Read Floyd & Mikki (Book 2): Zombie Slayers (Dawn of the Living) for Free Online Page B

little car would get great gas mileage. Hopefully, it would be enough to keep them going until they could find something better.
    “You don’t want a Lexus?” Floyd asked, only half joking.
    “Cain’t hotwire a Lexus. Automatically locks up the ignition if you try. These older cars is a lot easier.”
    “I’m not even going to ask how you know to hotwire a car.”
    “Ya know, Floyd? Sometimes you are actually smarter than you look.”
    “Then I must be pretty damn smart.”
    “Yeah…we’ll go with that.”
    “We’re off my map now, but I know the 405 is north of here. If we see a gas station along the way, we can maybe fill the tank and grab a map. Not a lot around here, but we’ll get to big city streets soon enough. And then we’ll probably have company, so keep your eyes peeled.”
    The old car rattled its way up the road. Floyd worried that the noise would draw brain-eaters from far and wide. No sign of trouble yet, thankfully, but they’d have to ditch the clunker as soon as possible.
    He didn’t have to worry. They made it to the 405 safely enough, but after only a few miles of heading east, the entire freeway disappeared – along with everything else. Ahead of them was nothing but a big, black, hole in the ground, at least a mile in diameter.
    “Mikki?” said Floyd, staring at the huge, empty crater.
    “Yeah, Floyd?”
    “Are you sure you’ve never been here before?”

Chapter Nine
    Floyd and Mikki surveyed the area through their binoculars. The pit in front of them was at least a mile in diameter. The cavity contained nothing that wasn’t charred black and some kind of vapor obscured the expanse. Most likely a variety of fumes, still belching out of open gas and sewer lines. Floyd told Mikki not to light up a cigarette.
    The freeway resumed up ahead, but the two couldn’t see much through the haze. Nor did they have any idea what had caused such devastation. They were heading into uncharted territory, in more ways than one. At the moment, Floyd’s lack of a map didn’t bother him.
    He broke out one of their precious MREs and shared half of it with Mikki. The sewer stink had worn off long ago, but they weren’t likely to run into anything undead in that pit. If they got into trouble on the other side, Mikki still had a water bottle full of the vile crap. Resigned to their fate (whatever it might be) they dropped down into the hold and slogged forward.
    There was very little rubble, but a lot of ash, at least a foot and a half deep. Whatever had been here had been vaporized—buildings, bodies, cars, whatever. It was hard going and the stuff clung to their boots and pants. Luckily, both pairs of boots they wore came up to their knees. Also, the ash was black, so it blended in with their clothes. The two could detect a distinctly odd smell, even with their helmets on. They started getting light-headed, so Floyd insisted they pick up the pace.
    It took them more than another 20 minutes to trudge through to the other side, and by then, the pair were ready to pass out. Or hallucinate. They stumbled away from the ridge and fell to the ground, pulling off their helmets and gulping in fresh air.
    “Damn, Floyd! There was more gas in that pit than at a political convention!”
    Floyd agreed. He looked around, hoping to see a gasoline station somewhere, but was sorely disappointed. Nothing but a couple of burned-out buildings and hulks of cars along bombed-out streets. It looked like Mogadishu on a Friday night.
    Through his binoculars, Floyd could make out the freeway in the distance a couple of miles away. He kept hoping to see a car somewhere that wasn’t wrecked but nothing looked promising. Mikki called to him and he put down the binocs.
    “Transportation!” she said.
    “Oh, you got to be shittin’ me!” was Floyd’s reaction.
    “You see somethin’ better around?” Mikki asked. She was standing by two rusty old bicycles leaning against the side of a building.
    “The Datsun wasn’t