Free Werewolf Suspense (Book 4): Outage 4 (The Reckoning) by T.W. Piperbrook Page B

Silas.
    "Wrap this around you," he told them.
    They took it with gratitude, draping it over their shoulders. The storm's breeze kicked up the snow, drifting and melting it on the radiator with a quiet hiss. They needed to get out of here, but first, they needed a plan. The hallway was quiet for the moment. But the creatures would be coming soon.
    Tom sighed. "There must be another way we can defend ourselves. Something we can use."
    Abraham shrugged. "Right before everyone came in, I was looking at the sharps container on the wall. That gave me an idea. Couldn't we inject these things? Drug them, somehow?" He turned to Kelsey and Tabatha.
    Kelsey shook her head. "With a needle, we'd need to be close. I don't think that'd work without getting us killed."
    Tabatha added, "Even if we could inject them, the effects wouldn't be instantaneous."
    "Are there any supply rooms up here?" Tom asked.
    "Yes, we have a supply room on each floor, and a larger one on the ground floor." Kelsey furrowed her brow. "But most of the supplies are things we can't use."
    "What about gases?" Tom asked, grasping for any solution. "Laughing gas, maybe?"
    "We do have nitrous oxide containers. If you were to let the container run in a confined area, let's say a room, you could possibly sedate anyone inside. But I doubt that would work, either." Kelsey thought on it further. "Even if we filled such a room, we'd have to lead the creatures into it. Which would mean whoever went inside would pass out with them. And the chances of shutting the creatures inside and keeping them in there are pretty small."
    Tom blew a breath. He pictured luring the beasts into the room, watching them topple. After that, he'd finish them off with his axe. The image was satisfying, but he couldn't imagine putting it into practice. "There has to be something else we can use," he said, frustrated.  
    "All we have in there are a lot of supplies: bedpans, masks, syringes, and shelves of linens."
    They fell quiet for a moment, glancing out the window or listening for noises from the hallway. Tom recalled a time when he had thought the snow was beautiful, a peaceful part of nature. That was before Jeremy had died in the accident. Before Lorena had been killed. He couldn't imagine looking at it the same way anymore.  
    He had to get the group out of this. He had to. He wracked his brain for answers.
    Before he could conjure an idea, Katherine turned her head.
    "There's someone outside!"
    The group snapped to attention.

Chapter Sixteen

    Tom hovered next to the others, staring out into the parking lot. A man was trudging across the snow in a hooded winter coat. He was carrying a pistol, shielding his face with a hood. The wind and snow pummeled his body, threatening to pitch him over.  
    Tom furrowed his brow. "Who is it? Someone from the bus?"
    "It looks like it," Abraham confirmed.  
    "Maybe he escaped and found his way back," Tom said.
    "Could be."
    Immediately after saying the words, Katherine's and Silas' faces perked up. Tom wondered if they thought it was their father.
    "As soon as he gets inside, he'll be killed," Sally worried. "We need to warn him."
    "I'm sure he knows already," Tom said, pointing at the man's gun.
    They watched the man travel the parking lot, approaching the police cruiser. The man studied the vehicle. The car sat idly at the front of the building, the headlights covered in a layer of white, the windows smashed. Its dim beams poked through the parking lot. The flat tire was a giveaway that it wasn't drivable.
    "We should call out to him," Abraham said, echoing his wife's suggestion.
    "Wait a minute," Tom said, holding up his finger. "Let's see what he does first. I don't want to put him in danger."
    They watched quietly as the man came up alongside the vehicle, ducking inside. He fiddled with something in the interior. For a moment, Tom was certain the man would drive away, heedless of the flat tire. He was about to call out to him when the man exited the