Read 900 Miles (Book 2): 900 Minutes for Free Online

Deanna, I found myself climbing a set of stairs that led up to a part of the field above the bunker which was fortified and surrounded by a series of large cement walls. I stepped toward my good friend. The one man I could trust.
    Wearing a pair of sunglasses that hid his eyes, Kyle had his head tilted toward the sun. His equipment was piled up nearby, and he was using the moment of peace to enjoy the outside, taking deep breaths and pulling the fresh air into his lungs. I did n’ t think he noticed me walking up beside him.
    “ Nothing like the outdoors ,” he said as he exhaled.
    Glancing up at the sky, I watched as a set of rolling white clouds lazily drifted through a magnificent blue sky. There were moments where one could almost forget about where we were and what had happened. The clouds did n’ t give a shit whether humans or Zs roamed the landscape. They moved along just the same. It was the same sky the dinosaurs had looked at, and it would be the same one long after man was extinct. I took comfort in the fact that not everything had changed in the seven months since the dead began t o… well, not stay dead.
    “ Getting a little cabin fever, are we ?” I said as I glanced at Kyle.
    “ I would be perfectly happy setting up a tent out here and never going back down into that catacomb ,” he replied, emphasizing catacomb as he looked at his own black, soot-covered hands.
    “ Yo u’ re not turning all hippie on me, are you ? ”
    Glancing to me, with a straight face, he said ,“ Do n’ t know. Yo u’ re not turning all Wookie on me, are you ? ”
    Reaching my hand up to the patchy beard I had failed to shave off for weeks, I cracked a smile and replied ,“ Touc h é …”
    Slowly panning my gaze across the Yard, I noticed people scurrying around, getting ready. It was a big deal every time we entered and exited Avalon, and it took time to get everything in order. Still, I found myself tapping my foot. I could n’ t help but feel like we were n’ t moving fast enough.
    Prodding him a bit, I asked about the time, knowing full well what the answer was.
    Without moving his face away from the sun, Kyle lifted his wrist to my face, placing a rusted gold-plated watch with a scratched faceplate to my eyes. Barely glancing at the hand slowly ticking around, I muttere d“ Shi t” under my breath .“ W e’ re already losing daylight . ”
    Kyle remained calm, trying not to get worked up. I knew him well enough to understand that he needed time to get mentally ready before heading out beyond the wall.
    This was just his way of doing it, and did n’ t in any way mean he wasn't fully aware of the sense of urgency at hand.
    The Yard, as we called the land we had sealed off from the outside world, was our small patch of safety outside. We had some gardens where we grew seasonal vegetables on the far side, a garage where we did most of the vehicle repairs, and a parking lot filled with four-wheel drive trucks and pickups which the group used for recon work and scavenging outside the walls. We even had a solid supply of fuel-filled drums stockpiled near the garage, which w e’ d collected from nearby gas stations.
    Sticking out like a sore thumb was the bright yellow Hummer, now repaired, that Kyle and I had picked up in New York and traveled to Avalon in so many months ago. There was a special place in my heart for that vehicle. W e’ d been through a lot together. Just like my hammer.
    Looking up at the sky, I could n’ t help but notice the two guard towers erected on each side of the Yard. They had spotlights and a few heavily armed men, men who were responsible for monitoring the area around us. They were protecting what w e’ d created, keeping a steady eye on the hardworking people, all of us rallying behind a vision for a safe society amongst a world of the dead.
    My attention was drawn to a young man who was pulling carrots from the dark soil in the garden and passing them off to a few children that