The Common Cold (Book 2): A Zombie Chronicle-Cabin Fever Read Online Free PDF Page A

they had
left themselves wide open to possible attack; no-one could see what was out
there in the darkness. It appeared the warm and friendly cabin had lulled them
into a false sense of security that was out of all proportion with reality. “We
did have a look around and found a few supplies but not much. No people though.”
    “Well, let’s get the truck backed up to the hut so we can
offload the contents,” Brad suggested. “It would be a shame to lose the
supplies we brought with us.”
    “Do you have any night vision goggles with you?” Chuck asked
of the helicopter crew.
    “Yeah, each pilot has a pair,” Simms replied, responding to
the seriousness of the older man.
    “The perimeter needs to be guarded while the others offload
the goods. Captain, you and I can do that; the others can do the grunt work.”
    “Sergeant Hinkley here is a better shot than I, of that I’m
sure,” Simms replied. “He can stand watch. Alright with you,
sergeant?”
    “Yes, sir. No problem with that, I
can shoot the ass off a fly at two hundred yards with a halfway decent rifle.”
Hinkley smiled; this sort of thing was just up his alley. He stood up and
grabbed the rifle Tom had come in with. “This’ll do nicely,” he said inspecting
its load.
    “Don’t come out until we give the all-clear,” Chuck
instructed as he stood up and then looked irritatedly at the uncovered window. “And
can someone please cover this window with something to block the light? I don’t
think it’s a good idea to advertise our presence, it’s a wonder you lot
survived until now.”
    Laurie stood up and hurried into the bedroom, returning a
moment later with a thick quilt. “A bit of a waste really but it’s the only
thing we have right now that’s thick enough to block the light completely.”
    “Well, it’ll do for now. We can sort these things out
properly in the morning,” Chuck agreed. “Come on Sergeant, let’s go get them
goggles.”
    They stepped into the now complete darkness and closed the
door quickly before they lost too much heat from the cabin. The boys peered out
from behind the newly-hung window cover trying to see what was going on
outdoors.
    Tom surveyed the room. “Right, let’s make some room for everyone
and the stores. There’s quite a lot. So, who’s sleeping where?” he asked of his
wife.
    “Me and the kids are in this bedroom,” she said, pointing. “The
others are out here hunkering down as best they can. I think Zoë has
commandeered the pull-out,” she said, smiling at the only other woman in the room.
“They didn’t want to encroach too much on our place. At least they have the
fireplace to keep them warm.”
    “I think that as people will be here rather longer than they
expected, we’ll have to do something about proper accommodation for everyone.”
    “I agree. They can have a couple of rooms if they want. BB
can have his own room, too.” Laurie looked to be in her comfort zone; she
always liked to make a fuss over guests and now was no exception.
    “Good. We can put the supplies in the storage cupboard at
the back of the kitchen. Right now it should be all but empty.”
    Laurie followed him into the kitchen and watched as he
withdrew a set of keys from his pocket and opened a door off to one side. It
revealed a deep cupboard more the size of a walk-in larder. Snapping on a light
he opened a cover and checked the fuel gauge for the generator he could now
hear rumbling quietly.
    “Getting low,” he observed. “Good thing we have some more
fuel in the truck.”
    “We really should have had more than one key to this
cupboard; I couldn’t get in to check levels and just had to hope we had enough
for a while.”
    “It doesn’t matter, love. We’ll be alright,” he said
quietly.
    At that moment they heard the sound of the truck being
reversed up to the door and brake to a halt. Chuck walked in, the night goggles
in his hand.
    “The good news is that we can’t see anyone around at all,