Free After Days (The After Days Trilogy) by Scott Medbury Page B

said. “At least that’s what my dad always said.”
                  “I hope they bugger off, I think they are creepy,” Ben said, mirroring my own feelings.
                  “Me too,” I replied. Feeding them was the last thing I wanted to do, the thought of them being close to us terrified me in an irrational way. I had been bitten by my grandmother’s Collie when I was six and still had the scar of a puncture wound on my wrist. “We aren't going near them, and tonight we are going to find a place with a door to sleep in.”
     
                  When we stopped for the night a couple of hours later it was just starting to get dark. We found a farmhouse with a large detached garage behind it, the house was locked up tight but the garage door was wide open, so we wheeled our bicycles inside and pulled the large roller door down behind us.
    A couple of dirty windows set above a workbench on one wall allowed the dying sunlight to filter in as we set out our bedding and ate a meal of beef jerky and potato chips. Once it was full dark, it was pitch black in the garage. Both Ben and Brooke had thought to bring flashlights, but we had decided not to use them unless it was an emergency to save on our limited supply of batteries.
                  The dogs began howling and barking sometime in the middle of the night. We could hear them growling and scratching at the garage door and what sounded like a vicious fight ended in high pitched yelping.
    None of us got much sleep after that. Sarah was curled up whimpering next to Brooke who was doing her best to comfort her, while Luke and I sat upright with our weapons close by, staring intently through the darkness toward the door and windows respectively. Ben was ready with his flashlight should the sound of breaking glass or splintering wood be heard.
    The sound of the dogs finally died down just as dawn was breaking. I heard one final sniff under the roller door and they seemed to disappear. Everybody but Luke and I fell into a fitful sleep.
                  “We should let them sleep a while,” Luke said. “We can get started again in a few hours.”
                  “Okay, everybody's exhausted from yesterday’s ride and last night’s... excitement,” I replied, stifling a yawn.
                  “You should sleep too,” he said. “I can keep watch.”
                  “Are you sure?”
                  “No sweat, man, I picked up a few energy drinks before we left the Walmart. If I feel myself crashing later I'll just slam one of them.”
                  “Alright, if you're sure…”
    Lying down in my sleeping bag I found myself not caring that it was laid out on a concrete floor, my eyes closed for what seemed like just a second and suddenly I was being shaken awake. I glanced around in bewilderment, everybody else was already up and had their sleeping bags repacked. “What...”
                  “It's about noon,” Luke said. “Time to rise and shine, sleepy head.”
                  “Okay, okay,” I muttered, shaking my head, trying to clear the cobwebs in my mind. Sometimes I think a little sleep is worse than none. I got up and stretched; I was no longer quite as exhausted as I had been, but still felt like I'd been worked over by a burly man with a baseball bat. Muscles that I never knew I had were aching. I rolled up my sleeping bag and tied it before returning it to the basket on the front of my bike. “Any sign of the dogs?” I asked.
    “Nope,” Luke replied. “When Ben woke up I got him to watch my back while I went outside to take a wizz and have a look around. They must have found something better to do.”
                  “Well then, we should probably be heading out, we've already wasted too much daylight as it is.”
                  “I figure we got maybe five hours of