Run from Ruin by Allen Kuzara

Author:Allen Kuzara
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: thriller, coming of age, young adult, zombie, dystopian, alaskan novel, scifi horror, scifi action, postapocalptic, scifi dystopia

CHAPTER 14

AFTER A FEW miles, the boys stopped the van. Nick wanted to make sure they hadn’t lost the gas can and hose. Fortunately—somehow—the crazy hadn’t kicked them out the back during the scuffle. Nick emptied what was left from the can into the van’s tank. Then he returned the can to the back and closed the doors.

The smell of gas was strong. It was on his shirt and, especially, his shoes. He wondered how long it would take for the fumes to dissipate. Now, gasoline no longer seemed like a symbol of life; their recent close encounter had forever tainted that imagery.

After they got going again, Nick took mental stock of their situation. Jimmy was riding shotgun, so far unscathed minus a few close calls and a failed attempt to kill himself. Not bad for the apocalypse, Nick snickered to himself.

The van had been running surprisingly well. It was old. The odometer said it had ninety-eight thousand miles on it. Nick could only hope those were the original miles. He remembered his dad explaining how old cars weren’t built to last like new ones and that way back there they didn’t even bother making odometers that went past one-hundred thousand. Nick hoped the van had never rolled over to zero before.

And how was Nick? he asked himself. There was no reply, no voice inside that answered. He was alive, he figured. And that’s all you could ask for right now. And they had plenty of food. The gas they’d gotten from the Nova almost filled up the van’s tank which was good enough for a few hours, at least.

Outside, the terrain was rough but stable. They were driving on asphalt but not the kind that they usually made interstates and major highways out of. To Nick it looked more like the kind of rough, black tar-infused stuff they had poured for the outdoor basketball court at his middle school years ago. That stuff stunk the whole time he was a student there. He bet it still smelled. And they wonder why kids are getting cancer, he told himself.

The one disconcerting thing—although Nick had anticipated it—was that there were now fewer cars on the road. It made driving easier, but securing more fuel would be problematic. Now more than before, Nick felt that his rule about stopping at a half-tank was the right choice.

A new exterior feature emerged. It had become a welcomed sight, almost like an adopted pet, a wild animal that comes to visit your bird feeder or eat from your vegetable garden. You can’t really touch it or pet it, but you name it and you like to see it come around. The gas and oil pipeline ran parallel to the Dalton on the east side of the road. It wasn’t that impressive on the face of it. There were surely shinier and larger structures in Fairbanks, but out here in the wilderness it was a touch of civilization and it was a constant. It ran—so Nick had been told—all the way to Deadhorse and the end of the Dalton Highway.

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