Hidden (Final Dawn) Read Online Free PDF Page B

truck stop was almost deserted by the time Saris 7 actually hit. Even though the yard, and the field behind it, was full of hundreds of dropped trailers, only the truck stop manager and two employees, and Marty Hankins’ group of five, remained.
         On the second day after impact, after the skies had darkened, John the truck stop manager tossed the keys to Marty.
         “I’ll be back, when and if this all blows over. If there’s anything worth coming back to. Good luck to you, Marty.”
         He shook Marty’s hand.
         Marty said, “Thank you, John. We’ll try our best to take care of the place and keep the looters at bay. 
         John looked around the place at all the empty shelves where his foodstuffs used to be. He managed a nervous chuckle, and both men understood why. There was simply nothing left to loot.
         “I’m leaving the pumps turned on. As long as the power company still operates anybody who shows up can help themselves to it. Are you guys all topped off?”
         Marty told him they were.
         “I put signs on all the fuel pumps to let people know the fuel is free as long as the pumps are working, and that there’s nothing left to loot inside the store. Hopefully that will keep them all out.”
         John went to his two cashiers still on duty.
         “You guys take whatever cash is in your drawers and go home to your families. I don’t know if the cash will do you any good or not. But it won’t do anybody any good sitting here. Don’t come back unless you’re still alive whenever the sun shines again. Good luck to you both.”
         The three of them – John and his cashiers, walked out the door and Marty locked it behind them. He watched them shuffling slowly toward their cars. Three doomed souls, spending their last days of life on a damaged earth.
         He joined the others in the trucker’s lounge.
         “Okay, time to get to work. Lenny, go unlock the yard. Do you still have the list of trailers we want to pull?”
         Lenny the yard man shook his head yes.
         “Tina, get your rig. Scott, you get yours. Joe, here’s the keys to mine. Grab the trailers Lenny points you to and bring them to the field. I’ll be there to spot you. If we work fast, we can get the camp set up before darkness sets in again.”
         The four scattered and Marty chuckled at his own words. “Before darkness sets in,” he’d said. Like it was bright even in the daytime.
         Scientists had explained before Saris 7 hit the earth what to expect. They said there would be a dark brown sky that would darken everything and make the earth freeze over. But they said the days wouldn’t go completely black. You’d still he able to see a few yards in front of you, they said. And if you looked up at the daytime sky, you might even be able to pick out the sun. Only it would look like a small yellow marble in a sea of brown. And it would provide no heat.
         Marty walked to the huge empty field behind the truck stop. He used a pair of wire cutters from his truck’s tool box to cut the barbed wire on the fence, and give his friends access to the field.
         He went to the far side of the field and waited. A minute or two later, Tina pulled in with a 53-foot white trailer. It had “Walmart” emblazoned on each side in big blue letters. He spotted her into place, told her to stay in her truck, and rolled down the trailer’s legs. Then he pulled the pin to release the trailer, disconnected her air lines and electric pigtail, and slapped on the door to let her know she was free. She drove off to get another load as Scott Burley drove into the field with the second trailer. This one was red in color, with the KFC logo painted on its sides. Fifty three feet of frozen chicken, cut up and ready to fry. That trailer would come in very handy in the months ahead.
          Several days before Saris hit, as all hell was breaking