The Infected Dead (Book 3): Die For Now by Bob Howard Page A

until Kathy held up her hand again. She hopped out while the cart was stopping and strode forward into the darkness to look more closely at something.
    We all walked up to stand beside her and found ourselves facing a door just like our main door on Mud Island. I let out a low whistle.
    “What?” asked Kathy.
    Tom interpreted my low whistle by asking, “There are two doors like that?”
    Bus cleared his throat and said, “Thirty-two doors would be a more accurate assessment, Tom, and maybe more. Some of the shelters had a main door and a secondary door. This looks like the secondary door to me.”
    Bus continued as he walked up to the combination lock, “Each door has a unique combination. I may be one of the only survivors who knows all of the combinations. That’s why I gave them to the Chief. If something happens to me, at least you guys can locate the other shelters and get inside.”
    Bus dialed in the combination, and we pulled the handle. The door swung open on totally silent, polished steel hinges.

CHAPTER FOUR
Fortress

    The first room beyond the huge door was much the same as the decontamination room on Mud Island, but it was clearly designed to accommodate more people. There were more hooks with SCUBA gear hanging from them, more showers, and there were rows of lockers. It was obvious from the start that the people who had set up camp in Fort Sumter had not gained access to the hidden shelter because there were far too many supplies in racks along the walls. Everything was neatly stored and appeared to be untouched.  
    The lighting in the room was bright, and they didn’t know if it had come on when they opened the door or if it stayed on. Either way, this shelter clearly had power.
    “Shouldn’t we wait for the Chief to get back?” I asked.  
    Kathy looked at Tom for any sign that he was thinking the same thing. He was clearly weighing what would be best, but in the end he was too curious to wait.
    “We still have a long time before the Chief is due back. Let’s take a quick look around and then go back to the beach,” he said.
    Bus went over and opened several of the lockers and checked the boxes of supplies. Our hesitance gave way to curiosity, and we all joined him checking the labels on packages. There were medical supplies, ration packs, and a variety of useful items. I didn’t know what the others were thinking, but figured this shelter would be an excellent backup to our already large cache of supplies.
    “This may be premature to ask,” I said, “but do you guys think this would be a better place to live or a good place to just visit when we need supplies?”
    “It’s too soon to say," said Tom. "For one thing, we need to find out what the situation is like up above."
    "I'll second that," said Kathy, "and we need to think about how exposed Fort Sumter is. As long as people can see it from shore, they're going to think it's a safe place to be."
    Bus added, "Fort Sumter may have been occupied several times by now. Whether the occupants died from within because someone was bitten or they were attacked and defeated, someone else will try to use it like our houseboat. It's just too visible from the mainland."
    We finished checking the treasure trove of supplies and then gathered at a second door. It wasn't exactly like our shelter, but we fully expected to find the next room on the other side of the door to have its own wealth of things we could use. Kathy opened the door slowly and peeked around a corner.
    "Another hallway," she said.
    She stepped through the door, and we followed her single file. There were three more doors set in stainless steel walls, and each door was closed. For some reason it didn't feel like anyone had been through those doors in a long time, probably not since the place had been built.
    "Did you say the people who were supposed to use this shelter died trying to get here, Bus?" I asked.  
    "So I heard when everything started to happen," he said. "Shortwave radio