Escape: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival series (Dark Road Book 2) Read online

  ESCAPE

  Dark Road, Book Two

  Bruno Miller

  Could you protect your own?

  Recent EMP attacks have left the country in a state of chaos and upheaval. With two of his children on the East Coast, Ben Davis has left Colorado behind, embarking on a cross-country journey with his eldest son, Joel, one of Joel’s classmates, Allie, and the family dog, Gunner.

  Very few modern vehicles remain functional, but thanks to Joel’s 1972 Chevy Blazer, Ben and his crew are mobile and able to carry supplies. But that doesn’t mean they’re safe in this post-apocalyptic world.

  They soon discover that life as they know it is over. Danger fills every moment of their new reality. No longer can people be trusted. Especially with resources dwindling and new threats around every bend in the road.

  Survival means working together but it also means the teenagers have to grow up fast. Ben struggles with some decisions he’s forced to make, but he refuses to let his family suffer at the hands of the desperate. Even if he has to shed blood to keep them safe.

  Ben’s skills as a former Army Ranger are tested repeatedly as he fights to lead his crew across the new wasteland of America. Will there come a time when the dark road ahead is too much?

  Escape: Dark Road, Book Two

  Copyright © 2018 Bruno Miller

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, events, and places portrayed in this book are products of the author’s imagination and are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real person, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

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  Table of Contents

  ESCAPE

  About the Book

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  About the Author

  To Wendy, for all her support.

  Chapter One

  Ben spent a few extra minutes taking in the stars and stretching his neck. Ambling down the steps and off the front porch, he made his way to the garage. He wanted to let Joel and Allie enjoy the power for a little while longer before he shut the generator off. It was a luxury they wouldn’t have on the road.

  Leaving the house behind along with the extra supplies seemed like such a waste. They were running out of room fast in the Blazer. The house was so well set up with the generator and well-fed cistern, giving Ben another reason not to want to leave it. If they stayed they could survive almost indefinitely. Sure, they would have to be conservative with their resources, but they would be in good shape, relatively speaking.

  Staying wasn’t an option, though, and Ben knew it. With Emma and Bradley in Maryland, the choice had been made for them. Thanks to his selfish ex-wife, he and Joel, and now Allie, would have to endure a cross-country rescue mission. He could feel his blood pressure rise as he thought of all the complications she had caused. How easy it would have been had she put the kids first and stayed local to the Durango area. Now he might never get to see the rest of his kids again, and Joel might never get to see his brother and sister again.

  Ben quickly pushed the thought from his mind and turned his attention to the gear and food he had hastily unloaded and was now spread about in small piles on the garage floor. There was no point in dwelling on what couldn’t be changed, and he needed to be productive right now.

  But the first thing he had to do was kill the generator so he could hear himself think.

  “Sorry, guys.” With a glance toward Joel and Allie in the house, he flipped the toggle switch from manual to off on the generator. “Lights out.”

  The generator sputtered and finally came to rest with a wiggle against its rubber motor mounts. Somehow his task in the garage seemed a little more manageable without the constant rattle of the engine taunting him.

  Time to get to work. The sooner he sorted all this gear out and got it loaded, the sooner he could focus on the guns and ammo in the safe. He wanted to keep a spot open for the weapons under the Blazer’s rear seat. That way they would be easy to reach from the front seats, and most of what he planned on bringing with them should fit. He could also squeeze some ammo under there as well, with the bulk of it in the ammo cans hidden under less crucial gear in the cargo area.

  Ben noticed a light out of the corner of his eye and spun around. He was relieved to see it was Joel coming out to the garage. He had a headlamp on.

  “Hey there, everything okay?” Ben assumed Joel would maximize the opportunity to spend some time with Allie and hadn’t counted on seeing him for a while.

  “Yeah, I just thought I would give you a hand is all.” Joel stepped down into the garage and pulled the door closed behind him.

  “How’s Allie holding up?” Ben asked.

  “Good, I think. She fell asleep with Gunner. I was in the kitchen, making us hot chocolate, and when I came back into the living room they were curled up on the couch.” Joel snorted. “That dog!”

  “He sure has taken to her pretty quickly.” Ben smirked.

  “Yeah, he has.” Joel stood with his hands on his hips and looked at the mess sprawled out on the floor in front of him. “So what can I do?”

  “Well…” Ben thought for a second. “You could start by transferring all the food to the duffle bags. It’ll save us some room and will be easier to pack in around other things.”

  “Okay.” Joel went to work opening the sealed white tubs and pouring the packets of dehydrated food into the duffel bags.

