Canyon: A Post Apocalyptic/Dystopian Adventure (The Traveler Book 2) by Tom Abrahams Read Free Book Online Page B

boss.
    Battle lost his focus when Pico swung the Humvee north and took the turn too quickly. The rear wheels drifted and Battle slammed into the left side of the bed. He held onto the rifle and squared himself.
    “I know what I’m doing,” he told the voice.
    The horsemen cut the corner and shortened the distance between their detachment and the Humvee.
    “If you have to tell me that—” she laughed “—then you don’t. You haven’t been active duty in more than a decade, Marcus. You need to think of this like a father, not like the soldier you aren’t anymore.”
    “I’m not a father anymore either,” he snapped and immediately regretted it as he reset his position at the back of the bed. The voice didn’t respond. Sylvia was gone.
    Battle swallowed the lump in his throat and drew the rifle to his shoulder. He picked the lead horseman, exhaled, and tapped the trigger.
    Thump!
    He lifted his eye from the scope in time to see the horseman jerk and slump forward on the horse. His hands, still wrapped around the reins, yanked the animal’s head down and to the right, guiding it straight into the path of another horse. The two collided and tumbled over each other. The second horse threw its rider forward over its head and landed on him.
    Battle exhaled and dropped his eye to the scope. He picked the boss, aimed at his head, and tapped the trigger again.
    Thump!
    Battle kept his eye at the scope this time. The bullet missed its mark, drilling into the brown hat atop the boss’s head and knocking it off. The boss reached for it and missed.
    Battle took aim again. He pulled the trigger, holding it a beat longer, and Pico took another hard turn to the right, this time heading west away from town. Battle lost his balance as he fired.
    Thump! Thump!
    Both shots went wide and missed everything until they sank into the vinyl siding of a long-closed cafe. Battle grabbed the side of the Humvee and regained his balance. He looked back to see the four horsemen of the post-apocalypse cut another corner. Somehow, they were keeping up with the Humvee.
    Battle checked his hip and tugged at the flash-bang smoke grenade. He held the long black cylinder tight in his hand as the Humvee passed a faded yellow clapboard house. Battle kept his eyes on the house and counted out loud until the horses passed the same house.
    “Four seconds,” he said. “That’ll work.”
    He pulled the pin on the grenade, held his hand over the Humvee’s tailgate for one second, and dropped it into the middle of the road. He ducked down into the bed, covering his ears.
    Three seconds later the flash-bang detonated just as the group of horses reached it. The loud explosion and bright flash of light stunned the animals and their riders. Battle peeked over the back of the Humvee in time to see the panic. The horses were running in different directions. One of them was on its side in the street, having fallen. Another was on its hind legs, roaring and snorting. The resulting cloud of thick white smoke plumed quickly and enveloped them.
    Pico kept the Humvee speeding west for another couple of minutes, and Battle climbed to the front of the bed to bang on the cab. The Humvee slowed to a stop and Battle hopped out. He looked at the sun-bleached green street signs. They were at the intersection of Victoria and Ninth Streets. There was a church on the southwest corner. The sun was peeking above the horizon to the east. The sepia tone of early morning was giving way to orange and red.
    Pico opened his door, remaining in his seat. “Why are we stopping?”
    “We lost them,” Battle said. “For now.”
    “So what do we do?”
    “We need to head back. Not in this. There’s a big carport over there next to that church. Go park it there. We’ll get what we need and head back into town.”
    Battle shut the door and directed Pico to the carport. He trailed behind and then met Pico and Lola as they were exiting the vehicle.
    “If I remember correctly, we walk