Read Online You and Me against the World: The Creepers Saga Book 1 by Raymond Esposito - Free Book Online Page A

they wanted to have children and wanted those children to have neighbors.
    Thorn depressed the button on the electric garage door opener. The thoughts of the days to come snapped in his mind like photos. He turned the Jeep in a small arc in front of his drive and then backed it into the garage. Susan pressed the remote’s button, and the door swung down again. As the door closed, Thorn looked at his garbage cans that sat at the end of the driveway. He wondered if things as small as refuse removal were forever gone from this world.
    “What now?” Susan’s voice pulled him back from his daze.
    “Now,” he said, “we lock this place down, and hope we feel foolish for it later.”
    “Maybe it’s not as bad as we think. I mean, it was just a few people at the hospital, right?” Rosa said as she climbed from the Jeep.
    Thorn didn’t answer her but instead began to secure the garage door with the hurricane rods.
    “What can we do to help?” Susan asked as she looked around the neatly organized garage.
    “The downstairs windows have electric hurricane shutters. I want to get them closed before the electric goes out. Just press the button on the sill and hold it until you hear the shutter click. Rosa, I want you to find the thermostat near the staircase. Turn it down to its lowest setting.”
    “What? We’ll freeze.”
    “Trust me, the electricity won’t be on for long, and it’s going to get real hot and stuffy real fast.”
    Thorn didn’t know if the hurricane poles would prevent someone—or something, his mind whispered—from breaking through the door. He figured the noise would at least provide them with a little warning. When he finished, he went into the house and found Susan in the living room.
    “Okay, that’s the last one,” Susan said as he entered. “Except for the back slider; I couldn’t find the button.”
    “That one is manual. I’ll get it.”
    Thorn considered the usefulness of the shutters. He didn’t know if the infected maintained any intelligence. He could not be sure that the shutters wouldn’t just be the equivalent of hanging a big sign that read, WE’RE IN HERE! The unsettling truth was that he was operating with very little information. It was more gut survival instincts that drove him than any knowledge of what would save them. The shutters would be difficult to tear free, so at least they provided a measure of security. Like the garage door, if an attack came, he would know from which direction.
    He stepped out onto the lanai. The afternoon was warm and humid. He took a long look at his pool. The little waterfall gurgled with clear blue water. The daze returned, but he threw it off and worked the folding shutter free from its enclosure. He stepped inside and pulled it closed. The inside of the house was dark, except for the small pool of light cast by the table lamp and the strip of light beneath the front door.
    “What do we do about the front door?” Susan asked.
    Thorn considered the large double door, happy that he had not opted for the glass panels.
    “I’ll board it up later, but I have to do something first. There’s a case of bottled water in the garage and canned goods on the shelves. Can you and Rosa grab everything out there that we might need?”
    “Come on, Rosa, the doctor’s still giving orders.”
    They all tried to laugh, but it had a plastic empty sound, and it died quickly.
    “And, Susan”—he paused—“grab anything that can be used for a weapon.”
    Her smile faded and she nodded.
    The women stacked water, batteries, two flashlights, and other items on the dining room table.
    “A handsome man with such a nice big house, it seems he needs a woman to make it a home.” Rosa winked at Susan.
    “Rosa, please,” Susan said in a hushed voice. “The poor guy lost his wife.”
    “Yes, I know, but that was almost two years ago.”
    “And it’s hardly the time to be worried about dating,” Susan continued.
    “Pah, nonsense. This will pass,”