Vessel: The Demontouched Saga (Book 4) Read Online Free PDF

Probably not comfortable firing one yet. Something we need to change once we get back to the compound.
    “The most important thing we can do here is move as a group. Since he has powers that can keep the rest of us safe, Mitch will take the lead. Unless he tells you to, you need to keep your weapons holstered at all times. We don’t want to start a firefight unless we have to. Once we are inside the plant, we will discus the next phase.” He looks around the group a few times. “Any questions?”
    The crowd looks around at each other, but nobody speaks up for about thirty seconds.
    “Good,” Nal says. “Now get to work.”
    “Thanks for the warning pal,” I say. “Didn’t realize I was signing up for Operation Meat Shield.”
    Nal laughs. “Blame Canada, right?”
    I loved that movie, and the show. One thing I miss about life after the Rising is the lack of cable television. Sure there were a shit load of channels I would never watch, but there were a bunch I couldn’t get enough of. It was going to get to the point of having to watch three or four shows at once just to keep up with your shows.
    Come to think about it. Maybe it was better for it to be gone.
    Nal and I shoot the shit for a few minutes while the rest of the team gets things moved around. Part of the benefit of being the boss’ right hand man. Without the usual ass kissing. When the last of the cars are moved in the garage he moves to address the men again.
    “From this point, we need total silence. The carts will compromise our position enough without you talking to each other. Drivers,” he says. “You need to stay close to the cart in front of you and keep your eyes on the road. Your passengers can be your eyes if anything goes wrong.” Nal looks down at his watch. “By my estimate we have about seven hours of daylight left, so we don’t have time to mess around. I don’t know about you, but I plan to be back on my couch long before nightfall with a cold beer in my hand.” He sits down in the driver’s seat of a white golf cart.
    “Ok people,” I say. “Let’s move out.” I take a seat next to Nal.
    Our cart is the oddball of the bunch as it only has two seats with a compartment behind us for our gear. The other carts are all four seat models, each a different color. He had a large cart in the barn we left alone. Probably something he used when he first got the grid back up.
    He follows the gravel road towards a large two-story ranch house on a hill. This area has been known for heavy flooding in the past, so many of the people here in the bottoms built their houses up higher as to avoid the damage. It’s a shame the businesses just a few miles away haven’t learned that lesson.
    At the end, he crosses the paved street, taking us to a path of dirt in a drainage ditch on the other side. From here I can easily see where we are going because the path is well worn. Nal probably had his guys take the carts every day to and from the plant, just to give the impression of the place not being guarded.
    Soon I see the view of the Missouri river as we pass through a tall patch of brush. I can tell the river is down by looking at it. Probably has a lot to do with the lack of rain lately. This area is funny like that. In the late winter and early spring months the rivers are all full to the point of flooding. As the summer months come into play the rain tends to slow down, even stopping at times until late in the fall. It doesn’t always happen that way, as we learned in ‘93, but it doesn’t break the pattern often.
    “Hold on,” Nal whispers. “Path gets bumpy from here.”
    I nod, putting on my seatbelt to hold me in. I’m about to reach over to help Nal with his, but see it’s already on. At least he gave me a little notice.
    The grass path quickly changes to a dirt path with large rocks about fifteen yards from the river. To the right I notice the electrical towers as they poke above the tree line. From what I remember about this