Slow Burn (Book 5): Torrent Read Online Free PDF Page A

away with some of it, we weren’t likely to have a happy outcome.
    “We should stay off the trail.”
    I agreed on that point, as well.
    Murphy pointed through the woods. “I think the boat is back that way, if we’re cutting straight through the woods.”
    I’d lost my sense of direction. I looked around as though that might help me get my bearings. “Sure.”
    “Lead the way.”
    So I did.
    Murphy followed me t hrough the dense cedar branches as I grew more and more nervous. While stealth was necessary, it was slow. If those Smart Ones were gathering their numbers for a hunt, time was definitely against us.
    The smell of wet death embraced us in a clammy hug as we neared the edge of the forest. When we finally came out, to our right stood a row of widely-spaced buildings of painted cinder block and fifty-year-old brick. Among those was a gravel road with vehicles scattered about. Human bones with all but the smallest bits of rotting flesh gnawed off lay in puddles and on the grass across the empty space. Thousands had died there.
    “Can you tell where we are?” Murphy whispered, aghast at the sight of so many dead.
    Deal with it later. You’ve got more immediate problems.
    I tried not to look at the bones. “I don’t know where we are. You have any idea?”
    “Nope. This is my first time here. But I think on the other side of those buildings is the parade ground, the one you see when you drive by on the highway.”
    “Loop 1, you mean?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Then we must be completely turned around. I thought we were heading back toward the river.”
    Murphy shrugged. His face looked aged under a burden of worry.
    Directly across the clearing stood some sheds, perhaps for maintenance. Behind those, another growth of cedar forest. “I think if we cut through there, those ammo bunkers might be on the other side,” I said.
    “And?”
    “I think I can find my way out from there.”
    Murphy looked left then right, and took a long, hard look at the distance between the sheds and us. “Are we running or walking?”
    “What do you think, about a hundred yards to get us into those trees?”
    “About that.”
    “With Smart Ones around looking for us, I think it’s best to keep out of sight as much as possible. Are you up for the run?”
    “I haven’t been this thin since I was in the Army. Don’t lose sight of me. I might just run all the way back to the river.”
    “Let’s go.”
    Murphy took off at a sprint across the killing field. I lit out on his heels, glancing left and right as I went. Better to see coming danger than to simply run and pray. Though I could make a pretty good case for run and pray.
    Murphy stumbled on a slippery skull and nearly fell, but caught his balance and kept his feet moving. I slowed to wait. We had to stay together.
    We had just crossed over a gravel road and were nearly at the maintenance sheds when a line of Whites snaked out of the trees in front of us.
    Shit.
    Murphy slowed to a jog. I matched his speed.
    The Whites saw us. We were upright and running across a flat field. They each cast glances our way as they formed a helix and paralleled the tree line, blocking our way with fifty, then sixty and more. And they kept filing out of a gap in the trees.
    We veered to our right, and moved in the same direction as the Whites. They didn’t come after us. I guessed nearly all of them were of the variety with limited intellectual capacity. To them, Murphy and I were nothing special.
    Through his heavy breathing Murphy said, “I say we shoot the one in front. He’s the Smart One.”
    I shook my head. “Then the rest will charge us.”
    “We need to do something pretty quick or we’re fucked.”
    He was right. Of that, I had no doubt.
    Another helix of Whites snaked out between the buildings off to our right.
    “They’re herding us, Murphy.” I came to a stop and looked back. Whites were coming out of the woods behind us. We were surrounded. And they had more bodies than we