The Last Man Read Free Page A

and after many wrong turns and dead ends, Sam found the source of the fire. A large barn on a dairy farm was burning with great fury and Sam even felt the wall of heat from the road. After a careful search he determined no one had been around for years. It probably started by a stray spark, or a compost pile heating up, or even a stray bolt of lightning. What it wasn't, was a sign from another human being. Sam choked down his disappointment and got back on his path.
    Sam now had a little bit of a problem. The problem was he was no longer sure exactly where they were. In his excitement, he had simply followed the smoke in the sky and stopped consulting the maps. He could tell where north was by his compass, but that still left a lot of unknowns.
    They continued to drive generally north on numerous back roads and forgotten highways until the sun sank low into the sky. Sam was close to pulling over in a field to make camp when he saw a sign ahead that read "Town Limits - Carthage, Population 1,492 - Best Little Town in East Florida!" They passed the sign and drove toward the town center. Sam considered stopping at a gas station on the edge of town, but he was near full anyway having steadily siphoned gas out of abandoned cars along the way. Besides, light was failing and night was coming on strong.
    Carthage had an eerie feeling about it, thought Sam. None of these old towns were like freaking Disneyland or anything, but this one seemed somehow off. It was as if instead of being dead it had unfinished business to settle. Sam would prefer to explore and see what this was about, but the sun was almost down and he didn't like moving about in the dark. They were approaching some sort of park and Sam decided that would be as good a place as any to camp for the night.
    He drove the jeep up into the park under several majestic trees and turned off the engine. The dogs jumped out and went running off to explore. Sam didn't worry, they rarely went too far and would be back when he started cooking. He began gathering firewood and picked a spot out from under the trees for their nightly blaze.
    He got the fire going just as the final rays of the sun were fading from the western sky. One of the biggest shocks to Sam after the world ended was how hard it was to start a fire. No boy scout, he had always assumed a lit match in combination with dry wood produced a roaring and satisfactorily warm fire. He was soon disillusioned and learned that start ing a fire was work...unless you used lighter fluid or gasoline and Sam felt guilty about wasting that limited resource. It wasn't as difficult as it had been in the early days, though Sam still felt slightly spent after successfully getting a fire going.
    He piled up a few nearby rocks and logs to create a support for the metal grating he used to cook on. He laid it over the fire and then poured an extra large can of baked beans into a saucepan and set it on the grating. They hadn't had fresh meat for several days and Sam knew they would need some soon. The sheer work of hunting, killing, and preparing meat had been as great a surprise to Sam as preparing a fire had been.
    The Pack straggled back in, drawn by the smell of the beans. Sam opened cans of dog food and poured them out into a couple of large bowls and the five canines attacked their dinner with enthusiasm. He stirred his beans and then ate them right out of the saucepan.
    Sam was just getting ready to clean the empty pan when in near unison the dogs started going berserk. Raven and Scotch were in the front facing the darkness of the town center, the others a little behind. All of them had their hackles standing straight up. Sam began to shine a light towards what they were agitated about, but heard strange grunting animal noises and instead went to the jeep and took the M1 carbine out of its case. He checked to make sure it was loaded and turned around to see the dogs backing away from some sort of monster entering the circle of