23 Hours Read Online Free PDF

urban camo paint job was a nice touch.
    I could have spent an hour admiring the car but time was not on our side so I slid the kid off my back so he could climb in first. It took no time for him to make his way into the vehicle but it wasn’t quite so easy for me; the thing wasn’t the roomiest. I tossed my tattered bag down to the kid and somehow managed to worm my way in but just as I slid into the driver’s seat a group of men emerged from the hallway and rushed into the garage. They were all shouting at each other and rushing through the room. Fortunately they didn’t seem interested in looking into any of the vehicles; instead they raced to the large steel garage door, forming a line in front of it with their guns drawn.
    Each one had a submachine gun or assault rifle pointed at the garage door. “Damn,” I thought as soon as I realized what was happening. With all of them focused on the door they obviously weren’t trying to keep anyone from getting out, they were trying to keep those things from getting in.
     
     

Chapter 5
     
    The tension grew as they fell silent once they were all in position. A couple of them shifted their weight occasionally or drummed their fingers on their trigger guards, making everyone even more nervous but they were all so focused on the door that I thought I might actually go unnoticed; that is until one of the guys at the end of the line hollered out.
    My palms began to sweat as soon as I saw what he was pointing at. I had pulled the knife from the guard’s throat and even from his skull, but somehow I had forgotten to get the one from the phone.
    They all turned at once and started scanning the garage. Thankfully the Ferret, with us inside, was buried in the shadows of much larger trucks. Just as they started to fan out in search of us, a loud crash reverberated across the garage causing them all to whip back around, once again pointing their guns at the door.
    Several large objects slammed against the metal door, denting it in various places. The group all looked at each other in utter confusion as the assault on the door continued, but no one seemed anxious to open fire. That’s when I realized that no one seemed to have any extra magazines strapped to their vests or sticking out of pockets.
    Suddenly I got it. They had limited ammo, and with the infested attacking they would probably see them as the bigger threat. They wouldn’t want to waste ammo on an armored car right?
    With my mind made up, I jammed the keys into the ignition and turned the antique beast over. Unfortunately it seemed to have been sitting so long that one or both of the batteries were a little impotent. I cranked on the key, but the thing barely turned over. In fact it turned over so weekly I was surprised the guards even heard it, unfortunately they did.
    Two of the guys turned around and started scanning the area, trying to figure out where the pitiful whining noise was coming from. I could have stopped right there and hoped they wouldn’t continue looking, but eventually they or the beasts attacking that door would find us. Deep down I knew our only chance was to get the damn car running.
    I cranked the ignition again without any luck but it definitely gave those two guards a better idea where we were. The third time cranking the engine they figured out right where we were and started rushing towards us. Thankfully, I guess, that was right when one of the infected broke through the bottom panel of the garage door. The remaining guards screamed and opened fire, quickly drawing the attention of the two guys hunting us down. At the same time, that ancient engine finally decided to catch, spewing black exhaust throughout the garage.
    The noise from that little engine was practically defining in such a confined space, but I floored it anyways, making sure that it had plenty of gas feeding into the carb. If that thing died, so would we.
    Between the noise of the Ferret and the incessant pounding on the