Read Online Rolling Thunder - 03 by Dirk Patton - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Dirk Patton
Ads: Link
two lanes that swept up
onto a ramp and was the direction the GPS wanted me to go, but the ramp was
jammed with tangled wrecks. Looking at the screen it appeared that I-65 could
get us where we were going, it just dipped farther south before getting us
there.
All three of us jumped when a female slammed into my door,
beating on the glass with bloody fists. A second later two more were pounding
on Rachel’s window and I stepped on the throttle and started us moving forward
again. We quickly left them behind, but as we slalomed our way through the
wreckage on the pavement we started encountering more infected. We were
running many of them down and crushing their bodies under the heavy tires.
There was no power in this area and they would just suddenly appear out of the
rain, right in front of us. Even if I had wanted to avoid them I couldn’t
have.
“Is this a good idea? Going into the city, I mean.”
I kept my eyes glued to the road ahead and a tight grip on
the steering wheel. “If I said I wasn’t having second thoughts I’d be lying,
but the situation hasn’t changed. We need to try and get to that train.”
Rachel didn’t say anything, just stared ahead as intently as I was. Dog might
have had a different opinion, but he kept it to himself.
We drove like this for another mile, then the wrecks started
thinning out and I was able to put on a little more speed. I still didn’t want
to be going too fast and damage the truck by crashing into a large group of
infected. Directly ahead of us there was a pale glow that strengthened as we
approached. When we crested a rise I hit the brakes, bringing us to a complete
stop. Less than a mile in front of us a defensive barricade had been set up,
looking much like the wall I’d built in Murfreesboro, and it was lit up like
Christmas morning. Pressed up against the base of the wall were thousands, if
not tens of thousands, of infected. They were trying to get to the men on top
of the barricade that blocked our route.
11
For the moment there weren’t any infected in our immediate
vicinity. Shutting off the headlights so we didn’t draw attention, I sat and
stared at the barricade. Rachel was mumbling something I couldn’t understand
and I didn’t bother to ask her to repeat it. We could either turn around and
try to find our way to the river and hope there would be a boat we could steal,
or we could find a way around this and get to the train. The existence of the
barricade encouraged me, gave me a little hope that if we could get around it
we could make it to the train. Forward.
I messed with the navigation screen and found an exit a mile
behind us that looked like our best way around. We were eight miles from the
train station and while I fully expected to have to cover some of that on foot,
I didn’t want to walk any farther than absolutely necessary. The more time we
spent on foot, the greater the chances of a lethal encounter with a group of infected.
Or survivors, I reminded myself. Shifting into reverse I backed up until the
crest hid us from the barricade before turning the lights back on.
“What are we doing?” Rachel asked.
“There’s an exit a mile back. We’re going to try and get
off the freeway there and work our way to the train station. This looks like
an industrial area and I’m hoping there won’t be that many infected roaming
around. If we’re lucky all of them in the area have been drawn to the
barricade.” I got the truck turned around and started driving north in the
southbound lanes. I wasn’t particularly worried about running into anyone as
we had only seen a very few vehicles moving and they were all going away from
Nashville.
Reaching the exit, I swung wide and made the turn onto the
ramp which quickly took us below the level of the elevated freeway on which we
had been driving. At the bottom of the ramp two pickups and a police car were
smashed into each
onto a ramp and was the direction the GPS wanted me to go, but the ramp was
jammed with tangled wrecks. Looking at the screen it appeared that I-65 could
get us where we were going, it just dipped farther south before getting us
there.
All three of us jumped when a female slammed into my door,
beating on the glass with bloody fists. A second later two more were pounding
on Rachel’s window and I stepped on the throttle and started us moving forward
again. We quickly left them behind, but as we slalomed our way through the
wreckage on the pavement we started encountering more infected. We were
running many of them down and crushing their bodies under the heavy tires.
There was no power in this area and they would just suddenly appear out of the
rain, right in front of us. Even if I had wanted to avoid them I couldn’t
have.
“Is this a good idea? Going into the city, I mean.”
I kept my eyes glued to the road ahead and a tight grip on
the steering wheel. “If I said I wasn’t having second thoughts I’d be lying,
but the situation hasn’t changed. We need to try and get to that train.”
Rachel didn’t say anything, just stared ahead as intently as I was. Dog might
have had a different opinion, but he kept it to himself.
We drove like this for another mile, then the wrecks started
thinning out and I was able to put on a little more speed. I still didn’t want
to be going too fast and damage the truck by crashing into a large group of
infected. Directly ahead of us there was a pale glow that strengthened as we
approached. When we crested a rise I hit the brakes, bringing us to a complete
stop. Less than a mile in front of us a defensive barricade had been set up,
looking much like the wall I’d built in Murfreesboro, and it was lit up like
Christmas morning. Pressed up against the base of the wall were thousands, if
not tens of thousands, of infected. They were trying to get to the men on top
of the barricade that blocked our route.
11
For the moment there weren’t any infected in our immediate
vicinity. Shutting off the headlights so we didn’t draw attention, I sat and
stared at the barricade. Rachel was mumbling something I couldn’t understand
and I didn’t bother to ask her to repeat it. We could either turn around and
try to find our way to the river and hope there would be a boat we could steal,
or we could find a way around this and get to the train. The existence of the
barricade encouraged me, gave me a little hope that if we could get around it
we could make it to the train. Forward.
I messed with the navigation screen and found an exit a mile
behind us that looked like our best way around. We were eight miles from the
train station and while I fully expected to have to cover some of that on foot,
I didn’t want to walk any farther than absolutely necessary. The more time we
spent on foot, the greater the chances of a lethal encounter with a group of infected.
Or survivors, I reminded myself. Shifting into reverse I backed up until the
crest hid us from the barricade before turning the lights back on.
“What are we doing?” Rachel asked.
“There’s an exit a mile back. We’re going to try and get
off the freeway there and work our way to the train station. This looks like
an industrial area and I’m hoping there won’t be that many infected roaming
around. If we’re lucky all of them in the area have been drawn to the
barricade.” I got the truck turned around and started driving north in the
southbound lanes. I wasn’t particularly worried about running into anyone as
we had only seen a very few vehicles moving and they were all going away from
Nashville.
Reaching the exit, I swung wide and made the turn onto the
ramp which quickly took us below the level of the elevated freeway on which we
had been driving. At the bottom of the ramp two pickups and a police car were
smashed into each
Similar Books
