The Sky Grew Dark (The End of the Golden Age) Read Online Free PDF

they would be spotted by the flyover. If they sent in a patrol we would be found for certain. He decided to go back out for Grandpa, and we started moving our stuff inside. We brought in the chicken coop and a few of our small things that were sitting in the sun. We tried to make our space as inconspicuous as possible.
                  Grandpa and Ian got back. Luckily Ian had thought to fill a few water containers. They covered the entrance to the cave. Ian expected it to take the vagabonds a couple of days to get far enough away that we could resume our normal routine, if they were not caught. We ate eggs, and rabbits, slaughtering them in the back of the cave. I wasn’t sure if I would ever get used to the sound. Their high pitched whining as he slit their throats was unnatural and very disturbing.
                  Ian didn’t seem to be doing well. He was pale, and quickly thinning. I decided he should use this time that we were confined to the cave to regain some of his strength. It was hard to keep him down, though. He would rest a bit, and then start working on a way to make something better; digging new bathroom holes, exploring the caves a bit with the boys, clearing leaves and debris from the back of the cave.
    We couldn’t have a fire inside the cave during all this, it was way too risky. We had one canister of propane left, which we felt we should use for light, so we began to eat the canned supplies.
    Two days later my Grandpa stopped in the middle of what he was doing. He held still a moment, and then snuck to the edge of the cave. I glanced around and caught my sister’s eyes. They were huge, wide open, and filled with tears. I didn’t know if she had heard something, or what. I looked back at my Grandpa. He raised a finger to his lips and we all held incredibly still. Ian was somewhere deep in the caves with Seamus and Gaiden, and I hoped they stayed back there a while longer.
    I silently moved to the edge with him, to find out what was happening. I heard something but I couldn’t distinguish what it was. After a moment, it was followed by a sound that could only be described as distant fireworks. I frowned, trying to determine what it could be when Ian came running with the boys from the back of the cave. He had his hand over Gaiden’s mouth and both boys were crying.
    Worried, I almost spoke before I remembered that we were supposed to keep quiet. Ian started mouthing stuff and pointing to his ears. I nodded. We had heard it. He made a gun with his hand. A chill ran over me. That was the first sound. It was so far away I hadn’t recognized it. It must have been some sort of rapid-firing gun.
    Just then Gaiden whimpered and Ian squeezed his mouth tighter and bent to his ear. More tears spilled out of his eyes and his little body was trembling. I looked at my sister and mom. My sister was silently sobbing, but my mom still just stared. I was beginning to wonder if she knew what was going on.
    My grandpa was waving again from the cave door. He did some things with his hands and arms, and finally I realized that he could hear someone running. We all stayed deathly still. After a minute Ian motioned me over to him. He wanted me to take over with Gaiden, and he made his way to the back of the cave.
    I wondered where Ian was going as I quietly reassured Gaiden everything was ok. He had stopped crying and I convinced him to lay down. Ian came back with the gun. I silently prayed he wouldn’t chamber it. That much noise could bring somebody to us, especially if they knew what to look for. And our luck, he would shoot my grandpa, not the intruder.
    Time passed eternally slow. It seemed as though whoever it was had gone. Ian quietly whispered to me that the other noise we had heard was a bomb. I could hardly swallow as I felt my stomach turn into an icy knot. We could have all been killed. Just like that. If they had bombed a few miles closer.
    For some reason I suddenly felt more serious