The Road Sharks by Clint Hollingsworth Read Free Book Online

door open out here,” he told her sternly. “That goes double for a house that hasn’t possibly been opened since the Crazy Years. Back then, homeowners often left a weapon rigged at the doors so they could get a night’s sleep without worrying someone was going to break in and murder them. I’m just guessing that if there’s a back door, it’s either barricaded or booby trapped. From the hole, I guessing there’s a twelve gauge shotgun hooked to the door here.”
    “After twenty-two years?” She looked horrified at how close she had avoided death. “How…”
    “Old stuff lasts pretty well in this climate, particularly in an intact house. Now, let me just take a look… ah. Yep. Remington 12 gauge 2025 autoloader.” He pulled out a worn multi-tool, reached in the door and snipped the trip wire. Looking through the hole in the door, he saw no other traps and gave the knob a hard fast yank. The door swung open with no further protest.
    She stepped in after him, and looking around, she observed, “I always find these old homes quite eerie.”
    The home had not suffered the indignities that most places had. No scavengers had broken in and ransacked or salvaged everything useful. Except for a thick coating of dust and cobwebs and a few plants growing through the floor, it was all intact.  
    “It always gives me the heebie-jeebies to come into one of these old places that’s never been opened,” she said. “I always wonder if the ghosts of the original owners are watching in anger as we invade the space they used to live in.”  
    “Afraid they’ll pop out and spook ya?”
    “I wonder if they can somehow retaliate.”
    He looked at her, letting his eyes go big and his lips formed a silent “O”. He set off towards the kitchen, chuckling.
    The place had once been a very nice, tight little home, in the middle of what had once been farm country. Even under all the dust he could see that the house, for the most part had been orderly. However, in front of the rusting washing machine, there was a pile of rotting sheets and clothing, all stained, waiting to be washed by owners long gone. Ghost Wind came in and looked at the pile.
    “You think they’re still here?” she asked, “Their bodies, I mean?”
    “I’d say it’s highly likely that in some of the upper bedrooms you will find bodies in the beds, where they ended their days too sick to rise anymore. That was pretty common, since the bio-plague usually took a couple weeks to kill someone. If not, then someone who wound up immune to the plague may have dragged them outside and hopefully buried them.”
    “Let’s hope it’s the latter.”
    “Yeah.”
    “What exactly are we looking for?” she said, studying his tracks in the dust. She seemed very intent on them and he wondered what she could find so interesting about footprints in fine dust.
    “The boys out there were on a drunken spree when they went through my stuff. Some of my gear is either broken, or befouled to the point where I’d prefer to replace it. And, no offense intended, but some of your gear is pretty…marginal.” He looked over, to see if she was taking umbrage at his words, but she seemed to be pragmatic about it. She just nodded.
    He continued, “As this is your first B and E, I’d just take a look around and see what you can find that might be useful.”
    “B and E?”
    “Henh. Breaking and entering.”
    “You assume much,” she said with a slight smirk on her face.  
    Ghost Wind wandered up the staircase, and Eli had to admit, it was enjoyable to watch her climb as he followed. At the top, they went in opposite directions, he turned left into an end bedroom, while she went to the opposite end.  
    Eli saw dusty blankets on the bed, but he was hoping to find a sleeping bag to replace the one that Benny and Lester had torn so badly. It was okay to lie on and use a blanket, but he didn’t want to trust it in really cold weather. He was opening the closet door when he