August Burning (Book 1): Outbreak by Tyler Lahey Page B

the arteries of transit running
south. They group rounded the brick building and approached the ZIPCAR service
parking lot. It was totally empty save for a beaten-up silver minivan.
    “Is this going to work?” Bennett asked
nervously.
    “We can’t just take the car,” Adira
ventured.
    “We have to,” Jaxton croaked, his
voice hoarse with fear. “Just stick with the plan, ok?” Jaxton felt his hands
shaking as the sirens droned in his ears. “Remember the video. They’re coming
for us.”
    Bennett shook his head angrily. “What
are we doing here?”
    Jaxton rounded on him. “How else are
we going to get up there? None of us can legally rent a car yet. I know this
fucking guy. He monitors the lot, leaves his damn keys in his booth all day.”
    Bennett drew up as they crouched
behind the brick wall. “Adira, don’t do this if you don’t want to.”
    “Don’t do this now, Bennett,” Jaxton
breathed.
    Adira looked to the two men, both
willing her to choose. “I don’t know if I want to.”
    Harley stood up, her auburn hair
framing her curvy form. She sniffed and rubbed her eyes, still red. “I’ll do
it.”
    Liam’s eyes met hers. “We could get in
a lot of trouble if this goes wrong.”
    Harley looked at him hard, her giddy
energy gone. “I want to get out of the city.” Without another word she trotted
across the vacant lot, to the sleepy booth. As she approached, she began
shouting at the man inside.
    “Ok, let’s see how good her acting
is,” Jaxton whispered.
    “This is so fucked up,” Bennett hissed.
    Harley’s emphatic hand motions drew
the pot-bellied man out of the booth, and the two took off at a jog down the
opposite street.
    “What did you tell her to say?”
    Jaxton shrugged. “I didn’t have time
to. She must have made it up on the fly. He’s out of sight. Go!”
    The group sprinted across the lot and
Jaxton stormed into the booth, which was filled with lazy jazz beats. He
emerged with a set of keys, and unlocked the doors.
    Adira took a peek inside, and recoiled
at the stench. “What the hell.”
    “Did you see the fucking guy? Get in,”
Jaxton commanded.
    Liam tossed the duffel bags into the
back and seated himself in the passenger seat. Tessa, Adira, and Bennett
clambered into the back.
    “Oh, fuck. She’s coming back already man!” Liam shouted.
    “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Jaxton muttered.
He fumbled with the keys and dropped them on the floor. Coming back up, he saw
Harley racing back towards the car through the rear-view mirror.
    “Leave the sliding door open!”
    Jaxton fired the engine and wrenched
the old minivan out of park. Harley leapt into the side of the vehicle and
yelled. Jaxton reversed the vehicle and scraped against the fence, and a figure
appeared at the open side.
    “What the hell do you think you’re
doing?!” The blustering fat man was too fast for his size. He sputtered and
raged, trying to drag himself into the vehicle as it moved slowly forward.
    “Push him out damnit!” Jaxton ordered.
    Bennett, seated closest to him, did
nothing. His face was a mask of confused horror.
    The vehicle rolled towards the exit,
and Harley reached over Bennett to slam the sliding door. As it snapped closed,
they all heard a sickening crunch and the pasty man with a balding head tumbled
backwards out of the vehicle.
    “You just broke his fucking hand!
What’s wrong with you?!” Adira screamed.
    Jaxton was shaking his head over and
over, though he couldn’t say why. His sweaty palms gripped the wheel and he
dropped the steel to the floorboard.

 
 
 
    The car made a whining sound as it
moved forward, though Jaxton could scarcely hear it above the thunderstorm.
Thick deciduous forest crowded both flanks of the highway, and Jaxton dreamed
of their homes, which were nestled in lazy mountain greenery one hundred miles
to the north. The southbound lanes were completely clogged with traffic. As
nature poured a homicidal deluge upon the thousands of travelers, Jaxton