dragons breath 01 - stalked by flames (22 page)

I was tempted to shake some sense into him, but by the looks of it he wanted to do the same to me. And it wasn’t like I couldn’t see Conrad’s point of view. Driving around town was dangerous, especially after my close call with the guys shooting through the streets last time. Who knew what would have happened if they’d seen me?

“Fine.” I gave him a warning glare. “But once we get there you have to hang back. No provoking the dragon.”

He pushed off the truck. “Whatever.”

Something told me this wasn’t going to go well. Neither of us spoke as we drove through town. It was mid-afternoon and the traffic was pretty much non-existent—unless you counted the occasional crashed or burned car along the way. We passed a shopping center with a few people dashing out of a store with armfuls of clothing in their hands. I picked up speed, wanting to get as far from them as possible.

“Damn, I never liked this part of town,” Conrad said.

I peeked up through the windshield checking for dragons—nothing but a clear blue sky and blazing sun. “We’ll be alright.”

“If you say so.” He took my gun from the console and checked the clip. “Word from some new arrivals at the library is that it’s getting bad over here.”

My fingers tightened on the steering wheel. “Just keep an eye out for trouble.”

He leaned forward. “What the hell is going on up there?”

“It looks like a row of cars blocking the road.” They were lined up bumper to bumper across all four lanes of Lindsey Street. Too perfect to be an accident and no people stood near them.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what it looks like,” Conrad said, twisting around to search the area. “Fuck, let’s turn back. I’m thinking we better take a different route.”

I slowed down and spun the wheel, making a quick u-turn. No sooner had I started back the other way than a semi truck with a long trailer pulled out from a side street. It kept going until it took up the whole road, almost reaching the curb at the other end. I slammed on my brakes, stopping about a hundred feet from it. Three guys with rifles hopped out, aiming them straight at us.

“Get out of the truck, now!” one of them shouted, his voice filtering through my partially open window.

“Shit, shit, shit,” I cursed. “What do we do?”

Conrad looked back. “Turn around again.”

“What?” I gave him an incredulous look.

“Turn around. We’re going to have to break through that barricade back there.”

Had he lost his mind? “I’m not wrecking my truck.”

“Would you rather fucking die? Because that’s what’s gonna happen if we don’t get the hell out of here.” Conrad’s nostrils flared and he rushed out his next words. “Look, when I was twelve my parents got stationed at the U.S. embassy in Jordan. One of the things we were told is if you get blocked on the street by terrorists you have to get out of there or they will kill you. Better to risk dying while fleeing than just sitting around waiting for your death like an idiot.”

I stared at our attackers and had to admit Conrad was right. No way were we going to make it easy on these jackasses. Whatever they wanted—they were going to have to fight for it. I threw the truck into reverse and spun back around, peeling my tires as I went.

“Okay, how do I break through the cars?” I pushed on the gas pedal heading straight for them. Please, God, don’t let me end up doing one of those crazy flips like I’d seen in the movies.

Gun shots rang out, one of them pinging against my back bumper. Conrad and I ducked down low. With his head barely higher than the dashboard, he pointed ahead. “See where two of the cars are facing away from each other with their trunks touching?”

Another round of gunfire erupted with a couple bullets shattering my back window. I cringed as they zinged over my head. Damn. If it was the truck they wanted, there wasn’t going to be much left after they finished shooting at it.

“I see them,” I replied, peeking over the steering wheel.

“Aim for the trunks,” he yelled, trying to be heard over the cascade of bullets coming at us. “That’s the lightest part of the vehicle and the easiest place to break through.”

I pushed harder on the gas pedal and tightened my hold on the wheel. We barreled through the cars, crunching metal against metal as we spun them out of the way. Conrad hit his chin on the dashboard and cursed. I winced at the damage I must have just done to my truck but didn’t slow down. The shooting hadn’t stopped.

Conrad rubbed his chin and cast me a sideways glance. “Damn, girl. That worked better than I thought.”

A bullet hit my side mirror, breaking it. “You had doubts?”

