Humanity Gone: After the Plague by Derek Deremer Read Free Book Online

aches.  Every breath burns my insides.  I support myself from the couch then to the wall but my own weight becomes too much for me. I slide down the wall to my knees.  The lights turn off; I must have hit the switch.  I struggle my left arm up the wall, but I cannot find it.  The little air in my lungs bursts through my mouth as I fall forward onto my chest.  The bathroom is just a few feet away.  I want to crawl in the shower and turn on the water so bad.  I can feel my shirt again sticking to the blood slowly oozing from the sores all over me again.
                  I can't crawl.  I can't yell.  My body shuts down.  I give up and close my eyes.  Maybe someone will find this station.  I'll be dead, but maybe, just maybe, I will have helped them.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 11: Jocelyn
                  Jon and I finish the note, and he sets it on the coffee table.  Many of the strokes had been unintelligible, and I don’t think either one of us have the heart to try to interpret them.  I look up into the ranger's eyes.  His pain seems to be gone.  A small smile hides in the corners of his lips.  I don't know how much stuff he left us, but it may save all of our lives.  I bring my hand to his hair and rub my thumb on his forehead.  His hair is sticky.  I whisper, “Thank you.” The smile leaves his face.  His eyes close and his body finally gives out.  Jon is standing next to me, and he squeezes my shoulder delicately before reaching for the blanket.  He clasps the edge and pulls the cover gently over the man’s peaceful face.             
    *     *     *
                  After a few moments I stick my head out to check on the girls.  Both of them are in the passenger seat with their eyes locked on the door.  I should have told them everything was okay a while ago.  My brother has already begun to search the trailer, so I catch up.  We find more food, gallons of fresh water, and some tools including an ax, saw, and shovel.  The two of us manage to stuff everything in the trunk of the car along with a first aid kit attached to the front of the trailer.  We make our final trip through the ranger’s home.  I was to get the rifle, and Jon needed to find the key to the gate.
    “ It’s so quiet…” I whisper to myself.  The crickets don’t even seem to feel like talking right now.  Carefully turning the dial on the gun safe breaks the silence.  He has an assortment of guns. A rifle, shotgun, and several boxes of bullets are all inside.  I stuff the boxes in my pack and sling the guns over my shoulder.  These will definitely come in handy.
                  As I walk out of the bedroom I see Jon shaking the key.  “It was in a nail on the wall,” he says.  His eyes turn to the man on the couch.  “I will come back tomorrow and bury his body-next to his wife.”
                  “We all will come back.” I reply.
                  “No,” he snaps back. “Sorry, I want to do it myself.  I can't explain it.”  I was in no mood to question him now; I would in the morning.
                  We shut the lights off and I join the girls in the backseat.  The least bit of dust is kicked up behind Jon as he walks purposefully to the gate, key in hand.  He jogs back as soon as the lock is open, and we drive through.  Not too long after we pass, he slams on the brakes and puts it in park.  I give him an odd look.  He swings open the door and walks back to the gate.  I begin to open my door to yell at him.  However, I see him shutting the gate and locking it.  He returns to the car and we continue to the cabin.
                  “After all I've seen today, I'm not letting anyone else easily get up here.” he says.  I nod my head.  I couldn't agree more.
                  Although the cabin was in the same park, it was a long way from the ranger’s