DECEPTION
Dark Road, Book Seven
Bruno Miller
Are there any decent people left?
Having reached his kids in Maryland, Ben is faced with the challenge of crossing the country once more and getting everyone safely home to Colorado.
The struggle to survive is the only constant in their otherwise unpredictable lives. With each passing day, Ben becomes increasingly cynical about the state of mankind and worries that the children will grow up to feel the same.
Remaining vigilant is no guarantee that they will avoid problems on the journey back. Even when things seem safe, danger and evil lurk in the shadows. Letting their guard down means inviting trouble.
Ben knows that the protection he provides for his children has limits and in the end, they must learn to fight for themselves if they are to make it home. But the hardest lesson comes when Ben’s two youngest, Bradley and Emma, discover that things are not always what they seem on the road.
Deception: Dark Road, Book Seven
Copyright © 2020 Bruno Miller
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from the author.
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, events, and places portrayed in this book are products of the author’s imagination and are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real person, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
Want to know when Bruno’s next book is coming out? Join his mailing list for release news, fun giveaways, insider scoop and more!
NEWSLETTER
Table of Contents
DECEPTION
About the Book
Copyright
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
About the Author
Chapter One
When Ben fired up the old Chevy and prepared to leave this place behind, the rumble of the Blazer’s exhaust was music to his ears. He was grateful for all the supplies they acquired from Jack’s and the advantage they would provide on the long journey ahead. But the short time they’d spent at Jack’s had been less of a chance to recharge than he’d hoped for.
Instead, the two-day visit had proved to be emotionally draining. He wasn’t alone in feeling that way, judging by the looks on his youngest kids’ faces. Emma caught him looking at her and Bradley in the rearview mirror, and Ben smiled. Sam had already made herself at home between the kids on the rear bench seat, ignoring the bed Ben specifically made for her among the supplies in the back of the truck.
Losing Jack was never part of the plan, and although Ben had his doubts from the get-go about convincing Jack to come with them, he never in his wildest dreams could have predicted that anything like this would happen. Ben barely had a chance to come to terms with Jack’s illness and the fact that he was dying. Then to have him shot and die in front of the kids like that? The scene would be burned into his memory for the rest of his life. No doubt the kids would always remember it as well.
He put the Blazer in gear and began to creep down the gravel lane. Checking his side mirror, he saw the Jeep begin to move forward and follow them. He would be eternally grateful to Jack for taking care of the kids and forever disappointed in his ex-wife for putting them in that situation. But as they made their way past the rows of dead soybeans, he vowed to put all that out of his mind. He would try, at least. It was time to focus on the task at hand; getting home.
While on watch early this morning, he spent a little time with the map, trying to figure out if there was a better route. The scarcity of water along Interstate 70 right before the mountains was something he wished to avoid this time around, if possible. He at least wanted to prepare for it. Taking a different path, maybe more to the north, was no guarantee they wouldn’t run into the same problem, but it couldn’t be any worse, could it? Then again, for all the hardships they endured along I-70, he couldn’t discount the advantages of taking the same road again and knowing what to expect.
There would be time to decide what route to take later. For the time being, he planned on sticking with what they knew and staying clear of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. This meant taking Route 113 north into Delaware until they were above the bay, then heading west.
Ben thought about Pittsburgh and wished there was a better way that would take them around the city without putting them too far off course. They’d seen firsthand what the outskirts of the city looked like, and it certainly wouldn’t be any better on their way back; the fallout that covered the road like a fine blanket of snow was reason enough to give the area a wide berth.
A more northern route might be better, not only because the weather might be a little cooler but because, closer to the Great Lakes and their watershed streams and rivers, there would be more opportunities for water. This wasn’t without risk, however, and the concern of putting them closer to some of the larger cities like Chicago weighed heavily on his mind. Based on what they had seen, the larger towns and cities were well worth avoiding, but Chicago was a place Ben had no desire to visit even in better times. He had no personal experience with the place, but all he had read or heard was enough to make him leery of going anywhere near the place.
He also knew that any survivors with the means to do so would begin exiting urban areas in droves. It had been two weeks since the bombs hit. Whatever food and water was left in highly populated areas would be depleted or close to it by now. The people who had managed to hang on and sustain themselves would venture into the rural areas surrounding them. Most wouldn’t fare much better in a country setting, but they would be desperate—and dangerous as well.
Nearing the end of the small two-lane road Jack’s was on, Ben steered the Blazer around a tight curve and approached the main highway. Being on the road again seemed like a dream, and the fact that they were heading home really hadn’t sunk in yet. The events of the last couple days hadn’t felt real, and it was hard to think about everything all at once.
