Unearthed by Gina Ranalli Read Free Book Online

“Yes, we are. Don’t think like that. Yeah, I guess we probably should have left when everything started going to hell but how were we to know things would...” He trailed off, remembering John’s words. It’s getting worse not better. After letting go of Stacy’s hand, he said, “You should get some rest. We’ll find some stuff to make you up a little bed on the floor away from the doors and windows. How’s that sound?”
    She snatched a paper napkin from the nearest dispenser and blew her nose. When she was finished, she said, “I think I’d rather be awake.”
    He nodded. He couldn’t blame her. As exhausted as he was, he didn’t think he’d have been able to sleep. Maybe later, but not now.
    “What are we gonna do, Joe?”
    “I don’t know,” he admitted. “But we need a plan. I think we’ve been lucky so far but waiting around for a rescue that may never come is probably not the way we should play it for much longer.”
    Stacy studied her unlit cigarette thoughtfully for a moment before turning her attention to the ceiling. “Do you hear that?”
    Joe listened. All he could hear was John weeping in the back room. “What?”
    “Nothing.”
    “Oh.” He turned away, intending to go check on John again.
    “No,” she said. “I mean, literally, nothing . I don’t hear that buzzing sound anymore.”
    Cocking his head, Joe discovered that Stacy was right. For the first time in hours, the constant drone of the insects travelling back and forth outside had stopped. “Maybe they all flew away?” he suggested.
    “Or maybe they went to sleep.”
    Joe chuckled half-heartedly.
    “I’m serious,” Stacy said. “How often do you see bees at night? They really do sleep.”
    He had to admit she had a point. “So...we might be able to get out of here.”
    Stacy nodded. “Maybe. We should at least take a look around.”
    They crossed the diner to the front windows and peered out, though it was hard to see anything at all beyond their own cars.
    “It’s too dark,” Stacy said. “But as far as I can tell, nothing’s moving.”
    “We should check out back, too.”
    It seemed silly, but at least it gave them a purpose for the moment.
    He retrieved the shotgun from where he’d put it at the far end of the counter and together they went back into the storage room, Stacy wielding the flashlight.
    John was slumped on the floor, his back against the outside door, his knees drawn up to his chest with his arms wrapped around his legs and his head down.
    “Gotta move, buddy,” Joe told him. “We need to take another look out back.”
    Without bothering to lift his head, John asked, “What for?”
    “We think those things might be gone,” Stacy told him. She sounded cautiously hopeful and Joe was glad for that, at least. “If they are, maybe we can get out of here.”
    “And go where?” Despite his voice being muffled, it was clear that John was still pissed. Joe wondered if he’d always been pissed and this was just the latest drama in the younger man’s life.
    “Just get up,” Joe told him.
    John raised his head and squinted into the glare of Stacy’s flashlight. “My wife is dead. What the fuck do I care what happens now?”
    Joe was about to explode but Stacy spoke first.
    “You don’t know that,” she said. “And even if she is, you aren’t.”
    “I may as well be.”
    Slowly, Joe said, “Move your ass or I’ll move it for you.”
    Face darkening, John snapped, “Fuck you! This is the stupidest fucking thing—”
    Joe leveled the shotgun at him. “ Now !”
    John rose to his feet quickly, though not out of fear, but out of anger. “Oh, you’re gonna shoot me?” he shouted. “Go for it! You’ll be doing me a fucking favor!”
    Despite not looking at her, Joe could sense Stacy’s eyes on him and her tension. He lowered the weapon and forced himself to speak calmly. “Thank you.”
    “ Motherfucker !” John spat as Joe brushed by him to open the door. “Fucking point a gun