Danger in a Fur Coat (The Fur Coat Society Book 4) Read Free Page A

onto the city street just in time to hear another bloodcurdling scream. She shivered in terror, and ran several blocks until she found something that looked like an apartment building. She slipped in and sniffed deeply, trying to smell whether anyone else was on the premises. Her bear nose could tell that nothing in the building smelled alive. All she could smell was the dank, pungent odor of mold and dust mixing together. This place was abandoned. Juno went up a few flights of stairs for good measure. Somehow, it seemed safer to be a few stories up than right at street level. She picked an apartment door at random and went inside. Since this building had no backup generator like the lab, and no electricity, the security system was completely ineffective.
    Juno swept her flashlight across the room. This place, like so many others she had seen tonight, was a mess. Blankets, dishes, clothes, and various household items were strewn across the floor in complete disarray. She went to the kitchen and found the refrigerator door wide open. The fridge was completely cleaned out. She checked the pantry, and there was nothing there except a case of some weird looking health drink labeled “Green Future Combo Extraordinaire.” Juno frowned as she pulled out one of the bottles and opened it. She wrinkled her nose at the smell, but decided to try it anyway. She immediately revolted at the taste and spit it out. She’d have to be a little more desperate before drinking that shit. Apparently the looters agreed, since it was the one thing they’d left behind.
    Picking up her backpack, Juno moved toward the bedroom. Thankfully, there were still a lot of blankets here. Although being inside offered some relief from the blistering wind and cold of the Chicago winter, the fact that there was no electricity and no heat meant it was still uncomfortably chilly in this apartment. Juno gathered up several blankets and snuggled under them, then closed her eyes to get some rest.
    Just as she was finally drifting off, another scream and more gunshots rang through the air. Juno reached into her bag and pulled out the one weapon she had allowed herself to bring—a sharp, deadly knife. She slipped the knife under an extra pillow next to her and then squeezed her eyes shut as tightly as possible. She willed herself to sleep, trying to drown out the noise from the city’s rogue citizens, and the worried pounding of her own anxious heart.

Chapter Three
    Juno woke with a start, blinking her eyes in confusion at the bright sunlight streaming in through the window. For a moment, she forgot where she was. She looked around in confusion at the strange bedroom she was in, and then it all came back like a flood. She was in Chicago. She had escaped with the helicopter, and she was on a mission to save the world.
    The morning had brought an eerie stillness once again. There were no gunshots, and no screams like there had been the night before. Everything was quiet and still. If it hadn’t been for the fact that she could look out the window and see all of the city buildings around her, she almost would’ve thought she was still back in Michigan in the middle of the wilderness.
    But, no. She was here in Chicago, in the middle of the freezing cold winter, and she had to find a way to get into Hook Labs and come up with a cure for the bear flu that was ravaging the world. Juno slowly stood up and stretched, then took a closer look out the window. She couldn’t see anyone. Everything was still, and the city itself was in ruins. Most of the city’s buildings were still standing, but many of them were burned at the top. Almost all of them had windows or walls smashed in on the bottom floors. Juno went to the kitchen of the apartment and looked around, even though she had already checked for food the night before.
    Of course, she again, found that there was no food. Even the light of day couldn’t change that. With a sigh, she pulled a meal replacement bar out of