Free The Last Outbreak (Book 2): Devastation by Jeff Olah

and dropped his head.
    “Okay, I give up. You win. I’m done.”
     
    His stomach now taunted him as it growled. He was hungry. Beyond hungry and he was tired. Out of the corner of his eye, the two cans of tuna and what was left of the saltines sat alongside the empty grocery bags. Without a can opener and not much in the way of energy, he dreaded the thought of attempting to open another one by hand. Hell, he wasn’t even sure his sore fingers were up for the task.
    At slightly less than one hundred calories per can, was it worth the effort? He didn’t know. He couldn’t think. He just wanted to sleep.
    Closing his eyes, Frank tried to clear his mind. He thought of his wife and tried to picture her face. She smiled at him. She began to talk to him, but her face quickly disappeared. It was replaced by the shattering of glass and then the familiar groans he’d been trying to block out for the last five days.
    Frank didn’t have to see it to know what had happened. It was obvious. The building that had protected him from those things since the first morning had been breached. They were in and they were coming for him.

11
 
    By the time Ben had steered back toward the less crowded sidewalk, the others had already seen what he’d seen. Fifty yards away, running in the opposite direction, Ethan was being chased by two different groups. The first, and much more massive crowd moving toward the end of Bridge Street, had already begun merging with the second group. They appeared to be coming in from the north end of town. He had less than thirty seconds to get to his friend.
    “Everyone hold on, I’m going to push through and come out on the right side near the big gate.”
    Griffin gripped the door handle and nodded. “Okay, then what? You planning on pulling alongside Ethan?  Don’t think that’s gonna work.”
    “No, I’m going straight through. Taking out the gate and giving Ethan a bit of breathing room. When we get close, you’ll need to get out.”
    “Come again?” Griffin said.
    Ten seconds from the corner of Bridge Street, Ben picked his spot. “You’re gonna have to get out. Get Ethan moving off the street and into the parking lot.”
    “Boy,” Griffin said. “You’re as lost as last year’s Easter egg.”
    Ben kept his gaze out the windshield. He clipped three Feeders, sending them back into the street and chuckled. “Wait, what did you just say?”
    “Kid, you’re crazy. I’m not getting out, just get us close enough and I’ll handle the rest.”
     
    Cora, Shannon, and Carly held tight to the seatbacks and rocked from side to side as the armored vehicle bounced along the crowded sidewalk.
    Looking away, Cora flinched as they plowed into a group of six head-on. Three of the smaller bodies were hit first. They were thrown out away from the front of the truck and slammed as one unit into the brick storefront. Continuing forward, the next three were knocked to the ground and crushed into the stained sidewalk as the massive armored vehicle rolled over them.
    Without the ability to roll down the window, Griffin looked at Ben and pointed out through the windshield. “Over there. Just get us right over there. I’ll make sure Ethan goes the right way. But don’t slow down—not at all. Once we get past the gates, I’ll hop out and bring him back.” Turning to the others, he said, “Everyone else stays put… got it?”
    No one answered.
    Ben pointed the front of the vehicle toward the center of the twenty-foot-wide gates and for the first time was noticed by Ethan. Out into the intersection, he sped toward the parking lot as Ethan slowed to a jog and then to a walk.
    Looking tired and confused, Ethan stopped at the center of the intersection and watched as they rushed by. Turning, he yelled out and began following as the truck drove up into the driveway and hurtled through the locked gates.
    As they slid to a stop, Griffin opened the door and jumped out. Before closing the door, he said,