Jeff stepped into the APC, followed closely by Cody, who sealed the hatch. “Ready to roll out,” he said to Zach. “The civilians know to follow APC2.”
“Yes, sir.” Zach drove the big vehicle as easily as if it was a civilian sportscar Cody projected his drone’s holo so Tamsyn and the others could see the Chalmers three vehicle convoy and watch them pull out behind APC2 as ordered. The soldiers maintained a steady, moderate rate of speed until the turnoff was reached in two hours, at which point they kept forging ahead on the freeway and the motley collection of refugee vehicles took a sharp right onto a two lane road going northeast. Zach sounded the siren on APC1 and the Chalmers group replied with honking horns as they drew apart on their separate journeys.
“May the Lords of Space watch over them,” Jeff said when Cody closed the holo feed.
Chapter Fourteen
The APC’s barreled along at a high rate of speed once the civilian convoy was gone. Tamsyn spent the time napping. She found it hard to read on the jolting military vehicle and envied Mike his ability to do so without getting nauseous.
The first rest stop on the route was a burned out site, much like the last such place she’d seen before the hot springs. Jeff called a brief halt so Mike could walk the dog but there was nothing to see or even to sift through so they were on their way again soon. The captain called a break for the noon meal, which they ate in the shade of the APC’s, parked along the highway. There’d been no other traffic which was hardly surprising and the wrecks were sparse up here in the north.
For lack of anywhere to camp, there being no deserted houses and no convenient parks, the captain called for a halt around sunset, when the APC’s came upon two jackknifed groundtrucks. The huge cargo haulers had evidently collided when the drivers of one or both turned infected. The creatures were in the cabs of their vehicles, although one had managed to squeeze itself partway out a window and hung there, struggling desperately to get free, moaning and extending its clawed arms in their direction.
Ryan dispatched the infected with a quick knife stroke. “Orders, sir?” he asked as he walked to the APC’s, cleaning his blade on a rag, which he then tossed.
“We’ll use these trucks as the third wall,” Jeff said. “Park at an angle. We’ll camp in the triangle.” He checked with Cody. “You’ve got your drones on alert for infected, right?”
“Absolutely,” he said. “I’ve got no desire to be surprised by anything bigger than a mosquito tonight.”
Jeff looked at the group surrounding him. “We’ll be hitting the next town in the morning. I don’t want to roll up on the place at dark so staying here works out fine. I wish the damn highway and urban planners up here had created an easy way to bypass all the settlements but I suppose no one could ever have imagined the situation we’re in now.”
Tamsyn stood by with Melly and Mike and the dog as the soldiers maneuvered the vehicles into the defensive position the captain wanted. She eyed the two freight haulers. “Might be interesting to open them up and see what they were transporting. Could be things we could use.”
“A treasure hunt,” Melly said, sharing a meaningful glance with Mike and smiling. “Shall I ask Jeff for permission?”
“Yeah,” her brother said with enthusiasm. “Great idea, Tamsyn.”
The captain insisted they get their camp set up in the small safe area first and ordered everyone not on duty to eat dinner before anyone strayed off to open a truck. “Things can go sideways at any time,” he said as Zach handed out the survival rations and nutrition drinks. “You learn to eat when you can. Priorities, people.”
The conversation was sparse at dinner as the whole group seemed tired to Tamsyn. Being on the road was wearying to her for sure especially since she was used to such an active life on the ranch. Once Jeff finally gave permission for the treasure hunting expedition, he and the three soldiers not on duty at the controls of the megablasters congregated at the end of one of the trucks. It was painted a fanciful blue and yellow, with a Triveti & Sons logo. Tamsyn wondered if the infected trapped in the cab were the family members and a wave of sadness went over her.
Working in the lights affixed to the blast rifles, Jeff and Ryan got the door unlocked and forced it open enough to duck under. The structure of the cargo hauler was distorted from the crash. Ryan ventured inside and returned about five minutes later. “Women’s clothing mostly,” he said, “Marked for shipment to stores in Millersville. A lot of parcels addressed to private parties. Miscellaneous.” He held up small stuffed animal and squeezed, causing it to make a squeaking sound.
Buddy barked and danced around the soldier eagerly. Ryan bent to hand it to the dog. “Found a whole crate addressed to a pet store. Figured Buddy deserves a treat. There’s dog food too, high end gourmet stuff.”
“We should definitely salvage that,” Melly told him watching Buddy’s antics as he mouthed the toy he’d been given.
“Yeah, I’m not thanking you for giving the damn dog a squeaking toy,” Jeff said. “Do you know how annoying that’s going to be in the APC tomorrow, soldier?”
“We can hide it during the day and only let him have it at night,” Melly said, putting her hand on Jeff’s arm.
“If you ladies don’t need any more clothing right now,” the captain said, “Let’s check out the other truck. Grab the dog food though, Ryan.”
“Yes, sir.” He re-entered the truck and a couple of minutes later handed out a small carton, after which he climbed out himself. “Close it up, sir?”
“Yes. We’ll bookmark the location. Some day we might need to scavenge these kinds of accidents for supplies,” Jeff said. “Today is a treasure hunt but in the future a cargo of canned food or drinks might be the difference between survival and starvation. They’re quite a resource actually. Good idea you had, to investigate, Tamsyn. We don’t have time this trip to check every truck we pass but we’ll create a database.”
“On it,” Cody said from where he stood next to her. “I’ve told my drones to send location data to the file I set up.”
“Now for the other truck,” Mike said. “I’m hoping for more exciting finds.”
The second cargo hauler was a nondescript gray, dusty and banged up from the collision. There was no owner’s logo or other markings and when the group approached Tamsyn heard banging from inside the cargo compartment. She halted in midstep. “Someone’s trapped in there.”
“Why would anyone be riding in the back of a cargo truck?” Mike asked.
“Maybe trying to get a free ride,” his sister replied. “Or perhaps they took shelter there and the door locked on them.” She exchanged glances with Jeff. “Likely to be an infected by now. A human couldn’t survive too long locked up in that airless box. At least while the truck was moving there would have been airflow if the vents were cracked open.”
“Take Mike and the dog and go back to camp,” Jeff said. “We’ll investigate and let you know if we find anything of interest.”
