Dead: Winter by TW Brown

girls onto my lap, “I agree things got a little crazy, but that is the way things are now. Sometimes days like this will just happen. We need your birthday, Emily. Everybody needs to have a reason to be happy.”
    “Like when you and Melissa got married?” Emily sniffed.
    “Exactly,” I agreed. “Now…it’s getting late and you girls have school tomorrow, so how about I tuck you in and tell you a bedtime story.”
    “ Jack and the beanstalk ?” Thalia asked.
    “Em?” I deferred.
    “I like that one.”
    “Okay then,” I said as I scooped both girls under my arms like sacks of potatoes and headed to their sleeping area.
    I tucked them in and told them the story from memory as best I could. Both girls made sure to prompt me if I missed anything. Hell, they knew the story better than I did. I have no idea why they would want me to tell them a story that they know better than the person telling it, but it seemed to make them both happy and that was good enough.
    I walked back out to the main entry area just as Jake and Nickie came in. Both were frosted in thick, wet snow.
    “Looks like it is coming down hard,” I observed.
    “Sure is,” Jake agreed as he began peeling out of his wet gear. “Seems like a pretty crazy time to make a supply run.”
    “What?” I had no idea what he was talking about.
    “Brad and Billy,” Jake said as if that meant anything.
    “What about them?” I asked tentatively.
    “They were both suited up and trudging down the road as Nickie and I were coming in,” Jake said, glancing at the woman who was trying with some difficulty to get out of a harness that held an assortment of blades. He leaned over and hit the release on a buckle that sent the whole thing crashing to the floor.
    “I didn’t send anybody anywhere in this weather.”
    A thought came. I felt it in my gut, and over the past few months, I’d come to trust that feeling. I turned on my heel and went to the supply closet-turned-ER. I knew before I opened the door what I would see…or rather…what I wouldn’t.
    Ian was gone.
     
    
     
    I woke to find that Melissa was already out of bed. The fact that she hadn’t said anything to me was a clear indication that we still had a problem. Well, that would have to take its place on my list; which was growing almost exponentially every day it seemed.
    As soon as I threw back the covers, my body felt as if it instantly contracted into one giant goose pimple. When I gasped, I got confirmation that it was extremely cold. My breath was a thick cloud of steam. I started putting on layers of clothing when Jake came in with two mugs of coffee.
    “Figure you might need this.”
    “Why is it so cold in here?” I asked through chattering teeth.
    “That is what I came to tell you,” Jake said in his slow drawl. “Mind you, I’m just repeatin’ what the sarge said. The good news is that it stopped snowing. I guess it reaches a point where it is too cold to snow or something. Sounds kinda backwards to me, but that is what sarge said.”
    “Did he say how cold?”
    “He didn’t have to; everybody has been gathered ‘round that thermometer like it was the most interesting show in town…guess it might be. Anyways, it’s just above zero.”
    “And three of our people are out in it?” I sighed.
    “Good news is that Fiona says she can get some more tests done on the solar panels. She says it don’t matter how cold it is as long as there is sunlight. Ain’t that the darndest thing?”
    I had to admit that it was something. I was more than happy to leave the solar panel refit to Fiona and Brad. I didn’t have the slightest clue about that stuff. I dated a gal who was really into things like Earth Day and saving the rain forests. I was fine with it until she started making a list of all the food I shouldn’t eat. Hell, I would’ve had to empty out my whole dang kitchen.
    Finally dressed, I headed out to the community living room. Dr. Zahn was off to the side talking to