With one eye on Joel and Allie in the Jeep behind them and one eye on the road ahead, Ben pulled out onto the four-lane road and began to pick up speed. The median that separated the two double lanes looked even more overgrown with weeds and grass than he thought possible. The goldenrod was now tall enough to brush the bottom of the highway signs with its bright yellow buds as it waved in the early-morning breeze. How much longer before the vegetation covered the signs altogether? Nature was reclaiming the land at an alarming rate.
It wasn’t long before they encountered their first burnt-out wreck blocking most of the westbound lanes. Ben was forced to drive through the tall weeds on the shoulder in order to avoid the mess of metal and debris. The taller grasses, still wet with dew and last night’s rain, smacked the metal panels on the truck as they went. Ben hoped they didn’t run over anything that was hidden in the grass and would cause damage, but it was
better than running through the thousands of glittering shards of glass that lay scattered across the road.
Finally past the wreck, he pulled back out onto the pavement and picked up speed once more. Checking back on Joel, he watched as the Jeep followed through the Blazer’s tire tracks in the grass. He noticed Emma and Bradley looking back as well, but they weren’t looking at the Jeep; they were staring at the wrecked cars and scorched bodies trapped inside.
It dawned on Ben that they had been somewhat sheltered while living at Jack’s, and this was most likely their first glimpse of the chaos the world was in, albeit a small example. Ben had paid little attention to the burnt-out cars and what was left of the passengers within. He and the others had grown callous of these things. The sight was familiar by now, and for better or worse, they had learned to ignore it.
Even Sam was sitting up now, straining to identify the charred mess that blocked the road. Could she smell the death trapped inside or was it something else that had her attention? Ben looked over at Sandy and saw that she had noticed the kids also.
“Do you guys want to play a game?” she asked. “How about I Spy? Do you know how to play that?”
It was a good attempt on her part to distract them, and Ben appreciated the effort, but they weren’t biting. Both Emma and Bradley remained fixated on the mangled cars until they were out of sight.
“No thanks,” Emma finally replied. She pulled Sam close to her and stared out her window.
“I’m good.” Bradley repositioned himself in the seat and leaned against the door.
“Okay, well, if you change your mind, just let me know.” Sandy twisted back around in the seat to face forward.
Both kids were quiet for a while, and Ben decided he should say something to them. But what? What could he say that would put their minds at ease? There was no unseeing the things that passed by outside the truck. And the worst was yet to come.
Chapter Two
It didn’t take long to reach the Maryland-Delaware border, and although it wasn’t that far from Jack’s, it felt like an accomplishment nonetheless. The feeling was short-lived, though, and came to an end when he checked on his kids in the rearview mirror and saw the blank expressions on their faces. For their sake, Ben did his best to give the wrecks and twisted piles of cars a wide berth whenever they encountered them, but it was impossible to insulate them from the ugliness that forced its way into their minds.
Sandy had given up on trying to make small talk with the kids, and even Ben had tried to no avail to get them to talk about something—anything—to take their attention off the horrors they passed by. But neither one was interested in talking; instead, they were glued to their windows and the gruesome spectacle the highway provided.
Ultimately, Ben decided that it was something they were going to have to deal with in their own way and in their own time. They were too young, but what choice was there in the matter? This was the world they lived in, and the sooner they came to terms with that, the sooner they could move on.
The charred remains of the victims in these wrecks and accidents haunted them one after another as they made their way down the highway. Ben hadn’t noticed this many wrecks on the way here. Of course, it was evening when they had last come through this area, and it was after a long day of driving, but it wasn’t just that. Having Emma and Bradley with them now made the difference. He was overly aware for their sake and felt guilty for putting them through this. Maybe they should have left at night. But reality would have reared its ugly head eventually, and he knew he couldn’t protect them forever.
Ben was lost in his thoughts and almost didn’t notice the lights on the Jeep flash. At first, he thought it was the sunlight reflecting off the windshield, but then he saw Joel’s hand pop out of the window and tap the outside of the door. That was the signal they had agreed on to indicate that they needed to stop for fuel. Ben glanced at the Blazer’s fuel gauge and saw that they would need gas soon as well.
Ben gave Joel a thumbs-up to let him know that he had seen his signal.
“We need to stop for gas soon. Keep your eyes peeled for something that looks safe.” Ben turned his head and tried to direct the request to everyone in the truck. There was always risk involved with stopping to fuel up, but he was thankful for the distraction right now. They had been fortunate enough to stock up on a lot of supplies at Jack’s, but fuel wasn’t one of them.
