Scourge: Ravaged Dawn Book 1: (A Thrilling Post-Apocalyptic Series) by Marcus Richardson & Mike Kraus

Author:Marcus Richardson & Mike Kraus [Richardson, Marcus & Kraus, Mike]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Muonic Press Inc
Published: 2023-11-01T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

East of Cold Valley, Wyoming

Pike swore under his breath and honked the horn when the car in front of him abruptly stopped. They were still on the main highway east of town, attempting to make a southerly circuit around the chaos that gripped Cold Valley. "This is taking too much time..."

"It's getting on sunset," Drake warned as he looked out the side window.

"I know, I know," Pike replied, glancing in the mirror. "Try your grandparents again, will you?" he asked Dakota.

"I still can't get through, Dad," Dakota replied. "But it's okay—I sent text messages. For some reason, I think they're getting through. I keep getting the stupid 'all circuits are busy' when I try calling."

Pike eased back in his seat and exhaled to release the tension in his shoulders. "Okay...okay, at least Jonah might know we're safe and on the way. That helps. Thanks, honey," he said as he winked in the mirror. Dakota flashed a smile that made him think of Abby, then looked away.

"I hope Mom's okay," Drake muttered, watching the patchwork of farms and ranches slowly roll by his window.

Pike nodded and gripped the steering wheel just a little tighter. In all the chaos of getting his kids out of the school, he hadn't spared a thought for his wife, alone in the wilderness a thousand miles away. Then he smiled and looked at Drake. "Actually, if this is what's going on all over the place, your mother's probably the safest of us—she is literally in the middle of nowhere on Vancouver Island. She shouldn't have any problems at all like this."

"Well, that's—yeah, that's good," Drake said, his mood lightening. "But what are we gonna do?"

"Daddy, are we going to spend the night in the truck if we can't make it back?" asked Dakota in a trembling voice.

Traffic came to a stop once more and Pike eased them up behind the vehicle in front, leaving plenty of space to maneuver if they needed to make a hasty exit again. As they passed the midpoint of town, heading south, more and more traffic turned around out of the long line of cars snaking north and followed them.

Pike looked out his window and stared at the setting sun, almost touching the horizon. Honking in the distance intensified and pulled his attention back to the road. The southbound lane still crept forward at a crawl. The northbound lane had become a parking lot hours earlier. They passed several people setting up tents along the side of the road or cooking food with camping gear.

"Only a matter of time before the craziness back in town spreads out here," he muttered.

"You think it's the whole town?" Dakota asked. "I still have spotty Internet signal out here—I don't see anything on any new sites or anything," she reported, staring at her phone in the back seat. "There's problems in like, the big cities, but nothing out here."

Pike glanced at Drake, who shrugged. "I'm kinda hungry."

"You're always hungry," Dakota scoffed. "Did you miss elevensies today?"

"Elevensies?" asked Pike.

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