Take them out and expand the territory.”

“Expand the territory?!” Derek blurted out, shocked.

Why bother expanding land during the apocalypse? Wasn’t everything already abandoned, anyway?

Hayley shot him a glare. “Just do it. By the end of today, I want at least 25 acres marked as mine. Plant my signs everywhere.”

The group went quiet.

“Yes, Boss!” Leonard answered firmly.

Hayley’s mood brightened a little. “Good. Do the job right, and you’ll get dinner when you come back.”

“You mean dinner we can actually afford?” Derek muttered under his breath.

Hayley kicked him in the shin without hesitation. “Eat it or don’t. You still owe me plenty.”

The men sighed. They had no choice but to trudge off and do the work.

The only one left behind was Ethan, who was still recovering. His leg injury was bad, and he couldn’t walk much for a couple of days.

But Hayley wasn’t about to let him sit idle,

either.

+25 Bonus

“You,” she pointed, “get up and work too.”

Ethan stared at her in disbelief.

Was this some old landlord’s estate where everyone got worked to the bone? Just for breathing in the smell of her stew, they had all been turned into her personal laborers. Even him, the guy with the busted leg!

What he didn’t realize was, if Liam had even one finger that could move, Hayley wouldn’t have spared him either. Everyone had to pull their weight.

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