Read First Wave (The Travis Combs Post-Apocalypse Thrillers) for Free Online Page B

minutes before they’re
on top of us.”
    He turned back to Evan, “Is there another road out
of here?”
    “You drove in on it. That’s it. Otherwise, it’s
miles of boulders and cactus in every direction.”
    “What about guns…what kind of firepower you got?”
    Evan hobbled on his cane to a closet and pulled out
a .20 gauge pump shotgun, a 30-30 lever action rifle and a .45 pistol. “Along
with this .357 on my hip, it’s all I got along with some boxes of ammo in the
corner,” he said, thrusting the lever action towards Travis. “In the barn out
back, I’ve got some half-sticks of dynamite I used to use for mining and a
couple of axes and pitchforks but that’s about it.”
    Damn it! Not enough time, not much of a fortress and not enough weapons. If we stay
here, we get slaughtered; if we are caught in the open we get slaughtered.
    The noise of shuffling movement was within earshot
now and a cloud of fine dust from the creatures was billowing in the moonlight. Without cover, they are going to see us bounding across the desert. Looks
like we will be making our stand here after all.
    As Travis prepared to dig in, Evan grabbed his arm
and pointed towards the back. “Behind the tack barn, there’s a concrete mound
with a metal grate over it. That leads down into a series of tunnels that are
connected with the Grand Canyon Caverns system a few miles east of here. Get
everyone down in there and I’ll divert their attention here. It’s your only hope.”
    Travis looked out the front door and back at
everyone in the living room. “Alright grab the weapons and ammo along with any
food and water you can carry. We gotta go now!”
    Evan went over to his granddaughter and pulled her
into his embrace, trying to keep his anguish in check. “Darlin’, you go with
these people. They’ll take care of you, OK? You’re gonna be fine. You’re going
to grow up to be a fine woman,” he said, his lips trembling. “One day you can
come back here, when the world is better, and ride over this land and remember
all the good times we all had, OK.”
    The noise out front was growing as a low garble of
squealing sounds filled the night air. Evan pried the girl’s arms off his sides
and gently pushed her towards Katy. “Go now sweetie, we’ll see each other again
one day.”
    Katy grabbed the girl’s plaid shirt sleeve and
pulled her away. “Come on Becka, we have to go now,” she said, half-dragging
the screaming girl to the back door as they headed out with loaded packs and
arms.
    Evan walked on to the front porch with the kerosene
lantern in his hand. He waved it above his head trying to get the attention of
the creatures. When he was sure enough of them had seen the motion, he hobbled off
to the open field off to the left.
    “This way,” Travis said and took off towards the tack
barn past a tractor. “Pete, head out back and have Becka show you the entrance
to the tunnel. Katy, you provide rear cover with the shotgun. I gotta look for
something in the barn.”
    The group scurried along the edge of the barn,
staying out of the moonlight, while everyone shot glances back at the
approaching din of creatures staggering towards the house. A stifling wave of
ammonia-like odor crept over the landscape as they ducked past the tractor. The
cement mound Evan spoke of was three feet high with a rusty metal grate
padlocked to a concrete encasement that lined the upper half. Pete shined his
flashlight below the grate. There was a metal ladder bolted to cement walls
that led down into blackness.  Lifting the gate, Pete motioned the others to
head down. The sound of the .357 pistol rang out from the front of the house
followed by a muffled scream, as Evan was taken down by the hungry horde.
    Travis was in the barn and found a small wood crate
in the rear corner. He slung the 30-30 rifle and carefully removed the lid from
the crate. He found a dozen half-sticks of dynamite nestled in sawdust and
removed two, wrapping them in some