“I knew it’d work in theory, but it’s not like I ever tried it.”

A loud pop sounded and the wheel jerked beneath my hands. I gripped it harder, fighting to keep control. “Dammit, they hit one of the tires.”

Conrad’s eyes widened and he glanced back. “Don’t stop.”

“What’s going on?” We’d reached the end of the business district and were heading into a residential area.

“They’re following us in a damn car!”

“Then shoot the bastards,” I urged. Until now I’d been more concerned with getting away than firing back, but we needed to lose those guys.

Conrad grabbed the Glock and rolled down the window. Leaning out of it, he fired a couple rounds at the car. With all the gunshots going around, my ears were ringing. I drove as straight as I could, trying not to mess up his aim. The blown tire wasn’t making it easy.

“They’re getting closer,” he yelled over his shoulder.

“Keep shooting!” My heart raced. We were in deep shit if we didn’t get rid of them. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep the truck going while driving on a rim.

Conrad popped off a couple more shots. “Got him!”

Tires screeched behind us. I glanced up at my rearview mirror, watching the car spin around sideways before running off the road into a light pole. The front end caved around it and smoke spewed from the engine. I let out a breath I hadn’t even known I was holding. The road was clear and no one else was following us.

“Keep going a little farther and we’ll find somewhere to stop,” Conrad said, settling back into his seat. He didn’t let go of the pistol.

“Okay.”

The steering wheel shook hard as I continued driving. My poor truck had taken a beating. I passed through an intersection and looked for someplace with a decent amount of cover where we could change the tire.

“Up there.” Conrad pointed. “Go to that building on the left.”

We were almost out of town. The houses and occasional businesses were spaced farther apart with thick rows of trees separating them. There weren’t a whole lot of other options for where we could stop.

I turned into the parking lot. There was a long white building made of corrugated metal with a row of closed bay doors on the side. It was an automotive place, but other than a few empty cars collecting dust it didn’t look like they were open for business.

“Do you think anyone is in there?” I asked, stopping next to the building.

Conrad dropped the magazine and loaded more bullets from the box of ammo I had in the glove box. “Give me a minute.”

“Wait…” I started to say, but it was too late.

He shut the door and headed toward the front entrance. I lost sight of him when he made it around the corner. Drumming my fingers against the steering wheel, I debated whether to follow him or stay in the truck.

As far as I could tell we’d lost our attackers and no one appeared to be around this place either, but that didn’t mean we were out of danger. Dragons or more humans could show up to cause problems. I chose to stay in the truck and keep a lookout, but I listened for any sign of him being in trouble.

One of the bay doors lifted a minute later, making me jump. Conrad popped out from under it and waved at me to pull inside. After a last check of the sky, I drove the truck through the opening into the dimly lit garage. It made good cover. It was doubtful anyone would find us in there while we fixed the tire.

As soon as I turned the vehicle off, Conrad pulled the door down more than halfway. We needed some sunlight to see while we worked, but we couldn’t risk making it too obvious we were in there.

I hopped out of the truck. Going around to the front, I found the bumper and grill dented up badly and hanging a little crooked. Around the sides and back I counted at least eight bullet holes. My back window was broken out and glass covered the backseat. I had the ridiculous urge to hug my truck and apologize for putting it through so much trauma.

“Gotta make this quick,” Conrad said, giving me a sympathetic look.

“Yeah, okay.” I crawled under the truck to get the spare tire.

Between the two of us we had it on in less than ten minutes. The vehicle might not look that great anymore, but it was still drivable. That was what counted the most. As much as I wanted to cry over what happened, I had to remember that we’d come out of the ambush alive.

“How are you doing on gas?” Conrad asked.

I sighed. “There’s only about a quarter tank left.”

He nodded at a van parked in the next space over. “Wanna see if we can get any out of that?”

I nodded and opened my back door, pulling out a hose from under the loose glass. I’d found it while out scavenging for supplies and had cut it to a workable length. With the electricity down I had no idea how to get fuel out of the service station pumps, but living on a ranch had taught me how to siphon gas.

