Fate's Surrender (Eternal Sorrows Book 3) Sarra Cannon (best english books to read txt) 📖

York, and despite the quarantine, so many people were trying to flee the city. To keep them locked down, the National Guard apparently blocked that entire entrance to the sound. The closest place to dock would be New London, and that’s over a hundred miles from Concourse Village.”

“A hundred miles?”

“What are we looking at in terms of miles from the Queensboro Bridge area?” Noah asked.

“Less than ten,” Crash told them. “But we can expect it to be the most difficult ten miles of our lives.”

“It’s going to be very important for us to stick together,” Noah said. “If any one of us gets separated, we’re toast.”

“And we need to be as quiet as possible.” Crash looked specifically at Karmen as he said this. “There were millions of people in New York City pre-virus, so we can assume there are millions of infected there now. Hopefully the sun will keep shining bright all day and most of them will be inside, but the slightest noise could draw them out. Besides, the Dark One knows we’re coming. She’ll have them out looking for us.”

“We can expect some super zombies along the way,” Parrish said. “We might even have to face Lily once we get there.”

Crash swallowed. Yeah, he was fairly certain they would be facing Lily, if his dreams could still predict the future.

“Maybe the hundred-mile route isn’t such a bad idea, after all,” Karmen said. “If that way is mostly clear, and the Dark One’s expecting us in Manhattan, it might be our only chance for surviving this.”

Crash shook his head. “I told you. I spent hours looking over this from every angle. The places north of New York are in terrible condition. The roads and fires and congestion up there makes our trip from Philly look like a walk in the park. It would take us a week to get through there. Manhattan’s the only way. When we talk to David, we’ll see if he can get closer to the bridge to meet us. Maybe we’ll get lucky and get in and out of there before the Dark One even realizes we’re there.”

Everyone knew that wasn’t going to happen, but they could hope, right?

He went over the route with them one more time, just in case. They set a rendezvous point near the Third Avenue Bridge. “If we get separated along the way and the Bluetooth isn’t working, make your way to this church here on the corner of Third Avenue and One Hundred Twenty-Seventh Street. Wait for the rest of the group there. We’ll all cross over the bridge together as soon as we can.”

“And what if we get pinned down somewhere and can’t get out?” Parrish asked.

“Keep in contact through your earbuds at all times,” he said. “If we can keep up communication, it will make things easier.”

“We’ll all stick together,” Karmen said. “But while we’re waiting to hear from David, I think—”

“Wait. What’s that?” Parrish asked, pointing to the iPad. Her voice sounded slightly strangled with panic. “Crash, what’s happening there? Is that where Zoe is?”

His mouth went dry as he reached for the iPad and stopped its rotation. He went back to the previous video feed and nearly dropped the device.

Where there had only been one or two rotters in the frame just minutes ago, now there were hundreds, pouring out from every building and side street, appearing in windows, swarming the rooftops.

And every single one was headed toward the building where David lived.

Thirty-Three

Parrish

“We have to move, now,” she shouted. “Grab the bags and pack up whatever you can in two minutes. We don’t have a second to waste.”

No one argued, which scared her more for some reason. They all knew what that horde meant.

Lily.

It had to be her, which meant there were super zombies everywhere, too. Parrish gripped the stone around her neck and tried to connect to her sister or David, but there was only silence.

She ran up the stairs, threw a few things into her backpack, double-checked her weapons and ran right back down and out into the driveway to meet the others.

Crash was the last one to come out, and by the time she saw him emerge from the house with all of his computers and tech strapped to his back, she was already on her way to the marina.

Thank God they’d taken the time to choose and load up the boat earlier this afternoon. Without that, it would have taken them at least another half hour or more to get going.

Instead, they sped toward the marina, jumped off their bikes, and ran toward the boat. They were on the water in seconds, heading north. The small speedboat bounced against the waves, and Parrish wondered if it might just toss them all off if Crash took it too fast.

Water sprayed into their faces, but she didn’t close her eyes. Instead, she kept them straight ahead, waiting. Praying.

Noah held her hand, but no one said a word. All they could do was hold this space, knowing the real fight had just begun.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the tall buildings of the Manhattan skyline came into view. Parrish’s stomach tightened into knots.

It was surreal to see it this way. One of the most famous cities on earth. A place some people spent a lifetime dreaming to see with their own eyes, but all Parrish felt was dread.

Zoe’s alive in there. I know she is.

Parrish went over the plan again in her head. She knew the basic route they planned to take, but everything was up in the air now. If Zoe and David were trapped in that building, it wouldn’t take long for that swarm to break through and grab them.

She prayed they were on the move, searching for a place to hide.

But Lily would be on the move, too, tracking them.

She was definitely here. Parrish could feel it.

She tried to calm her mind by touching the stone, but once again, as she thought of Lily, a different image invaded her