Travel was faster this time, and it wasn’t simply because they had the ATVs to ride. There were still plenty of wrecked vehicles on the roads, which slowed them down, but they didn’t stop and check each one for supplies. They couldn’t carry anything else, for one thing, and for another, they figured everything must have been picked clean earlier in the week, when the group of travelers who’d broken away from their quartet had come through.
From time to time, Court noticed evidence that the others had recently passed along their route. He saw torn wrappers and empty water bottles tossed or blown into the road, and once they passed a burnt, circular spot that looked as if a fire had been lit there not too long ago. Court wondered how long it would take to catch up with the other group. Woul
