Take the Long Way Home Read Online Free PDF

baby?”
    “There’s nothing we can do.” I hated how callous I sounded, but my mind was made up. “Let’s face it—they’re not going to find anything. Britney is gone.”
    “They might,” he insisted. “She could have been thrown from the car.”
    “Stephanie’s car isn’t even damaged,” I said. “Her daughter is among the missing. We can’t help her. Maybe when the cops get here, they can do something.”
    “If it’s as bad as I think it is,” Frank added, “then I imagine the National Guard is probably out in force. Maybe we should wait for them to show up.”
    “And do what?” I asked. “If it really is that bad, their hands are full. If people are disappearing, if planes and trains are crashing like you say they are, then the National Guard are going to be doing more than clearing traffic jams. There’s liable to be riots, looting—all kinds of shit.”
    Frank wrung his bandana out and shoved it back in his pocket. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Hadn’t thought of that.”
    Another scream rang out, followed by a horn.
    “So where do you guys live?” Frank asked, shuffling his feet.
    “Shrewsbury,” Charlie told him. “Just off Exit One on the Pennsylvania side.”
    “I’m pretty close to you,” Frank said. “Parkton—last exit in Maryland.”
    “That’s where the Park-and-Ride is, right?” Charlie asked.
    “Yeah. Listen, you guys care if I tag along with you?”
    I shrugged. “Sure. There’s safety in numbers.”
    “Safety?” Charlie cocked his head. “Safe from what?”
    Instead of replying, I checked my cell phone. There was still no service, but the clock was working. It was 5:30 p.m.
    “Britney!” Stephanie screamed from the tall grass. “Where are you, baby?”
    Britney didn’t answer.
    None of the missing did.
    Twenty minutes later, after weaving our way through the snarled traffic, we reached Exit 18—Warren Road and Cockeysville. Those were twenty minutes of dazed and hysterical commuters, wrecked vehicles, and mangled, bloody bodies. Twenty minutes of despair and hopelessness that grew with each tortured cry. Twenty minutes of diesel fumes and burning rubber. Twenty minutes that seemed like an eternity.
    We stopped to rest and took seats on the guardrail, right beneath the exit sign. Frank breathed heavily, gasping for air, and the veins stood out in his face. He looked like he was ready to have a heart attack. All three of us were drenched with sweat, and Charlie and I both had dark circles under the arms of our dress shirts.
    “Whew,” Frank panted. “Talk about taking the long way home.”
    “I’m still not sure we should be doing this,” Charlie grumbled.
    “Both of us got banged up when Hector hit the construction barrier. Should we be walking this far? I don’t know about you, Steve, but my head hurts. What if we’ve got concussions or something?”
    I cracked my neck to get rid of the stiffness. “I don’t care. Only thing I want to do now is get home to Terri.”
    There was a stone quarry to our right, nestled in the shallow valley below. One of the facility’s buildings was on fire. Orange flames flickered across the rooftop, and thick, black smoke poured from the doors and windows, drifting up the hill and billowing over the highway. Workers scurried around the building like panicking ants. A few more employees lay on the ground, unmoving. There were no fire trucks or ambulances in sight. We’d only seen one state police cruiser since the Timonium exit, and it was deserted, parked along the side of the road. I’d wondered if the officer disappeared with the rest or had abandoned the vehicle afterward.
    3
    My headache grew worse.
    “You guys got any aspirin?”
    They both shook their heads.
    “I’d kill for a beer right now,” Frank said.
    I wondered about the bars. Would they be jam-packed tonight, filled to overflowing as word of the disaster spread and people’s loved ones didn’t come home? Would people flock to them, seeking