Read Online Alone: Book 1: Facing Armageddon by Darrell Maloney - Free Book Online Page B

Wherever they’re going, I hope they make it safely without being robbed. I know we didn’t know them well, but they were quiet and never caused us any problems. All in all, they were good neighbors.
         I’ll keep an eye on their living room window to see if the candles start burning again. If they don’t return, I’ll go over there and see if there’s anything I can use. I figure I can get enough firewood from the Hansen house to last at least two years, maybe three. If they’re not back by then, I’ll assume they’re not coming back, and I’ll start mining wood from their house as well.
         I installed the outhouse a few days ago. It works great. I even put some Sports Illustrated magazines in there, in a waterproof container.
         I know it doesn’t sound very romantic, but every time I sit on that padded seat I think of you and smile. Maybe I shouldn’t have told you that part.
         I love you, honey. If anything ever happens to me, I hope you guys make it back and find this. At least you’ll know that I never forgot you, and never stopped loving you.
         Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, be safe. And kiss the girls for me. I love you all.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    -17 -
     
         Dave had changed his sleeping habits because he was tired of waking up late in the morning and pissing away all of the sunshine. After that happened the third day in a row, he figured out that he just needed to go to bed earlier, right after it got dark, instead of stumbling around in the darkness trying to do things without the aid of light.
         And it made sense for another reason. He was afraid to use flashlights after dark, for fear someone would see the light while walking past and know that the house was occupied. Whatever project he was working on in near total darkness, with only the moonlight and starlight coming in windows to aid him, it took several times longer than doing the same project in the daytime. So while he thought he was getting things done, he was really just spinning his wheels.
         And his new sleep schedule was a resounding success. By going to bed at sundown, he was wide awake before dawn. He had time to brew himself some coffee on his campfire stove on the back deck, and watch the rabbits hopping around, eating the grass, while he planned his day. Then, as soon as the house was light enough to start work, he put his plans in motion. It worked much better than his old method of sleeping until ten or eleven, then scrambling to beat the sunset, and feeling around in the dark trying to make up for lost time.
         He was awakened three different times the previous night by gunfire. The third time he saw what he thought were headlights shining into the front windows, and he got up to investigate.
         Through the window he could see a house, fully engulfed in flames, two blocks away.
         He looked at the treetops. Thankfully they were still.
    It occurred to him then that he had no back up plan if anyone ever set his house on fire. With no water to put it out, he’d have to evacuate and let the house burn to the ground, with all his provisions. It was a troubling thought.
         He stood at the window and watched for a time, until he was confident the fire wouldn’t spread to his own street. The flames seemed to be dying down now, and neither of the houses on each side of the burning house had caught fire.
         Still, it worried him enough to prevent him from falling back to sleep again.
         He checked his watch. It was still an hour before sunrise.
         He heard automatic gunfire coming from a few streets away, in the opposite direction from the burning house.
         Most of the gunfire occurred at night. It was only sporadic during the daylight hours, but had become quite frequent in darkness.
         He assumed that’s because the looters thought it safer to break