Alone, Book 3: The Journey Read Online Free Page B

over to him.
         He gave each of them a couple of dried carrots he soaked in water overnight.
         They seemed to sense something was up. Instead of eating the carrots they just looked at him.
         He was surprised at the tinge of sorrow he felt. He never thought that he, the big tough former Marine, would let himself get so attached to two little buckets of fur.
         “I’m leaving in an hour or so, little bunnies. I want you both to be tough, and do whatever you have to do to survive. When I come back, I’m going to build you guys a cage in the spare bedroom. The other Lindsey and Beth… the people ones… will be in charge of keeping it clean and making sure you’ll have all the food and water you need. They’ll give you all the love and hugs you need too. Probably more than you need. And if I know my Beth, she’ll probably be carrying one of you wherever she goes.
         “In short, the next few months will be kinda rough on all of us. But if we can survive it, I promise you both that you’ll live out the rest of your little bunny lives in luxury.
         “I owe you that much, for helping to keep me sane.”
         Then Dave considered his current situation.
         “Listen to me. I’m telling you I’m sane. And here I am talking out loud to two silly rabbits.
         “Goodbye girls. Take good care of the place while I’m gone.”
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 5
     
         An hour later Dave was sitting behind the wheel of his Ford Explorer, his fingers on the key of the auxiliary ignition he’d attached to the dashboard.
         Before he turned it, though, he closed his eyes and bowed his head.
     
         “Lord, you know I don’t ask for much. But I’m asking for you to watch over me on the journey I’m about to undertake. And if your will be such, I ask that you help me to find Sarah, Lindsey and Beth, and that they be well and safe.
         “Oh, and please watch over the furballs too. Amen.”
     
         With his left hand, he crossed his fingers.
         With his right hand, he turned the key.
         After only a second’s hesitation, the engine roared to life.
         Not wanting to push his luck, he waited a few seconds for the engine to warm up enough so he was sure it wouldn’t die.
         Then he climbed out of the vehicle and unlocked the garage door from the electric opener overhead.
         He slowly eased the door open about a foot, then went to the floor and stuck his head out.
         It was a moonless sky, as dark as the devil’s heart. Without his night vision goggles he’d have been able to see only twenty feet in front of him.
         With the googles, however, taking the dim light of the stars above and expanding it, he was able to see the entire length of the block in both directions.
         It was perfectly still. Not a single thing moved.
         Not even the trees.
         He carefully raised the garage door the rest of the way, then walked out to the center of the street in front of his house.
         Still no sign of life in either direction.
         Dave returned to his vehicle, got inside, and slipped it into gear without closing the door.
         He let it creep out into the driveway.
         Then he got out of the still open door and eased the garage door halfway down.
         Now was the tricky part, and one which had troubled him greatly for days.
         The manual lock on Dave’s garage door was broken. It wouldn’t latch from the outside. It had been that way for a couple of years, and Dave never saw it as a problem. Before the blackout, when the door was attached to the electric garage door opener, it couldn’t be lifted from the outside and therefore wasn’t a concern.
         And in all the preparations he and Sarah had made for the disaster they knew was coming, the implications of a broken garage door had never occurred