dragons breath 01 - stalked by flames by susan illene Page B

paddle.”
    The dragons flew off, heading to another part of town. “Maybe the military will find another way to take them down.”
    “Keep telling yourself that.” He gave me a pitying look.
    I started the engine and continued toward campus.
    “You’d think a new mountain range would have caused more damage to the surrounding area.” Conrad said a few minutes later after we got on Berry Road.
    “Maybe not if it’s two dimensions coming together,” I pointed out.
    “I think I’m gonna go with the magic theory. It’s growing on me,” he said, pasting a serious expression on his face.
    I let it go and concentrated on driving through the dark neighborhood. There’d been no sign of electricity returning since we’d gotten back into Norman. I had to resist the urge to turn on my headlights. So far we hadn’t seen any more dragons, but that didn’t mean there weren’t any around. I wasn’t taking any chances after what we’d just seen. For once, having a late 90s model truck where the daytime running lights had stopped working came in handy. I could drive through the streets without attracting too much attention.
    We moved toward the university at a snail’s pace. Conrad kept a lookout while I watched the road. When we reached the intersection of Berry and Lindsey, I eyed a gas station at the corner. It was shut down and all the lights were off. No one was around to stop us if we just walked inside and grabbed what we wanted.
    Things were going to get a lot worse before they got better. We’d need food and supplies to survive and while a gas station might not have much, it was better than nothing. Too bad we couldn’t get fuel, too, but the electricity had to be on for the pumps to work.
    I pulled into the parking lot. “Let’s grab as much as we can.”
    “Good idea.” Conrad took a look around. “This place will probably be emptied out in another day or two.”
    I stopped the truck right next to the entrance and we got out. Our shoes crunched on broken glass when we reached the door. Both of us peered through the dark to see if anyone was in there, but nothing moved or made a sound.
    Conrad and I exchanged glances before going inside. The place had been trashed, but there was still a lot of stuff left. Whoever had been here before must not have stuck around long. Maybe the dragons hitting the nearby neighborhood had scared them off.
    I moved behind the counter and took a handful of plastic bags, handing them over to Conrad. “Fill these up with drinks. I’ll grab food.”
    He nodded.
    We spent the next ten minutes clearing out everything we could and transferring it to the truck. All I could think about was that the library would have a lot of people inside and they’d need to eat. The more supplies we had, the better. I also grabbed soap and tampons. No one ever considered feminine hygiene products during apocalypses in the movies, but the last thing we needed was a bunch of PMSing females running around without the basic necessities.
    By the time we finished, my truck bed was almost full and the store half-empty. I wished we could take even more, but we couldn’t stick around any longer. It had been risky to stay as long as we did. Just as I was pulling out, a group of young men entered the parking lot on foot carrying bats.
    “Hey!” one of them called out.
    I headed for the street.
    “Stop!” they yelled and began running toward us.
    “Get us the hell out of here,” Conrad urged.
    My heart was pounding. “Right there with you.”
    I sped the truck up and crossed the intersection, racing up Berry Road. Through my rearview mirror, I saw the guys had stopped running. We were about a mile from the parking garage. Once we got on campus we’d hopefully find Trish, Justin, and the others to help us unload—and keep any crazy people away.

 
     
     
     
    Chapter 7
     
    Bailey
    It was fully dark when we pulled into the parking garage. I took the nearest available slot, using my running lights