  Ben glanced at his son. The kid was a good worker. “If you’re up to it, how about getting that Thule cargo box ready tonight instead of waiting until morning? I’d like to get it mounted on the roof tonight if I can.” No telling what the morning would bring. He would rather get the bulk of it done tonight if he could and leave the morning open to double-check everything and deal with any last-minute issues. Once he had the box mounted on the roof racks he would have a better idea how much gear they could bring.

  “Sure thing, Dad.”

  “Thanks.” Ben walked over to his workbench and looked through some small metal drawers until he found what he was looking for. He placed the two combination-style padlocks on the top of the bench.

  “I’ll leave these right here. See if they’ll work on the box after you get it cleaned up. They should be the right size. We need to be able to lock it up.”

  “What about the hitch rack? We can use that to carry some stuff,” Joel asked.

  “Yeah, been thinking about that. I’m probably going to keep the gas cans and toolbox on there along with some other stuff. Probably limit it to things we can move easily. Maybe strap that old cooler on and use it as a catchall
for miscellaneous crap.” Ben grabbed a rolled-up garden hose that was hanging on a wall-mounted hook by the door and added it to his growing pile of things to pack.

  “What’s that for?” Joel asked.

  “We’re going to have to siphon gas.” Ben looked at the Blazer, then back at Joel. “Lots of gas.”

  He knew the big V-8 would drink down gas at a steady pace, especially at highway speeds. They would need a way to satisfy the big truck’s thirst. He figured on using the garden hose and an old hand pump he had. Normally he used it for transferring kerosene from plastic gas tanks to the kerosene heaters he used to keep the garage warm when he was working out there in the wintertime. He could rig that up to pump gasoline just the same and attach it to the long hose to reach the underground tanks at gas stations. Then they wouldn’t have to rely on siphoning from cars to fill the 21-gallon tank, as it would most likely take a few cans to get the job done, and he didn’t want to stop that much. Better to stop and fill the truck tank and their two 5.5-gallon metal jerry cans all at once.

  If they were lucky enough to travel at highway speeds, they would probably get about 10–12 miles per gallon, giving then an approximate range of 350 miles between needing to find a fuel source. Of course, that would include using the fuel in the spare cans, too, but it was still a pretty good range, and Ben was happy with that.

  Joel had reduced the 10 white tubs of food to four large duffle bags measuring almost three feet long and about two feet around. They were going to take up quite a bit of room, but at least they wouldn’t be recognizable as food to someone snooping around the truck.

  “Where do you want them?” Joel struggled with the zipper on the last stuffed bag.

  “Just leave them there for now. I’ll load them last. I wanted to try to keep the gear below the windows so people wouldn’t notice all the stuff, but I don’t think we can do that now. I’m afraid I’m going to have to make a few changes to your truck.” Ben shook a can of black spray paint until the little marble inside begin to rattle.

  “Like what?” Joel frowned.

  Ben leaned into the back of the truck and sprayed the bottom three quarters of the rear side window with the paint, leaving several inches at the top clear. Stepping back and looking at his handiwork from the outside, he nodded in approval.

  “Yep, that’ll do it.” Ben proceeded to spray the other side window and the rear window of the cab in a similar fashion.

  “My truck!” Joel put his hand on his forehead and slid it down his face slowly.

  “Sorry, buddy, I’m gonna need you to take one for the team here.” Ben shrugged.

  “It’s fine. Gotta do what you gotta do, right?” Joel turned and headed out the door. “I’ll go get the roof box.”

  “Thanks.” Ben felt bad about spray-painting the windows, but he knew it was the best way to keep prying eyes out their business, and now that they had an extra person riding in the back, he felt it was a necessary safety precaution. Their abundance of supplies would be too obvious, and he didn’t want to take the chance of someone noticing.

  Ben heard Joel banging his hand on the outside of the overhead door.

  “Can you open the door please?” Joel called from outside.

  “Hang on.” Ben unlocked the door and pulled it up.

  Joel dragged the long Thule box into the garage and laid it down on the floor alongside the truck.

  “Thanks. I’ll get this cleaned up; it’s not too bad actually.” Joel brushed off some pine needles and opened it up to inspect the interior.

  “Looks good to me.” Ben, not wanting to waste any time, grabbed one end of the box. “Give me a hand, will you? Let’s get it onto the roof.”

  They hoisted the box up and positioned it on the crossbars.

  “That’s bigger than I remember. Going to be a huge help.” Ben stepped back from the truck. “Can you get the brackets secured on your own?”

  “Yeah, I got it.” Joel grabbed the parts on the workbench and pulled the socket set down from the shelf.

  “If you have that handled, I’m going to go in and get stuff together in the basement.” Ben looked around the garage and took stock of their progress.

  “Okay, Dad.”

