Dead Cold Read Free Page B

me went into the ditch and I went in behind it, when I got out of the car to check on them they attacked me.” She showed where the left forearm of her jacket was torn. “Then I tried to find somewhere to hide and this was the only place with the door unlocked.”
     
    “ The door was unlocked?” Roland’s raised his right eyebrow at that.
     
    “ Well not the main ones, but the one off to the side.” Roland let out a laugh and she looked a little confused. “Who are you and how did you end up here?”
     
    “ I’m Roland Castle and I slept through the evacuation I guess; then I totaled my truck and a mob of those things chased me here.” She gave him a look that said she questioned his sanity. “So tell me what were you planning to do next after hiding in the bathroom?”
     
    “ Well I was hoping that rescue would come eventually but it looks like you’re all I’m gonna get.”
     
    “ I’m afraid so sister, I don’t think anyone is coming to help either of us, so any ideas on how to get out of here?” Roland helped her to her feet, she was cute he thought and hoped the attitude was just a result of the situation.
     
    “ Maybe we can get another vehicle since ours are both wrecked and head south and maybe find my brother on the way.”
     
    “ Gonna need to be something for heavy duty off road, and what happened to your brother anyways?” The shotgun retrieved he led her back to the break room.
     
    “ He was in Timberlea house sitting with his girlfriend, the last text message I got said they’re outside before the phones quit.” Crystal sat down on the couch and taking a Poptart muttered to herself. “Leave it to a guy.”
     
    Roland smiled to himself. “I hate to tell you this sweetheart, but if your brother might not be you’re brother anymore and we’d need a vehicle to get to Timberlea and it might be for nothing.”
     
    “ He’s alive, he has to be!” Anger and fear covered her face. “Plus it might interest you to know that his girlfriend’s parents own a Hummer H1 which is parked in their driveway.”
     
    Roland’s eyes widened and his smile grew. “Well then, what are we waiting for? Let’s go get your brother.”
     
    Finishing off the last of the Poptarts Roland thought of his family; hoping they were okay. His mother and brother were in North Carolina, his sister was in Edmonton, and his dad lived in Kelowna; he hoped that they were okay and whatever was going on in Fort McMurray hadn’t hit there yet. He worried about his sister most, Edmonton was closest and all those cars on the highway had been headed south.
     
    He still didn’t know what was making people turn into monsters or why Crystal and he hadn’t become them, but he figured he probably didn’t want to know anyways. The Poptarts gone Roland took out his cigarettes offering one to Crystal. “Yes, thank you.” She inhaled deeply after lighting it. “I left mine in the car along with my cell, haven’t had one since. What time is it anyways?”
     
    Roland look at the glowing dials on his watch as his lit his own cigarette. “Twenty after ten.” He had only been awake for four hours but it felt like an eternity.
     
    The cigarettes finished Roland grabbed his backpack and the shotgun and they headed for the emergency exit. Holding the shotgun in the crook of his arm he pulled on his gloves making a mental note to find a strap for the big gun. “Here’s the plan, were gonna make a run for the mall; the storm is probably still pretty bad so to keep from getting split up we should hold hands until we get to the mall.”
     
    “ I’ve been meaning to ask, where did you get a shotgun?” Crystal said pulling on a pair of gloves.
     
    “ I found it in a cop car that wasn’t being used.” She nodded and Roland shoved the emergency exit open.

Chapter 5: Christmas Shopping
     
     
    They stepped out into the still raging blizzard and Roland thought the blizzard seemed worse than before, thirty feet above