Rolling Thunder - 03 Read Online Free PDF

again.”
    I let out a big sigh of relief when all of her toes started
waving in the air, and the smile on my face was all she needed to let her know
everything was working as it was supposed to.  Quickly I pulled the straps lose
and a moment later Rachel was free and sitting up.  She started to say
something then clamped her mouth shut and scrambled out the back door and
dashed to the far side of the barn, disappearing into an empty horse stall.
    Grinning, I stepped out and looked around for Dog.  He was
stretched out on a pile of straw in a stall with one of the horses.  They had
both been asleep, waking when Rachel made her bathroom dash, and now Dog lay
there looking at me with half closed eyes, his tail lazily wagging just enough
to rustle the straw.  Out of old habit I reached to my breast pocket for a pack
of cigarettes that wasn’t there, muttered a curse and sat down on the back
bumper of the ambulance.  A couple of minutes later Rachel came back and sat
down next to me.  She looked at the damaged back end of the vehicle then turned
to me with an expectant look on her face.
    I filled her in on all that had happened since she had been
knocked unconscious by the exploding fuel tanks.  It took a while and I made
sure I didn’t leave anything out until I got to our arrival at the barn.  I
told her about the bodies in the house, but didn’t go into details about the
three men I’d shot and chained up in the forest.  Some things I do, and they
damn well need doing, but that doesn’t mean I’m proud of them. 
    We talked for a few more minutes then decided to walk down
to the house to see if the water was still on.  Rachel dug clean clothes out of
our packs while I checked the clock in the ambulance and noted we were still ok
on time, but didn’t have long before we needed to start moving again in case
the herd was heading our direction.  Walking around the Dodge truck that I’d
pulled into the barn after hiding the Toyota behind the horse trailer so no
vehicles were visible to passerby, I raised my rifle when we reached the
doors.  Dog stood up, shook the straw out of his fur and joined us.  Unlocking
the doors I pushed one of them open a few inches and looked out at a sunny
afternoon.  Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, I slowly kept pushing the door
open sweeping through my expanding view with the rifle.  No infected waiting to
pounce and no survivors waiting to ambush.  Stepping fully out of the barn, I
told Dog to stay with Rachel while I made a full circle of the building to make
sure we were alone.
    It was a beautiful afternoon.  The temperature was probably
somewhere close to 80, the sun was shining brightly, birds were singing in the
trees and a gentle breeze mitigated what could have been oppressive humidity.  The
breeze was out of the north and I glanced in that direction and noted heavy
storm clouds on the horizon.  Somewhere north it was raining like hell.  I knew
there were a lot of streams and rivers in the area that flooded spectacularly
from time to time, but had no idea if rain that far away would drain into this
part of the state.  Something to keep my eye on.
    Reconnaissance complete, I rejoined them and we walked to
the house.  Again leaving Dog with Rachel, I went to each end of the house to
check our perimeter, staying behind bushes to move to the edge of the wall to
scope out the front.  Still all clear.  At the back we moved through the
screened porch and into the kitchen.  Rachel checked the sink and smiled when
water flowed out of the tap.  Keeping the rifle up and ready I led the way to
the bedrooms, bypassing the one with the dead girl.  The master bedroom was
obviously the man’s room, but it was neat and orderly and the bathroom was just
as clean.  I did a quick clear of the room and left Rachel to get cleaned up.
    Back in the front room I sat down in a leather wing chair
that had a good view out the front windows and screen door.  I had only been
sitting