The Scavenger (Book Snippet #3)

We hope you have been enjoying these snippets. We are going to post snippets of the story until the release of Book 2, The Scavenger Hunt. The third snippet is Chapter 3. Enjoy.

CHAPTER 3

Kyle couldn’t help but stare at Chloe as she brushed back her sandy brown hair from in front of her face. His baby girl was growing up too fast. Although she was just about to enter into ninth grade, her face was buried in catalogs from colleges in the area. She was already picking out the colleges she was interested in attending, with Penn State and Temple Universities leading the pack. With all the time she spent away from her dad while he was overseas, there was no way she was going far from home.
“Dad, Texas or Texas Tech?” she asked jokingly.
Kyle dropped his spoon, causing soggy Honey Nut Cheerios to hit the floor. His face frowned up as his brain registered the question he was asked. “How about CCP?”
“Community College? Dad, I want to get my Bachelor’s Degree and it would be too much of a hassle to figure out which classes are transferable. What’s wrong with Texas?”
“I didn’t say anything was wrong with Texas. It’s just that you could save your mom and me a lot of money if you went to CCP and you would be here with us. That would give us enough time to convince you to attend Drexel or LaSalle.” Kyle had a huge grin on his face, laying out his plan to keep his baby girl local.
Chloe laughed because she knew her father was serious about her staying close to home. He refused to accept the possibility of his baby girl moving hundreds of miles away. Although Chloe was four years from the big decision, the fact she was so dedicated to her goal was fascinating to her parents.
“Come on Chloe, you know your father gets all worked up when you start talking about college,” Jacqui said as she sat a plate of pancakes in the center of the dining room table.
“But mom, those top universities in states like Texas and Florida have great athletic programs too. Imagine all the amazing football games dad can come watch. You know he loves football.”
“First of all, Philadelphia has great sports teams. We don’t need to go all the way down to Texas when we can just turn on the television if we really want to see some Longhorn football.”
The aroma of sizzling bacon made its way to Kyle’s nose. He pushed the cereal bowl aside, making room for breakfast that would be fit for a king. Jacqui placed the platter in front of Kyle that consisted of scrambled eggs topped with shredded cheddar cheese, thick cut bacon, sage turkey sausage, seasoned home fries, and warm biscuits that were fresh out the oven. “See Chloe, you’ll be missing all this,” he muttered while stabbing his sausage with a fork and stuffing his face.
Kyle could not ask for anything more in life; he was truly a blessed man. He watched as Chloe stood and reached into one of the cabinets. She looked at her father, smiled, and pulled out a plastic shopping bag. Placing the bag on the countertop, Chloe left it exposed so Kyle could look inside and see the contents. He smirked when he observed the canned goods that filled the bag. She was pleased to see his joyful response. “Mom let me get them when we were at the market yesterday.”                                                                         
“That’s right,” Jacqui agreed. “It seems like you have a little helper for the zombie apocalypse you’re planning for.”
Kyle could not help but laugh at her statement, knowing he wanted to tear the bag open and stock each can fit neatly in the basement, alongside the many others that filled a large shelf. He was a survivalist and Chloe was always curious about how the world would eventually end. He never imagined it would have come so soon and been this devastating.

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