Eathfall (Novella 1): The Last Run by Knight Stephen

Author:Knight, Stephen [Knight, Stephen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Post-Apocalyptic | Dystopian
Published: 2013-08-31T04:00:00+00:00

Damn, that was quick.

“Twenty microsieverts…radiation level’s up to about the same as a chest X-ray,” CJ said, noting the same warning.

“Yeah, could be from the airbursts earlier,” Mulligan said. “The wind isn’t moving fast enough for it to be fallout from those ground strikes.”

“Give it time,” Peter said.

“Feeling more chipper now that we’re on the straight and level, Mister Lopez?”

“I still feel like I want to throw up, but I think that’s because Mankind is killing itself.”

Mulligan nodded but didn’t comment. He felt pretty much the same way.

Ahead, an intersection appeared. It was devoid of traffic, and of any sign of life—much like the majority of the country would be in the coming months. Mulligan toed the brakes and slowed the SCEV as he checked the moving map display. He needed to turn left and head east for eight minutes, then juke north toward where the house was.

“Turning here,” he announced as he brought the rig down to fifteen miles an hour and eased it onto the next road. He scanned the area quickly, and saw not a soul. He glanced over at CJ, and saw her face was tense and drawn. She met his eyes for a moment, and tried to smile. But there wasn’t a damned thing to smile about.

“I had friends at McConnell,” she said.

Mulligan nodded and turned back to the road. “Keep up your scans,” he said. “We’ll be moving pretty quick, so stay sharp. Who knows, someone might step out in front of us and try and wave us down.”

“And if they do?”

“We’re not stopping for anyone, Sergeant.”

“Hooah, Sarmajor.” And with that, CJ turned back to scanning the terrain as the SCEV accelerated down the road. Mulligan sensed movement off his right shoulder again, and he saw Peter edge into the cockpit and peer out the viewports at the pancake-flat landscape ahead. He kept the fingers of his left hand firmly wrapped around the handhold in the bulkhead and leaned against the copilot’s seat.

“Well, I don’t see any mushroom clouds,” he said, straightening up after a moment.

“I don’t think we need to see them to know they’re out there. You should get back to your seat—”

CJ took in a sharp breath, but before Mulligan could think to address the circumstance, the brightest light he had ever seen slashed through the cockpit. Alarms wailed, and above them, Mulligan heard CJ shriek. The control column went dead in Mulligan’s left hand as the hydraulic boost suddenly failed, and through the glare, he could see the displays before him had gone dark. He immediately tapped the brakes, and found that the hydraulics had failed completely. He started pumping the brake pedal like mad. The SCEV responded and slowed in irregular pulsations. Mulligan had to put some muscle into it to keep the rig on the road, and for a moment, it crept perilously close to the shoulder. He thought he felt the rig slipping a bit, and he yanked the column to the right, bringing the rig more or less back to the center of the road.

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