The Killin' Fields (Alexa's Travels Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

everything they had to keep warm. “Things got bad that first winter,” Alexa murmured, remembering. “The winter took a heavy toll.”
    She moved them on before depressing thoughts and memories could distract them all.
    They went through half a dozen dusty, neglected bedrooms before they moved down the cold halls, feeling like they were in a disease outbreak movie when it ended in a main room with a huge bed full of gray lumps. As they neared the warped bed, they realized it was a pile of bones, though the skeletons were much bigger than what they were used to.
    Alexa paused as flashes of the past burst into horrifying detail in front of her. She could hear the screams, could see the bleeding Wildman that she assumed was their protector. She could smell the blood as they tried to tend the huge man’s wounds and defend their home.
    Alexa came back with a small jerk and looked around, mind automatically comparing it to what she had just witnessed.
    Plastic and sheets of metal were over the widows in this room, and over the vents, with caulking and brittle tape over baseboards and cracks in walls. Appliances had been pulled around half the bed to form a barrier and baskets of long-molded corn sat at the foot of it.
    “Did they try to burn the corn for heat?” Jacob asked, confused.
    Alexa didn’t answer. Neither of her theories were pleasant, but if she had to pick one, she would say it was intentional. They’d chosen to die of poisoning instead of starvation or freezing.
    Alexa spotted scat and narrowed in on its condition to determine age. With the house shut up, it could have been months or years, despite the bodies being skeletons and she wasn’t able to determine a timeframe.
    Alexa pointed to the plastic curtains, and Edward and Mark rushed through them with guns out.
    “Clear here,” Mark called, wrinkling his nose at the strong odor of rotten corn.
    Alexa took a quick scan of the kitchen. The kitchen wasn’t very large, but it felt that way by how empty it was. No table and chairs, no cabinets left on the walls, and dusty squares proclaimed that life had fled from this place. The floor did sport a rug- a shabby, circle carpet of only a few feet in size. It had faded as if left in the sun and sat there glaring dingily. Even the walls were hostile, carrying scrapes and gouges, and holes that had been filled with what smelled like toothpaste.
    “They tried so hard,” she murmured. “We’ll honor that by not burning this too.”
    She narrowed in on the floor and sole surviving rug. “What’s down there?”
    The trap door was almost hidden under the shabby rug that made a loud ripping noise when they tore it up. The carpet, like many other house items, had molded to the floor.
    “A tunnel,” Edward said, dangling down by his big arms. Mark had a strong grip on him and Alexa allowed herself a moment’s enjoyment of her men. They were beautiful to watch in action.
    “Describe it,” Alexa stated, eyeing the empty counter.
    “Used to be a sewer or maybe a storm drain. There’s an old rope-n-ladder set, but the rope’s pretty frayed. Can’t see much beyond piles of bones and a stack of crates that I wouldn’t put a feather on.”
    “Water? Wildlife?” Alexa led, body flashing need that bled through her tones.
    “No, to both. Doesn’t even look damp for being a tunnel. You want me to drop down and scout it out?”
    “No,” Alexa answered, feeling the temperature in the room rising. “I have other duties for you.”
    Both males felt her warm regard and moved her way without waiting for the invitation. What she wanted was clear and they were willing. It was something each man had already considered and decided he could tolerate or better.
    Alexa tugged the plastic back over the doorway, and Daniel grinned as he realized what was going on. Her moments of need usually came at night when they were camped, but it wouldn’t be the first time that she’d stolen a moment during the day. He signaled to