Read Online Children of the After: Awakening (book 1) by Jeremy Laszlo - Free Book Online Page B

food in the apartments had to of been taken after whatever happened.”
    “But what if it wasn’t just an event? What if the event
triggered a disease, or a disease triggered the event and everyone just died?”
Jack wondered aloud.
    “I don’t think so, if they had, then where did they go?”
    “I don’t know, Sam. I thought of that too, but nothing makes
any sense. I just can’t make it work out in my head. Nothing adds up.”
    “What if there were bodies everywhere, but someone
cleaned them up?” Sam asked, her voice sounding more hopeful.
    “You mean like after whatever happened here they came in,
cleared the city, and declared it uninhabitable or something and that’s why
there aren’t any people or anything?”
    “Yeah, like Hiroshima. Wasn’t there a power plant on the
edge of Lake Michigan? Was it nuclear?” Sam asked.
    “I don’t know. I’m really starting to wish I paid more
attention in school. I’m thinking you might be close, but that still doesn’t
explain some things.”
    “Like what?”
    “The food missing from the apartments and even here, but
more than that, why aren’t there any planes in the sky? Not one. There used to
be planes everywhere.”
    “Yeah, but there used to be airports in Chicago, maybe they
don’t have a reason to come here anymore.”
    “Yeah, I guess. It just seems too weird,” Jack concluded.
    After their chat they both drifted off again into their own
thoughts until Will began to squirm around, signaling that he would be awake in
the very near future. Without a whole lot of selection to choose from, Jack
rose from his cardboard bed and poured the three remaining packs of Twinkies
out of the box, and into his lap. Deciding he didn’t want to wait for Will to
wake up gradually, he shook his younger brother’s shoulder gently and when he
awoke he handed him a sugar and caffeine laden Pepsi to get the day started. That should certainly put some pep in his step.
    After a hasty breakfast they removed the barricade from the
door, and made their way back out into the street. It was time to search for
some more supplies. Crossing the road they entered another gas station, but
found the only cooler it contained had been destroyed and had no lingering
supplies. Minutes later, however, they entered the third gas station inhabiting
the intersection and once inside they managed to find a snack-sized bag of
chips along with a candy bar and two more bottles of soda. Then it was back to
the streets.
     
    For most of the morning their journey led them down the
center of the same road, mile after mile, occasionally ducking into the
wreckage of one building or another to scavenge for supplies, usually turning
up empty. When afternoon came, and the sun beamed down upon them from between
wispy clouds Sam froze in her steps, causing both him and Will to stop as well.
Turning to look at her, Jack opened his mouth as she gave him a look that would
have turned a rampaging bear away. Watching as she raised a finger to her lips,
it was Will who perked up next, turning his head this way and that as if
seeking something out. It was only a second or two more when he heard it for
the first time. There was a sound in the city.
    * * * * *
    Sam froze in her tracks, certain she had heard something
besides her own breathing and the rhythmic crunching of glass beneath their
feet. Turning her head this way and that to look both up and down the road, she
heard it again as Jack turned to look at her. He had the audacity to open his
mouth, though she quickly silenced him with a look. Straining her senses, she
heard it again, and turning her head she was now certain.
    Somewhere in the distance ahead, perhaps around a corner or
a few blocks away, something or someone else was moving among the streets. They
could all hear it now, but it was Jack who made the first move.
    Her shoulder grasped by one of his large hands, Jack led her
to duck as they moved quickly to the side of the road in the shadow of