Snatchers 2: The Dead Don't Sleep Read Online Free Page A

their brains to digest, and after a minute of short, shallow breaths from both individuals, Jason Bonser turned to his friend and said, "Okay. Ready when you are."

Chapter Five
     
    The group decided to enjoy a rare fire outside the back of the village hall—although technically it wasn't actually situated in a village—and they opened wrapped-up, pre-made sandwiches and threw on potatoes in order to bake them for their meal. A slab of margarine or some cheese would have complimented the potatoes perfectly, but they had none and were still living on the food that they had taken from their homes a week ago, and hadn't looted that much because there was no need to. The only 'outside' food they received was when Paul Parker would come back from his sole walk that he started to do a few days ago.
    They used cutlery and once finished, would wash the utensils and plates as normal, as the hall had a sink, and although no washing up liquid was available, they still had running water, albeit cold.
    Kerry Evans sat down and twitched nervously; she sat on a stump that was near the crackling fire and sat her son, Thomas, on her knee while they waited patiently for the men to return from their expedition. She combed back her dark bobbed hair behind her ears and kissed the back of her son's confused head. Yesterday, they had all taken a trip to the nearby stream and had bathed; it had been the first time they had had a proper clean, and although uncomfortable at the time, it was nice not to be surrounded by bad body odour.
    As the young Jason Barton and the middle-aged Kevin Houston placed more potatoes on the metal rack that sat on the fire, Kerry and Thomas snuggled together. A handful of deck chairs that were in the hall had been brought outside by some of the group, and two males by the names of Oliver Newton and Sean West stood guard outside to warn others of any potential threats from outsiders. Both individuals stood holding sharpened spears about three foot in length. Apart from dozens upon dozens of sharpened homemade spears that had been mainly made by Paul Parker, the group were not armed.
    Inside the hall, Karen West—Sean's wife—was making another huge pot of soup with pretty much anything she could get her hands on—leftover ham, onions, bits of chicken from the legs and wings, amongst other things. When the group had first arrived at the hall, they had trunks full of food that used to dwell in their refrigerators, but the hall's small fridge didn't have the capacity to hold what they had, so all the food that needed a fridge was consumed first before it went stale. They were still surprised that electricity was still running, but for how long? The cupboards were stacked full of everything from baked beans, tuna chunks, ravioli, to pineapple chunks and even dog food, and that was due to the stockpile from last week. Paul Parker's sole excursions of looting empty houses had also helped a great deal. He was the only one brave enough to leave the village hall, and preferred it that way anyway. He only wanted to be responsible for himself, no one else.
    The hall was situated on the side of a main road that went through the woods about two miles from Stile Cop and four miles from Rugeley town centre. It felt like the middle of nowhere, but they all knew the place would be vulnerable if a horde of the things would ever appear. The reason why they hadn't come across them since their arrival both baffled and pleased them. They didn't know whether it was the distraction of the surrounding populated villages that were keeping them away, like Hazelslade, Wimblebury, Heath Hayes and Hammerwich, that were only one or two miles away from where they were. While the people dwelled in their village hall, they envisaged the surrounding villages being overrun with those creatures.
    Sean West was a scout leader and used the hall for two days a week, which meant he had the keys, and organised the convoy and tried to persuade some residents