Deep Freeze: Protocol One, Book 2 (Protocol One Saga) Read Online Free PDF Page B

multiple footprints in the snow, then they got covered.”
    Larry stood. “It had to be Michael and Gina’s crew. There’s three of them.” He looked at Gail. “What do you think?”
    “Did you drive in from the West?’ she asked.
    “Actually, we came from the north taking the west ramp in. So yes.” I replied.
    “Has to be,” Gail said. “They shelter in that building just off the ramp. Probably saw you coming in. Wasn’t thought through. They wouldn’t have time.”
    “Are they dangerous?” I asked.
    Larry groaned in thought. “I want to say desperate. Ralph is. He is a short man with a short fuse. Was a lawyer or something. But whether they’d hurt him. I don’t know.”
    Gail said, “Those who remain were those who were more prepared and could wait it out. Those three were the least prepared that we knew of. Didn’t have enough to pilgrimage nor enough to stay. They’ve been asking around for food.”
    “Gotta whole city afoot,” Larry added. “Doesn’t make sense. Go out and salvage. We did.” He poured himself some of the fruit beverage. “It’ll be dark real soon. If you want, first light, I’ll help you look for him tomorrow. We’ll grab Horace make him check out Mike and Gina’s place. We’ll find Tony.”
    I didn’t want to be dependant or ask for help, but I couldn’t turn down Larry’s offer. I was glad to have it, not for safety’s sake but navigational purposes. His help would save me time and he knew the area much better than I did.
    Though I felt defeated in not finding or knowing anything about Tony on the first day, I was confident I’d find the answers in the morning.
     

At the Bunker – Peter
    I was happy for the visual distraction. The right side of my bottom lip bled from biting it. No one told me anything. On top of that, the space station sent new photos. It wasn’t good. Before we sent out Anna and Tony, the gray cloud formation lingered between Minnesota and Northern Ohio. Had it taken the predicted course, it would have moved right on by us.
    But it didn’t. It swept down and stalled. The massive storm front moved across our area. But that wasn’t the worst of it. The pretty picture of the earth wearing a snow beanie, quickly changed when the space station said they were watching massive cloud formations.
    While I am not familiar with the terms, basically the arctic air was moving down and mixing with some sort of warm air, causing the cloud to produce more snow.
    It could miss us and stay north.
    For that we had to wait, wait to see what it did. The snow was already a hinder in getting Anna and Tony. But it did show signs of slowing down.
    Tom and Skyler returned, they had trouble with the weather as well. Tom was anxious and wanted to go straight to Pittsburgh to find Tony. I wanted him to go, but Gil put the brakes on that.
    “For as much as I want them back here, I can’t afford to lose two more people,” Gil stated. “We have what? Almost a foot of snow. Yes, we can make it there, but if the new storm hits, what are we getting, Peter?”
    “They said about three feet maybe more.”
    “You’ll get stranded too,” Gil said with a point to Tom. “They have supplies, they’ll be fine.”
    “You say ‘they’,” Tom argued. “We don’t know where Tony is.  We haven’t heard from Anna in hours. I can make it there before the storm hits.”
    “Let me give it some thought. You won’t get there tonight before nightfall anyhow. If the storm hasn’t arrived by morning, maybe you can go out and try to beat it.”
    Tom thanked him. I didn’t understand why. Why did we need Gil’s permission?  Gil operated under the guise that he made all decisions in the best interest of everyone. Had Anna not been out there with Tony, I would have assumed he just wanted Tony gone. But Anna was out there and that just tossed a wrench into my theory.
    Then after more lip biting, the visual distraction appeared in the monitor.
    Gwen.
    Was she still, all these