Nightfall by Ellen Connor Read Free Book Online

hadn’t expected to hear again. Other people.
    â€œWhat was that?” Jenna pulled her head up from the book. A faraway expression changed her face, green eyes looking inward.
    â€œStay here,” he said, leaving the assault rifle but grabbing his nine-millimeter.
    â€œWhere am I going to go?”
    But did she listen? No. She followed him to the front door, where the calls and shouts had grown louder, more distinct. He heard the name Robert and the unmistakable crack of an adolescent male voice.
    Mason gripped the butt of the gun and kicked off the safety. “Who’s there?”
    â€œHelp us! Hello? Someone let us in!”
    A cacophony followed, each pleading for the same favor. He’d known this might happen, but hadn’t expected it to be so gut wrenching. The reality of facing such a choice pressed against his sternum. Throat tight, the tendons of his fingers aching, he flipped the safety back on and returned to his disassembled rifle.
    Jenna stayed at the door, staring at him. Here we go.
    â€œWhat are you—” She swiveled between him and the wooden barrier separating them from the evil in the new world and from the people in the old one. “What’re you doing?”
    â€œCleaning my gun.”
    â€œWhat about them?”
    â€œThey’re on their own,” he said, speaking deliberately. “They’ll find shelter in the woods. Or not. Either way, they’re not our problem.”
    â€œI can’t believe this.” Her blond ponytail swished as she shook her head. “What if Mitch had done this to you? Said, ‘Get lost, kid’?”
    â€œHe didn’t, which is why I owe him.”
    All of his arguments lined up in a row, nice and neat. He’d practiced them for years. She didn’t stand a chance. Neither do those people.
    â€œLook.” His temper made him sharper than he meant to be. “I’m obligated only to you and myself.”
    â€œYeah, because of some promise you made. Right.” She frowned, her bottom lip tucked under a row of straight, white teeth—more the look of a bashful child than a woman in warrior mode.
    â€œWe’re not opening the door,” he said flatly.
    â€œYes, we are! Those are people. You remember people? There’s a kid out there. I can hear him cussing.”
    â€œAll I hear is a liability.”
    She stalked to the kitchen and slammed her fist on the table, rattling the rifle parts against each other. “I don’t care. I’m here too. I get a say.”
    Dark circles sat heavily beneath her eyes. Mason figured she was tired, restless, and scared. Emotion clouded her judgment, and he wanted to make renewed use of the duct tape. “This isn’t a democracy, Jenna.”
    â€œAre you really going to leave them out there?”
    â€œYep. Now shut up about it. Please.”
    â€œWell, it’s good you still have your manners,” she said, crossing her arms across a faded gray T-shirt. “Please and thank you. Fat lot of good that’ll do if there aren’t any people left.”
    â€œWe’re not letting them in.”
    â€œForget it.” She crossed to the door and retrieved her coat from a hook. “I’ll throw in with them instead. You’re not making it hard to choose.”
    â€œIs this what I get for saving your life?”
    â€œI’m not condemning them on your word. No way.”
    Mason raked blunt fingernails across his scalp, avoiding her eyes. This really wasn’t going the way he’d intended. “Jenna, wait—”
    She jerked her head. “Did you hear that?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œThe ... those—damn, what do you call them?” Eyes panicked, she gestured. “Those demon dogs. Can’t you hear them?”
    Outside, the voices sped right past frantic to hysterical. Shouts transformed into terrified shrieks. Fists pounded and feet kicked so that the door danced on its