Read Dead World (Book 1): Dead Come Home for Free Online Page B

safety, going as fast as 60 mph at times through alleys and down side streets, not caring if there was a cop or a cliff ahead of him. For ten minutes, he wound his way through downtown Dallas until he finally reached I-35. He was doing 75 as he hit the top of the onramp, heading north.
    On the verge of absolute panic, he fished his cell phone out of his pocket and speed dialed the office. He was surprised when someone answered the phone.
    “Pegasus Solutions, this is Cathy,” The woman’s voice was tired and haggard.
    “This is Joseph Rohmenn. I hate to do this, since I know this is only my second day, but that riot is practically on my doorstep. I don’t think I’m going to make it in,” he said, trying not to sound too panicked.
    The secretary assured him that his supervisors had informed her that they completely understood and that they hoped he faired well until the riot was over.
    “Oh, and one last thing,” she said. “We haven’t been able to contact Ryan Sheller. Could you pass that message along if you speak to him?”
    “Um,” he choked. “Um … okay. I’ll do that.”
    He flipped his phone shut and dropped it in the cup holder at his side.
    “Holy hell … What the fuck is going on?” he yelled turning on the radio hoping for more than the generic crap he had heard in the shower. Joseph listened to the radio for about ten minutes before it said something he didn’t already know.
     
    — police now report that rioting has spread throughout the city far more quickly than could have been predicted. An anonymous source said he believes a series of separate riots, not one large riot as police officials insist, are sporadically breaking out throughout the downtown and Metroplex regions and connecting as they grow. Further supporting this case, reports continue to pour in of people being attacked by unprovoked assailants in areas originally reported to be clear of the riot zones now cordoned off by police. At this time emergency officials say the safest place is inside your homes or workplaces with all doors and windows secured. Please, stay tuned for further updates and instructions as they become available.
     
    Joseph eased off the accelerator to coast down to the speed limit. His instincts were still stuck in high gear. His instincts were screaming one thing— RUN . He had every intention of doing just that, but there was no point being stupid about it. Making a panicked mistake wasn’t going to help matters any.
    Driving like a bat-out-of-Hell was only going to get him pulled over or worse cause him to have an accident. Neither scenario was going to help. Right now, he needed to treat his car as though his life depended on it … because it did. Dragging out the engine might cause it to overheat or breakdown, which would only serve to make him just one more stranded motorist, like the ones he continued to pass every few moments.
    Traffic started picking up around Lewisville. He turned up the radio again and started watching the road and paying more attention than usual to escape paths—he did not want to be caught sitting still on a highway.
    Joseph’s ears caught the high-pitched screech of locking brakes and the wail of rubber skidding across tarmac, followed by the nerve-bending groan of protesting metal and the chiming of shattering glass. He reached up with his right hand to adjust his rearview mirror, checking out the situation behind him. Two mangled, now unidentifiable, cars threw billows of gray smoke into the air as an SUV lay belly up in front of them, blocking the onramp he’d just passed.
    “I have to get off this road before things bottleneck and I get stuck. It won’t be long before I wind up behind something like that … or worse … in it,” he said, carefully reaching for the rear floorboard, blindly groping around for his AAA Road Atlas.
    Gambling with his life, Joseph took his eyes off the road for no more than two seconds at a time in order to see what options were