Snow & Ash: Endless Winter Read Free Page B

and turned to study the rock wall behind me. There was no door. Rock, moss, dirt and a few weeds poking out from cracks, but no door. I gave him a weird look and waved towards the wall and stepped back.
    He gave me a teasing smirk before reaching out and pressing twice on a rounded rock protrusion. My eyes flared wide as a small square of rock moved to the side exposing a keypad. He chuckled at my expression and ruffled my hair.
    “It’s a false front. Now we just need to pray it was protected enough to survive the EMP.”
    He pushed a series of numbers that I realized was my birthdate and then hovered over the enter button. He looked at me and glanced back at Mom before taking a breath and pressing it. I think we were all holding our breath for the few seconds it took for something to happen. I flinched and stepped back at a clunking sound and watched wide eyed as a piece of the rock wall seemed to break and slid to the side. I wasn’t sure what I expected but the empty room that was exposed wasn’t it. The tree filtered sunlight shone in to the room so that I could see that it was about ten by ten and mostly bare except for a drain in the concrete floor and a few panels that might be closets.
    Dad put his hand on my back and nudged me forwards.
    “Go on in, it’s just an airlock. The real door won’t open until this one gets closed again.”
    I glanced back at Mom but she just gave me a tight smile and waved me forward, so I grabbed my bags and stepped into the room. Mom and Dad followed me in with their own bags. Looking around the small, dim room I gnawed at my lower lip with my teeth in nervousness. I didn’t know what was going to happen next when Dad reached out and put his hand against a panel I hadn’t seen before and pushed a button. A scream was clawing its way up my throat when the door we had come through slid closed, taking the dim light with it.
    Mom’s hand on my shoulder changed the scream to a squeak of fear as we were plunged into blackness. As soon as the door made the clunk sound I had heard before, red light filled the room. My Dad said something that I couldn’t hear over the pounding in my ears but the computerized voice that answered him rang loud and clear.
    “Welcome back Daniel Ross. Voice imprint authenticated. Scanning for radiation and other environmental impurities. Scan complete. Sterilization commencing .”
    My mouth was dropped open in shock and I was scanning the ceiling for where the voice was coming from when the soft red light changed to an intensely bright UV beam that blinded me. Starbursts flashed before my eyes as I rubbed away the tears that had immediately sprung up. I felt Mom rubbing my back in sympathy as she blasted Dad.
    “A little warning next time Daniel!”
    Just as my eyes started to clear, the light changed again to normal fluorescent lighting and the clunk sound came again, this time from behind me. Dad stepped towards me and lifted my chin.
    “Sorry about that sunshine. I should have warned you about the lights. Let’s go in and I’ll show you our new home.”
    I had a million questions on the tip of my tongue but before I could ask the first one, I felt a whoosh behind me and spun around. Just like the outside door, a section of the wall had slid to the side revealing the next room. I took a tentative step towards it and found myself snorting out a spontaneous laugh. My preconceived notions of a damp dark cave were swept aside as I took in the exact replica of our living room from the home we had left just hours ago. The furniture was the same as well as the family photos on the walls. The only difference was the paintings that were hung were copies of pieces my Mom had created instead of the originals.
    I walked deeper into the room and saw open doorways to my left. Glimpses of beds and dressers showed me where we would be sleeping. To my right, past the living area, was a modern looking kitchen with an island counter and shiny new appliances. I spun