Dominion of the Damned Read Free

hell again, she didn’t know how she felt about having to share it with this guy.
    He lowered his gun and gestured toward the door. “Well, come on in. All this standing around and talking’s liable to raise the dead.”
    Hannah hurried inside. She paused to look around the kitchen, which looked pretty much as they’d left it. A wave of grief and nostalgia washed over her as she remembered the last time they’d all gathered there around the kitchen table, laughing and playing Pictionary and having no clue what the next morning would bring. Her throat tightened, and she coughed to clear it as a woman came into the kitchen.
    “Albert, who’s this?” she asked sweetly. She was a thin woman, about fifty, with gray-streaked brown hair done up in a loose French roll. She wore a pair of dark glasses. At Hannah′s questioning look, she waved a hand. “I just put in eye drops. The light hurts my eyes.”
    “Um,” said Hannah. “I’m Hannah.” She turned to get her first good look at Albert as he stepped inside and locked the door behind him. She’d been right about him being older; he looked like he had about ten years on her father. He, too, was slim, but wiry and strong. He avoided looking directly at her as he moved past her toward the woman. “Says she lives here,” he said. “Says she’s been hiding out all this time.”
    “Good gracious,” said the woman. “Where on earth were you hiding, child?”
    “Around,” said Hannah, still wary about mentioning the shelter. “My dad was a survivalist. He taught me a few tricks.”
    “Well, how about that, Albert?” She approached Hannah and held out a hand. “I’m Marie. You already met the old coot I’m married to.”
    Hannah studied Marie’s hand before reaching out to shake it. “What are you folks doing here?”
    “We thought it was abandoned,” said Marie. “We’ve been here just short of a month. You seem a little young to own a house. Are your parents hiding out around here, too?”
    Hannah went still. “No.”
    Noah picked that moment to wake up and start squirming and fussing. “Oh, Albert, look! A baby!” Marie leaned over to peel back the sheet and have a look. “Hi there! Look at you! Oh, you’re so scrumptious I could just eat you up!”
    “Marie!” Albert barked. “Let the girl get her bearings.” As Marie pulled away, he propped his shotgun by the back door and asked, “What made you come out of hiding?”
    “The radio,” Hannah said as she lifted Noah out of the sling and snuggled him. Marie stood there gazing at him, her hands clasped in front of her chin almost as in prayer, and grinning from ear to ear. “The ham radio, I mean. I’ve been coming here once a month to see if I could raise anybody who could give me some news. Is it still here?”
    Albert grunted. “’Fraid a power surge fried the circuits. I stripped that thing for parts.”
    Hannah bit back a surge of anger. He didn’t know any better, she told herself, and wondered if the CB in the truck still worked. Or had they dismantled the truck, too?
    “We can tell you the news, though,” said Marie. “This area’s been cleaned out. It’s a safe zone. All those poor plague victims have been gathered up and burned, and the ones still walking around have been put down.” She smiled and held out her hands, clearly expecting them to be filled with baby. “May I?”
    Hannah was reluctant. She thought she’d be nothing but overjoyed to see living people after so long, but she couldn’t shake a feeling of wariness that kept gnawing at her gut. Still, Marie hadn’t been anything but nice so far, and Hannah didn’t want to be rude. “Sure,” she said, handing the baby over. “How did you guys end up here?”
    “Government initiative,” said Albert. “They’ve started repopulating the safe zones, dividing up abandoned homes among the displaced.” He fished in his pocket and pulled out a wallet. “There’s a number to call if any unaccounted for