Page 24 (1/2)
Raffe watchesis on my face
"Why didn’t you call out to the
"You could be getting medical assistance by sunset," I say
He pushes hiround and brushes off "Yes Or I could be delivering myself back into the hands of hly in the saain I follow on his heels
"Did you recognize them?" I try to keep my tone casual I wish I could just ask him directly how many of them there are, but that's not a question he could ansithout betraying military secrets
He shakes his head but doesn't elaborate
"No, you didn’t recognize who they were? Or no, you couldn't see thenize the cat food out of his pack "Here Please stuff this in your mouth You can have uess I’ll never be a spymaster like Tweedledee and Tweedledum
CHAPTER 26
"Can you drive one of those things?" he asks, pointing to the road
"Yeah," I say slowly
"Let's go" He turns downhill toward the road
"Uerous?"
"It's unlikely there will be two units flying in the same direction within an hour or two of each other Once we're on the road, we'll be safer from the road monkeys They'll think we're Obi's people, too well armed and too well fed to attack"
"We’re not ht ere cleverthat he just called
What did I expect? An apology? I let it drop and follow him down to the freeway
As soon as we step onto the asphalt, Raffe grabsto hear what he hears After atoward us Another one? What’s the chance of another car just happening to be on the same road only ten minutes behind the first car?
This one is a black truck with a canopy over the bed Whatever is under there is big, lu It looks a lot like the truck they were filling with explosives yesterday It rumbles by, slow and full of purpose towards the city
A caravan It’s a very spread out caravan, but I’d bet the contents of my pack that there are more cars ahead and behind They’ve spread it out to be less noticeable The Hu toward theot word from the cars ahead of them Even if the first car was taken out, the rest of the caravan would be all right My respect for Obi’s group goes up another notch
When the sound of the engine fades, we get up fro for our own ride I'd prefer to drive a low-profile, econoas But that's the last car Obi's e selection of beefy SUVs on the road
Most of the cars don't have their keys in them Even at the end of the world when a box of crackers is worth more than a Mercedes, people still took their keys with them when they abandoned their cars Habit, I suppose
After looking at half a dozen, we find a black SUV with tinted ith the keys on the driver's seat This driver ht better of dragging the worthless as That should at least get us into San Francisco, assuet us back though
Back? Back where?
I quiet the voice in er seat It starts on the first try and we begin weaving up 280 north
I never thoughtMy heart pounds as I grip the steering wheel like it's going to fly out of control any second now I can't watch all the obstacles on the road and still be on the lookout for attackers I throw a quick glance at Raffe He’s scanning the surroundings, including the side oing, exactly?" I'm not an expert on the city's layout, but I have been there several tieneral idea of where parts of the city are located
"Financial district" He knows the area well enough to identify the city’s districts I briefly wonder how but let it go I suspect he’s been around a lot longer than I have to explore the world
"I think the freeway goes through that, or at least near it That's assu that the road is clear that far, which I doubt"
"There is order near the aerie The roads should be clear"
I throw him a sharp look "What do you uards at the road near the aerie Before we get there, we'll need to prepare"
"Prepare? How?"
"I found soe into at the last house And I'll need to change uards will be the easy part"