Dead Cold Read Free Page A

give way.
     
    He could hear the panes shatter as he reached the top of the stairs and the moaning filled the stairwell as the creatures started for the stairwell. Crashing through the heavy door at the top of the stairs Roland spun and kicked the door shut locking the heavy deadbolt. He could hear the bloodcurdling moans and scratches at the door and wondered how long it would keep them out.
     
    Entering the supervisor’s area Roland shined his flashlight around doing his best to ignore the moans coming from the other side of the big door. A large square with two exits; other than a counter around most of the room and a photocopier in the center the supervisor’s area was empty. He didn’t know why and he hadn’t been there in years but Roland couldn’t help an intense feeling of loneliness as he looked around. Ignoring the supervisor’s area Roland headed off down the long dark hallway towards the break room, lighting a cigarette as he went. “Don’t think anyone will mind.” He chuckled out loud as he blew smoke towards the roof.
     
    Pausing at the entrance to the break room Roland held his breath and listened, the moans were muffled and he couldn’t hear anything else nearby so he exhaled a sigh of relief as he headed for the nearest couch. Crushing the smoke under his boot Roland opened the juice and Poptarts, quickly devouring four of the s’mores flavored breakfast snacks. Putting down the empty juice carton his stomach full again Roland thought about everything that had transpired in the three hours since he had woken up.
     
    He knew the power for the entire town was out; there was no cellular services, and what seemed to be dead bodies were walking around and attacking people. He considered his current situation; there were at least thirty of the creature not far away; looking for him, he had no vehicle, he had a shotgun with twenty five spare shells, and the only way south was blocked by hundreds of vehicles. “Well I guess I’m pretty much screwed.” He pulled out another smoke and leaned back into the couch.

Chapter 4: Now What
     
     
    The crash of someone moving around in the dark brought Roland to his feet in an instant, the shotgun in one hand and flashlight in the other. The crash had come from around the corned near the washrooms and emergency exit. Stomping out half a cigarette Roland walked over to the corner, the light and shotgun leading the way. Stepping quickly around the corner he couldn’t see anything moving near the emergency exit or between the bathrooms but another sound coming from the women’s bathroom caught his attention. Tip toeing up to the door he was about to push it open when it was pulled open from the other side and a very frightened face was staring back at him blinking in the bright light.
     
    It was a woman in her early twenties and he guessed she had been in there for quite a while. Her short black hair was messy and there were large black bags underneath her blue eyes. She was a head shorter than Roland and could not have weighed more than one hundred pounds, she wore blue jeans, a black nylon jacket, and black hiking boots that looked liked like tiny versions of Roland’s.
     
    “ Are you okay?” The expression on her face changed from terror to relief as he spoke and she started sobbing as she walked up and wrapped her arms around him.
     
    Unsure of what else to do Roland slowly lowered her to the ground as he felt her collapse letting the shotgun clatter to the floor when he was close enough and wrapping his now free arm around the sobbing form pressed against the bulletproof vest he had almost forgotten. After a few minutes she pulled her face away from his chest and looked up at him with blood shot eyes.
     
    “ Thank you.” She whispered.
     
    “ Your welcome.” Was all Roland could think to say. “Who are you and what happened?”
     
    “ My name’s Crystal Hills, I got separated from my brother during the evacuation and then the car ahead of