The Survivor Chronicles (Book 2): The Divide Read Free Page A

baked dough and coffee hung heavily in the air, and though he knew he should be careful he was drawn forward by the promise of donuts and coffee. He still smelled rot, but it didn't seem as potent here and he assumed it was the lingering remnants of it on himself and his ruined clothing. "Hello!"
    "I'll stay by the door and watch the vehicles," Al offered.
    John nodded as he crept toward the counter. He placed his hands on the countertop and leaned over to try and peer into the back. He couldn't see much of the shadowed kitchen but it appeared to be empty. "It's like a freaking ghost town," he muttered as he slid around the counter. Goosebumps covered his skin, he didn't see anyone, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something or some one watching him.
    He shuddered as he eyed the donuts and bagels placed neatly into the racks. Surprisingly, none of them had fallen to the floor, but a few of the coffeepots had shattered spilling their contents onto the tile floor. John scowled at the glass and coffee remains, what a waste.
    "What is that smell?" Rochelle asked.
    "Probably me," he told her. "I don't think I'm ever going to be rid of it."
    "Oh, sorry. Can you grab me a coffee roll?" John nodded and grabbed a piece of wax paper from the box on the wall by the donut racks. He pulled the donut off the shelf and handed it over the counter to Rochelle. He found some bags and boxes behind the counter and began to stuff donuts and bagels inside of them. He plopped them on the counter and grabbed handfuls of coffee bags from the display next to the register. He shoved them into a few more bags and turned away in search of some surviving, brewed coffee.
    "They're coming out now." John glanced back as Al stepped away from the door and waved his arms toward the rest of the group.
    He spotted a full carafe of delicious brown liquid still sitting on one of the burners. "Please don't be decaf," he pleaded as he grabbed the largest cup he could find and honed in on his tempting target. He didn't even care if it was cold.
    He was grabbing for the handle when something tugged at his work boot. John frowned as he glanced down. The cup tumbled from his numbed fingers; a strange noise filled the room. It took him a moment to realize that the grunting, almost squealing sounds were coming from him. He couldn't move, and for one heart stopping minute he almost pissed himself.
    "John?" Rochelle asked tremulously.
    John fumbled for his gun, but his fingers wouldn't work properly as the thing clinging to his work boot somehow managed to lift its bald head on its wobbly, mottled neck. John hadn't been entirely certain that it was human until its rolling, opaque brown eyes, seemed to briefly focus on him.
    An anguished moan escaped it as Rochelle began to scream loudly and shrilly. "Help me," the thing croaked. John started shouting as the pitiful thing seized hold of his hand with surprising strength.

 
    CHAPTER 2
    Mary Ellen
    Plainville, Mass.
    Mary Ellen couldn't bring herself to look at the destruction surrounding them anymore. She kept her gaze focused on the seat in front of her and her hands folded tightly in her lap. She stared at the back of Xander's head as he swerved in and out of the cars, and around the gaping holes with stalwart precision. She was amazed she wasn't more frightened of him after his breakdown earlier; instead she found she had no fear of him.
    He wasn't violent, at least not to other people; of that much she was certain. She knew violent, cruel, people, she'd had far too much experience with them for her liking and Xander wasn't one of them. He was a young man, trying to survive like the rest of them, and he'd witnessed something that she wasn't sure many others would come back from. She certainly wasn't sure that she would have.
    She couldn't get the image of those bodies out of her mind. She shuddered at the mere thought of having to see those young bodies too, those lives snuffed before they even got started.