Read Dead Outside (Book 1) for Free Online Page B

bag was one of the last ones there. I
grabbed it and saw my Dad already parked in a line of cars out the door.
    "How
you been?" he asked as I opened the door to his truck.
    "Good,"
I answered with a lie, "How bout you?"
    "Great,"
he smiled, most likely seeing through my lie, "Ready for the work
weekend?"
    "As
long as you got plenty of whiskey and shotgun rounds I'm ready to go." I
smirked. Even though the point of the weekend was general upkeep and to chop
wood for winter and have it ready for hunting season, we took plenty of breaks
to fire off a few rounds, and once the sun went down the bottles came out and
it was party time.
    "Well
you know how we almost ran out last year?" He asked as we pulled out of
the airport loading zone.
    "Yeah,
the last night I had to drink vodka," I shivered, not being much of a fan
of vodka.
    "Don't
worry we'll have enough whiskey, I bought a case his time." My dad said
rather proudly.
    "I
thought you said you we'd have enough?" I said sarcastically.
    He
glanced over for a second and let out a deep belly laugh that always brought a
smile to my face.
     
    9:00
AM June 20
    I
loaded the last cooler into the back of the truck. We were leaving in a few
minutes, and everybody had something to do. My mom, aunts and grandmother were
inside the cabin doing last minute packing, while my uncles were putting out
the camp fire, and stacking the remainder of the firewood behind the cabin for
next year. The last two days for me had consisted of chopping wood and dusting
everything inside, much to my chagrin. If it hadn't been for shooting off a few
rounds during the day and the drinking at the end of each night I might have
lost my mind. My grandmother had cooked us plenty of amazing meals as well, so
we didn't go starving.
    I
slammed the tailgate shut and called for my Dad. He was still loading things
into my grandmothers van.
    “Alright
Dad, I’m leaving now so I can gas up the truck.” I opened the door and hopped
into the seat and sat down. I shut the door and rolled the windows down and my
Dad came to the window.
    “Well
your grandmother's van is already gassed up, so we'll probably beat you there,”
he said. “I’ll call you when we leave.”
    “Okay,
my phone hasn’t been getting service lately, so I probably won’t get your
call,” I told him. “But call anyway. Who knows it might come through.”
    He
nodded and went back into the cabin. I shifted the truck into drive and pulled past
the my Grandmother's van and two trucks belonging to my Uncles to get out onto
the road. I cranked the radio to some classic rock, my favorite music to drive
to.
    I
drove for about a half hour on curvy back roads contouring to the landscape
which consisted of hills and valleys, all zigzagging around like something a
kindergartener might scribble on a piece of paper. I reached the gas station
located just before the highway and pulled off.
    My
dad had given me his credit card to pay for gas, which was a good thing, I
doubted my bank account could afford to gas up my own Ranger, let alone his
full size truck.
    As
I held the nozzle for the gas pump I saw the convoy of my parents and uncles
driving past me and onto the highway. I waved to them as they passed and got a
honk of the horn from each of them.
    Once
the gas tank was full I got back in the cab and got onto the highway, which
from there is a 3 hour straight shot to my grandmother’s house, depending on
traffic.
     
    After
another hour or so of driving, I noticed several police cruisers and an
ambulance speeding up from behind me. They sped past me and off into the
distance. I didn’t think much of it until another small convoy came about five
minutes later. Then I noticed that several other vehicles were speeding past
me, which was odd, because I was already going about ten miles an hour over the
speed limit. Most of them were loaded up with tons of supplies, almost like
everyone in the state decided to go camping on the same weekend. Most of them
were