The Journal: Raging Tide: (The Journal Book 4) Read Online Free

embarrassed, and we were quiet until the next
turnoff.
    “Make a right turn here,” I instructed.
“This is the new road leading to the mine and we shouldn’t have any
obstructions for the next fifteen miles.”
    “You sound pretty confident about that,” Jim
commented as he maneuvered the big vehicle north again. He gazed
over the panorama of the wide asphalt road with wider shoulders.
The forest landscaping was free of trees for a hundred yards on
either side. “Oh, I see what you mean.”
    We drove another half hour in companionable
silence, until the next turn.
    “Now we make a left onto that dirt road,” I
said, pointing to a break in the trees and we were heading south
again.
    “You seem to know your way around way out
here,” he remarked.
    “This is where Kathy and I would come
blueberry picking and mushroom hunting,” I replied, gazing out the
window, remembering all the good times we had. “And yes, I miss
her.”
    Another turn had us going west and then
south.
    “Let’s stop here,” I said when we came to a
clearing that was more like a wide spot in the road. “I want to go
over the map with you again, now that we’re here.”
    The light morning breeze ruffled the edges
of the map I spread out over the hood of the vehicle so we could
both look at it. I traced our route with my finger.
    “From this point on, I’m not sure what we
will find. The mine started building a new road they could haul the
ore over without disturbing the population of Moose Creek. I’ve
heard they had finished clearing the trees away before being forced
to halt construction. It seems they ran into a wetland area and the
government made them stop.” I looked around and pointed. “Over
there should be the beginning of that road. If it’s as good as I
think, it should take us all the way to US-41 west of
Marquette.”
    “Sounds good to me,” Jim said
enthusiastically. “I’m anxious to see how the Shopmore store
survived the earthquakes. We should be able to pick up a few more
supplies before we head to Sawyer.”
    “Sawyer?”
    “I want to refuel, and get some intel on
what we might find ahead.”
    “Makes sense. Are you concerned at all they
may ask you to stay, or even detain us?”
    “No, Allex, I’m not. I wouldn’t put either
of us in that kind of danger. I’m still a colonel in the United
States Army. Only a brigadier or major general outrank me and last
time I checked, there was only a major there,” Jim replied.
    “Okay. Let’s try this road then and see what
kind of time we can make,” I said, anxious to be on the move.
     
    *
     
    The road turned out to be better than I had
expected. It was cleared of trees and smoothed out, even packed
down, and we made steady progress heading south. It was noon when
we came across the first house.
    “I doubt it’s worth checking out. What do
you think, Jim?” I asked, looking at the scorched beams of what was
once a large log cabin set far back from the road.
    “Looks to be an old fire. We could take a
closer look if you’re curious,” he answered.
    I pulled my binoculars from a side pocket
and searched the area.
    “No movement at all. Let’s keep going,” I
said, putting the eyepiece away.
    “I didn’t know you brought those. That was a
good idea.”
    “I’m not real anxious to get too close to
something I’m not sure of. I’d rather check things out from a
distance. I’ve got a longer range scope in my pack if we need
it.”
    An hour later we came upon the first wetland
area and it wasn’t much, only a bit swampy to the east.
    Jim snorted. “They stopped the road because
of that?”
    “Maybe it’s bigger and wetter at different
times of the year. I don’t know. Stop a minute, Jim, I want to
check something.” I got out of the Hummer and walked to the edge of
the new road. “Look here, there’s some serious erosion. I bet this
section does flood at some point.” I opened the map up, guessed
where we were, and drew blue lines through the