Read Half Past Midnight for Free Online Page A

whole area looked burnt, as if the vehicles had caught fire after the wreck.
    Shocked, I barely had the presence of mind to signal for the van to stop before removing my helmet and scanning the carnage below. There was enough room on the right side of the road for the van to pass, but I didn’t want the kids to see the bodies if it could be helped. I finally turned the Suzuki around and headed back to where my family waited in the van. Pulling up to Debra’s window, I suggested we stop for a break.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “There’s a pretty bad wreck over the hill there. Six-car pile-up. I need to see if I can find a way to get the van through.”
    “Let’s just take the van down and push them out of the way.”
    I shook my head. “Too much glass,” I lied. “Megan, would you and Zach make us some sandwiches, please? I’m starving. Your mom and I are going up the hill.” Without giving them time to object, I hustled Debra out of the van and up the hill. “Come on, I’ll show you why you can’t use the van to push.”
    As soon as we were out of range of the kids’ hearing, she asked, “What’s wrong?”
    “I didn’t want to mention it in front of the kids, but there are some bodies down there. I need some time to move them out of sight.”
    She was silent for a few seconds. “How bad is it?”
    “Judge for yourself.”
    We topped the rise and looked down. She reached out and took my hand. “I don’t suppose any of them are still alive.”
    “Doubtful.” There wasn’t much more to say. We were turning to go back to the van when she stopped and, with a puzzled expression, went back up to the crest. She studied the wreckage intently for a minute or more. “What do you suppose happened?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “What exactly do you think caused the wreck?”
    I shrugged. “It looks to me as if the second van down there got rear-ended, and the gas tank blew.”
    The van I pointed out lay on its side on the shoulder. One of the back doors rested on the grass, about thirty feet away. The other door was missing completely, along with most of the rear end of the van. It must have been one hell of an explosion.
    “I guess the gas sprayed on the other cars, and the drivers panicked and wrecked into each other.” Even as I said it, though, something felt wrong. I was missing something.
    Debra pointed it out. “If they were rear-ended hard enough to cause an explosion like that, shouldn’t the station wagon’s front end be smashed up, too? It was next in line. And what caused the truck in front to wreck?”
    I didn’t like where this was leading. I didn’t like it at all.
    Debra caught it, too. “Someone ambushed them.”
    Quickly, we backed down the hill until we could no longer be seen from the other side. Both of us thought about the implications of the situation. Debra finally asked the question that was on both our minds. “So, now what?”
    I thought for a second longer. “Well, we can’t very well turn back, and it would be another eighty miles to go around. We’re half an hour away from being home free, and we don’t know how long we have before things get really rough.”
    She crossed her arms as if she were cold. “Looks like they already are.”
    “You know what I mean.” We were both all too aware of the nuclear war in the offing.
    “Yeah.”
    I looked over at her. “We’ve got to go through.”
    She stared back at me as if I’d lost my mind. “And I suppose whoever blew the hell out of those people down there is just going to smile and wave as we drive past? Get serious, Lee.”
    “No,” I agreed. “It won’t be that easy. I’ll have to go down first and scout the area. Find out if it’s safe.”
    “And if it isn’t?”
    “Then I’ll come back very quietly and let you know.” I grinned in what I hoped was a reassuring manner. “I’m not about to take any chances, babe. First sign of trouble and I’m out of there.”
    She jerked a thumb over her shoulder,