Free Lamp Black: Second Edition, Disaster, Preparedness, Survival, Awakening (The Gatekeeper Book 2) by Kenneth Cary Page A

shop. I also want to check on the pool cover, so I’m thinking I’ll be out for about another fifteen or twenty minutes. Are the kids holding up?”
    Jenna nodded, “Yes, I just checked on them.” She lowered the barrel of the shotgun to the floor.
    “They’re bored, but holding up. They said they can’t see anything.”
    “Even Adam?” asked John.
    “He said the scope is really cool, but he can’t see anything through the ash.”
    “OK, just tell them to stay put for a few more minutes.” John returned the goggles and breathing mask to his face and backed out the door. He waved to Jenna and stood on the doorstep until he heard her engage the deadbolt and drop the security bar back into place. John picked up the extension cord and hastily coiled it up as he walked around to the back patio. He dropped the coil at the back door and surveyed the patio with his flashlight.
    When he was satisfied everything looked fine, he set his bearings and cut a new trail to join up with the first one he cut to the shop. He moved with much more confidence now, and soon picked up his old trail by the tree. The sound of the running generator could be heard outside the shop, but it was quieter than John would have imagined. He figured the heavy air must be muffling the sound.
    Once back inside the shop, the generator sounded painfully loud. Such sounds normally didn’t bother John, but the raspy silence of the ash was strangely soothing, like white noise. Everything else seemed to assault his ears. He realized it was strange to think the sound of falling ash was soothing, but he preferred it to the sound of the generator running in his shop.
    The generator’s indicator lights reflected off the green plastic spools of Christmas lights. John quickly stuffed them into a garbage bag, and tossed it over his shoulder. He wanted to take the lights in the house, so he had to protect them from the ash. But he also wanted to keep one of his hands free, and the light spools in the bag made that possible. John scanned the shop with his helmet mounted flashlight one last time, and then stepped back out into the ash, locking and pulling the shop door closed behind him.
    John quickly made his way to the back patio, and sat the bag of Christmas lights on the extension cord coiled by the backdoor. He wanted to quickly check the pool cover before going back inside. He was seriously concerned about how well the cover was holding up to the accumulating ash. Cutting a new trail through the ash, John headed east, where he knew the pool cover would be. When he saw the unmistakable outline of the tie-down stakes, he paused and looked up to see the looming shape of the pool cover.
    John reached up and turned on his helmet mounted flashlight for a quick survey of the cover. As best he could tell, the tarp seemed to be holding up very well. There was ash on the tarp, but most of it had slid down the steep sides and accumulated at the bottom, on the part of the trap that rested on the lawn instead of directly over the pool itself. Thesides of the tarps extended several feet beyond the edge of the pool, so the weight of the ash didn’t tear the tarp. He was excited to tell Adam about their success.
    He felt the need to inspect the other side of the cover, so he turned his flashlight off and allowed his eyes to adjust to the darkness. John cautiously followed the line of stakes around to the opposite side of the pool cover. But when he reached the far side he stopped. Another track was in the ash, and it wasn’t one of his. John was so surprised to see another track that he actually froze in place. From the looks of it, someone had just made it. John wondered if it was Darrel, and his body made an immediate request for adrenaline. He calmed himself, and took a knee to consider his options, while unconsciously resting his hand on his pistol. With open eyes and ears, John surveyed the area for the intruder.
    John scanned the area, pushing his eyes to penetrate