Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 106092 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106092 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Not exactly something she should be proud of.
“Does your dad know you’ve been running the streets with my brother?” I ask before glancing down toward their room.
Her cheeks turn even pinker than they already are from the chilly air. “We couldn’t sleep.”
Jesse smirks at me. I know that look. He’s been up to no good. They’re both too young to be doing what I think they were doing. Me and Kellen definitely aren’t the only ones getting laid around here.
“Pregnancy is worse during the apocalypse,” I grumble. “Hope you wrapped your shit up, Jess.”
He rolls his eyes at me like I’m an idiot. “Did you wrap your shit up?”
Kellen makes a choked sound of embarrassment.
“I’m not at risk of little Jesses running around,” I toss back.
Ignoring me, Jesse takes Hailey’s hand. She blushes again and smiles at him. Oh Jesus. Are me and Kellen this annoying?
“Hailey?” Dan calls out from a couple rooms down.
Jesse drops her hand like it’s a snake and she scoots away from him, guilt marring both of their expressions.
“Here, Dad,” Hailey answers. “Jesse found a truck!”
Dan’s gaze darts between the two of them, suspicion dancing in his eyes. This is where my brother gets his ass kicked just for being him.
But instead of an ass whooping, the ground starts to tremble. The easy, almost peaceful time we’ve had at this hotel comes to an end.
“Let’s pack up,” Kellen instructs. “We should get on the road in the next half hour. How much gas is in that thing?”
“Three quarters of a tank,” Jesse says. “Won’t get us all the way there, but it’ll cut down our travel time to Stovepipe Wells.”
Within thirty minutes, I’m sitting beside Kellen in the bed of the truck on a thick blanket pallet we made. Wayne is up front, driving the truck, with Judy, Hailey, Silas, and Pretzel squished on the bench seat with him where it’s warm. Dan is on my other side with Gerry next to him. Jesse, Hope, and Aaron are sitting across from us. All our supplies are between us and the makeshift wind guard we made from bedding we procured from the hotel is tied to each corner of the truck bed, offering us some shelter from the cold wind. It’s not the best travel conditions, but it sure as hell beats walking. I’ll never admit it to Jesse, but I’m glad he found us a vehicle.
We drive for hours without stopping. When we do start to slow, I wonder if we’re making a stop for lunch or to stretch our legs. It’s not until the vehicle completely comes to a halt and Wayne emerges that we learn why.
“Out of gas,” Wayne grunts in frustration. “Looks like we’re walking from here.”
“Where is here?” Kellen asks.
“Panamint Springs.”
Someone unties the blankets and then we crawl out of the truck bed to get a sense of our surroundings. Ahead, there’s a small town with what looks like lodging, a gas station, and a restaurant. However, there are no cars and it’s completely deserted.
“How far until we reach Stovepipe Wells?” I ask, glancing at Kellen.
He studies the map for a beat and then sighs heavily. “Thirty miles or so.”
If we don’t find a vehicle along the way, we’re looking at least eleven hours of walking. Fucking great.
“If that’s a gas station,” Jesse says, pointing toward the town, “we can grab a gas can and fill this baby up.” He slaps the side of the truck. “It’s not the end of the world.”
I open my mouth to tell him it is, in fact, the end of the world, but Dan beats me to it.
“If the power is out, which it most likely is, that means the pumps will be shut off. We won’t be getting any gas.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Jesse complains. “Can we ever catch a break?” Pretzel peeks his head out of Jesse’s zipped up coat and yaps as though to agree with him.
“We will be out of this nightmare soon enough when we reach Stovepipe Wells,” Kellen says to him and then nudges me with his elbow. “Let’s see what we can find in way of supplies in this town and maybe hunker down for the rest of the day to recuperate. Tomorrow, we’ll head out early and get to our destination.”
Since we don’t have any better plans, we gather our stuff and start toward Panamint Springs.
Could this all really be over by tomorrow night?
I’m not going to hold my breath.
Kellen
Panamint Springs is an oasis in our current hell. Well, at least, that’s our hope. Our group stands together, discussing the best way to move forward. What if this town is like the last one we went through? Will it be abandoned or crawling with armed people who want us to move along?
From my vantage point, it’s evident the quaint, aging resort is still intact. It’s dark out now, but I don’t see any lights inside any of the structures. This could mean a safe place to hunker down for the night. We may even find more food and supplies. My stomach grumbles angrily at me. I’d give my left nut for a hot meal right about now.