Deadrise by Steven R. Gardner Read Free Book Online Page A

locked!" he screamed. But wasting no time, he moved ten feet down the side of the bus and smashed out one of the passenger windows with the butt of his rifle and pulled himself up into the bus. He ran to the front of the vehicle and pulled the lever to open the door open.
    While his family carried their luggage and supplies aboard the bus, Frank clambered beneath the wheel to hot-wire it while Zack and Matt stood guard outside, watching the zombies who were now only fifty feet away.
    The bus engine roared to life. "Let’s hit the road!" Frank called from the drivers seat. Zack and Matt hurried aboard, Frank closed the door behind them and got under way…

 
    Chapter 5
     
     
     
     
Thursday, June 21, 2001
Salt Lake City, UT
7:06 PM
     
     
    The morning hours melted into afternoon and with it their hopes of an easy escape from the city. While many of the residential and business districts were fairly free of abandon cars, most of the major traffic arteries, as well as every freeway exit or entrance in the city were so crammed with wrecked or abandon vehicles that they were impassable, especially for a school bus. To make matters worse the number of zombies roaming the streets had increased tenfold in just a few days and were nearly everywhere in the city. Rarely did they make their way through some neighborhood without seeing several zombies scattered down the street, wandering aimlessly up and down from yard to yard. And whenever the bus passed the zombies it drew their attention, and the zombies began to stumble awkwardly after them. As for those that got in their way, the bus steamrolled them like bowling pins, just like Matt said.
    The summer heat also added to their discomfort. By noon the inside of the bus was stifling. By four o'clock, it was sweltering. They had opened all the windows on the bus, but the breeze was tinged with a sweetly sour aroma of decay. Their single bright light was the C/B radio, set on a frequency where a live newscast was ordering the evacuation of Salt Lake City. There were emergency relief stations located at the University of Utah Hospital Campus, The Salt Lake International Airport, Hill Air Force Base, and Fort Douglas. In a voice that sounded borderline hysterical, the announcer reported of fires raging uncontrollably across the Wasatch Front. That power was off in over half of the city, and the rest expected to fail within a week’s time. The reporter cleared his throat and also reported that rioting and looting was widespread. And finally, as if an after thought, it was confirmed that the recently dead were returning to life and attacking and devouring the living.
    The afternoon became evening, and the temperature cooled. They had rotated drivers, and now Frank was seated behind the wheel once again. The live report on the radio was gone and now it repeated the same EBS information they had heard on the radio down in the shelter. Sharon slept a few seats back, curled into a ball. Matt and David passed a Gameboy back and forth, while Susan sat at the back of the bus, staring out the window. Zack rode shotgun, standing in the stairwell with his back against the handrail.
    "I think we're beating a dead horse." Frank said wearily. "If we want out of this city, were going to have to ditch the bus."
"There has to be a way." Zack said.
"The only way is through one of the rescue stations. And the military will be there."
"You know they will take our guns." Matt said from behind.
    Frank looked at the instruments disapprovingly. "We’re practically on fumes. Twenty more minutes and we’ll be pushing this bus."
"Well then that should be our first priority. Find someplace to refuel."
"I knew we should have left with Adam and Kelly." Zack said. Everyone fell silent again.
Matt looked to the back of the bus where Susan stared out the window, her eyes haunted. He walked back there and sat beside her.
"How you doing?"
"About as good as could be expected I suppose." her voice was flat, and her