Invasion of the Dead (Book 3): Escape Read Online Free Page A

hadn’t even been twenty-four hours and he was stuffing the memories deeper, trying to forget them, the way he had this entire business from the beginning. He thought back to life before the plague, when such heat would have driven him to finish another long day on the tools and seek the cool blue waters of their swimming pool. Jacob had run his own successful plumbing business, employing more than two dozen men on varying sized commercial sites around Sydney. He had built it from nothing, with a legendary work ethic, sacrificing earnings in the early years to form a reputation for value amongst a most competitive industry. It had come at a cost though. His first marriage had broken down, and he had lost a daughter in the process, although he had long since buried the burden and disappointment of that. Funny how things worked out though—without the plague, he might not have stumbled upon the chance to repair that disaster.
    Jacob lowered the window a few more turns and closed his eyes to the heat. At least it would keep him awake. Rebecca had drifted off beside him. She had fought heavy lids for hours, staring off at the passing terrain. Their lack of conversation hadn’t helped, but even after several weeks, she would not engage him in anything more than the necessary discussion. Even then, her questions and responses were terse.
    So he drove on, waiting for the battered blue wagon they had to shit itself and just come to a stop on the side of the road. After the beating at Tarcutta, it had limped along at half pace. He didn’t dare push it too hard, although it helped conserve fuel. They hadn’t been able to find any, and it felt like they were on their last legs. He’d pegged Seymour, a sizeable town north of Melbourne, as the place to reach. Had to be something there—fuel, food, maybe even a comfortable place to rest; even another vehicle. They were plentiful, but most didn’t have the keys, and nobody knew how to get them started without.
    He kept glancing at Rebecca. Some of the others called her Bec, but she had not yet told him to call her that, as though he hadn’t yet earned that right. He supposed that was fair. He loved the name Rebecca. After all, he had given it to her.
    Her eyes opened and she frowned. “What?”
    Jacob suppressed a smile. She reminded him of her mother. “Nothing.”
    It was true. He was just looking. Making up for lost time. All the years he’d spent away from his daughter had vanished in the sands of time. He could never get them back, and it filled him like a sickness. What he could do was make the most of every moment from here on, even if she still detested him. It was a miracle he had her back, sitting beside him now in a world gone to ruin as they drove towards an unfamiliar city and the wispy promise of help. She was all he had now, really. Monica, his second wife, had perished at Campbelltown. The memory ached his heart, and it took every bit of willpower to stop the image forming in his mind.
    Jacob held his breath, willing the pain away, grinding his jaw until it ran up into the side of his head. He imagined taking the knowledge of his wife’s death and wrapping it up in a bundle, shoving it inside a box, and closing the lid. It worked, as it always did, and the thought drifted. During his brief Army days, they said he was the most competent at compartmentalization. Monica had sometimes called him cold-hearted. That made him chuckle. He thought of Arty, and his insistence that there were facilities and people in Melbourne who could help fight the virus. After Campbelltown, Jacob had to make a decision about where to go. North was out—they had witnessed the destruction firsthand, although some of the others from the group had gone that way. South was their only option, and although he suspected Melbourne was going to be in a similar state to Sydney, they would stick to the outskirts and find their destination. Beyond that, Melbourne was springboard to Tasmania, and he