Jack had a few partially full five-gallon canisters lying around, but Ben decided against adding them to the already half-full tank in the Blazer. Ever since the government began mandating that ethanol be mixed in with gasoline, there was no guarantee that the gas was any good after it sat for even a short period of time. It was yet another thing he worried about.
He’d learned about gas with ethanol mixed the hard way when he nearly ruined a chainsaw last winter. He made the mistake of letting it sit with fuel in the tank for a couple of months without running it, then had to take it into a small engine repair shop for service. He remembered the guy at the shop complaining to him that most of the time when people brought something in, it was due to ethanol in the fuel. Ethanol was basically alcohol, and older engines, like the one in the Blazer, specifically, and even some newer ones, weren’t designed to handle it. Most of the problems were caused by the ethanol eroding fuel lines and gaskets. It also contributed to rust in the fuel system by creating condensation in the unfilled portion of a fuel tank.
The fuel they were pumping from the underground tanks was no different and would eventually turn bad. He wasn’t sure how long that would take, but he hoped they would at least make it home before it started to happen.
Thankfully not all states blended their gasoline with ethanol, but Maryland and Delaware were among those that did. The last gas station they stopped at near Fredrick, Maryland, had a sticker on the pump that read E15. As Ben understood it, that meant the gas here was fifteen percent ethanol. They hadn’t stopped anywhere in Delaware for fuel yet, and with any luck, the ratio there would be a little lower.
At Jack’s, they’d picked up two more five-gallon jerry cans, which were now strapped to the back of the Jeep. It was great to have the ability to carry extra gas, but between the extra vehicle and more spare cans to fill, it would take them twice as long to fuel up when they stopped.
The Jeep had a smaller tank than the Blazer, and the distance it could travel between fill-ups was yet to be determined. The smaller inline six-cylinder engine should be less thirsty than the big V-8 in the Blazer, but only time would tell. Either way, they would have to be on their toes at each fuel stop. Sitting still out in the open for that amount of time wasn’t ideal, but what choice did they have? They would just have to be extra careful in choosing where they stopped.
“What about there?” Emma asked. Ben was surprised to hear her voice. Both of the kids had been all but silent since they left Jack’s.
“Yeah, that might work.” Ben put his arm out the window with his hand open and the palm facing down. He checked in the mirror and saw the Jeep begin to slow down.
The place was a standalone Gulf station with a small assortment of vending machines under a lean-to in lieu of a store. It was nothing more than a covered bank of pumps for cars and a larger row of pumps for diesel and trucks near the back. The place was surrounded by open fields of dead soybean plants in every direction but one. Along the north side of the property stood a small building: a tire repair shop a hundred yards or so from the pumps.
It was as good a place to stop as any, and after completing a quick drive around the property, Ben located the filler caps for the underground fuel tanks and parked the Blazer a few feet away. He was careful to park in a way that allowed for an unobstructed view of the highway; he could easily see a couple of miles in both directions. The only obstructions to his line of sight were the occasional wreck or abandoned car and the overgrown median between the two sides of the four-lane road.
Joel pulled in beside them as Ben climbed out of the Blazer
. Gunner was the first one out of the Jeep to join him, leaping over Allie, who didn’t even have a chance to get up before the impatient dog cleared her in a single motion.
“I don’t know what’s gotten into him.” Allie shook her head and slid out of the Jeep. Gunner was long gone, though, and already past the edge of the blacktop and several rows into the closest soybean field. Ben was about to call after the crazed dog when Gunner suddenly stopped and relieved himself.
Joel laughed. “Well, that might explain it.”
Ben wondered if maybe it wasn’t the best idea to give the dogs each a deer steak right before setting out on the road for a day’s worth of driving. Hopefully it was out of Gunner’s system now. Then Ben thought about Sam.
“Will you guys see if Sam has to go? It’s going to be a while before we stop again.” Emma and Bradley were still in the back seat of the Blazer. At the sound of her name, Sam’s head shot up from between them, and she began panting.
“Okay.” Bradley cracked his door open and began to exit the vehicle.
Ben had initially intended for everyone who wasn’t involved in the refueling process to stay in the trucks, but as he considered the situation, he decided that it might be a good chance for everyone to quickly stretch their legs now. Besides, with the open fields and the commanding view they had of the highway, he felt pretty confident about their immediate safety. That and the fact that he hoped to get a solid three or four hours behind the wheel before stopping again, so this would be the last chance for a while.
Dark Road (Book 7): Deception Page 1
