Breakout (Final Dawn) Read Online Free Page B

down and then cut into pieces, we’re likely to wear at least one of them out.”
         Bobby’s jaw dropped.
         “Twenty four trees? Hell, we haven’t even got the first one finished yet. Are you sure?”
         “Yep. I counted them this morning. Of course, that includes the ones in the back yards too. But I figure we might as well make use of the growing space. Plant corn in the front yards, and wheat and other stuff in the back yards. The marauders are more likely to steal tomatoes and melons, I’m guessing, than they are to steal ears of corn. And if that stuff is in the back yards, it’ll be out of sight and easier to protect.
         “And speaking of wheat, Walmart didn’t have any wheat seeds, remember. But Home Depot carries it. Or at least they used to. Sally used to be on a kick where she grew her own grains, before the world went to shit. Would you look for wheat seeds specifically? It’ll make a great second subsistence crop.”
         “Sure, Tony. And by the way, whenever you guys get tired of digging and cutting up trees, say the word. We’ll swap off with you for awhile.”
         “Forget it, Frank. We don’t want you two old timers to have heart attacks on us. Just finish your own projects, and then you can sit in your rocking chairs and watch us young guys do the hard stuff.”
         Jesse laughed.
         “Well, hell, a rocking chair don’t do any good unless you have a shade tree to sit under. How about leaving us one tree to sit under while we watch you young bucks wear yourselves out? That way we can make fun of you when you fall to the ground with your tongues hanging out because it’s more work than you ’re used to.”
         He turned to Frank and offered a high five.
         Frank took it and added, “Then us old timers can step in and finish the job for you and you can all say ‘Day-um! Those old guys got game!’”
         “Yeah, right, vato. We’ll see about that.”
         Jesse and Frank went back to the Malibu. Frank gave it some gas, crossed his fingers and turned the ignition. It fired right up, sputtered a bit, and then ran. A little rough, but not too bad after a six and a half year nap.
         “All right! Now we’re in business!”
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 6
     
         Marty Hankins and the others were sitting around a campfire in a field adjacent to the Trucker’s Paradise truck stop on I-10 in Junction. For several years they’d huddled together in an encampment made by a bunch of abandoned trailers backed together to form a protective barrier around them. The trailers had been full of food and supplies. Their camaraderie and mutual support had helped them through the hard times, and the hope of better things to come had kept them going.
         But their time together was coming to an end. The previous spring and summer the snow and ice had melted completely. It had come back in the fall and winter, of course. But the small group knew that this year would see even more moderate weather. The world was getting back to the way it used to be, and there was no longer a need to stay here.
         “I don’t know,” Joe Koslowski said. “I guess Tina and I will head back east. Back to North Carolina, where we would have gone if we hadn’t gotten stuck so far from home.”
         “Do you think any of your family survived?”
         “I don’t know. I’d like to think so. Only time will tell, I guess.”
         “How will you survive?”
         “Hell, we’ll go through all those dropped trailers on the highway until we find a good one. One that’s full of dry stock and stuff that hasn’t gone bad. We’ll latch onto it and drag it back to Goldsboro. I don’t reckon Walmart will miss it none. Hell, I doubt if Walmart’s even in business anymore.”
         Tina laughed.
         “What’s that old fable, about the Greek guy who