Free Wormwood Dawn (Episode IV) by Edward Crae Page A

drinking anyway. He had a job to do. On the other hand, there weren’t many hours of daylight left. His first priority would be finding a place to hide out for the night. It would do no good stumbling around in the dark. He had to find shelter.
    There were plenty of hotels in this area; mostly crumbled or burned out. It seemed like the city of Bloomington had dealt pretty poorly with the chaos. Looting and rioting, coupled with the rampant destruction and violence of the infected had taken its toll. B-town was an utter Saigon clone.
    Even the asphalt was crumbled, telephone poles were toppled, and a not a single power cable was still intact. Dan hadn’t remembered hearing any explosions before, but it really looked like Bloomington had been bombed out. Again, Saigon came to mind as he watched the destruction go by.
    There was only one explanation; Gephardt had destroyed everything, gathered up the remaining people, and bombed the shit out of what was left. The only question was where the mercs were keeping the people.
    Thinking that the best place to get a good view of the city was right downtown, Dan did a U-turn and headed down Walnut Street. There were plenty of multi-story parking garages around Fountain Square where he could scout around, and possibly even find shelter. It was as good an idea as any.
    Fortunately for Dan, the southbound lanes were mostly clear. The traffic had clogged only the northbound lanes—which were actually a different street—presumably due to a massive exodus of people trying to get the hell out of Dodge. Still, there were cars here and there, abandoned or overturned, or both. The townhouses and businesses were sacked and crumbling. Even the trees along the road had been burned or toppled.
    Dan felt odd as he drove. Usually, this section of town was literally clogged with traffic, making any attempts at getting downtown last twice as long as the distance should require. But now, the dead silence and utter stillness was overwhelming.
    To the left, the Indian guy’s liquor store stood out. Its red canopy was still there; red as could be, and it brick walls were still intact. However, the store front was demolished, and its windows were gone.
    He wouldn’t even bother stopping. Indian guy was probably dead, anyway.
    Ahead, the taller buildings began to come into view. Dan could see the parking garages, corporate offices, and the old town hall. It was a disaster area, as he completely expected it to be. Here, cars were piled up into a maze of steel. Many of them were crashed into the sides of the surrounding buildings. There was an overturned bus lying diagonally across an intersection, and another fire truck halfway down the block that had somehow ramped up over top of a garbage truck.
    He wondered how many people were huddled up, frightened, in the loft apartments above. Were any of them watching him?
    He pulled the Hummer into the entrance of a five story parking garage, breaking through the flimsy barrier arm that blocked the way. No ticket for him today. Sorry. He had shit to do and no parking money.
    The garage itself was dark and damp. The tires of the Hummer squealed slightly as he turned, making eerie echoes throughout. He climbed up the ramps, corkscrewing all the way up to the roof, where there was a helicopter sprawled out in pieces. The bodies of six people hung out of it, or lie around it. It had apparently crashed while attempting to land, or take off—it wasn’t obvious.
    Dan pulled the Hummer into a parking place and sat for a moment listening to the silence and contemplating his next move. The roof seemed as safe a place as any. From up here, he could probably see a fairly good distance, and take note of any movements or gatherings of Gephardt vehicles. Any large concentrations of them would probably indicate some kind of base. But, he would need something to look through.
    He stepped out, going around to the back of the Hummer, and opened the doors. There were plenty of