Days 5 to 8 by Amy Cross

Author:Amy Cross [Cross, Amy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Post-Apocalyptic
Published: 2018-07-30T04:00:00+00:00

THOMAS

Oklahoma

"What do you mean?" I ask, using my arm to shield my eyes from the sun as I look over at Joe.

"I mean it won't start," he replies, leaning under the hood of the truck. "Just give me a minute..."

It's just after sunrise and we were supposed to be heading out of Scottsville, but now it seems that the truck - which was working perfectly well last night - has suddenly developed a fault. To say that this is suspicious timing would be an understatement; to be honest, it's stretching credulity to believe that this particular, hitherto totally reliable truck would go wrong just when we need it the most.

"Is the battery dead?" I ask.

"It's not the battery," he says, sounding annoyed.

"Is it the clutch?"

"No".

"Is it the alternator?"

"No!"

"Is it the -"

"Do you know how to fix stuff like this?" he asks, interrupting me.

"No," I say.

"So you're just randomly asking if it's things you've heard of?"

I pause for a moment. "I was just trying to help".

"Then leave it to someone who does. Make yourself useful. Go fetch me something to eat".

Sighing, I turn and walk around to the back of the truck, where our food is stashed in bags, covered by a tarpaulin. Something about this whole situation feels really wrong, and I can't stop wondering whether Clyde Langman has something to do with the problem that's hit the truck. After all, it was Clyde who persuaded Joe and me to stay for the night, and it was Clyde who made a half-hearted attempt to steal the truck yesterday. There's something about that guy that I don't trust, and I can tell Joe's skeptical as well.

"How can it just stop working?" I call back to Joe.

"I don't fucking know," he replies. "If I knew, I could fix it, couldn't I?"

"You guys got a problem?" Clyde asks, as he steps out of his front door. "I found an old ether cylinder you might be able to use".

"Truck won't start," I say, as I carry a piece of bread over to Joe.

"Won't start?" Clyde hurries over to join us. "What do you mean, it won't start? It was working perfectly fine yesterday!"

"We know," Joe mutters darkly.

"Maybe it's the fuel pick-up," Clyde suggests.

"Great," Joe mutters, "now there's two of 'em".

"Joe's good with vehicles," I tell Clyde. "It's what he's best at".

"Shut up," Joe replies. He pauses for a moment. "Part of being good with stuff is knowing when to try a different approach. I keep thinking that maybe we should just abandon the beauty and maybe see if we can borrow another vehicle".

"Borrow?" I ask.

"We don't need keys," Joe says. "All we need is the right two ends of the right two wires, and we're good to go".

"You know how to hot-wire a car?" Clyde continues, looking shocked.

Joe smiles. "I know how to do a lot of things, my friend," he says as he slams the hood down at the front of the truck and gives it a reassuring pat. "You know what? It's a fucking waste of time to start trying to fix this damn thing.

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