The Survivor Chronicles: The Risen by Erica Stevens Read Free Book Online Page B

cheeks stood out as
some of the color had faded from her skin.
    "I'll drive across first," she offered. "To
see if it will support the car. I'm ok with going and coming
back."
    "Riley…" Xander started.
    "It makes sense for someone to do it and I'm
willing to go," she interrupted.
    "I don't think having more vehicles pass back and forth over it is going
to do any good," Peter grumbled.
    Riley's eyes flickered toward him but she
didn't acknowledge his words before she focused on Carl again.
"I'll go."
    "I know you will, but I don't think that's
necessary and I don't think it's going to make much of a
difference," Carl replied. She didn't look convinced but she didn't
say anything further as she turned to look at the bridges.
    "There's a chance we can find a place around
here to hunker down for awhile," Al said. "The towns and cities
around here are far more populated than the area we're heading for,
but we can backtrack, or try and find some less populated
places."
    "Shit," Carl muttered as his mind spun. He
knew what Al and Donald had said in the truck, but he really wasn't
a leader. He didn't want to make these decisions and he definitely
did not want to be responsible for
other people's lives. It wasn't who he was, but even as he thought
it, he could feel the weight of the stares from the others focusing
upon him.
    "Driving around trying to find something
like you suggest could be just as bad as trying to find another
bridge. This area wasn't affected anywhere near as badly as the
coastline states. I think if the trees have held up than there is a
good chance that these bracings have too," he said. "Plus you have
a lot of knowledge of the area we're going to Al, that might be the
best thing we have going for us right now."
    "That I do," Al confirmed.
    "That's good enough for me," Xander
said.
    "We might as well get this over with then,"
Carl said.
    "Hope you can all swim," Peter muttered.
    Carl's teeth clenched on the filter of his
cigarette, he pulled it from his mouth as he turned to face Peter
but before he could speak, John did. "Like a fish. I don't think
swimming is our main concern though. I'm pretty sure the fall, and
the debris crashing down on top of us, will do the job first."
    Peter turned his glare on John but John
simply smiled at the man before turning on his heel. John whistled
as he made his way back to the truck with a spring in his step.
Carl couldn't help but grin at Peter. "I would have to say he's
right," Carl said and crushed his cigarette beneath his boot.
    He walked over to the truck and opened the
driver's side door. Rochelle and John were already inside. "You
sure about this?" Rochelle asked.
    "No," he admitted as he slid in next to her.
"But I do believe we'll finally have a safer place to stay if we
make it to Al's cabin."
    "I like the sound of that," she said. "But I
do not like having to cross this
bridge."
    "No one does." He started the truck and
edged it toward the bridge. The urge to light another cigarette hit
him but with Rochelle next to him, he couldn't. His knuckles were
white as he gripped the wheel forcefully and hunched over it. The
tension in his shoulders and neck made his muscles ache before the
front wheels even hit the beginning of the bridge.
    He believed he heard a groaning but he hoped
it was just his imagination running wild. No matter how much he
tried to get his imagination under control, all he could picture
was the middle of the bridge buckling beneath them and the heavy
metal toppling onto them as they plunged into the overflowing water
below. He hoped John was right and the crashing bridge killed them
before being swamped by the water. Drowning was not the way he
would choose to go.
    He shifted in his seat, the discomfort in
his jaw made him realize his teeth were clenched. He forced himself
to relax his jaw but he couldn't get his hands to ease on the
steering wheel as the truck crept further across the bridge. He
could feel the bridge swaying beneath them from the