The Survivor Chronicles (Book 3): The Forsaken Read Online Free PDF Page A

need more arms and eyes in there than just the three of you," he replied.
    "Someone should watch the car."
    "It's not like it's a fortified building, we can keep watch well enough from inside."
    She started to protest more but Carl intervened, "He's right and we're wasting time, let's go."
    Cursing, Riley pulled the keys from the ignition and climbed out after Xander. Carl held his hand up and she tossed him the keys. He snatched them out of the air, unlocked the trunk, and pulled the empty gas cans and tubing from inside. "Let's see if there's still gas in these cars before we go in."
    She knew that Carl had intended to make sure the others had something sturdy to drive, and enough supplies to get them through in case they didn't return when he'd left the rack body dump truck behind, but it really would have come in handy now.
    "Are you going to tell me what happened in that store?" Xander asked as he stepped beside her.
    She found herself barely able to meet his gaze again as she took the can from him. "Yes."
    "I did some things I'm not proud of too Ri, we all have."
    "I know." She wondered if what he'd done could possibly have been worse than putting a bullet in Lee's head, but she wasn't about to get into that now. She took the can from his hands and turned away as Carl began to draw gas from the first car.
    Twenty minutes later, Carl had the gas cans filled off of two cars and tucked back into the trunk of their car. Riley's palms were sweating as she shifted the gun between her hands and eyed the dark grocery store warily. She'd seen nothing to indicate there were people inside, nothing to make her suspect that someone was just waiting to open fire at them, but she couldn't shake the feeling of impending doom as they approached the building.
    John put his gun down on the brick sill under the window and cupped his hands around his face as he pressed them to the glass. "Do you see anything?" Carl asked.
    "Registers and lanes, some shelves," John answered.
    Riley placed her gun down on the bricks also and looking much like John, she pressed her face to the glass and peered inside. It was difficult to discern anything but she saw no movement amongst the lanes and the first few feet of the shelves that she could see.
    "It doesn't look like anything has been touched?" She hadn't meant for it to be a question but it came out sounding like one.
    "No, it doesn't," John agreed.
    "How is that possible?" Xander asked as he stepped away from the window. "I figured this would be one of the first places people would come."
    Riley stepped away from the glass and looked toward Carl who was leaning against the wall as he smoked a cigarette. "This whole fucking town doesn't make sense," he said. "But there could be gas in there that has kept people out."
    "What kind of gas?" Xander asked.
    Riley informed him of the pockets of gas they'd encountered that could turn a human body into something resembling gooey soup with bone and sinew. Xander rubbed at his chin as he nodded. "We ran across something like that after we escaped the stadium. You think that could be what happened in there?"
    "Only one way to find out," Carl said as he walked over to the first door.
    Riley stepped to the other side of the door as he stuck his foot out and pushed the door open with it. The door only moved an inch before sliding closed again. "Get me the trashcan," he said.
    John grabbed hold of the trashcan at the end of the metal divider between the entrance and exit doors, and handed it to Carl. Xander stepped forward to help him push the door open and wedged the can in to keep it open. Xander and Carl's faces were both red from holding their breaths as they stepped away from the door. Riley held her breath as she stepped closer and strained to see if anything moved within.
    "I think it's safe to go in," Riley said.
    Carl nodded, pulled the can out and pushed his way into the store. John followed behind him and she and Xander took up the rear. She pulled her