Wisteria (Wisteria Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

reached a rickety door under the stairs. He opened the door to reveal a steel security cage door and behind that was stairs to the basement. The siren sounded off again.
    Amanda shrieked.
    Tim made his way down the long descent into the basement.
    “You’ve got to keep quiet,” Gareth warned. “Wisteria, go.”
    Wisteria followed Tim along the dimly lit steps.
    “Ah, something moved,” Amanda muttered as the light flickered and went out. “Where are the lights?” She grabbed Wisteria’s shoulder.
    “They cut all power after the sirens go,” Wisteria answered. “It’s safer, since biters are drawn to light.”
    Gareth padlocked the door behind them..
    Something brushed against Wisteria’s body. “Ah.” Startled by it, she jumped.
    “Ria, calm down.” Tim lit a kerosene lamp and flashed the light over a hole that led to an underground bunker. “Inside.”
    Wisteria climbed down first.
    “What’s going on?” Amanda asked once they were inside the hole.
    “We’ve got to wait down here.” Wisteria looked around the room.
    It was comprised of three bunk beds and what looked like a chamber pot.
    Tim climbed down.
    Then Gareth pulled down the cover of the hole and locked them inside.
    “Don’t worry.” Tim sat next Amanda. “This is probably a drill.”
    Wisteria sat on the bed furthest from the door.
    The older boy perched on the ladder and took out a packet of cigarettes.
    “A drill? So it’s not real?” Amanda twisted her long blond hair in her fingers.
    “It happens every few weeks.” Tim held Amanda’s hand.
    “They want to prepare us in case biters ever make it onto the island,” Wisteria explained.
    “They do this all the time?” Amanda questioned.
    “Yeah, most buildings have a bunker or shelter of some kind,” she replied.
    “So, we just sit here and wait for how long?” Amanda gripped Tim’s hand even tighter.
    “There’ll be a third siren, well, a series of twenty short sirens in a few hours if it’s a drill,” Wisteria answered.
    “And if it’s not?” Amanda asked.
    “Hopefully, the three hundred soldiers who run this town won’t let that happen,” Gareth remarked as he smoked.
    “There’s no way the island could repel a swarm. The only plan is to wait it out in the bunkers and hopefully some of us will survive,” Wisteria informed her.
    “You’re being overly dramatic.” Gareth shot her a dirty look.
    “How long are we going to have to be down here?” Amanda continued.
    “Once we’re sure it’s safe. What happens next—” Wisteria started.
    “Until the other siren goes off,” Gareth snapped at her. “As simple as that. Wisteria, what the hell’s wrong with you?”
    “Technically, we don’t know,” Wisteria protested.
    “Wisteria-Hysteria, it’s a drill.” Tim rolled his eyes. “Biters have never set foot on the island since the soldiers came and they never will.”
    “You’ve not been outside in—”
    “What? In what—Wisteria...?” Gareth gasped. “The reason we keep having these drills is because Major Coles is an anal retentive loser. That’s it.”
    There was a loud bang upstairs. Someone or something was inside the house. Tim sprang to his feet and glanced at Gareth, who looked unsettled.
    “We bolted all the doors; no one should be up there!” Tim exclaimed.
    “Be very quiet.” Wisteria looked up at the door. She heard another loud crash above and crossed her legs on the bed while staring at her feet. She prayed the night would pass.
    Amanda clutched firmly onto Tim.
    Gareth lit another cigarette, his hands shaking as he moved the cigarette to his lips.
    All the kids jumped up as they heard scratching on the door.
    Amanda let out a scream.
    “Shh!” Tim pleaded.
    A deep moan came through the door as the scratching got louder.
    “The door’ll keep us safe, right?” Amanda seemed to be begging more than asking.
    It depended on how many biters were out there. If there was one, then they were fine. If there were twenty—they