Carrion (The Bren Watts Diaries #1)

Chapter 83

LOGAN

Logan raided the pantry first, nestled next to the kitchen. The previous occupants had already taken most of the stuff, but thankfully, the house hadn't been looted since then. He pulled out the cereal boxes, a jar of walnuts and almonds, a single can of corn, a bag of Oreo cookies, two containers of peanut butter, and some chips and junk food. They ate it all around the island counter.

Logan tried to ignore how unhealthy everything was, aside from the nuts and the can of corn, but they needed the calories. Eating cereal dry wasn't the same thing as having milk with it, and now that he thought about the latter, he realized how thirsty he was. Fortunately, the bottom rack had a gallon of Pepsi, and though it was at room temperature, the others still drank it.

Pete sat next to Logan, but Logan dragged the stool a couple feet away from the soldier. If Pete noticed it, he didn't show, and Logan was more than happy to eat his meal away from his attention.

"We're gonna die of diabetes, are we?" Alfie joked.

"A single day of eating junk wouldn't hurt," Logan said. "Think of it as a cheat day."

"Every day's a cheat day from now on," Pete snorted.

"Do you think we're gonna be safe here?" Alfie asked Pete.

Pete paused for a moment, thinking. "For now," he said.

Logan looked around the house from where he sat. The previous owners had already barred all the windows shut with plywood, bathing the interior in shadows. Alfie found a candle in the pantry, and they used a couple of them to light up the room with his lighter. Blocking the front door where the furniture and tables were explained why Pete couldn't open it earlier and why the sliding doors from the back were open. The family must have escaped through there. They couldn't find any picture frames around the house, which Logan surmised the family brought with them (and he didn't think they would be back. None of them ever did). It was funny to him how the first thing anyone grabbed would be the photo albums and family mementos during emergencies. It's what he had seen on the houses they had looted in Walton and the other towns they stumbled upon, and everywhere it was the same thing. Logan guessed it was human nature to hold onto the reminders of the past, especially when memory could break so easily.

"We're in a town called Colby," Pete said, reading out loud the mail envelope on his hand. "Hm. That means we're not far off from Elk Mountain Road, maybe nine, er, ten miles, give or take?" Pete looked around the console table and huffed. "Fuck. They don't have a phone book."

"What do you need that for?" Logan asked.

"To get a feel on how big this town is. This neighborhood seemed 'bougie' enough for a suburban family to live in, especially with how big and nice this house is. The town's probably better off, too."

"Phone books are kind of phased out, man," Alfie said.

"Yep. The upsides of the age of digital information."

"Er, downside now. Internet's not working anymore."

Logan heaved a sigh. "Ahh....I miss the internet."

"I miss Amazon and my never-ending wishlist," Pete said. "Fuck. Maybe Cabela's, too. I could order a rifle right about now."

"I miss Instagram. Do you know I have one-hundred-fifty thousand followers?" Alfie mentioned.

Logan furrowed his brows. "No way you're that popular. What'd you do?"

Alfie shrugged. "Oh. Mostly fitness stuff. I do a lot of snowboarding, hiking, and mountain climbing, plus it helps that I'm surrounded by nature a lot, especially where I studied. I get lots of scenery pictures. A quarter of my followers were college and high school friends, people I met along with my hikes. Others were just picked up on the global feed."