Kick at the Darkness by Keira Andrews Read Free Book Online Page B

the afternoon they’d heard the distant beating of a helicopter, but hadn’t been able to spot it from the parking lot or the service alley behind the store.
    As night fell, it was uncannily quiet. They weren’t sure where the infected were. Parker hoped that whatever madness had seized them had proved fatal. A stab of guilt followed the thought. He didn’t wish anyone harm, but those people…didn’t seem like people anymore. He just wanted life to go back to normal. Would things ever be normal again?
    Daniela hefted her knapsack onto her back. “I dunno. If I had to run with this thing I don’t think I’d make it far.” She pulled it off and began sorting through the contents.
    Much of the afternoon and early evening had been devoted to stocking up with supplies. Dried food, water purifying tablets, lightweight shirts, jackets and sleeping bags, and of course weapons. Parker had a machete (an actual machete ) with a back strap ready to go. It wasn’t quite a sword, but it was pretty close. He’d tested out handling the blade and hoped to God he would never have to use it on anything living. Or possibly undead or whatever.
    Now they were examining the guns. Parker tested the weight of the handguns and went for the lightest. He’d watched his father skeet shooting with rifles over the years, but had never tried it himself since Eric was an amazing shot and Parker hadn’t needed to be found lacking in yet another arena.
    It was surreal holding a gun. He read the manual and practiced with the safety before loading it and tucking it away in the side pocket of his pack with boxes of bullets, making sure it was within easy reach.
    Seriously, how was this his life ?
    “That’s a really cool motorcycle,” Daniela said. “Harley, right?”
    “Yeah,” Adam answered. “Softail.”
    “Cool. My dad would…” She blinked and tried to smile. “He would totally love it.”
    In the silence that followed, Parker managed to swallow down a cough. The congestion was getting worse, and his nose was running. “It’s definitely cool. Really classic. Um, everyone have enough bullets? Not that I know what ‘enough’ is.”
    “It’s not like we’re going to have to use any of this stuff.” Lauren shredded a granola bar wrapper into long silver slivers. “This isn’t like… Someone’s going to come for us. This isn’t a movie. The army will take over and rescue us. They have to. It’s their job.”
    They all looked at each other around the circle, their faces creased and tired.
    “Yeah. I’m sure they’ll come tomorrow,” Adam replied. “We should hang tight and be prepared. Just in case.”
    After an awkward silence, Daniela shivered. “It’s getting cold in here.”
    “Sorry,” Carey said. “The electricity’s out. The emergency light is powered by the backup generator, but there’s no heat. It’s been a warm September, but you know how the temps dip at night here.”
    “Why would the power go out?” Lauren asked.
    “It wouldn’t take much,” Adam said. “One pole gets hit by a car, and the line’s broken. And if the people in the power plants get infected…”
    “But if the lines are okay, the power should still run, right?” Parker asked. He’d never really thought about how electricity worked. Sometimes it went out, but it always came back on before too long.
    Adam shrugged. “For a little while, I guess. But those power plants don’t operate on their own. I don’t know much about them, but I remember visiting one on a class trip when I was a kid. They seemed pretty complex. They gave us a demonstration on how one little thing going wrong could trip the whole system. And the grids are connected. They said it was only as good as the weakest link. That’s why blackouts can happen over a wide area.” He shook his head. “I don’t know why I remember that.”
    “And I guess the internet won’t work without power,” Carey said. “I mean, if you had electricity, you could post