So Far

The town was pristine white with its cover of snow.  The snow, hard packed by freezing rain the past night, crunched loudly underfoot.  Only the crunching and the howl of the wind filled this place.  Somewhere, in one of the houses in a closet, in a makeshift bomb shelter, under a bed, was another of the great artefacts that Tolkeen sought in its battle against the Coalition.  The entire team prowled through the deserted town going house to house looking for the item.  It was there somewhere according to their intel.

R.C. had not seen anyone since they split up first thing in the morning.  He was getting near the far edge of the town now.  It was a long boring day and the town was really setting him on edge.  A number of the houses had two doors.  One, sturdy and wooden, opened into the house.  The other, the outer one, was made of glass with mesh behind it.  These mesh doors opened out onto the streets.  At these houses both doors were open.  The mesh doors all swung back and forth in the shifting wind.  The town was a ghost town and it was way too busy with traffic.  That's how R.C.'s mind kept interpreting it.  There was no basis for it, but there didn't need to be one.

R.C. stepped out of one of these double-doored houses.  He pulled the wooden door shut and then closed the mesh door.  He went down the steps to the walk-path and cringed as the mesh door started creaking and then banging against the far side of the