“Would this help?” I held the hose up.

He grinned. “That’s perfect.”

I searched for a funnel while he found a clean bucket to empty the fuel into. When we had everything in place Conrad and I looked at each other.

“I’ll do it,” I said.

He cocked his head. “You sure?”

“I’ve done it a few times. It’s no big deal.”

“Then go on with your bad self.” He gestured toward the van.

After removing the gas cap, I fed the hose inside the tank and positioned the bucket underneath. The container could hold at least five gallons. We had to hope we could get that much out. I sucked on the hose. As soon as the fuel started coming through, I quickly removed my mouth before I could get a taste of it and lowered the hose over the bucket. We watched as gasoline poured inside. It didn’t stop until two inches from the top of the rim.

“Well, it’s not a lot but at least it will keep you going a little longer.”

I nodded. We hauled the bucket over to the truck and used the funnel I’d found to pour the gasoline into my tank. Every so often one of us would glance at the bay door. We’d already been there too long. It was time to go.

We finished with the fuel and Conrad put all the supplies in the back of the truck while I swept the glass off the inside seats. How often would I have to keep stealing gas from other vehicles? The question made my chest heavy. Was that how my world would work from now on? Would I never be able to go out again without risking getting attacked by humans or dragons? Not to mention having to forage for supplies just to survive for the rest of my life.

I started the truck. Conrad lifted the bay door and gestured for me to drive through before shutting it. He pulled my gun from the back of his pants where he’d stuffed it earlier and did a quick scan of the area. Once satisfied we were clear to go, he joined me in the truck.

“Do you ever get frustrated with how things have been going?” I asked, pulling onto the road.

“Are you kidding?” He let out a low chuckle. “All the damn time.”

“How do you deal with it?”

A lot of people around the library had their freak-out moments. Either they went into a rage throwing things and shouting, requiring Justin and his guys to calm them, or they broke down in tears that didn’t stop for hours. I couldn’t stand to watch. Whenever anyone lost it I hid in my room or went outside.

“Music,” Conrad answered.

“Music?”

“Yeah.” He stared out the window. “I won one of those wind-up radios that don’t need batteries in a poker game. If shit gets too tough, I go listen to it for a couple hours. It took me a while to get used to those oldies songs Hank likes to play, but they’re growing on me.”

I turned on the radio. “American Pie” by Don McLean flowed out of the speakers.

“You like this?”

A slow smile spread across his face. “Hell, yeah. Why not? It’s a classic.”

The two of us started singing along with it as we made our way down Lindsey Street. It was far enough out of town we didn’t worry too much about any threats. We just needed to have a moment of fun for ourselves. The weight in my chest lifted. Tough times could take a lot from you, but they couldn’t take your soul if you didn’t let them.

Chapter 23

Bailey

Aidan waited near the red sign when we arrived. His yellow eyes focused on me as I parked off to the side. I reached into the backseat and grabbed my sword, brushing aside a piece of glass I’d missed during my earlier cleanup job. On the way back to the library, Conrad and I would have to see if we could track down some plastic to cover the back window.

“Stay here and let me talk to him,” I said, opening my door.

Conrad worked his jaw. “Alright, but if you need me, I’m coming out there.”

That was the best I could hope for. I hopped out and came to stand in front of Aidan. His gaze shifted to Conrad in the truck. A low growl rumbled in his chest and he took a step forward.

I sidestepped to block him. “Leave him alone.”

“What is
he
doing here?”

“He didn’t want me coming out here alone.” Aidan tried to move around me and I put a hand on his chest. “It’s not a big deal. Conrad already knows about you and what we’re doing.”

He looked down at my hand and a shudder passed through him. “Send him back.”

“No.” Warmth radiated over my palm. “Pretend he isn’t here.”

“I don’t want a human involved in this.” Aidan glared at me.

Even with his strange yellow snake eyes he wasn’t as intimidating when we were this close. I knew I should have removed my hand, but my touch seemed to be keeping him calmer. Not to mention he hadn’t tried moving it, which had to be a good sign.