Driven by Dean Murray Read Free Book Online Page B

ruins of some kind of factory. It was the last thing
I would have expected to see out here.
    Structural
steel, large girders designed to defeat the forces of gravity and
corrosion, could serve as a kind of artificial forest to slow down my
pursuers, but that kind of density wasn't what you'd usually find in
most building designs.
    It
looked like the factory had caught fire at some point and the owners
must have taken the insurance money and cashed out, that or maybe the
insurance payout hadn't been enough to rebuild. Either way, the lack
of artificial lighting indicated that they'd left the undamaged
section of the building just as vacant as the smoke-stained sections
that had ultimately brought the factory to its knees.
    I
didn't particularly want to get caught inside the hallways and
offices of an unfamiliar building, not when I was being followed by
three times my own number of pursuers, so I angled to the right,
darting into the blackened ruins.
    I
was in luck. The wreckage contained dozens of machines that had been
ruined in the fire, too big and heavy to justify moving out, and they
were more than substantial enough to stop the headlong flight of
werewolves which each weighed the better part of half a ton.
    I
slipped between two of the largest machines, vast monsters that were
set less than four feet apart from each other and which the
werewolves would have to detour around. It bought me a few seconds,
long enough to cross halfway across the manufacturing area.
    I
waited until I could hear the werewolves' talons scraping across the
concrete floor and then dodged through another bank of machinery. I'd
never slowed down, but I knew I hadn't bought myself enough of a
lead.
    I
turned to the right and the werewolves took the bait. All three of
them sounded like they were headed straight for the open ground,
correctly thinking that they would make better time there than trying
to navigate through the densely-packed rows of machinery.
    I
continued streaking towards the far end of the building until I heard
them crash through what was left of the exterior walls and then I cut
left as hard as I could, heading straight towards the undamaged part
of the building.
    It
was another risky choice, but the concrete was slick enough that the
werewolves would start catching up to me again unless I could get
onto carpet. Two more bounds took me into the non-manufacturing
section of the building.
    I
was in a long, straight, carpeted corridor and I stretched out into
nearly a full sprint. I'd gained a much bigger lead on the werewolves
than I'd ever had before, especially during those precious few
seconds where they'd been running towards the outside edge of the
building. Those few steps had taken them almost directly away from my
current direction of travel, the direction I'd been planning on
traveling ever since I'd made it into the building. Each of those
steps had bought me a three-step lead and now I had a very real
chance of making it back to Ben and the car with enough time to get
in and drive away before the werewolves could catch us.
    Everything
now rode on whether or not I could correctly pick my route through
the corridors and offices of this part of the building. The best
option would be to turn left and head back directly the way I'd come
because it would mean that I'd get the benefit of the carpet for the
longest time possible while the werewolves would have to take the
long way around the building.
    Less
appealing would be if I had to continue straight for some reason or
other before finding a door or a window and then cutting left to head
back towards Ben, but even that should still give me a fighting
chance.
    Turning
right, or turning around and heading back towards the manufacturing
area, would pretty much guarantee that I'd be run down and killed
well out of sight of Ben and the car. I couldn't afford to let that
happen.
    The
building was huge, and more than a dozen doorways flashed past me so
quickly that I got only vague