As I Walk These Broken Roads by D Mj Aurini

Author:D Mj Aurini
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: post-apocalyptic scifi, post apocalyptic, Science Fiction, Post-apocalyptic, nuclear war, apocalypse
ISBN: 9781480121829
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 2012-10-18T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

The house on the hilltop had been built as a cottage for two. Nestled into the earth, its third story rose up to crown the peak. A long driveway came up from the road, ending in a tiled culvert surrounded by flower beds. To the right was the house’s two-car garage, on the left a stone wall held back the hill’s bow; where stone and brick met, a flight of stairs rose up to the main entrance. The bedroom had faced east to greet the rising sun.

But the exposure had come at a cost; decades of wind and rain had worn on the structure, greying its red bricks and yellowing its timbers. It had faded slowly, showing more wear each year, until the day it collapsed. By the time the two men arrived it slouched along the same curve as its neighbouring slope.

Wentworth dipped his finger into his stew to check the temperature. Satisfied, he picked up the canteen cup and crushed the burning fuel-tab under his boot. He pulled out a spoon and returned his gaze to the Mennite settlement. He was sitting on a stray log, hidden behind some bracken. His helmet and rifle lay by his side. Behind and below was Raxx, working on the truck.

The hill top was steep enough for him to see most of the main street, and the highway stretching beyond it. Between him and the Mennites was a ragged forest which ran down to a swampy valley; the chances of the locals noticing him were slim, and by the time evening arrived he’d be invisible. He hoped to find out what sort of force they’d dealing with, but that information wouldn’t be enough on its own – they’d need to capitalize on it.

“Intelligence,” he’d said, “is a time-sensitive commodity.”

“A what?”

He lowered his binoculars, and continued to scan the western arc. “What we see today might not have any bearing tomorrow. And next week it’ll be even worse.”

“Okay.”

He mulled over the landscape, “Say… how good of a driver are you?”

“What, with my girl there?” Raxx shrugged and scratched his nose. “Pretty good. I take it easy most of the time, but… well, you saw me driving angry back there. I know how to handle these roads.”

“Yeah… okay then, this path here,” it wound down the hill in front of them, passing half a kilometre behind the Mennite settlement. It was barely visible, nothing but two grooves in the tall grasses. “You think you could drive it in the dark? At night, with no lights?”

“Hmm…” he stared at it through his own binos. It ran down towards a secondary road which curved onto the highway. “Why would I want to drive with no lights?”

“Because otherwise you’d be visible.”

“True. Hmm... yeah. Yeah, I think I could handle it. Can’t guarantee how fast, but it looks pretty stable. But how do we get rid of the lights?”

Wentworth raised his eyebrow. “…you could turn them off?”

Raxx shook his head. “Daytime Running Lights.”

“What?”

“They’re a safety feature; used to be mandatory, I think.

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