Lamp Black: Second Edition, Disaster, Preparedness, Survival, Awakening (The Gatekeeper Book 2) by Kenneth Cary Read Free Book Online Page A

with yet more duct tape.
    For the clean room doors, John hung two complete sheets of plastic on both ends and taped them at the top and bottom. But he only taped one side of each sheet. “To enter the clean room,” he told, Adam, “you have to slide between the two sheets of plastic.” John knew it wasn’t airtight, but it would serve the purpose of keeping the ash out of the main part of the house. After they put away the construction supplies, John declared, “I’m ready to go out.”
    “Outside?”
    “No. On a date,” replied John, sarcastically. “Yes, of course, outside. But I’m not sure where I want you to be positioned. I was thinking an upstairs window, but with the ash falling it might be best for you to guard the side door.”
    “Will the night scope work in the ash?” asked Adam.
    “No. I don’t think so, there’s too much obscuration.”
    “Obscuration?” asked Adam.
    “Yeah, you can’t see through the air because there’s too much junk in it, like dust or smoke. The night scope won’t penetrate the ash. It’snot a thermal sight, though I think that probably wouldn’t even work in these conditions,” mused John. “I was thinking my shotgun, but you can use your rifle if you wish.”
    “My AR-15? Yes, the rifle. Thanks, dad,” was Adam’s quick and eager response.
    “OK, we’ll get it out of the safe, but I don’t want to see you playing with it. It’s not a toy,” warned John.
    “Dad, please. I know it’s not a toy. I’ll be careful.”
    “You’ll load and unload it only when I say. Understand?”
    “Yes, dad. I can handle it. You know I can.”
    “I know you can, but things are different now. You’ll be jumpy, and I don’t want you accidentally shooting me. If I get shot in these conditions . . . I would probably die. It would be really difficult to get to the hospital, and once we got there, well, there’s no telling how crazy things will be. It’s best we be very careful with our weapons, with anything that can hurt us, even knives, axes, and such.”
    Adam nodded and waited patiently for John to retrieve his rifle from the gun safe. Once opened, John handed Adam three, thirty-round magazines, and three, twenty-round boxes of ball ammunition. He considered giving him hollow points, but decided against it since he only had a few hundred rounds. He wanted to save them for hunting, if and when the opportunity ever presented itself. John didn’t think Adam would be shooting his rifle anytime soon, but it made him feel better to know that Adam’s rifle was ready for action. John wasn’t interested in carrying his rifle just yet. It was a pain to sling it over his back while working with his hands, so he decided to carry only a pistol, at least for the time being.
    John really wanted to get Adam through the entire disaster without him having to fire his weapon even once, but he didn’t think that would happen. With people like Darrel already on the prowl, there was no telling what they would have to face in the days and weeks ahead.
No
, thought John,
Adam will end up firing his weapon at someone long before the disaster is over
. John was sure of it, and knew he would haveto act fast to minimize the effect it would have on his son. Shooting someone was not as innocent as it seemed in the movies, or on video games; it could really mess with someone’s mind.
    “Go ask your mom if she wants her pistol,” asked John, as he reached into the safe to grab Jenna’s .380 semiautomatic pistol.
    Adam ran into the house and John quickly inspected the pistol. It was a new model Walther, a PPK, light and compact, deadly at close range. John wasn’t a fan of the short nine-millimeter ammunition, but Jenna liked it. The pistol fit her well, and she was very accurate with it. The challenge was convincing her to keep it close. She was never a fan of carrying a loaded pistol, even though she had a concealed handgun license of her own. She just didn’t like “packing,” and said