After the End: A Post Apocalyptic Adventure by Doug Troxell

Author:Doug Troxell [Troxell, Doug]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Independent
Published: 2022-05-18T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

The exodus south from Slateville was a somber death march. Few spoke. The only sounds came from the two ATVs that were outfitted with trailers hauling most of the “liberated” supplies from Eden Park and the deafening chorus of cicadas. Feet shuffled forward mechanically. The weight of those left behind weighed heavily on Ash’s Chosen People and few truly believed there was anything better waiting for them at the end of their march. The End had extinguished most of their ideas of hope.

Their journey cut through large swaths of farmland left barren and forgotten. Except for a few scattered herds of abandoned vehicles, Ash’s nomads had a clear run of the road. The tall grass and weeds were already starting to reclaim the asphalt, and a herd of whitetail deer barely acknowledged the group’s presence as they passed. There were few reminders that humans had once been the dominant species on the planet in the cornfields and dirt roads of northeast Pennsylvania.

Ash and the others crossed into the small community of Schnecksville just before midday. They passed a large grocery store and gas station where the parking lot resembled a used car dealership. Cars were packed into every available inch of the lot, making it impossible for any of them to go anywhere. People must have abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot. The chaotic scene in the parking lot hinted that the store was most likely looted out, but Ash didn’t even slow down to check.

Route 309 through Schnecksville slithered past a bank, a bar, and a sign advertising The Lehigh Valley Zoo, an animal sanctuary buried deep in the hills on the Trexler Game Preserve. The road sloped down past a diner and a few strip stores on the left and houses on the right. Most expected to continue along Route 309 toward Allentown, but Ash’s ATV cut hard to the right and turned onto a long road leading into a campus with large, anonymous buildings looming in the distance. The dead electronic signboard out front offered no clue to the complex’s identity.

Near the back of the herd, Sam spoke for the first time since leaving Slateville. “What is this place?”

Draven searched his memory for the limited amount of information it contained about Schnecksville in the Old World. “Pretty sure this is LVTA, the technical school. This is where all the tech kids would come to learn about carpentry and fixing cars and doing hair and all that.”

He remembered his teammate, Jimmy “The Wall” Williams, had studied welding at the Lehigh Valley Technical Academy and was always bragging about how he was going to make $20 an hour right out of high school without stepping foot in a college.

The road curved back to the left, revealing a building that was completely hidden from view by the row of houses and trees along Route 309. The building itself was a huge complex with a main central building with four wings spreading out from its body like four great arms.

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