workers received a second helping. Alex narrowed her eyes in anger as she watched these men take their extra food into her home. She kept a close count on the guards as they moved around the yard. Long shadows filled the barnyard as the sun sank behind the distant mountains and all the guards except one headed into the house. The lone remaining guard entered the barn but stepped out within seconds and closed the big double doors. He used a large beam to secure them by dropping it into brackets on the outside. After he had joined his friends in the house, Alex concentrated her glasses on the hayloft door and the hay elevator that ran from there to the ground. The hayloft door had been secured from the outside with a board set in brackets like the main door. As darkness settled over the land she concentrated her sight on her house. The only light showed from a few windows and she watched for another hour to see if any guards came out to patrol the yard. Each time the door opened and spilled light out her shoulders tensed but after the fifth guard came out and did his bathroom business she hoped they were done for the night.
After almost two hours in the tree, Alex’s body was stiff and sore and she slowly made her way down to the forest floor. She stretched out her back and legs and looked down at her heavy pack. She had to climb the hay elevator and she had to do it as silently as possible. Shaking her head at the weight, she knew she would have to leave some of her gear behind. Just as she picked up her pack , sounds of branches cracking came to her from the west. Her heart started to pound and sheen of sweat developed all over her body. Looking around frantically she ran to the closest evergreen and pushed her pack between the branches before crawling into its interior opening. She tried to calm her ragged breathing but her body was filled with adrenaline.
Frustration filled her because she was so close to helping her father and she prayed that it was an animal traveling through the trees. As the sounds moved closer to her, she closed her eyes and concentrated on it, waiting for what would happen next. After spending years playing in the woods, Alex soon realized the sounds coming toward her were not being made by an animal.
Chapter Six
Cooper and Dara had made good time getting to town. They weren’t as familiar with the trails and pathways that ran through the trees on the west side of town but after studying the hand drawn maps their friends had made for them, they were confident they could make it undetected. There was a roadblock on the main highway two miles from town that they had to circle around but they stayed far enough in the trees that they weren’t seen. The community center, school and most of the residential areas were on the south side of town and they would have to cross the main highway at some point to get to those areas. Cooper led the way, as he was more familiar with the business area and back alleys than Dara.
When they came to the tree line , there was a green space that ran between it and a few industrial buildings. They took their time and watched the area for signs of movement but saw nothing. After twenty minutes of watching, they decided that the area wasn’t being used so they dashed across the green space and through a parking lot. Using the building for cover, they again waited and watched the highway. Directly across from them was an access road that led into a new residential development, under construction when the pulse hit. They planned on using that area to travel deeper into the south side of town and hoped it was abandoned. Still not seeing anyone around, the two crossed over the main road and moved quickly into the construction area. They cautiously walked past half-finished homes that would quite probably never be lived in. The silence was eerie in a place that should be alive with men hammering and sawing.
The construction site was protected by a chainlink perimeter fence
After almost two hours in the tree, Alex’s body was stiff and sore and she slowly made her way down to the forest floor. She stretched out her back and legs and looked down at her heavy pack. She had to climb the hay elevator and she had to do it as silently as possible. Shaking her head at the weight, she knew she would have to leave some of her gear behind. Just as she picked up her pack , sounds of branches cracking came to her from the west. Her heart started to pound and sheen of sweat developed all over her body. Looking around frantically she ran to the closest evergreen and pushed her pack between the branches before crawling into its interior opening. She tried to calm her ragged breathing but her body was filled with adrenaline.
Frustration filled her because she was so close to helping her father and she prayed that it was an animal traveling through the trees. As the sounds moved closer to her, she closed her eyes and concentrated on it, waiting for what would happen next. After spending years playing in the woods, Alex soon realized the sounds coming toward her were not being made by an animal.
Chapter Six
Cooper and Dara had made good time getting to town. They weren’t as familiar with the trails and pathways that ran through the trees on the west side of town but after studying the hand drawn maps their friends had made for them, they were confident they could make it undetected. There was a roadblock on the main highway two miles from town that they had to circle around but they stayed far enough in the trees that they weren’t seen. The community center, school and most of the residential areas were on the south side of town and they would have to cross the main highway at some point to get to those areas. Cooper led the way, as he was more familiar with the business area and back alleys than Dara.
When they came to the tree line , there was a green space that ran between it and a few industrial buildings. They took their time and watched the area for signs of movement but saw nothing. After twenty minutes of watching, they decided that the area wasn’t being used so they dashed across the green space and through a parking lot. Using the building for cover, they again waited and watched the highway. Directly across from them was an access road that led into a new residential development, under construction when the pulse hit. They planned on using that area to travel deeper into the south side of town and hoped it was abandoned. Still not seeing anyone around, the two crossed over the main road and moved quickly into the construction area. They cautiously walked past half-finished homes that would quite probably never be lived in. The silence was eerie in a place that should be alive with men hammering and sawing.
The construction site was protected by a chainlink perimeter fence
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