DEAD: Confrontation Read Online Free

others at the top of the hill. After catching his breath, he followed.
    “That’s the third group today,” Chad said as he went through a check of his gear.
    “I don’t think that tower has gotten any closer,” Scott snarled.
    He was referring to the fire watch tower that sat atop a hill on the other side of the valley that they could now look down into. Chad shielded his eyes and scanned the area.
    “Actually, I think this is the last little valley we will have to go through,” Ronni said and pointed. She had the binoculars up to her face. After a moment, she handed them to her dad.
    Everybody took a turn and followed to where her finger indicated. Sure enough, there was what looked like the base of the tower through some widespread pines.
    Still, the human eye plays tricks. When they had first spo tted the tower over the tops of some trees, the thought was that they could reach it before nightfall. They had been mistaken. Two days later, they were still trying to stave off hypothermia, the occasional walker, and for the past day and a half, zombie wolves. They wanted to believe that they could reach that tower before dark.
    After checking his bindings, Chad pushed off and began the journey down another slope. At the bottom, they discovered a nother creek. The beauty of the ice formations that had accumulated was lost on them, but not the fact that they could refill their canteens.
    Just as the sky was turning to a star-filled bed of darkness, they reached their destination. It had cost them five of their pr ecious glow sticks, but the payoff had been worth it.
    Together, they climbed the switchback staircase and reached the big, open tower. The most welcome sight came from the woodstove in the very center of the single open room. Within the hour, they had a small fire burning. Huddled close for added warmth, the foursome drifted off to the sleep that comes so fast when the body is beyond exhaustion. Only Chad woke once to add a few more pieces of wood to the fire. He thought he heard a distant cry carrying on the still night air, but he was simply too tired to care.
     
    ***
     
    “I always wanted to go to London,” Gemma sighed.
    “Wait,” Vix pulled up and turned to face the younger girl, “you’ve never been to London…ever?”
    “My parents just never liked the city. They thought Basingstoke was too big. If they’d had their way, we would have lived out in the middle of nowhere.”
    “Some would say Basingstoke is in the middle of nowhere,” Vix grumbled.
    “I guess I expected more…fires,” Gemma sighed as she climbed up on the back of a panel van to get a better look at the looming city.
    “It has been months,” Vix pointed out. “I am sure there were plenty. But they have all burned out by now more than likely.”
    “Still…” Gemma shielded her eyes needlessly against the cloud cover.
    “I don’t want to spend too much time out here in the open,” Vix prompted.
    They had followed the M3 for days until they came to the M25 interchange. From there they had travelled north in search of the M4. Things had gotten a bit tense around Heathrow, but Vix had insisted that they keep low.
    After bypassing the fourth or fifth group of survivors, Gemma had asked why they weren’t at least checking them out to see if they might be friendly. Vix had reminded her how “friendly” certain members of their previous group had been.
    “So you aren’t going to trust anybody?” Gemma asked with a mixture of doubt and concern.
    “Not until I have found what I am looking for,” Vix replied.
    “And you are letting me tag along, but can’t be bothered to tell me what we are looking for,” Gemma grumbled.
    “It’s complicated,” Vix said with a sigh. “You see, if I tell you and you think I am daft, then you might just take off.”
    “And you would miss me!” Gemma practically squealed.
    The truth was, she thought that she would need an extra set of eyes and hands when the time came and she