  Most everything was now organized into bags or containers and would pack up pretty quickly from here. Before he loaded it all in, though, he wanted to get what they were taking from the basement packed and brought upstairs. He would wait until the morning to load the guns and ammo. That wasn’t something he wanted sitting outside overnight, even if it was locked up in the garage.

  “I think we’ll load up in the morning after all. When you get done with that, why don’t you lock up and come on in, okay, bud? Get yourself some sleep and we’ll finish up first thing. I’m not going to do too much more tonight. I’m tired so I’ll probably hit the rack after I get done downstairs.”

  “All right, I’ll lock up in a few and be right in.” Joel looked up for a second and then back at the wrench he was turning. “Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight, Joel.”

  Chapter Two

  It was unusually chilly for early June in the Rockies, and Ben pulled his flannel overshirt closer to ward off the night air. He looked at the moon and noticed the difference in clarity between the night sky above and the horizon.

  Normally, on a night like this with an almost full moon, he would be able to see quite a ways down the valley, but not now. The air had almost a grainy, foggy quality down toward the horizon—enough to make some of the lower-sitting stars almost invisible. It almost looked like there were airborne particles settling into the lower atmosphere. How long would this last, how much was from the bombs, and how much was residual smoke that remained in the atmosphere from the countless fires that were and had been burning?

  He leaned against the railing at the top of the steps for a moment before he went in. Looking back at the garage, he wondered if he should stay out here until Joel was done. They hadn’t seen anyone on the way up the long gravel road to their house, but that didn’t mean they could let their guard down. The houses were so scattered in the development that, over the years, Ben had only gotten to know his closest neighbors—and not very well at that. Still, he didn’t think any of them were people he needed to worry about.

  Maybe he would just make himself a cup of coffee and wait close by for Joel to finish up and come inside for the night. He entered the mudroom off the kitchen and pulled the door partially shut so it was still open about an inch. With Joel still outside, he felt better about having it partway open and kept the door in his line of sight as he made the coffee. While he was waiting for the coffee to brew on the camp stove, he peeked around the corner and into the living room. Allie was still sleeping on the couch next to Gunner, who took up more than his share of it.

  “Never one to miss an opportunity, are you, boy?” Ben whispered to the dog.

  Gunner looked up slowly and gave Ben a guilty look, wagging his tail a few times as if he was trying to gain approval. Ben shook his head and grinned as he went back into the kitchen. Taking the coffee off the stove and turning the flame off, he poured it out of the small cooking pot.

  He couldn’t help having second thoughts. Was he crazy to drag two teenagers across the country and into the unknown? He had no idea what they would find when they got there. With no way to communicate with his ex or the kids, they couldn’t even be sure they would still be there. It was a risk he—they—would have to take.

  A deep grumble from Gunner in the living room interrupted his thoughts. Ben instinctively looked at the partially open mudroom door, but there was nothing there. He listened for a second and didn’t hear anything out of place. Gunner came around the corner and into the kitchen. Hackles up, he growled again and followed it up with a low grumble of a bark. He focused his attention toward the door, stealing glances at Ben in between protesting growls. This was enough to convince Ben there was something—or someone—outside.

  Gunner had been known to bark at a mule
deer or two crossing through the property. It wasn’t an uncommon thing to happen at their house; in fact, he had even once chased a small black bear to the edge of the yard. Afraid the bear would decide to stop and stand its ground at any moment, Ben and Joel had frantically yelled from the porch to try to get Gunner to stop the chase. All Ben could think of was having to run him into town to the vet to get stitched up from a fight with a bear. Fortunately, Gunner decided to heed their calls and stopped the pursuit.

  Gunner was acting differently this time, though, and Ben took notice. He quickly checked back in the other room and saw that Allie was still sleeping before he and Gunner cautiously made their way onto the deck. Just then, Joel wandered out of the garage, pulling the door closed with an unfortunate thud before locking it.

  “Joel!” Ben said as loud as he could without breaking a whisper. Joel spun around to see his dad with his left hand up to his face, finger pressed against his lips.

  “What?” Joel whispered.

  “I don’t know if it’s anything, but Gunner’s not happy. Did you hear anything out here?” Ben asked.

  “No, I just finished up in the garage and was coming in for the night. It’s all locked up.” Joel looked back at the garage, double-checking the door he had just locked.

  Ben pulled his Glock out and came down the steps toward Joel. Gunner was right behind him, silently working the cool night air with his nose. Walking around outside his own house with the pistol drawn, Ben felt foolish for a split-second. Was he being paranoid? It was probably just some poor critter. Still, though, after the day they had in town, he wasn’t taking any chances. He quickly regained his senses, shaking off the notion he was overreacting, and held the gun firm.