Read Colony East for Free Online Page B

trust.
    “I’ll go and take Timmy,” Mandy said.
    Jordan sprang to life. “Timmy should stay here.”
    “Why?” Mandy asked. “He can come with me.”
    “He’s better at catching crickets,” Jordan replied.
    “We’ll ask Timmy.” Mandy got down on one knee. “Want to come with me?”
    “Sure,” Timmy said.
    Abby muttered in agitation. A simple suggestion had turned into a major dispute.
    Jordan moved closer to Timmy. “You want some candy?”
    Timmy’s face lit up. “What kind?”
    “All kinds!”
    “Twizzlers?” Timmy cried.
    “Yeah, lots of Twizzlers,” Jordan said.
    Mandy furrowed her brow, and Abby felt just as confused. What was her brother talking about?
    Jordan told them about the candy he had hidden in the basement two Halloweens ago. Abby thought it sounded like something he would do.
    Mandy put her hands on her hips. “Go get it.”
    “Sorry,” he replied with a shrug. “Timmy and I have to hunt for it.”
    Muttering under her breath, Mandy grabbed the thermoses and headed for the door.
    “Wait,” Abby jumped up. “I’ll go with you.”

CHAPTER EIGHT
    Convinced he had found a way to secure the pills, Jordan watched Mandy and Abby step out of the house. Timmy was the answer. He’d watched how Mandy treated the boy and figured that Abby was right. Mandy saw herself as Timmy’s protector. He didn’t care why she felt that way. All that mattered was that Mandy would not leave without Timmy. Jordan knew that he or Abby had to stay with the boy at all times.
    He handed the paring knife to Mel. “Timmy and I are going to the basement. Shout if you need us.”
    She gripped the handle. “I hope they come back.”
    He knew she meant Brad’s gang. “Mel, just shout if anyone comes, okay?”
    He waited until she nodded, which took more than a few seconds.
    In the dining room, Jordan found Timmy playing with a deck of cards. That annoyed him. He had asked him to search for a butane lighter or a book of matches in the drawers of the sideboard. “Did you find matches?”
    Timmy shook his head and gathered up the cards. “Can I have these?”
    “Yes. Let’s keep looking.”
    Timmy crammed the deck into his pocket, where it probably shared space with bug parts and who knew what else.
    A moment later, Timmy lifted a photo from a drawer. “Who’s that?”
    A lump formed in Jordan’s throat. “My mom and dad.” He held the photo. His parents had been in Paris on their honeymoon, the Eifel Tower in the background. He guessed they were in their mid-twenties, and they looked so happy. It was strange to think they would go on to raise a family and then their lives would end abruptly just because a stupid comet passed by the Earth.
    “My dad’s in the army.”
    Timmy’s voice startled Jordan.
    “The army, huh?”
    Timmy saluted. “The U.S. Army. He’s a sergeant. He’s coming home after he wins the war.”
    Many survivors spoke about their parents as if they were traveling or working in a different city or visiting a relative; they’d be home any day now. Jordan had known kids to even make up what their parents did. Timmy’s father might have been a stockbroker. Jordan certainly didn’t fault him for making up stories. He had his own fantasies to cope with the loss of loved ones.
    “The army has special tents that keep the germs out,” Timmy added. “Soldiers sleep in tents.”
    “Guess we’re going to have to find the candy in the dark,” Jordan said, steering the conversation back to the main topic.
    They stood before the pitch-black opening to the basement.
    Jordan’s heart raced. “When did you eat your last candy bar?” He wasn’t quite ready to go down the steps. When he was five or six years old, Abby had told him that monsters lurked in the basement. Now his mind was cooking up some pretty terrible things.
    “December second.”
    Jordan squinted with a smile. “You remember the date?”
    “That’s my birthday. I turned nine.”
    Jordan held out his hand.