Dead Reckoning: A Post-Apocalyptic EMP Survival series by Bruno Miller

Author:Bruno Miller [Miller, Bruno]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wordstream Books
Published: 2024-07-30T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Spencer abandoned the charts and stepped to the radar, where he checked the sport fishing boat’s position against the Black Bird’s. The smaller vessel was maintaining its course, as Rob had stated, and appeared to have no interest in them whatsoever. Good. Spencer eyed the paper strewn out across the console. He was eager to learn all he could about the Black Bird, but for the moment, he was busy imagining the route upriver to Tom and Debbie’s house. He’d only navigated the river once before in the Hunter, and that experience would hardly compare to this one. Restless drew just over four feet with her fixed, twin keels; the Black Bird’s draft was almost twice that. There was no question they’d be pushing the limits of the upriver channel in some areas.

Spencer hated to consider further delays, but they just might have to wait until high tide, if they could. They’d departed Marathon on an outgoing tide, but even if he wasn’t too mentally exhausted to do the math, it wouldn’t have yielded an accurate answer on what tide they should expect this evening at the inlet. And without access to one of the weather channels on the radio, he’d just have to wait and see what the conditions looked like when they got there. Thankfully, they’d have an hour or two of daylight left, although he wouldn’t count on having great visibility.

The air was already thickening as they neared the coast. Even at over thirty miles from shore, Spencer was beginning to pick up hints of soot and charred debris in the air. The toxic smell they’d left in Marathon was slowly returning, and with it came the realization of what they were willfully exposing themselves to by heading back into a situation most people were trying to escape. It was a lot easier to discount the impending danger, or at least ignore it, when they were farther out to sea. But now that they could smell the fires burning and see the undeniable increase of airborne pollutants, the reality of what lay ahead struck home.

Spencer wished they were there now, not just because he was anxious to reach Kate but because there was too much time to dwell on what they’d find in Stuart. He could busy himself with prepping for the rescue mission—which, at this point, was exactly what they’d be attempting. He wasn’t taking Tom’s skills as a former Marine for granted, but Spencer couldn’t shake the images of destruction and civil unrest that had been seared into his mind.

Tom was a capable man but no longer the young, go-hard Marine he used to be. He was fit for his age, and he and Debbie were both active, so Spencer had no doubts they were capable of surviving just about anything. But this was something different; these EMPs had brought their worst nightmares to life.

“Wow, this really tells you everything about the boat. Forty-eight hundred gallons of diesel? That’s a lot of fuel,” Rob remarked.

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