Read The Day After Never - Covenant (Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian Thriller - Book 3) for Free Online Page B

was speaking with the pair of Crew gunmen, whose expressions were unreadable. When the lawman saw Luis, he disengaged and wandered over.
    “Thought I made it clear you boys should move along,” he said.
    “Yeah. We got that. You said by sunset, didn’t you?”
    “Not much time left.”
    “You see us after dark, then you maybe got a problem. Until then, chill. We’re just hanging out.”
    The sheriff took a step toward Luis, hand on his gun. “Did you just tell me to ‘chill’?”
    “That’s right. We aren’t doing anything but waiting for our boss and trading with Tucker. There a law against that?”
    The sheriff’s eyes were slits. “I see you in the town limits one minute after dusk, you’re going to be chilling in a ditch. Capiche, homeboy?”
    Luis mad dogged the man, but the sheriff didn’t flinch, his cobalt blue eyes hard as tungsten. Luis eventually looked away, reasoning that an escalation wasn’t worth it. The sheriff must have sensed his near miss, because he walked away without comment, leaving the Loco on the sidewalk, waiting for Carlton.
    The young man emerged a minute later. Luis stepped into the street. “Need to hire a couple more men. You know anybody?”
    “Might. What do you want?”
    “Hardest mofos you know. Stone killers. Good with a gun and a knife; seen combat.”
    “I know where to look.”
    “Yeah?”
    “Bar near the town center. Rowdies is the name.” Carlton nodded. “If anyone’s interested, we’ll find them there.”
    “Rowdies, huh?” Luis turned to the Crew gunmen. “Tell Cano I’ll be back in a while. Let him know about the sheriff so we don’t get caught in town.”
     

Chapter 8
    Lucas glanced up at the clouds overhead, a trailing remnant of the storm that had snuck up on them as they’d ridden east, and felt the first fine droplets of moisture land on his skin, the air charged with the electricity that presaged a cloudburst. The desert was still except for the hushed conversation of Ruby and Sierra. Colt was tending to the horses as Eve stood by. He wiped away the rain and stood.
    “I’m going to look up ahead and see if there’s any other trails we can take. This one’s brutal,” he said to Colt.
    “Knock yourself out. You find something better, I’m fine with that as long as it leads northwest.”
    Lucas debated riding Tango but decided to let the stallion rest. He’d more than earned it, and Lucas could use the opportunity to stretch his legs. He shouldered his M4 sling and set off on a divergent path from the main trail, paying close attention to the terrain and any clues it could offer. After ten minutes of reconnaissance, he found a game trail that was every bit as bad as the one they were on, and was eyeing it skeptically when he heard a scream.
    Colt.
    Lucas broke into a run and sprinted back to the camp. Ruby was yelling instructions to Sierra, who was doing her best to calm Nugget. When Lucas arrived, Colt was lying on the ground in a ball, clutching his leg.
    “What happened?” Lucas demanded.
    “Rattler,” Colt managed through clenched teeth. “Got me in the calf.”
    “What? How?”
    “He was going to use the bathroom,” Ruby said, pointing at a stand of bushes.
    Lucas moved to Colt, pulling his belt free as he approached. He wrapped it around the bartender’s knee and pulled it tight, and then handed Colt the end. “Keep pressure on that so the venom doesn’t get a chance to circulate.”
    Sierra leaned into Lucas, her face white. “What are you going to do?”
    “We don’t have any antivenom. Let’s get a peek at how bad it is.”
    Lucas unsheathed his Bowie knife and made short work of Colt’s jean leg. He sliced up the seam to the knee with the razor-sharp blade and inspected the bite already discoloring around the two bright red punctures from the fangs.
    “Looks like he got you pretty good. How big a snake?”
    “Maybe three feet.”
    “That’s a little bit of luck. It’s the tiny ones that are the