The Book of a Few by Austen Rodgers Read Free Book Online

sight.
     
    Branden and I both had the same unanimous feeling: fuck these assholes. But Branden took it a step further than I did. He pointed his gun at the vehicle and began shooting. The gunshot vibrated my eardrums into a ringing sensation. Branden emptied his gun quickly and began running after the vehicle, leaving me behind in shock of his ferocity.
     
    Branden reloaded the shotgun before firing at the van again while it drove out of the parking lot and down the hill. I stood outside the main doors, watching Branden. When he returned to the building, I asked him what drove him to attack the men to that extent.
     
    “ Well, they were bent on either stealing from us or killing us. If we didn’t try to take them down a peg, what would stop them from trying it on someone else?” Branden said.
     
    “ I don’t think that they were a threat to us by the time they got in their van. You don’t know if they would kill someone else if we didn’t kill them first. That’s like saying someone is guilty until they’re proven innocent. It’s backwards.”
     
    “ Better to be safe than sorry.” Branden glared at me for criticizing his actions.
     
    I disregarded his transgressions in conversation, but not in mind.
     
    With the sun setting on the horizon, we decided it would be in our next best interest to find a secure place to sleep. We were practically stranded at the Warehouse considering that our vehicle, which was running on fumes, was trashed. So, we decided to roll with the circumstances and find an office or bathroom somewhere in the building to sleep for the night. But first, we felt it was a good idea to check and see what remained inside.
     
    Walking past the dead body of the man that Branden had just killed reminded us of him. We took our chances with the roaming infected and dragged the body outside the building. In the parking lot, we set the body ablaze as best as we could. Without gasoline, the body would be left smoldering overnight, but it was the best that we could do.
     
    Just through the locker room is the equipment room where various forklifts and other pieces of machinery are stored. To the left of this room is the refrigerated storage area, and to the right is where the mechanics store all their parts and the different pieces of gear needed for the Warehouse to remain operational. We ignored the equipment room and Mechanics’ room, and headed straight to where we knew the food would be.
     
    Trust me, there is still a boatload of food in here. While we didn’t charge in there recklessly and jump into a mound of bananas while yelling in victory, it was very challenging to retain the joy. This was the kind of reprieve I needed.
     
    With the knowledge that there was a reward for our efforts, we decided that it would be best to do a full sweep of the building. We backtracked from the refrigerated area filled with cheeses, meats, fruits, juices, and the like to the Human Resources offices. After finding nothing of value or danger in those offices, we went to search the Nurse’s office, but were held back by the locked door. We tried slamming our combined weight into the door, but we weren’t able to get inside.
     
    We left the office as it was, and headed toward the Mechanics’ room. Inside this room, there is a parts storage area, which is literally a chain-link cage. The metal fence of roughly twenty square feet is tucked into a corner of the room. Inside there are various screws and nuts for generic fixes and complicated ones alike. There is also blue full-body gear for those who worked in the frozen section of the Warehouse.
     
    “ This looks like a good place to sleep,” Branden said, rattling the fence a bit. I couldn’t help but agree.
     
    Within the first ten steps through the shelving units that sit inside the cage, Branden held out a hand to stop me. When I went to ask what the problem was, he hushed me. We went further into the cage as slowly and as quietly as we could. Almost