Wake the Dead by Gary F. Vanucci Read Free Book Online

had a hundred times before, spreading the seed all about and using the shovel to overturn soil so that it was moist and fresh for the new seeds.
    Several days passed and he went about his routine, throwing in some old katas he used to do in his martial arts classes, trying to remember some of them. As he did so, he was finally able to forget about the woman who’d haunted his dreams these past few days—a woman he didn’t even know.
    Beside the area he worked was a small area roped off that had seen some fresh cucumbers along the vines. He was able to attach some of the vines with some twine to twigs to allow them to grow up along the pole. He had aspirations of making his current garden larger, as the vines were snaked in many directions and required a good deal of space. And as of yet, no animals had gotten to this particular crop, especially not with Shadow guarding it night and day. This morning, however, the wolf had slumbered inside the cabin just as Alex had finished his exercise.
    He was particularly excited to find something that he could plug in to see if the solar panels would actually hold a charge and work their magic to run an electronic device of some sort. He found several more lamps in the bedroom that he could test, and had found a package of two sixty-watt bulbs buried deep in a closet, just in case another bulb exploded. Nevertheless, those experiments would have to wait as he had further work outside to finish.
    As he continued to work the soil, he heard the crack of a twig in the distance to his right. A man in overalls stood a dozen feet away from him, a hat pulled down over a mop of shaggy brown hair, and he leveled a gun at Alex. Stubble lined his face and a tiny wooden stem escaped from between his lips, chewing on it like one might with a toothpick.
    “What have we here, Joe?” asked the gunman, looking toward his companion who was a bit overweight. He had no hair on his head, was dressed in denim jeans and a flannel shirt, and he held a tire iron in his right hand with gore staining its length.
    As Alex heard them speak, their voices sparked a hint of recognition and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He wasn’t absolutely certain, but he believed them to be the same two voices he’d overheard discussing a certain callous act only a few days past. Anger bubbled within him at both his own refusal to act and their exact words he recalled all-too-well.
    A woman strode up slowly from behind them both, her blue eyes catching Alex off guard by seeming very warm and friendly, with more than a hint of distress beginning to surface before it was stifled, replaced with a mask of stoicism. Her hair was blonde and appeared partially matted and unkempt, loose strands escaping from her pony tail. A pack was slung over her shoulder. He had not seen the woman to know if this was…well, the subject of the two men’s desires.
    “Not sure, Todd,” answered the one named Joe, grinning a smile that displayed a few missing teeth. “Looks like a farmer we got here. Maybe he’s got some food or somethin’ inside…maybe some weapons, too, eh boy?”
    “I am no farmer and I have nothing for you,” Alex responded curtly, leaning on his shovel, and trying to suppress his anger. ‘Reacting to situations in anger is what gets people killed’, Alex recalled from a martial arts seminar he attended last year.
    He also quickly realized helplessly and abruptly, that all of his weapons were in the cabin. Even his knife as he looked down to see the empty sheath.
    Stupid!
    “Let’s see what you got inside, boy,” Todd said, adjusting his hat and gesturing with the barrel of the gun, indicating for Alex to head toward the cabin door. “And don’t you try nothin’ unless you wanna’ die. This thing is loaded.”
    Alex merely nodded and took a step toward them.
    “Uh-uh, pretty boy. Drop the shovel.”
    Alex reluctantly obeyed, dropping his only weapon to the ground, and cursing under his breath. He