This Is the End: The Post-Apocalyptic Box Set (7 Book Collection) by Craig Dilouie & Joe McKinney

Author:Craig Dilouie & Joe McKinney [Dilouie, Craig & McKinney, Joe]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thorn Publishing
Published: 2014-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

16

Muted sounds of thunder caught up to the SCEV crew as they sprinted down the dark hallway, preceding the surprisingly strong shockwave that tore at them an instant later, carrying with it a great cloud of dust. Andrews grabbed Rachel’s arm, supporting her as she stumbled and gasped in shock at the sudden rumble of the explosions. But the cacophony didn’t abate; it intensified, and Andrews felt the floor tremble beneath his feet.

“Keep moving!” he shouted, his voice barely audible above the raging din. “Don’t stop, the place is imploding!” But the light was failing, leaving the hallway in absolute darkness; their night vision goggles had nothing left to intensify. He was rewarded with vision a moment later as Laird switched on a flashlight, its harsh LED glow so powerful through the goggles that had it not been for the thick dust flooding into the passage, it might have overwhelmed the NVGs entirely.

“Follow me!” Laird shouted, as fragments of concrete began to fall from the ceiling. “Hurry, hurry!”

The team followed Laird as he set off down the hallway, wading through dust that only grew thicker with each passing second. The darkened passageway trembled and shook as the structure behind them collapsed upon itself. Andrews wondered about Mulligan’s fate. He heard Laird trying to raise the sergeant major over the radio, but there was no response.

Finally, they left the choking clouds of dust behind, though the occasional sound of falling rubble followed them, echoing down the hallway. Andrews sneezed, his nostrils clogged with filth—he could taste it in the back of his mouth. Laird turned right and descended a wide flight of steps.

“This way,” he said, voice pitched low.

“Where are we headed?” Andrews asked.

“There’s a train station down below. It’s open to the street, thanks to an earthquake or something. We can get out through there and go back to Five.”

“What about Four?” Andrews asked.

“It’s here, in a parking garage. It’s a closer reach, but the thing is, the parking garage is locked by a big steel gate.”

Andrews considered that. “Can we blast through it?”

“What, you mean with a missile?” Each SCEV was armed with AGM-114R Hellfire missiles that were packed with two hundred pounds of high-explosive. Originally intended as anti-tank weapons, chances were high that they would make quick work of the garage door. Laird nodded. “Oh, hell yeah.”

“Let’s go there, then,” Andrews said. “We can’t be leaving one of the rigs here, not if there’s a chance we can get it out.”

Laird hesitated, then nodded. “All right. We’ll need to pull around the block to get my rig, though.”

“Not a problem,” Andrews said. “We’re not going to leave any equipment behind if we can avoid it.”

They descended down the next flight of stairs, moving as quickly as they could.

***

The garage was two floors below the arena level, and it looked mostly undamaged. With high ceilings and several different entrances—all of them closed by sliding moat doors, Andrews noticed—it was obvious this level of the parking structure had been intended for freight to be moved in and out.

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