the tide was rolling in. The foamers were searching for their next meal … always searching.
With the Tall Man, the president, and Tom in the cabin, the reunion with Holmes—the bastard who had once engaged the Tall Man to keep tabs on Baer and his activities—and Etheridge—the bastard who had tried to control everything—would have to wait a little longer. It wouldn’t aid their escape from the encroaching foamers if the Tall Man knew of their presence. When Elliot ground the gears of the truck, the foamers, some only fifty or sixty yards away, ran, stumbled, or crawled across the field. Their backs were broken from a collision with the wheels of the C-17, or the lower halves of their bodies were obliterated by sustained bursts of fully automatic fire.
Dead, destroyed, mangled.
But they kept coming.
----
“ W hich way , Aunt Kath?” The truck bounced across the field. Elliot had little choice in direction at the moment—anywhere the foamers weren’t was good—but after that he wasn’t sure.
“Go through the fence.” She pointed straight ahead. “Once I see what road we’re on, I’ll tell you.”
With all the activity, no one had bothered to check the time. Time had become a somewhat irrelevant consideration of late. There was one aspect left that carried some weight, however.
“The sun should rise soon,” the Tall Man called from the back seat.
The president and Tom dipped their heads to look out the window for evidence of the sunrise while Kath and Elliot turned and gave the Tall Man an inquisitive look.
“Foamers. They’re not active in the daylight—at least not as far as we’ve seen,” the Tall Man answered before she asked.
“You’re right. I’ve never seen or heard any.” Kath didn’t have the experience with foamers that the Twin Falls people had, but she concurred with that statement.
“We can verify that from drone and satellite pictures we had of the cities in Idaho,” Tom added.
“You had satellite pictures of Idaho? Any in Twin Falls?” Elliot asked the former chief of staff.
“Yes, we managed to get a few, err...”
“Elliot.” He reminded Tom of his name.
“Elliot. Right.” Tom continued, “You’ll excuse my memory at the moment, but yes, we did get some pictures of Twin Falls.”
“Were there … well, any—”
“Elliot, I’m sure you’ve seen much more of the disaster that has befallen our great country than I have. You and your friends have been in the thick of it, on the front line, as it were. Twin Falls was no different than anything you’ve seen.” Without having to spell it out, the president informed Elliot that there was not a living soul left. He was as sober as he was candid, but he was not despondent. Still the statesman.
“Turn left, Elliot,” Kath said. “This road will take us to Prince George, then to back to my house—and a damn stiff drink!”
“I might join you, if you don’t mind.” The president had been through much in his time, in politics, in business, and in the military. He had never been through an infestation of undead.
The Tall Man and Tom also expressed interest in knocking back a glass or two.
“Yeah, I might have a drink, too,” Elliot spoke up.
“You’re too young to drink, Elliot,” the Tall Man admonished.
Elliot shot a look back over his shoulder. His shocked expression couldn’t be seen in the dark of the truck cabin. “What the hell do you mean too— holy shit?” Elliot was startled as the truck bounced over rocks on the road.
The laughter that followed drowned him out.
The Tall Man was looking forward to a good drink and a laugh or two. He looked to the east and saw the sky begin to lighten. Soon the foamers would seek the sanctuary of the dark for the duration of the daylight hours. The Tall Man knew the next day would promise to be their longest.
----
“ W e’ve got about a quarter of a tank left.” Elliot apprised the others of the fuel situation.
“That’ll get us back to