Free 03 Deluge of the Dead by David Forsyth Page B

check in but I have to share this laptop with others who want to find news.
     
    In the City of Torrance the Suburban had emerged on Normandy Avenue, turned back to Carson and continued driving west, away from the hospital at a steady fifteen miles per hour. Carl was thankful for the assistance and scouting provided by Mick Williams and the crew of the helicopter.  They had already informed Carl that West Carson was clear of major traffic jams and accident scenes at least as far as Crenshaw. It was important to avoid places where the Suburban might have been trapped and engulfed by the pursuing mob of undead. The helicopter also helped to direct the zombies, like a cowboy herding cattle.       
    They tried to stay away from residential streets, not wanting to lead all the zombies towards places where survivors might still be holed up, but that wasn’t always possible.  Whenever they did have to drive past homes or apartments Carl used the PA on the Suburban to warn any survivors to stay inside and not attract any attention as the horde went by.  He also used the loudspeaker to inform any survivors that could hear him about the evacuation that was planned during the imminent storm, encouraging them get to the freeway while it was raining.
    “If you can hear me,” his amplified voice bellowed. “Stay inside. Stay out of sight. Wait for the zombies to pass and the rain to start later today. Then make your way to the 110 Freeway where buses should arrive to take you to safety in the Port of Los Angeles. The zombies will be afraid of the rain. This might be your only chance to escape.” He repeated that message, with minor variations, almost continuously as they drove through the streets of Torrance. He was even confident that there were still survivors in some of the buildings they passed, especially the ones that were surrounded by zombies when the Suburban arrived. He was happy to see almost all of those zombies join the horde trailing the SUV too. Perhaps their passage would actually reduce the number of undead besieging the trapped survivors here.
    They had travelled at least two miles from the Harbor UCLA Medical Center when Carl decided it was time to lose the trailing throng of zombies and make their way back to the rest of the vehicles waiting on the freeway. If only he could find a good place to leave all these zombies and some way to make them stay there. He wracked his brain for some bright idea, but nothing popped out at him.  At the intersection of Carson and Crenshaw he paused and radioed the helicopter. “How does the road look going north on Crenshaw?” he asked.
    “All clear at least as far as the refinery,” Mick replied. 
    “What refinery?” Carl asked quickly.
    “There’s a big Exxon Mobile refinery right up the road from you,” Mick replied. “Crenshaw Boulevard runs right through the middle of it with fences on both sides of the street for about half a mile.  The west side where the refinery is looks like it caught fire recently… Yeah, it’s still smoldering. The storage tanks on the east side look intact though. The road itself is clear but I can see a big traffic jam farther up before the 405 freeway.”
      “Okay then,” Carl replied. “We’re heading that way and I might have a plan to take out this herd of deadheads too.  Why don’t you scout ahead and find us a way back to the 110 freeway past the refinery.”
    “Copy that,” said Mick. “We’ll see what we can do for you.”
    Carl turned north on Crenshaw just before the fastest zombies caught up to the SUV, but continued to drive slowly as other zombies converged to join the procession. He wanted all the zombies to follow the Suburban. So far it seemed to be working.
    “Hey, Gus?” he said.
    “Yeah, boss?” Gus replied from the back seat while staring out the back window at thousands of zombies following them.
    “How do you feel about blowing up a refinery?”
    *****
    The atmosphere in the sickbay of the