29:16:04:59 Read Online Free Page A
Author: Joshua Johnson
were afraid, or just didn’t care enough to leave their homes. These were trying times after all. Less people meant more of a chance at survival. Less people meant more food. Theft, murder, and anything else that would help an individual live a little longer (even just few moments) had been committed before. Just because it didn’t happen here often didn’t mean it hadn’t ever happened.
These streets had been painted crimson before. These people, these scavengers, would be waiting to hear if the Palmers’ were dead. The instant the news became factual was the instant anything in that house was up for grabs. They were too cowardly to face gun power, though. They’d likely stay indoors for hours, until dusk. Then they’d stalk the shadows and steal from the departed. But not today. I wouldn’t let them. I knew the family was still alive, though my gut rumbled in disagreement.
Moving to the sidewalk provided more shelter. Several trees grew parallel to the road along both sides of the street. They had blossomed with a full canopy, shielding most of the sunlight from above.
Up ahead I noticed someone crouching behind one of those trees about a stone’s throw from where we stood. It was difficult to make out who it was with the sun looming directly in front of us. I brought our group to a halt and held up a finger to my mouth. The others acknowledged my direction and crouched down, trying to hide themselves among the foliage.
I snuck up with my shotgun pointed directly at the back of whoever waited by that tree.
“Kelly?” I blurted out on accident as I got close enough to recognize the person. I failed to remove the shotgun from my shoulder, however, keeping it trained on the girl as if she was a stranger.
The comment startled the girl. She swung around, twisting an old six shooter directly at the middle of my forehead. She had madness set in those lines around her mouth and I saw my life flash before my eyes. At least everything I remembered from the last couple years.
“Whoa, easy now,” I said, holding up my hands with the shotgun barrel pointed towards the sky. I felt my heart thunder in my chest.
“Damn it, Jackson! Fucking damn it dude! That’s a real fucking good way to get yourself killed!” Kelly whispered in teeth-grating anger. She shook and didn’t immediately lower her gun. Her blue eyes sparkled even in the shade of the trees. Kelly was slender and young. She lived by herself, a loner, and her fiery mouth didn’t exactly bring many friendships into her life, but she survived. And there was that one time she saved my life, even pulled out the bullet that Frank buried in my shoulder. She’d had my respect, if not my friendship, ever since.
“Kelly…?” I asked. That crazed look didn’t dissipate. She kept the gun steady near my head. Her ragged breaths didn’t ease off and her twitching finger remained dangerously close to the trigger. Kelly hardly seemed present.
“Focus, Kelly…” I said.
“Just two seconds, damn it. Just two mother living fucks of a second, please!” she exploded.
I obeyed the command while keeping my hands skyward. The shotgun began to wavier in my hand, the weight enough to keep me biting my lip to try and keep it steady.
“Okay,” she said. She finally lowered her piece and I was allowed to do the same, much to my arm’s delight. Kelly stood and shouldered herself against the tree as she looked back down the street. “I was outside when the shit started. Saw the muzzle flashes. It definitely came from inside that damn house, man, the fucking Palmers place. Can you believe that shit?!”
She held the gun steady in her hand and a wave of tranquility suddenly overtook her. I could feel it too, this strange surge. The tension evaporated from her body and her breathing slowed. Kelly found some weird energy to lower her adrenaline. Everyone in this city truly did underestimate this girl. If they could just get past the tough exterior and harsh words then
These streets had been painted crimson before. These people, these scavengers, would be waiting to hear if the Palmers’ were dead. The instant the news became factual was the instant anything in that house was up for grabs. They were too cowardly to face gun power, though. They’d likely stay indoors for hours, until dusk. Then they’d stalk the shadows and steal from the departed. But not today. I wouldn’t let them. I knew the family was still alive, though my gut rumbled in disagreement.
Moving to the sidewalk provided more shelter. Several trees grew parallel to the road along both sides of the street. They had blossomed with a full canopy, shielding most of the sunlight from above.
Up ahead I noticed someone crouching behind one of those trees about a stone’s throw from where we stood. It was difficult to make out who it was with the sun looming directly in front of us. I brought our group to a halt and held up a finger to my mouth. The others acknowledged my direction and crouched down, trying to hide themselves among the foliage.
I snuck up with my shotgun pointed directly at the back of whoever waited by that tree.
“Kelly?” I blurted out on accident as I got close enough to recognize the person. I failed to remove the shotgun from my shoulder, however, keeping it trained on the girl as if she was a stranger.
The comment startled the girl. She swung around, twisting an old six shooter directly at the middle of my forehead. She had madness set in those lines around her mouth and I saw my life flash before my eyes. At least everything I remembered from the last couple years.
“Whoa, easy now,” I said, holding up my hands with the shotgun barrel pointed towards the sky. I felt my heart thunder in my chest.
“Damn it, Jackson! Fucking damn it dude! That’s a real fucking good way to get yourself killed!” Kelly whispered in teeth-grating anger. She shook and didn’t immediately lower her gun. Her blue eyes sparkled even in the shade of the trees. Kelly was slender and young. She lived by herself, a loner, and her fiery mouth didn’t exactly bring many friendships into her life, but she survived. And there was that one time she saved my life, even pulled out the bullet that Frank buried in my shoulder. She’d had my respect, if not my friendship, ever since.
“Kelly…?” I asked. That crazed look didn’t dissipate. She kept the gun steady near my head. Her ragged breaths didn’t ease off and her twitching finger remained dangerously close to the trigger. Kelly hardly seemed present.
“Focus, Kelly…” I said.
“Just two seconds, damn it. Just two mother living fucks of a second, please!” she exploded.
I obeyed the command while keeping my hands skyward. The shotgun began to wavier in my hand, the weight enough to keep me biting my lip to try and keep it steady.
“Okay,” she said. She finally lowered her piece and I was allowed to do the same, much to my arm’s delight. Kelly stood and shouldered herself against the tree as she looked back down the street. “I was outside when the shit started. Saw the muzzle flashes. It definitely came from inside that damn house, man, the fucking Palmers place. Can you believe that shit?!”
She held the gun steady in her hand and a wave of tranquility suddenly overtook her. I could feel it too, this strange surge. The tension evaporated from her body and her breathing slowed. Kelly found some weird energy to lower her adrenaline. Everyone in this city truly did underestimate this girl. If they could just get past the tough exterior and harsh words then
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