Rapture by Phillip W. Simpson

Author:Phillip W. Simpson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Pear Jam Books Ltd
Published: 2012-01-08T06:10:12+00:00

9

BRYCE VALLEY CITY

PRESENT

“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”

Revelation 13: 16–18

By the time he and Josh arrived at Bryce Valley City, it was almost morning. That surprised Sam; during his research, he’d thought it would only take a couple of hours at most to reach the city from Black Ridge. But then, his calculations were based on walking overland at his own pace. He’d never planned on driving.

True to his word, Adam had cleared the roads all the way through to Bryce Valley - Sam had seen the snowplough they’d used for the job parked next to the jeep just before they left Black Ridge. They had to make a few detours; once to avoid a large pack of Lemure and then where a recently burnt-out truck completely blocked the road. The route wasn’t simple, backtracking and then driving on through a number of small towns, all seemingly deserted. Once they’d got onto one of the state highways, however, it became plain sailing.

During the journey, Sam was quite content to sit back and let Joshua drive, alert but relaxed. He’d seen a couple of Astaroth flying in the distance, but the jeep had easily outpaced them. Joshua kept quiet. If he’d seen the Astaroth, he didn’t say anything. He seemed to know where he was going and for once, Sam was enjoying putting his feet up.

That all changed when they reached Bryce Valley.

Sam sat up suddenly when he realized what was before them. The road leading west was barricaded by the burnt remains of various vehicles. A group of dishevelled humans were sitting on top of the mound, holding a squirming teenage girl. All were armed.

Just in front of them was another car. All the doors were open and two bodies, motionless, blood pooling around them, were sprawled on the pavement next to it.

The barricade was new. When Adam had told them about the route to take, he hadn’t mentioned these people. That meant they weren’t here last time he’d sent out a scavenging patrol. This wasn’t good. Wasn’t good at all.

Their destination, Bryce Valley City, was just off the state highway, and Sam could already see the sign for the turnoff just before the make-shift barrier. Unfortunately, the survivors had already seen them.

“Reverse,” said Sam.

“Yeah, I know,” replied Joshua, already wrestling with the gear box.

Too late, Sam spotted another group of survivors coming up behind them. It was a trap - a simple one, but all the best traps were. Up ahead, the first group were ambling towards the jeep, two of them dragging the crying girl between them.

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