Read The Dead Divide Us (Book 1) for Free Online

I’ll keep an eye on the news too.”
    Before entering the kitchen Ruth thought to herself, “Eight years old and such a grown up kid.”
    Ruth entered the kitchen and saw Roy standing next to Paul; both were standing at the island table in the middle of the room. Pots and pans of all sizes hung above the kitchen island. The entire kitchen was white with all of the counter tops and the top of the island black. Each school night before her family retired to sleep, Ruth got out four cereal bowls and juice glasses for the next morning. Last night had been no exception; the island was set with four places--her family’s places. Ruth walked up to the island, pushed aside one of the cereal bowls, and laid down her laptop. She popped the top and opened Google to look for any new news she could find on the apparent outbreak on the east coast. As she looked up at her husband and her neighbor, she took notice of Tony the Tiger staring at her from the counter top.
    “Hi, Ruth,” Roy said.
    “Hey Roy, what’s the news?” Ruth replied.
    Roy turned so that he was now facing both Paul and Ruth. Roy was a tall fellow; if he wasn’t careful, he would hit his head on the hanging pots.
    “Well, as you can imagine everyone on the block is scared. Only a few of them have relatives back on the east, but nothing like you have Paul. You are the only one with immediate family out there. Did you contact them?” Roy said.
    “I did. I called my brother, told him the news, and he’s on his way to get my parents to safety,” Paul replied.
    Roy nodded, clearly thinking about something, and pushed his thick rimmed glasses back up his nose. Roy’s balding head was shiny and wet due to the slight mist of rain falling outside.
    “They live in Northeastern Pennsylvania, right?” Roy asked and Paul nodded a “yes” back to him.
    “Did they say if they encountered the virus? Or sick people, whatever it is?” Roy asked.
    Paul immediately thought of what his mother said, “Your father and I were out back settling the horses; they were kicking around in their stalls this morning. Something spooked them good, probably a fox.” And she was probably right, just a fox. There was no reason to worry about that; all reports of this outbreak were around Manhattan. Plus, she didn’t say to Paul, “Oh and you know what? A very sick looking man tried to attack us! Boy oh boy, was he sick looking!”
    “Nope, they were all fine. Doesn’t sound like it's moving away from New York or the parts of New England that it’s reached. Does anyone else here have contact with those places? You know, in the hazard zone?” Paul said to Roy.
    “Hazard zone?” Paul thought. "Did I just really say that?" Like he was now living in a sci-fi movie?
    “Sadly no, the only information we can get from those areas is from the television or internet and even that’s scarce,” Roy said, concerned. Ruth looked up from her laptop.
    “I know. I’ve been searching for more info on the infected areas. I’m coming up with nothing,” Ruth chimed in.
    “Well keep looking Ruth,” Roy said and then turned to face Paul. “I was just outside talking with Glen and Warren from across the street. We’re going to have an old fashion town meeting at the high school auditorium at 8 o’clock this morning. All of Green Falls is invited. Whoever shows will have a right to speak," Roy said.
    A town meeting? Was that really necessary? Was this thing really that big of a deal? Paul felt a slight headache start to approach; he used to get head-splitter migraines back in high school. The only cure was to lay down in complete darkness and pray for sleep. He was hoping that this wasn’t going to be the case tonight. Paul took two steps to the right and opened a cupboard door above their shiny new Kenmore Elite stove and grabbed the bottle of aspirin.
    “A town meeting? Really?” Paul asked, trying to hide the displeasure in his voice.
    “I think we need to get everyone on the right