Supercritical by Shawn Kupfer

Author:Shawn Kupfer [Kupfer, Shawn]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance
ISBN: 9781426893940
Publisher: Carina Press
Published: 2012-06-10T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Big City

“Good pull, guys. This is a hell of a truck,” Bryce said as Mary and Nick climbed out of the large vehicle’s cab.

“Sarcasm?” Nick asked.

“Truth. What you’ve got there is a GAZ-66. It’s like the Glock of troop trucks. We used to use them to pull T-5s out of the river. They’re that strong, and dependable as all hell,” Bryce answered.

“Oh. Well, good, then. I thought we stole a piece of shit. This thing has got to be twenty years old.”

“More than that. They stopped making ’em before the turn of the century, replaced ’em with a model that wasn’t as good. Where’d you find it?”

“It was just sitting outside one of the buildings at the edge of town. Keys were in it. Probably didn’t expect any thieving Americans about,” Mary said.

“And more good news. Besides plenty of room in the back, looks like it comes with four full ten-gallon fuel cans,” Christopher said as he checked out the back of the truck.

“Right, then. Let’s get moving. We’re not really that far from China, and I prefer traveling by night when we can manage it,” Nick told them.

“I’m rested, boss. Want me on the wheel?” Bryce asked.

“Yeah. I’ll ride shotgun in case we get stopped and need to talk to the locals. Everyone else, plenty of room in the back. Sleep in shifts, three hours at a time. Stay rested and hydrated. Let’s move.”

Bryce had managed to cannibalize the in-dash GPS unit from the immobile Mengshi, and with a little work, he and Nick were able to wire it to the GAZ’s cigarette lighter. It seemed to function just fine, indicating they were only about a hundred miles from the border to mainland China. As 2200 hours rolled around, the GPS showed only ten miles to the border.

“Pull off the road for a second,” Nick said. “Gotta check in.”

“Right.”

Bryce piloted the large troop truck off the empty road and left its engine idling as Nick pulled out the old Motorola and dialed.

“Evans,” the Ranger commander’s voice came over the line. “Still in a black to comm mode. What’s your position?”

“43.811 by 111.712.”

“Roger that. Any issues to report?”

“Nothing significant.”

“Good. Reconnect at twenty-two hundred tomorrow. Maintain black to comm until.”

“Copy that.”

“Stay alive out there. You still owe me a beer.”

The connection terminated, and Nick put the phone back in his coat. He nodded to Bryce.

“All right. Forward, then,” Nick said.

Fifteen minutes later, the GPS let them know they were at the border to China, but without the device’s notification, they might never have known. They’d passed through a small village just a few moments before, but up ahead of them was only desert as far as the old truck’s headlights illuminated.

“There. Up ahead. Big gate over the road,” Bryce said.

Nick slipped on his TotalVis goggles and looked down the road. There was, indeed, a large archway built over both lanes of the road. He counted six Mengshi assault vehicles, two ZTZ99 tanks and more than twenty soldiers on foot posted near the arch.

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