Red Death: A Post Apocalyptic Thriller by D.L. Robinson Read Free Book Online Page A

you sure that will work?” She stared at her husband. Do you really want to do that? Do you believe the hospital isn’t safe?” Tara still somehow wanted Lee to quiet her fears.
    Mary agreed with Lee. “If it’s not broken, the treatment is about the same. The recovery time is just longer with a break. He’ll know which it is soon enough anyway. I don’t think it’s safe at the hospital anymore either, Tara. God knows what they’re not telling us. From what my daughter is saying, there are cases there they are hiding from us.”
    That was good enough for Tara.
    “Okay, I’m going to run home and get my SUV. I can leave the lights off so they don’t see us. Mary, can you stay with him?” But Lee didn’t want her to, and told Tara they’d be safer as a pair. She reluctantly agreed.
    “Don’t you move, Lee. Don’t do anything to draw attention to yourself.” Lee looked at her as if to say DUH! It broke the tension and they all laughed a little. Tara bent down to him. “I love you. I’m so sorry this happened, but we’ll be right back and get you home.” Lee nodded, obviously in pain.
    Tara grabbed Mary’s arm as they hurried away down the road. “Do you have any pain pills, Mary? I’ve got some old ones from my last dental appointment.”
    “I do. We can treat him at home and get him good as new. Don’t you worry. We’ll know soon enough if it really is broken. It will swell up and he’ll have trouble walking on it at all.”
    The women moved fast down the long country road to the edge of town, then as quietly as they could through the dark neighborhood, until they reached the backyard of Tara’s house.
    “Doesn’t it seem awfully dark around us lately? And have you noticed the traffic out front has slowed to a handful of cars?”
    Mary nodded, eyes huge. “I have. I don’t take it as a good sign. And I’m afraid to go back out to the store to see what’s going on.”
    Tara’s SUV was parked in her little pull in space behind their garage and she dug out her keys and started it up. Mary climbed in the passenger side. The mile long stretch of road on the way back seemed so much shorter when you were driving.
    “What do you say to taking a little trip tomorrow, Tara, sort of a reconnaissance mission?” The thought of it scared Tara, but she felt braver with the idea of Mary’s company.
    “That’s a great idea. I’ve been afraid to venture out too, but we need to see for ourselves,” Tara told her.
    Tara shut off her headlights as soon as she got to the far edge of town. They inched slowly along on the secluded road, watching all sides for any danger. But a field of corn on their right and the fenced in lake section of the gravel pit on their left didn’t leave a lot of room for hidden threats. She pulled the car off to the side in the grass, very near the bushes. She left it running while she and Mary jumped out.
    “We’re back,” she whispered softly,” and Lee appeared very relieved.
    The women helped him up, one on each side, grabbing his underarms. Lee hopped one-legged to the car, supported by the women. He had to stop a couple times, groaning, and Tara knew it must hurt badly, because Lee just wasn’t the type to complain over pain.
    They settled him into the passenger seat and Mary crawled in the back. Again, with no headlights, Tara moved slowly down the country road, turning them on as soon as they reentered the street at the edge of town. Just at the edge of the cornfield, Mary pointed. “Look!” Then glowing eyes of a white tailed deer stared back at them frozen in the headlights. It turned and bounded away, tail flashing as it ran. Deer were very plentiful in their rural area, but Tara’s family were not hunters, and the thought of killing them had always turned her stomach. Now her usual appreciation of their beauty turned in a different direction. Another possible food source…
    Tara pulled into the back alley and on into her driveway behind the garage. Carefully,