Read The Survivors (Book 1): Summer for Free Online Page A

little row with their faded labels facing forward.  Tidy little soldiers, all standing at attention, ready to be devoured at my leisure.  Om nom nom.
    By that stage, I was starting to lose the daylight.
    "Time to batten down the hatches," I murmured to myself as I glanced out the window at the setting sun.  While I had artificial light if I wanted it, I did not want to go advertising my position to every Tom, Dick and Harry in the local area.  Don't poke the bear.
    Bear?  What bear?   I crinkled my nose; I was really starting to go a bit peculiar, and apparently my head was full of delightfully inappropriate clichés.
    I shook my head and decided to let that one go.  I'd worry about my mental health later, along with my many, many other problems.  Such as figuring out if the plumbing in my new home still worked.  Oh, how I longed for a hot shower.  That would have been just lovely.
    Taser in one hand and keys in another, I trotted back downstairs and peered cautiously out at the office through a crack in the door.  Nothing stirred.
    Then I crept into the main room of the store, and inspected that just as thoroughly before proceeding.  Still nothing.
    I stuck my head outside, and look ed up and down the street.  Once again, I found no signs of life except a pair of magpies chatting about how silly I was for being so paranoid.
    You think that's paranoid, maggies?  Just watch me .
    Still not satisfied, I slipped outside and circled the store in a low crouch, peering into bushes and over obstructions to make sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that I really was entirely alone.  One full circuit completed, I turned right back around and went the other way, checking that my footprints were the only ones visible.
    Satisfied at last, I returned to the front door of the shop and paused to examine the debris in the doorway, making sure everything was exactly as I'd left it.  It was.
    I was safe and alone.
    Part of me wondered if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but the part of me that remembered the pain of violence most vividly reassured me that it was definitely a good thing.  In this messed-up world, there was no one that I could trust, no one that I could love – no one that would put my safety above their own.  I was alone in every sense of the word.
    With a sweep of my foot, I cleared away as much of the debris from the doorway as I could, then shoved the outer door closed and turned the lock.  I didn't have much faith in the door's strength, given that the glass was badly cracked, but it would do.  At least if someone – or something – tried to come through it, I'd have plenty of warning.
    And the taser wasn't the only weapon in my possession.
    Retracing my steps, I retreated back behind the counter and paused to examine the old refrigerator that had once housed drinks for sale to the public.  I didn't trust the various kinds of soft drinks and juices, but there were a number of bottles of water inside that were still sealed.
    Gathering up an armful, I took them with me as I retreated back into my new home, closing windows and locking doors behind me.  First, the office was locked up, then the door to the stairs, and then the door at the top of the stairs as well.  Apparently, Benny was as paranoid as I was, or at least liked the security of having several locked doors between him and the rest of the world.
    I wasn’t sure what Benny's excuse was, but who could really blame me?  I had barely survived my last encounter with other people, and the experience had left me scarred both mentally and physically.  
    Once I was finally safely confined to my new home, I lined up my water bottles on the kitchen bench – more neat little soldiers destined to sacrifice themselves to fill my belly.  I broke the seal on one and sniffed at the contents, then tasted it cautiously.  Nothing but fresh, clean water.  A little tainted by the plastic over the years, but it wouldn't kill me – at least, not anytime