White Out: A Post Apocalyptic Thriller Read Free

day that passed. If he only knew about the cuddling the night before .
    And the fucking. That’s the real reason you won’t scorn your husband’s name, isn’t it? Isn’t it all about the guilt? All about the fucking and sucking and all those other things that you can’t even admit to yourself?
    Annie clasped her hands to her mouth, hoping to pin something in place that she wasn’t quite sure was there.
    "So I assume Tony has a brilliant fucking plan?" Christian asked, dubiously. His voice was on the verge of crumbling into tiny shards of pain. She felt sorry for him, even though she continued with her nasty demeanor.
    She didn’t know his plan at all, but it sounded pretty believable to say it, if only to convince her husband that it was all well in hand. "He does. I think it'll work. The snow won't get us, but the cold will. We have a plan for both." Annie bit her lip so hard that she felt it might burst if she went any harder.
    Christian held his silence. She realized that he didn't even want to hear the plan. "Here," he said next, tossing the phone about in his hands, "let me put Paulie on for you."
    Paulie’s squeaky voice came to life on the phone, declaring his longing for his mother (in not so many words), and Annie could not help the tears that flowed from her eyes. As the tears started to freeze in place, crystallizing at the curves of her cheeks, she wished that she could listen to his sweet little voice forever, and that she would never have to go out into the Hell that had sprung up all around her.

 
    Chapter Two
     
    The sun shone high in the sky, bombarding the planet with shimmering rays. It wouldn’t last, and Winnie understood that by this point, it was a tease. The sun had come out a day earlier as well, only to scamper back behind the clouds.
                  It wasn’t snowing at the moment, but the wind continued to whip hard against Winnie’s face. Daggers of pain shot through her cheeks and forehead.
    This is the end, isn't it? Look at all that white, as far as you can see. This might be the last thing you ever see. Don't you wish you had stayed behind with Tony and Annie?
    “I need to feed my cats,” she whispered, though she couldn’t be sure if she said it out loud or simply to herself.
    Your cats are dead. It’s been four weeks. Unless they figured out how to use a can opener, all four of them are lined up at the window, frozen on the back of your easy chair, waiting for their mother to come home. You should have stayed behind. They could have saved you, Winnie.
    Winnie couldn’t feel anything below her waist.
    A phantom numbness exponentially spread through her limbs, buried beneath the snow. With every labored step she took, she sank deeper and deeper, until her entire lower half was compacted in the snow, as if she'd been dropped from an airplane. It was almost an icy quick sand. She didn't stand a chance of digging herself out, not unless the sun stayed out for several hours.
    And just like that, the sun disappeared. A snowflake landed on Winnie’s nose and she clenched her eyes shut, praying for the sun to return. “My blessed Jesus Christ, I’ve always loved you and you’ve always loved me. Please turn on the sun again, make it shine. Make this all melt so I can get home and be warm with my kitties. Please protect them until I can make it there. Oh, Jesus, I beg of you.”
    The sky turned dark and the vicious little voice inside of her head started to laugh at this desperation in faith.
    Fool.
    Now it was time to panic. " Tony! Annie! Help me!" She called out into the gray sky, trying to crane her neck back towards the south where her co-workers might hear her and come to her rescue.
    Scream, piggy, scream. Don't you wish you hadn't shoved all those double cheeseburgers in your mouth? Don't you wish you'd eaten a damn salad just once in your life? Now you're sinking deeper into this God forsaken snow, one inch at a time, drowning in your bad decisions. Dive,