Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse (Book 3): Salvation Read Online Free PDF Page B

overweight.
    I’m
digressing into psychological speculation, not good. At any rate, these
helicopters normally carry a crew of six – we use a smaller crew of three
ourselves – and a dozen troops. They are capable of moving at speeds in excess
of two hundred miles an hour and can travel over three fifty using just their
internal tanks. The things can go higher than the Cobras too, up to fourteen
thousand feet. Their armaments are not as impressive, but they do sport a pair
of miniguns. We have one. Yellowstone has three.
    The
other helicopters we recovered at Ellsworth Air Force Base had been sent west
to the islands, along with the fixed wing planes, for use by the military. If
I’d known they would not be available for the upcoming war, I would have argued
against their removal. But, to be fair, I had no idea countries or groups of
survivors, whatever the case actually was, were going to start lobbing nuclear
warheads at one another. Regardless, what we kept is more than enough for our
needs, not to mention we are somewhat lacking in properly trained pilots.
    We have
thoroughly tested the craft, doing our best to keep their existence a secret.
We don’t want the raiders to know how strong we are. The things have brutal
maintenance requirements as well. The machinists and techs seem to spend
forever keeping them running, so, for the most part, we leave them grounded.
    “Problem.”
Mary’s voice crackled over the radio. She sounded worried.
    “What is
it?”
    “I think
the engine just went kablooee.”
    She
slowed and came to a stop, climbing out of the Jeep. Shifting into reverse, I
backed up and joined her.
    “What
happened?”
    The
petite blonde – although now sixteen, Mary remains every bit as slender as when
she was thirteen – shrugged her shoulders. “I heard a crack and grinding, and
it just stopped.”
    Dale
opened the hood, and both he and his sister peered inside.
    “Engine
block broke,” announced Tara, a few seconds later.
    “Ah,
damn.” So much for Lizzy’s Grand Cherokee. She was going to be pissed. “Okay,
let’s start moving the gear you’re carrying to mine.”
    This
sort of event was why we almost always took two vehicles when traveling any
significant distance. Getting stranded was such a bad thing.
    “I don’t
think we can fit it all.” Mary opened one of the side doors on my Wrangler.
“You’re pretty loaded already, and we have to fit inside too.”
    That was
certainly true.
    “All
right, take it all out, everything from both. We can load mine with the gear we
need most – weapons and emergency supplies are priority – and put the rest in
the Grand Cherokee. We’ll collect it later when we get a chance.”
    Dale
retrieved his rifle and shot a zombie. It had shambled out from behind a
toppled billboard.
    “More
are coming,” observed Tara.
    “We’re
only ten miles south of Billings,” I said. “We should try to get this done
fast.”
    The
route we had chosen was to follow US Highway 212 toward Billings, bypass the
city by hopping on some agricultural roads, and then take the highway the rest
of the way to Yellowstone.
    “I count
one, two, uh, let’s see, six…”
    Dale
shot another.
    “Make
that five,” corrected Mary.
    “Dale,
scoot forward a ways. Tara, you got the other side. Mary and I will move the
gear.”
    The
twins hurried off.
    “Why do
I have to do the hard part?” protested Mary.
    “Because
this is best all around. Come on. If we get this done fast, we may arrive in
time for dinner.”
    “Well, proper
food is better than rations, and being guests we might even get a special
treat.” That seemed to cheer her up.
     
    *
* *
     
    “You
know, I think our town is nicer.”
    “Definitely,”
I agreed, keeping my voice low so no one would overhear. No sense offending our
neighbors. “They do seem to be a lot less organized.”
    Mary
nodded. “That’s cause you like to plan and then plan some more, being crazy
that