The Long Dark by Billy Farmer (best book club books for discussion .txt) 📗

I said under my breath. A completely naked Gray walked by, no more than ten feet away from the duplex. I quickly switched off my headlamp, so he wouldn’t see me. He was closely followed by Grays in various forms of dress. The naked man was in the minority, but there were others who were nearly as scantily clad has he was. If they were affected by the cold, they didn’t act like it.

Grays filed out between the houses all along D Street before congregating in the street adjacent to Miley’s office. Without the extra light from my headlamp, I couldn’t see far enough to get an accurate number, but considering the number of footsteps and the amount of sniffing and snorting I heard, there a lot of them.

Why hadn’t I fucking gone when I had the chance!

“William,” Kelley whispered from below me. I quickly scanned below us to see if any Grays had been alerted by her voice, but the ones I could see seemed unaffected. I quickly but quietly made my way down the steps, crouching to stay below the railing as I made my way around to where she sat safely in her little nook with the baby still inside her parka.

“I can’t see anything from here. What’s going on?” She asked, being a hell of a lot cooler than I was.

I got as close to her as comfortable before whispering, “Grays. We’re blocked from Miley’s, at least from here, anyway.”

She gave me a questioning look. “Grays?”

“The monsters,” I huffed, leaving it at that.

She nodded.

A Gray sniffed dangerously close. He must have heard me. I put my hands out in front of me, palms towards her, letting her know to stay put. I duck walked my way to the steps leading down off the porch. My legs burned at almost any new activity. So much so that my right leg finally locked up, causing me to have to stop and stretch it for a moment before continuing. I crawled on my hands and knees the rest of the way to the steps that led off the porch.

I peeked around the railing to my right, then chided myself for letting out a quick gasp. No more than five feet away stood at least four Gray stragglers. They were curious about something because they sniffed the air relentlessly, but for whatever reason they seemed contented to sniff in place. The fact that they were agitated let me know they knew something was up, but they were having a difficult time figuring out exactly what it was they were curious about. One of them yelped like a dog. That was new.

There was a noise somewhere to the south of the duplex. Who in the hell would be stupid enough to make that much noise? I wondered. It sounded like a metal pipe being smacked against the airport safety fence. There was a buzz of grunts and inhuman sounds beginning near the fence and cascading all up and down the line of Grays in the street. This was followed by numerous fast running towards the sound. Much to my dismay, there were still plenty of grunts and snorts from Grays who didn’t leave. Still, I couldn’t help wondering if the noise hadn’t thinned the ranks in front of us enough that we might be able to sneak through the line.

My manhood already gone due to my inability to walk upright, I crawled back to the nook. I let Kelley know I was going to see if there was a way forward to Miley’s, and if there wasn’t I was going to try to clear a way back to safety. “Get your pistol ready just in case.” She nodded.

I crept down the steps, trying to stay low and quiet enough to go unnoticed. The four steps off the porch were just about the cherry on top for my increasingly uncooperative legs. A lone Gray was off to my right, his back facing me. He was the only one I saw, but there were others. I was sure of that. The Gray in front of me suddenly jerked his head around to the side, sniffing loudly but not moving.

I inched towards D Street. I cursed silently. The Grays in the street were packed in so tight, there was no way we could make our way through their ranks. I moved a short way towards the airport, but the line was just as thick there. There could’ve been a thousand or more of them blocking our way. Why had I been so damn stupid and indecisive?

I eased my way back several feet away from the street. As bad as I hated to think about it, the maintenance building was probably the safest bet. We might be able to break into a house that was closer, but who knows what we might find inside. I decided on the maintenance building. It was the safest bet.

I would need to clear a path back to the maintenance building. I wasn’t sure how I would do it, though. I couldn’t exactly ask them nicely to disperse in an orderly fashion. I quickly glanced around for bottles, cans, or anything like that I could use to get their attention. Then it dawned on me that even if I were to be able to find things to throw, they weren’t going to make enough noise when they hit the snow. That wasn’t going to work. I finally decided I would have to be the noisemaker.

I surveyed a path back to the maintenance building. There were stragglers everywhere. I crept between two of them, miraculously going unnoticed. I moved about twenty more feet before I lightly clapped my hands together. The one closest to me began making odd guttural breaths but didn’t initially move. I clapped again, this time a little harder. The last thing I wanted to do was alert the main group in the street.

The Gray jerked his head up and towards my direction, grunted, then sniffed hard, and