Endings: Dystopian Post Apocalyptic Zombie Thriller (Parables From The Apocalypse Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

at least a little while.  There must be some record of her.  Wait. Try her mother's name.  Susan Monroe."
     
    She tried several different variations, and eventually came up with a hit.  "Susan Margaret Monroe.  The house was bought about this time last year, then sold again six months later.  I have another record for her, but it's outside the city.  Looks like she bought property north of here, up in Calhoun.  There's an address."
    "Great, where is that?"
    "Not far, about seventy miles north.  Just head up I-75."  She looked Chaz in the eye.  "You'd be a fool to go though.  That area was overrun a couple of months ago.  The military moved in and practically burned the whole place down.  It was a major disaster.  I'm surprised you didn't know, being military and all."
    Chaz was taken aback a bit, but didn't say anything.
    "You OK, Colonel?  These people you're looking for weren't friends or family, were they?"
    "Just print out that address for me, will you?"
     
    She printed the record out. Chaz grabbed it, and headed straight for the door. He stopped just long enough in the lobby to retrieve his weapons from Billy.
     
     

Calhoun
     
    The outskirts of Calhoun seemed like any small southern town.  New subdivisions were springing up outside the city limits.  Larger-than-average-sized lots were built to emulate the big plantation homes of years gone by.  Chaz didn't pay much attention to the architecture; he was more interested in finding his family.  At least, what he hoped would be a family.  He did notice that the homes were all still standing, and in pristine condition.  There were certainly no signs of devastation and ruin.  Rumors could run pretty rampant these days, especially with a crumbling infrastructure.  Everybody loved to hear gossip.  It was getting harder to distinguish between gossip and the truth.
     
    What Chaz did notice as he entered the city, was that the buildings got smaller, and people were scarce.  Small towns could be quiet, but considering it was early evening, there should have been more people out and about. He expected to see adults returning from work and kids coming home from school.  What he didn't know was in Calhoun, not many kids walked home alone anymore.  Even adults didn't feel secure walking the streets.  Chaz passed a couple of cars going the other direction, and the drivers all gave him good long stares.  They probably didn't get many military grade vehicles rolling through town, Chaz thought, and if that lady at the records office was telling the truth, the last military units to visit hadn't created any local cherished memories. 
     
    What was hopefully Abby's current address was clear across town. Chaz would have to drive right through downtown to get there.   He began to see signs of deserted buildings the closer he got to downtown.  Lawns that looked like they hadn't been mowed in a season, boarded windows, and at least one home gutted by fire.  It looked like there may have been some truth to the rumors.  The further he drove into the downtown, the worse it got.  Scenery changed from just the odd burned-out or deserted home to a main street transformed into a warzone.  Every single building had experienced some major damage.  Windows were blown out, and major structural walls were lying in the street.  It was difficult navigating the Humvee through all the debris.
     
    At one point, the main road was totally impassable.  There were at least twenty vehicles deserted or crashed, blocking his path.  Chaz stopped the Humvee, grabbed his automatic, and climbed out to get a better look.  He climbed onto the top of a delivery truck to survey the area.  There was no sign of movement, and no way to drive down this road.  A few blocks past city hall it looked clear.  At least, where city hall should have been according to his navigation unit.  Now it was nothing more than a pile of rubble.  Bricks, broken glass, plaster walls, some office