Read 2nd Earth: Shortfall for Free Online Page B

that there are such buildings around the city. Many of the books have been used for fires. However, there are still a lot of them left. She says if we want to we can go tomorrow morning. Tim and I make a list of the topics we would like to research. I ask Dayna and the others if any of them know how to read. Billy’s mom does and a few others say a little. They have never had anyone show them more than a little. We tell everyone that starting tomorrow they will be learning how to read and write. They don’t know why they need to, but they are willing. I try to explain to Dayna why reading is so important. She just says if I want her to be able to read then she will learn. That is as long as we take time out for the important stuff, like the forbidden fruit. I told her what Ma Horton said and she says she would have loved to have met her. It made her feel good when I told her Ma would have loved her as much as I do.
    In the morning we do go to a library or what is left of one. It was not a large library when it was being used as one and now there is a very limited selection to choose from. We do find some very good books for the others to learn to read and I manage to find a couple of the topics I am looking for. I am sure there will be other opportunities to find the books I want, for now we will do what we can with what we have. We stop at the building where Tim saw the antenna yesterday and go looking for a short wave radio. We don’t find a radio, but we take the antenna down and take it with us in case we find a radio. The last stop for today is a house that I saw where there is a sign out front saying they used to sell guns and ammo here. The place has been ransacked and all there is left is some loose ammunition on the floor. Tim says we are about twenty years too late judging by the way the place looks.
    I expected to see exactly what we are seeing. I also expect to see something that maybe the others didn’t see. Sure enough when I go into one of the rooms toward the back of the house the room doesn’t look near deep enough from the inside. I mention this to Tim and he tells me I’m imagining it. There is a window almost in the corner of the room, I tell Tim to look out the window toward the back of the house. The outside wall goes a good four feet beyond where the wall ends in here. I am looking for some kind of trigger or device to open a trap door when Dayna finds it beside the window. The door barely moves, but it opens just enough for us to get our fingers in and pry it open. There is a set of stairs heading downward. Following them we come to a small room that is totally sealed except for this way in. On the walls are what I expected to find, rifles and handguns of every description. Many of them are military weapons from World War II, Korea and even Viet Nam. There is also enough ammunition to start a small war. I am looking for specific guns and ammunition. I find a .307 with a snipers scope on it. That one I definitely want. There are a couple .243 caliber rifles with scopes, those are coming with us. Tim picks out an M16 military rifle and there are several cases of ammunition for that. Tim moves a couple cases of ammunition on a table and finds a short wave radio. We are glad we have as many people with us as we do. We load up the wagons with everything we can carry. Tim points out that this guy must have been a survivalist because he also has several cases of military rations from the Viet Nam war era.
    We decide to lock everything up, to look as natural as possible, and plan to come back to clean the place out. On the way home Tim asks me how I knew we would find a hidden cache like this. I tell him I didn’t for sure, but Gunny knew several gun dealers that worked out of their homes and every one of them had a similar setup. Even many gun shops have hidden rooms where the more expensive, and sometimes less legal weapons, are kept for special customers. Dayna is so proud that we are bringing home