Exodus: Book Two: Last Days Trilogy by Jacqueline Druga Read Free Book Online

numbers. “...Juliet, Hammond, Orland Park. All these evacuated cities are reported as buried. Cicero, Oak Lawn, Wheaton, Naperville. Sketchy, reports are still coming in of no signals at all from these locations. This report just in from a chopper says that Lake Michigan is mud. Or appears to be....”
    Kyle turned away from the news and faced George and Eliza. They seemed lost. “Okay, let’s think this through. They had two-and-a-half hours to get out of the city. Then, according to Marcus, the dirt bike ran out of gas and they walked. Apparently far enough,” he said. “Now all we can do is wait.” Kyle returned to the litany of destroyed cities.
     

Buffy’s Diner
Route 51, Indiana
     
    The diner had long since stopped trembling. Reggie wondered when her stomach would do likewise. Groaning, she rolled out from under the protective shelf. As she stood, her legs wobbled and gave way briefly. She caught herself before she tumbled onto the tiled floor.
    A fog of dust threw her into a coughing fit.
    She reached back under the counter and offered her hand to Marcus.
    “You all right?” he asked, gripping her hand, and emerging.
    “Yeah,” she replied, dazed in the darkened diner, the light a mere hint. She scanned the room, everything was scattered about.
    “Oh my God,” Marcus uttered. “How did we survive this?”
    “Call me nuts but I’m starting to think we’re somehow being tested… or at least prepared.”
    “For what?”
    “Ask me in a few days. I’ll know then.”
    Marcus’ smile was quirky as he shuffled around the counter, tripping over some still intact plates on the floor, his eyes rendered ineffective by the dirt-covered windows.
    “Please don’t tell me we’re buried,” Reggie said.
    Marcus stumbled over to the window. “No, no,” he said with some excitement. “It’s only a light covering, see, the sun is peeking through.”
    Reggie let out a long breath. “Should we go or stay here?”
    “Go,” he replied with certainty. “But we should load up on supplies, cereal and such. We may have to walk for a while.”
    “Oh, good idea.” Reggie looked around for the duffel bag. “Where did I...?” She saw Marcus pointing up. She glanced to the ceiling where the duffel bag hung on the blade of a ceiling fan. “Swell.”
    Marcus pulled a chair under the fan and retrieved the bag. “Could be worse.”
    “Maybe it is. Let’s look outside.” Reggie walked from the counter.
    Marcus followed her to the door.
    Reggie hesitated before she opened it. “I hope it’s better than it felt.”
    “Somehow I doubt it,” replied Marcus, leaning over a booth and peering out.
    “There’s only one way to find out.”
    “Reg! Stop!”
    Too late. Reggie stepped out.
    Luckily, Reggie was facing the diner as she took that first step, into thin air. She was able to catch herself, instinctively grabbing for any handhold when the floor dropped out. She gripped the doorjamb, hands clamping true. Then she screamed when the door swung closed.
    Seconds later, she felt Marcus’ hands around her wrists. “Hold on,” he said.
    “Oh my God.” Reggie looked over her shoulder at a thirty-foot drop.
    Marcus levered her and Reggie scrambled up.
    “How did we get up here?” Reggie asked.
    “I don’t know.”
    “Oh my God,” she repeated, and then inched inside. Finally secure, she caught her breath and was able to appreciate the view outside the diner. It wasn’t much. As far as the eye could see all was leveled, a long endless carpet of dirt.
     
    Marcus fashioned a dozen of Buffy’s finest linens into a makeshift ladder and threw it over the threshold. They lowered the bags first, then Reggie and Marcus descended. It didn’t quite make it to the ground, so they had to drop the final few feet. After Reggie descended, the rope snapped, and Marcus crashed down. Fortunately, he landed on a soft mound of dirt.
    The cloud of dust blinded him and sent him into a coughing spasm. He waved his hand