Read Online The Taste of Fear by Jeremy Bates - Free Book Online Page B

sun, darkening the sky. Scarlett could smell ozone and the general grayness that accompanies a storm. Then the rain began to fall. It made a tinny plink-plink-plink on the truck’s roof and patterned the dirt track with brown splotches. Within thirty seconds it had become a downpour. The windshield wipers sloshed back and forth, only just clearing the water now gushing down the windshield. A clap of thunder exploded so loudly it made Scarlett flinch, and she silently urged Silly to go faster.
    They reached the western crater wall five minutes later. A sky-wide flash of lightning stung the sky white, illuminating what looked like a pencil-thin road zigzagging its way up the rocky slope. Scarlett felt her stomach drop. Two thousand feet looked almost insurmountable from the bottom up. But Silly barely slowed as he reached the steep gradient. She relaxed. They were fine. They were going to make it—
    Scarlett heard a loud clunk, followed by a grinding noise.
    “What was that?” she said, stiffening in her seat.
    “I don’t know,” Silly said. “The message center is telling me to put it in neutral.”
    “Then do it, man,” Sal told him. The grinding noise was getting louder.
    Silly downshifted. The Land Rover came to a quick stop, then began rolling backward.
    “Put it in park, for chrissake!” Sal said.
    “It’s not working!”
    The backward momentum picked up.
    “Do something!” Scarlett said. She looked out the back window but couldn’t see anything through the rain and poor light.
    Silly yanked the handbrake. The Land Rover shuddered to a stop.
    “Leave the brake, but put it in first and try again,” Sal told him.
    “It’s not letting me. I can’t move the gearshift anymore.”
    “Step on the gas.”
    “I am. Nothing is happening. Nothing.”
    “What the hell?” Sal opened the door and stepped into the storm. He circled the truck, kicked the tires, and bent twice out of sight. He tapped on Silly’s window. Silly rolled it down. “Can you lock the differential?”
    “Yes.”
    “Do it. Then try the gas again.”
    Silly followed the instructions but shook his head. A crackle of lightning backlit the black clouds, turning them a mossy green. More ear-splitting thunder followed. Swearing, Sal climbed back inside. He was soaked to the skin.
    “Power is sapped,” he told them. “It isn’t reaching the wheels. That means the problem has something to do with the transmission. I thought it might have been the differential.”
    “What’s that?” Scarlett asked.
    “It transmits torque to the four wheels evenly, even if they’re rotating at different speeds. If one was spinning on mud, it would deliver all the power there, effectively making us immobile. But Silly locked it, making both wheels on the axle turn at the same speed, regardless of traction. That did nothing.”
    “We’re stuck?” This was exactly what she’d feared. “There’s no radio. We can’t call for help.”
    “Do you think anyone’s still in the crater?” Sal asked their guide.
    “I don’t know. Maybe. Wait! Someone’s coming!”
    Scarlett looked out the rear window again and saw the headlights of a vehicle approaching. Sal hopped outside and waved it over. He had a few words with the driver, then motioned for Scarlett and Silly to join him. Scarlett ducked her head and dashed through the pelting rain to the idling vehicle, some kind of big four-by-four, like the Land Rover. She tugged open the back door and climbed inside, Silly right behind her. Sal got in the front.
    She was about to thank the driver for stopping, but the words died in her throat. “You!” she exclaimed.
    Sal looked puzzled. “Benjamin Hill?”
    The Irishman extended his hand. “Indeed I am. Your wife must have mentioned our brief encounter?”
    “Yes.” Sal shook. “Call me Sal. This is our guide, Silly.”
    “What an interesting name.” He smiled. “Now, what’s the problem, may I ask?”
    “The truck lost all power going up the