A Cold Black Wave Read Online Free PDF Page B

lever from the outside, and the glass casing lifted.
     
    Their bodies broke out in a drenching sweat, shaking.  He tried to speak but nothing came.  He sucked in some more air, coughed, and a sensation of fire gripped his chest.  Leah’s hand found his arm and the familiar touch registered, her hand gripping tightly as if to say, “Don’t leave me.”
     
    His mouth was dry and his body started to convulse with shivers.  Leah’s body quickly followed suit as frostwhite air came out with each of their breaths.
     
    Supply.  Josh remembered the supply room and stumbled away to find it, leaning and grabbing onto the walls.  He hit the button to open the door, but it only slid open a foot before stopping.  Josh hit the button again and again but the wiring was fried.  He squeezed through the opening but, was not thin enough to slip through, despite having not eaten in years.  He pushed it hard but his strength wasn’t there and it only moved an inch.  Boxes of food and clothing awaited them on the other side.  He slammed a weak fist against the wall.  Ice formed in the shuttle and crystallized against the metal surfaces.
     
    He fumbled his way over to the shuttle’s main console.  The three separated windows above it had been the viewscape to the cosmos, and now it allowed Josh to catch a glimpse of their new home.  The hard landing dug the shuttle deeply into the earth, edging the nose farther and farther down as it went so that almost three quarters of his view was nothing but black soil.  The other quarter revealed green grass and the base of a vast forest in the distance, which was being lost under the retreating dusk.
     
    The console was working and Josh brought up the date to compare it to the time they had left the Westbound.  When the number appeared, he couldn’t help but speak, and his voice eked out a dry whisper, “Can’t be ...”
     
    Josh carefully made his way back to Leah who was sitting up, her breathing rapid and shallow as she shivered.  He cleared his throat in frustration and attempted to speak, but still nothing came.  She coughed violently and thick mucus jumped out of her mouth.
     
    She too tried to speak but nothing came.  Josh walked to her and put a hand on her arm but she startled at the touch.  Leah coughed some more, doubled over now as the coughs pushed every last ounce of air out of her lungs.  The freezing air was punishing.
     
    He rubbed her arms a bit and then went to the broken supply door and with renewed strength, pushed as hard as he could.  Mechanically operated, but without power, the door began to slide but it resisted as if rusted to its frame and took every ounce of mental and physical strength to budge it another inch.  With each push his muscular arms regained their old strength and he forced it harder each time, straining red in the face until it was forced open.
     
    Josh slumped to the ground next to all of the supply containers.  He rummaged through until he found winter gear, taking an oversized coat and a blanket back to Leah who was shaking and curled up on the floor.  Josh wrapped the blanket around her and put the jacket over it.  Nearly frozen himself, he went back and bundled up in a large parka, gloves and heavy boots.  He needed to keep himself and his blood moving.
     
    There was everything they needed in storage.  He grabbed a Mason rifle off the wall and checked it.  It was an old carbine that required no external energy source, just bullets and a finger.  Josh grabbed the bullets and loaded them before setting the rifle down to scrounge through the rest of the room.  There wasn’t a lot in there.  It would be just enough to set up a shelter and get their feet down before having to survive on their own.  Josh slung the rifle and made his way to the compression door, briefly checking on Leah before he did.  She was still recovering from stasis shock, just staring through disheveled hair but now only shaking in