Verge of Extinction (Apex Predator Book 3) by Glyn Gardner Read Free Book Online Page B

ruin it.  The wind was cool, but not cold.  She knew it should turn cold in the next few weeks, but it was still only late fall.
    The sky was clear with wisps of clouds.  The sun was getting higher and higher in the sky.  It hadn’t reached its apex, but it was high enough to start warming things.  The shadow under the truck was smaller than it was when she first noticed the giant black monster.
    A sudden bump threatened to throw her to the bed of the truck.  She could see the orange Jeep bouncing over several others as it bounced up a curb.  She widened her stance and bent her knees in preparation for the bumps.  She was still tossed about the bed of the truck, this time falling hard on her backside.  A jolt of pain shot from her butt all the way to her shoulder, and her rifle skittered across the bed and slammed into the tailgate.
    As soon as she regained her feet, she slapped the roof of the cab.  “I’m ready to come back in,” she yelled.  Hearing the slamming on the roof and fearing something was wrong, Mike slammed on the brakes.  Kerry was only inches from slamming her face into the metal roof of the truck.  Shaking it off, she grabbed her rifle and leapt from the bed of the pickup.
    Mike didn’t wait for an explanation.  The orange Jeep was pulling away from them.  They hadn’t noticed the truck had stopped.  As soon as the redhead had shut her door, he floored it.  The truck lurched forward. 
    “Where is everyone?” Kerry asked.  Jen looked at her with a confused look.  “I mean, where are all the zombies?  You saw how many cars are on that road.  There should be a few zombies at least wandering around here.  This place looks like a ghost town.”  She was right, thought Mike.  This place was empty.
    They continued paralleling the highway for a few more miles.  Soon there were no houses or businesses to their right.  The Jeep cut across a field and then turned east.  This road was free of cars.   Jackson drove the Jeep down the center of the road.
    Suddenly he saw the sign he was looking for.  There on the corner was a blue sign with a capital H with an arrow pointing north.  Again the street was empty.  Jackson didn’t like it either.  He looked at SSgt Brown. The older man simply shrugged his shoulder and pointed in the direction of the hospital.
    A few blocks in front of them, the left lane and the two southbound lanes were packed with cars.  The northbound right lane was totally empty as far as SSgt Brown could see.  He told Jackson to stop before entering the bottleneck.  He looked to the younger man, shrugging his shoulders.
    Jackson held a finger to his mouth and then pointed at his ear.  Suddenly SSgt Brown heard it.  It sounded like a car horn.  It was coming from up ahead.
    SSgt Brown stood in his seat in an attempt to see what was going on.  He could see a pair of school busses parked across the four lanes of traffic.  He told Jackson and Theresa to dismount.  Mike, Jen and Kerry followed suit.
    “Well, what do you think?” he asked.
    “Those busses didn’t grow there,” Mike answered quickly.  “Someone put up a road block for some reason.”
    “Well, let’s take a look,” the big NCO said.
    It was Kerry who noticed the ladders first.  She quietly pointed them out to the group.  There, on the end of each bus was a single ladder leading from the roof of the bus to the adjacent building on either side of the road.  Someone had not only constructed a roadblock, but also a bridge between two sides of the street.
    SSgt Browns stomach was in knots.  He was about to lead a six man squad, only two of whom had any military training, down a 50 yard bottleneck.  At the end of which stood a school bus with a ladder leading to…  He didn’t even know what, or who.
    “Jackson, you and Kerry hunker down between these two cars and give us some over watch.  You see anyone looks like they’re gonna start shooting, light their asses up.”  He led