Escape from the Damned (APEX Predator Book 2) by Glyn Gardner Page B

have to do some grocery shopping on the way.  Get something to eat.  Jackson and you will lead in the HMMWV and Mike and I will stay with the rest of the civvies in the LMTV.”
    He grabbed the map from the HMMWV and unfolded it on the hood.
    “We need to skirt around Monroe.  I’m not opposed to using the highway if you see fit.  Get some chow.  We move out in an hour.”
     
    The sun was getting low in the rearview mirror as they approached the outskirts of Monroe.  SSgt Brown flashed his lights.  The HMMWV pulled to the shoulder.
    The last few hours had been relatively uneventful.  After running into an old traffic jam on highway 80, they were forced to spend another 20 minutes trying to find a way back to the interstate.  They’d made relatively good time until they hit another traffic jam.  This one was so bad, Sgt Procell and Mike were forced to get out and lead the vehicles on foot.
    SSgt Brown thought about how vulnerable they were in the traffic jam.  If a few zombies had shown up, they wouldn’t have been able to turn the vehicles around and run.  They’d have been forced to abandon the vehicles.  He realized they’d lucked out.  He didn’t want to push his luck any farther.
    “What’s up boss,” asked Sgt Procell as he approached the big truck.
    “Let’s find a place to hold up for the night.  I don’t want to get too close to a city with sixty or seventy thousand souls in the dark.”
    “Can do boss.”  The young NCO jogged back to the HMMWV.
    “I think there’s a big truck stop coming up in a few miles,” Mike added from the passenger seat. “We can always stop there.  It’s a few miles outside of town and there really isn’t anything around it, so it should be pretty safe.”
    “Let me know when we get close,” the NCO answered.  “I’ll get Jackson to stop.”
     
    The number of cars stopped on the side of the road had increased over the past hour.  SSgt Brown wondered why all of these people had stopped here.  It didn’t look like the traffic jam on highway 80.  It wasn’t like something was in the way.  He supposed that some of them could have run out of gas.
    He slowed as they passed a maroon colored Dodge SUV.  Inside he could see motion. The windows appeared to be fogged up as he coasted past the Dodge.  He saw a hand flash across the window, leaving a bloody streak as it did.
    Turning his attention back to the road, his mind finally realized what he had just seen:  A zombie.  It must have turned while driving.  Somehow, it didn’t crash.  He shuddered at the thought of spending eternity locked in a car, probably still strapped into the seatbelt.  He’d have to remember to tell the rest to be careful if they open any car doors.
    SSgt Brown could see the big blue and orange sign before Mike said anything.
    “That it?” he asked.
    “Yup.”
    He flashed his lights at Jackson and turned on this turn signal.  The young troop understood and exited, stopping a few hundred meters from the intersection.  He and Sgt Procell dismounted with nothing but their weapons.
    “You stay here with the rest of the group,” he told Mike.
    “Everyone stay in the truck,” he told the rest as he exited the cab.
    “I’m assuming you don’t want to just go driving up without checking it out first,” Sgt Procell said.
    “Nope,” he answered.  He nodded his head at Jackson who lead the three soldiers through the ankle high grass.  SSgt Brown realized he finally felt at ease in the company of Sgt Procell and Pvt Jackson.  They were soldiers.  They were trained.  They followed orders.  They’d signed up to put their lives on the line.
    That was it.  He and the other soldiers had agreed long ago to risk life and limb for their fellow man.  These civilians hadn’t.  They had been forced into this situation by… by what?  By God?  By man?  By something out of their control.  That was the problem that had been eating at him.  These civilians were