Out of the Stars: A Military Sci-Fi Series (Out of the Earth Book 4) by Jake Bible

Author:Jake Bible [Bible, Jake]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aethon Books
Published: 2022-06-20T16:00:00+00:00

Soaked to the bone as gray rain pours down on them, Terrie, Krissy, Tony, and Biscuit skulk through the gloom, dashing from one hiding spot to the next in their desperate flight away from the battle that rages in the harbor behind them.

The mutant orcas finally appeared when the boat was close to a semi-intact marina. That was when the shadowy escorts revealed themselves to be humpback whales.

Terrie barely got the boat to a half-collapsed dock and everyone out before one of the mutant orcas attacked the vessel, shredding its hull and sending it sinking to the bottom of the harbor.

As the humpbacks breached the surface of Puget Sound, slamming down onto the mutant orcas, Terrie and the rest raced away from the marina as fast as they could. All of their gear—except for Tony’s radio and device, the Barrett strapped to Terrie’s back, a duffel of ammunition, and a backpack with very little water and food on Krissy’s back—was lost when the boat went down.

As Terrie motions for Krissy and Tony to hustle over to a school bus on its side, Terrie is kind of glad they aren’t encumbered by too much weight. They need to move as fast as possible, and even the Barrett is almost too much for Terrie’s legs to handle.

A far-off screech emphasizes why they have to move fast.

Ooze creatures of all types stalk the cracked and broken roadways, hunting, searching.

They reach the fallen school bus and rest for a few seconds against the ash-stained yellow metal. Terrie studies the skyline, searching for what Tony says will be the perfect antenna array.

The Space Needle.

“There,” Terrie says and points into the gloom.

Fog-shrouded and almost impossible to see without its iconic red light blinking on top, the Space Needle can just be made out far off in the distance.

“That’s miles away,” Krissy whispers. “It’ll take us all day to get there.”

“We’ll look for a working vehicle,” Terrie says.

“EMP,” Tony says. “There are no working vehicles.”

“This is Seattle,” Terrie says, “there are bikes everywhere.”

“Biscuit can’t ride a bike,” Tony says.

“Stop being a bummer,” Krissy snaps.

A screech fills the air, much too close for comfort.

“Shhh,” Terrie warns, then gestures for them to move.

They leave the shadow of the bus and hurry around a mangled Starbucks, then down the street to an open storefront, where they duck inside and stay in the shadows as their ears hunt for threats.

After a minute of silence, Terrie leads them away from the store and down the street once more. They navigate Seattle for most of the day, hiding and running from the constant hunt that dogs their heels. Finally, after searching for hours, and a lot of zigzagging and backtracking, Terrie spots what they need.

“That,” Terrie says and points at what look like oversized tricycles with covered backseats.

“Rickshaws?” Krissy asks.

“They’re called pedicabs,” Tony says. “Rickshaw is an antiquated and possibly racist term.”

Two of the pedicabs lean against a shattered brick wall, but both look operational with fully inflated tires and chains still attached.

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