Page 33 of Amaros

“I’ll have to look it up on the internet,” Zoe said.She’d only skimmed through the information about the Adirondack Mountains when she’d realized they were heading this way.

“Do you have reception up here?”Grace queried.“I don’t have a cell phone,” she added.

Taking her cell phone out, Zoe checked it.“The internet is still working, so we need to get as much info as we can before it shuts down.”

The signal was weak and the connection kept dropping out.Amaros sat in a folding chair next to her, peering at the screen.They were sitting in the kitchen, since it was the warmest room in the main building.Grace made the girls some coffee, using a propane fueled hotplate and tin cups.

“It’s a long drive to New York City from here,” Zoe reported as she brought up a map.“It’ll take four or five hours to get there.”

“What about Boston?”Grace asked.“It’s closer, isn’t it?”

Zoe shifted the map enough to see Boston to the east.“It’s closer, but it’ll take longer to get there due to the mountains in our way.”

“Your instincts told you my team will probably be in New York,” Amaros said.“Is it possible any of them could be in Boston?”

“Anything is possible,” she replied.“But I still think the majority of them will end up in Manhattan and the surrounding areas.”

“You mean the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island?”Grace asked.

“Maybe even New Jersey,” Zoe added.

“The tank will get us there and back, but it’ll guzzle a lot of gas,” the kid pointed out.

“I’ll build a structure to store our fuel in,” Amaros said.He took Zoe’s phone from her hand to study the map.“Today, we’ll head back to the town and grab more equipment.Tomorrow, maybe we’ll head to New York and see what the conditions are like.”

“I predict utter mayhem and madness,” Gracelyn said.“New Yorkers were already a bit crazy.Now, they’ll be able to go full on nuts, since the entire world is in such a mess.”

They’d mostly managed to avoid people on their long trek to the mountains.From what they’d seen so far, Zoe was pretty sure Grace wasn’t exaggerating.“We should take weapons, just in case,” she suggested.

Amaros nodded.“Can either of you shoot a gun?”

“Hell, no,” the teen scoffed.“I only just turned eighteen and I don’t even have an ID.”

“You could have stolen a gun,” Zoe said.

She screwed her nose up.“I could, but it seems dangerous to try to teach myself how to use a deadly weapon.”

“Good point,” Amaros agreed.He’d never used a gun before either, since they hadn’t even been invented the last time he’d been embroiled in a war.“I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it quickly,” he said with supreme confidence.

“We’ve got plenty of space here to set up a target range,” Zoe said, gesturing at the building and surrounding area.

Amaros handed her phone back and stood up.“Let’s head to town,” he said.“We should make it back here by lunchtime if we hurry.”

It was a two-and a half hour round trip to the town now that he knew the route.Amaros took the wheel, handling the precarious path past the gigantic boulders with enviable skill.He drove at a safe pace, just in case more landslides had occurred.The town seemed just as deserted as when they’d arrived.

“Where to first?”Zoe asked.

“I’ll fill up the tank and load the truck with spare fuel,” Amaros decided.He pulled into the gas station that was directly across the street from the sporting goods store.“Why don’t you ladies see if you can find bows and arrows?We’ll need more ammunition for target practice as well.”

“We’re on it, boss,” Grace said with a mock salute.

They’d all chosen a gun to bring with them.Zoe had picked a small pistol that she’d managed to insert a magazine into.Grace’s gun looked similar to hers and used the same type of ammo.Amaros had a rifle slung over his shoulder.

Feeling far too conspicuous, Zoe crossed the street with the teen at her side.Their heads swiveled, searching for threats.The store was empty when they walked inside.They’d switched the lights off and no one had been here in their absence.

“The bows are over there,” Grace said, pointing near where they’d found the guns.

“After you,” Zoe replied.They didn’t bother to turn the lights on this time.There was enough sunlight pouring in through the doors at the front of the store.