Un2Dead (Book One of the Un2Series)

The freezer’s fans slowed and stopped as the room arrived at the proper temperature for storing frozen treats but not the best temperature for storing human beings. Gary paced between the racks of ice cream, rubbing the tops of his arms. Leslie flipped up his collar, clasped the front of his sport coat closed with one hand and fumbled for his phone with the other.

“No bars! What are these walls made of, lead?”

“I hate those things. I could live my life without one,“ Gary agreed.

“Really? How would you keep in touch with anyone?”

“In touch with who? I only have a couple of friends and my girlfriend is incapable of dialing a phone. Sure, she could possibly use a voice activated phone as long as she only wants to call ‘woof’.”

“What if you have some sort of emergency?”

“You mean like being locked in a freezer?” Gary smiled an unseen smile.

“You don’t think they will let us die in here, do you? Why would they lock us in here?”

“I can only assume that things didn’t go well between Wit and DeLeon.”

“So why call us back here? Why?”

“I don’t know. I’m guessing we’re a couple of loose ends that needed to be tied up.” Gary thought a moment. “Are there apps on that thing? Your phone, I mean. Do you have that flashlight one?”

“No. But I do have a disco ball one.”

A burst of electronica was followed by a kaleidoscope of colors dancing across Leslie’s face and the surrounding walls and ceiling. He turned the phone to illuminate the rest of the freezer. The digital confetti swirled across the quarts of confectionary that share the room with them.

Gary surveyed the structure in hopes of finding a way out. A small ceiling grate was the only interruption in the flat, smooth interior other than the door through which they entered. Gary stacked cartons of ice cream, blocking the grate and any future air flow as best he could.

“I don’t know what else we can do. It looks like we’re stuck here for a while. We might as well try to make ourselves comfortable.”

“Gary, I’m freezing! I don’t know how long I can last in here.” Leslie shuddered.

“We’ll make it. Just hold on.”

“I don’t think I can. I chill easily. We body builders don’t carry a lot of fat, you know.”

“I’m not exactly chubby,” Gary snipped.

“That’s not what. . .”

“I know.”

“Sorry.”

“Sorry.”

“I know!” Gary started pulling cases from the shelves and stacking them in front of Leslie. “What if we made the room smaller? We could stack up the ice cream like building blocks and form some sort of an igloo. Maybe that would help.”

Leslie began stacking the cases in a semi-circle, ringing the corner around him. Gary continued pulling cases from the shelves and placing them behind him in sync with the beat of the music still buzzing from the phone. He turned to assist in building the wall.

“What’s that?” Gary said pointing to the void in the middle course of cases.

“A window.” Leslie replied.

“A window?” Gary repeated.

“Oh.” Leslie quickly wedged a case into the opening and forced a chuckle. “Just kidding.”

Gary stepped into the corner and stacked the remaining cases behind him.

“Hopefully our body heat will help warm up this little fort.”

“That seems better but I’m still freezing,” Leslie commented, trying his best not to whine.

“How about we huddle together? That should help.” Gary stepped closer to Leslie, putting his arm around him. “Ya know, in a couple of hours I‘ll go canine. Then you can have my clothes. Not only that, I’ll be fur covered so you’ll have that added warmth.” Gary tried to sound as reassuring as he could.

The two balled themselves into the corner and huddled awkwardly on the floor. T­hey repositioned themselves a couple of times, trying to find a comfortable way to sit. Finally, they interlaced their appendages and waited for daybreak.