Read Online Nowhere to Hide by Tracey Tobin - Free Book Online

wake. She pushed her curiosities and the morbid conversation aside in favor of not upsetting the boy the moment he woke. “How’re you doing there, Greg?” she asked as cheerfully as she could manage.
    Greg shrugged and grunted as he pushed himself up off the hard floor and stretched. “I’ve definitely been better,” he groaned. Then, with a sheepish sort of look, he admitted, “I hate to say it, but I’m totally starving.”
    “I’m with you there, boy!” Marshall agreed. He followed Nancy’s suit in pretending that the previous conversation had never occurred. “What have we got to eat here, Nancy m’dear?”
    Nancy pushed herself up, cracked her neck, and brushed off her pants. “Well,” she said while heading to the fridge, “keep in mind that we’re in a bar.” She pulled open the double doors and peered inside for a few seconds, though she already knew what awaited her. “We’ve got French fries, onion rings, hot wings, battered vegetables, and garlic bread.” She turned to the men and made a face. “Breakfast of champions.”
    Marshal chuckled and Greg allowed himself a small smile.
    “A little of everything then, hmm?” suggested Nancy. “At least there’s a lot of it.” She pulled a handful of bags off the top shelf and headed over to the fryers.
    Terri-Lynn was awakened soon after by the hiss-pop of the frozen food hitting the hot oil. She stared at the others for several minutes, ignoring their greetings as if confused about what was happening. Eventually she wandered over to the wall-mounted storage containers, grabbed a large bottle of wine, and slunk back into her corner to drown her misery. Nancy, who was losing patience with the woman but didn’t want to be cruel, simply ignored her while the men shot each other bemused looks.
    “Grease is served!” the makeshift chef announced a while later. She laid it out on platters along the counter tops so everyone could pick at what they wanted. Greg immediately dove onto the hot wings, while Marshall nibbled conservatively at the garlic bread. Nancy popped a few veggies in her mouth. When Terri-Lynn didn’t come forward for the food, Nancy piled a couple of pieces of everything on a plate and laid it down on the floor next to her. She stubbornly refused to look at either Nancy or the food, and took a large swing from her wine bottle. Nancy sighed and returned to her own food.
    “So, Marshall,” she asked through a mouthful of fries, “what do you think we should do next?”
    Greg stopped in mid-bite, hot sauce running down his fingers. “What do you mean?” he asked with a pitiful waver to his voice. “Shouldn’t we just wait here to be rescued?”
    Marshall gave the younger man a gentle smile that wasn’t the least bit condescending. “If we could do that, that would be great, m’boy,” he said. “Realistically, though, we have to think outside the margins. Help might not come. We’ll eventually run out of food, and if what’s going on outside continues it’s a good bet that the power and water supply might get cut off as well. Then we’d be forced to leave, and without any supplies and only the few bullets I’ve got left.”
    Nancy nodded, agreeing, though not happily. “So what we should do is prepare weapons and some of the supplies for a probable journey.”
    From her corner, Terri-Lynn snorted loudly, but said nothing while taking an extra-large swing of wine. Greg looked at her, but Nancy and Marshall ignored the outburst.
    “There’s also the chance, however unlikely,” said Marshall, “that the creatures might wind up in here at some point, which is why we should be considering weapon options more sooner than later.”
    Greg eyed the big steel freezer against the only door. “But we’ve blocked the way in,” he pointed out.
    “Think about what you’ve seen already,” Nancy told him gently. “Those things seem stronger than they should be, and they’re resilient. They’ll just keep pushing and