End of Dawn: Horizon's End Book 2: (A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller) by Justin Bell & Mike Kraus

Author:Justin Bell & Mike Kraus [Bell, Justin & Kraus, Mike]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Muonic Press Inc
Published: 2024-08-23T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Preston, Washington

Day 03

5:25 p.m. Pacific

The two women stood at the edge of the trees, staring across the northbound side of Interstate 90. All three lanes of highway were empty and desolate, a vast sea of vacant pavement as far as either woman could see. Birds were spread about, a few of them broken and bloodied beneath the tires of vehicles that had passed through recently. No engine sounds had broken the silence over the past hour or so. It was as if the end of civilization had already come, Shannon and Louise had just missed it.

Tentatively, Shannon stepped from the trees out onto the shoulder, making her way across the empty lanes of Interstate 90. In spite of the sparse emptiness, it was still a little odd to be crossing a once busy highway, but they did so, as quickly as they were able. A moment later, they reached the grass on the other side, crossing it until they approached the southbound lanes. As they had the other section of pavement, they rushed across, moving to another broad section of grass.

Shannon stopped. She turned her head and listened, a wall of silence pressing toward her from every outward direction. No cars roared nearby, no planes soared overhead, no sounds of people or animals, just miles and miles of endless nothing.

“I’m not sure what’s worse,” Louise finally said, just to break the silence, “the insane chaos of Seattle, or the spooky desolation of this place. Where are we again?”

“Preston, that old man called it.” Shannon turned slowly, scanning their surroundings. “What he said about nothing being here? He was right.”

“Look over there. Are those tractor trailer trucks?” Louise pointed across another narrow stretch of pavement. Rows of tractor trailers were slotted into narrow spaces, a wide parking area accommodating the vehicles. No people walked around, just the vehicles themselves, as if all of humanity had simply been swept away.

Shannon approached the parking lot with caution, Louise thumping along behind her, limping as she leaned against the walking stick. Within moments, they’d reached the lot, a medium section of pavement stretched out before them, a narrow path leading to an even larger section beyond. A sign labeling the area as the Preston Park and Ride stood near the entrance.

“Come on.” Shannon gestured toward Louise, who followed her toward a nearby tractor trailer. Thick trees grew behind the far row of trucks, blocking the wider expanse of the parking lot further east from view. Approaching one of the trucks, Shannon stopped, her eyes narrowing, a slight pinch bringing tears to the corners. She stopped, holding her breath and held up a hand to halt Louise behind her.

“What?”

“Do you feel it?”

“What am I feeling.”

“My eyes. They’re prickling.” She blinked away the clouded tears. “Same thing I felt back at the hospital.”

“What?” Louise’s voice elevated, a thin tremor shaking her word.

“I don’t smell anything. But I wouldn’t inhale too deeply.”

“I won’t.” Louise shook her head vehemently.

Shannon approached one of the trucks, then stepped up onto a stair and tested the driver’s side door.

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