Ever Onward Read Online Free PDF Page B

conjured up in the mind’s eye a vast, sprawling
city, teaming with cars, trucks and most of all, people. Known
worldwide as the Big Apple --- the City that Never Sleeps. To those
living in upstate New York however, those two ‘magic words’ meant
something completely different --- green forests, blue lakes and
tumbling streams, all punctuated by the majestic towering peaks of
Adirondack Mountains. Interstate 87 was the Northlands lifeline. At
any time of the day or night you could hear the traffic humming
along; from the Canadian border just an hour south of Montreal, all
the way south to the Big Apple itself. I-87 was the major artery
into the heart of the beast.
    Only this day the beast was
silent.
    Looking up through the bug-splattered
windshield, both father and son listened for a sign that the world
as they knew it was still there. The only sound came from the
pounding of their hearts and the screaming of their
souls.
    After what seemed like an eternity,
Josh looked at his watch. Five minutes had passed. A bubble of
frightened laughter threatened to escaped into the silence. Takes a
lickin’ ‘n keeps on tickin’! Sweet Christ! an anguished voice
inside him wailed. The whole damned world is gone! Panic threatened
to carry him away.
    “Dad? Hey, Dad! You all
right?!”
    “Ya, son, I’m fine. Hey, how about we
try to call Mom on the cell? Reception’s poor in the mountains, but
it’s worth a try.”
    Jessie rummaged around in his pack and
finally found his cell phone. His fingers shaking as they glided
over the small buttons, a half hopeful, half frightened look on his
pale face. Frustration soon waged with fear in his blue eyes.
“Nothing! Only static! No ‘roaming’ sign --- nothing.
    Jessie’s voice was high and strident,
fear lurking on every word. And who could blame him? He was young,
but not stupid. His universe had just done a swift and deadly about
turn, and by the looks of it, the party had only just
begun.
    “It’s fine, Jess. Let’s just get
home.” The youth attempted a smile and failed. Gears ground and the
camper sped headlong into a dead world.

 
    Chapter 6 :
PUSSBAG
    China Lake
    Naval Weapons Center,
    California. June
22
    Private Theodore Smith, alias Pussbag
Smitty, had been a busy boy since seeing Jocco drive by. Scuttling
about like a spider, he had followed the jeep, keeping always in
the shadows. As a child he had been afraid of the dark. The dark
was where the ‘bad things’ happened; where his mother locked him
after he had been naughty. Oh, how she had loved that
word.
    ‘Theodore, you’ve been naughty again.
If you’re not careful the Dark Stranger will come for you. Mommy is
going to have to lock her naughty little boy in the closet. Mommy
is going to have to spank her naughty little boy’s bum. Mommy is
going to have to beat the living shit out of her Goddamned little
snot-nosed naughty kid till he cries blood-fucking red
tears!’
    Oh my yes, Pussbag thought. Mommy had
dearly loved THAT word!
    But time had passed and so had Mommy
Dearest’s physical power over her naughty little boy. The threat of
the Dark Stranger however, had only increased. As the years rolled
by, naughty little Theodore Smith grew to be very naughty
indeed.
    Pussbag Smitty, the terror of his
terrible neighborhood. His list of sins had been long and horrible,
yet torturing pets had been his specialty. Then, just as his mother
had predicted, one fateful day the Dark Stranger had indeed come
for him, only instead of dragging him screaming off to Hell, the
dreaded Dark Stranger had looked into Pussbag’s tattered heart and
offered him the one thing little Theodore would have gladly sold
his very soul for --- friendship.
    ‘Follow me and I shall make thee
great’ an ageless voice had said. ‘Follow in my footsteps and all
shall be thine.’ That same night Pussbag had beat the living shit
out of Mommy, stuffed the arthritic-ridden old bitch in the
infamous closet and ran off to follow his new