Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse (Book 1): Sanctuary Read Online Free PDF

likely all gone.
    A second
driver was going to be very nice, and she was close enough to my height that
shifting the seat might not be necessary. With the Jeep fully loaded, I wasn’t
sure if I could even move it back and forth.
    An
explosion sounded somewhere outside, and we both hurried to the front. Briana
had a hand on her gun but hadn’t drawn it from the holster. Good on both
counts. I peeked out the windows while she shifted about nervously.
    “Anything?”
    I shook
my head. “I see a zombie, just one. It’s looking over to the north, I think.”
    “The
zombie or the explosion was north?”
    “Both.”
    Leaving
the front, I hurried upstairs to one of the spare bedrooms. It had a window
facing that direction.
    “Damn.”
    “What is
it?” She drew up next to me and pulled the curtain back so she could see as
well.
    “That’s
by what, TWU?”
    Texas
Women’s University, in the center of town and a good ten miles or so from my
house, was one of the schools in Denton, the other being the University of
North Texas. I couldn’t see any of the buildings from where I lived, but the
rising smoke seemed to be in that general area.
    “What do
you think did that?”
    “I don’t
know. That was loud, and there’s a lot of smoke. Gas tanks maybe, or propane
that exploded? They might have those there. Could’ve been a fire that heated
them up.”
    Briana
frowned. “That’s a lot of guessing.”
    “Don’t
have anything else. We’re too far for me to make out any details.”
    “Think
it might have been the Army?”
    “I don’t
think so. I can’t see a reason to hit the area, and even if they were trying to
get rid of zombies en masse, artillery doesn’t look like that. I remember
watching them blast it off at Fort A.P. Hill when I was in Boy Scouts at the
National Jamboree there. They loved firing it at the crack of dawn, waking
everyone up. But, they might have used something else, if it was them.”
    Flames
were beginning to appear. The center of town was on fire.
    “Jacob,
should we be worrying about that?”
    “I think
we’re good,” I replied, after my own panic subsided enough to make some
rational observations, something that took longer than I like to admit. “Look
at the smoke. It’s moving away from us. The wind’s out of the south. I think
it’ll burn the other way, mostly.” I checked my watch. It was only 2:30 PM. “We
could leave now, but I rather wait until sunup. That’ll give us more driving
time to get out of the Metroplex. I don’t want to get stuck in the area,
outside, after the sun goes down.”
    “Makes
sense, but I think we need to keep an eye on that.”
    I
nodded. Burning to death was way down on my list of things to do.
     
    *
* *
     
    We spent
most of the afternoon watching the distant fire with a few breaks when we
drifted into the backyard for some fresh air. The house was hot and stuffy and
becoming more and more unbearable. Fortunately, by the time the sun was going
down, the fire had clearly moved further away. The glimmer of flames was still
visible, as was the thick mat of black smoke, but both were slowly diminishing.
The damage had to be tremendous, and I felt a great deal of sympathy for any
survivors caught in its path. Hopefully they would notice in time to get away.
    Neither
of us slept much that night, and we shared the bed again. Briana didn’t say
anything, just plopping down on one side when it was time to turn in, but she
clearly did not want to be alone. I refrained from making any comments, my
feelings being in complete alignment. My rest was fitful however. I kept
getting up to check on the conflagration north of us. Briana did the same,
possibly more often than me.
     
    *
* *
     
    We left
Denton on the morning of the fourth day, shortly after sunrise. The fire turned
out to be less a concern than we’d feared. It had moved away, and with the way
the strong winds were blowing, we couldn’t even smell the smoke. The billowing
plumes of black soot