Desolation Boulevard by Mark Gordon Read Free Book Online

and didn’t have the
first clue as to how cars functioned. Also, the streets were
clogged with abandoned vehicles, which would have made driving
almost impossible anyway. She kept her eyes peeled for a bicycle
store and after walking for a few more blocks Sally realised with a
start that she would need to find one pretty quickly. It was clear
from the ever-increasing column of black smoke blotting out the sun
that the fire had changed direction and was moving faster than she
was. If she didn’t pick up her pace it was going to catch her. She
changed tactics. She got away from the main road and headed into
the residential streets behind the businesses and stores. She
figured she would find a serviceable bike in somebody’s backyard or
garage. As she strolled through the laneways behind the houses she
tried to keep her mind open to the idea that she might find
somebody else to help her. She was struggling hard with the concept
that everybody had simply vanished.
    After checking the yards of around a dozen
houses, Sally finally saw what she needed - a mountain bike leaning
up against the wall of a house. She pushed open the gate and
stepped into the small backyard. Sally felt it was wrong to steal
somebody else’s possessions, so she decided that she should at
least go through the motions of getting permission from the owner
before she took the bike. She also realised that candles would be
good to have tonight if the electricity went out all over the city.
She knocked on the back door of the house. As expected, there was
no answer.
    “ Hello?” There was no
response.
    On a whim, she tried the handle. It was
unlocked. She pushed the door open and stuck her head inside.
“Hello? Is anybody home?”
    She noticed that her heart was starting to
beat a little faster.
    “ Hello?” she tried again.
Nothing.
    “ Oh well. It can’t hurt to
have a look,” she thought, as she stepped into the semi-dark
kitchen.
    The blinds had been drawn and the cool air
inside the house wrapped her like a shroud. She looked around the
unlit, shadowy room. Only the humming of a refrigerator broke the
gloomy feel of the unoccupied house. “Electricity’s on,” she said
to herself. She couldn’t deny that she was finding this experience
very creepy. It was the first home she had entered since she left
her own apartment this morning, and she felt like an intruder.
Hell, she was an intruder! She decided that she needed to check the
whole house to satisfy her curiosity, then get out of there. After
all, she still had the encroaching fire to worry about. She started
her impromptu search downstairs. The kitchen, obviously, was empty
- nothing out of the ordinary to see there. She went through
another door and found herself in a small lounge room, where the
television was issuing a noiseless stream of visual static. She
hadn’t really given much thought to the electricity situation, but
obviously parts of the grid were still operational and running on
some kind of automatic mode. If things remained as they were, she
knew it would not last for long though, as the coal burned itself
out in the power stations. On a hunch she went back to the kitchen
and looked in the cupboard under the sink. Bingo! Among the
detritus of kitchen junk - light globes, garbage bags and washing
up liquid - she found what she was looking for - a box of candles
and a cigarette lighter. She stuffed them into her backpack. Each
second that passed seemed to give Sally a little more confidence
that she was not in danger so she decided to check upstairs before
leaving. When she reached the top of the stairs, she could see that
she was dealing with two bedrooms off a small landing. She quickly
looked inside both rooms and noticed nothing out of the ordinary,
simply two unmade beds. Somewhat relieved, Sally quickly made her
way back downstairs, climbed onto the bike, and began to cycle away
from the city.
    The ride was non-eventful for the most part.
Occasionally she found herself