Once they reached the interstate, Sam picked up the pace again.  This time they cruised along at 45mph.  At this speed, the engines were relatively quiet, and they got decent gas mileage while still making good time.  And a wreck at that speed probably wouldn’t be fatal.

The first hour of the trip was uneventful.  They had to slow down and weave through abandoned cars in a few places.  Once Sam had to use the pickup to push a few cars aside to clear the road for the box truck.   The few radio stations that had kept transmitting that first week had died out.  Sam had told everyone to be on the lookout for a short wave radio set that they might be able to use to speak with other survivors.  So far they hadn’t located one.

At about the eighty-mile mark, they hit their first real snag.   They were passing by a small lake when a massive tortoise-looking thing burst from the water and charged them.  There was only a narrow spit of land between the water and the highway shoulder, and the monster covered it quickly.  It was the size of a Sherman tank, the top of its spike-covered shell maybe fifteen feet off the ground.  A long tail extended out behind it, with a set of three nasty-looking spikes at the end.

Ancient Shellback

Level 22

Health:  130,000/130,000

Thinking quickly, Sam gunned his engine and swerved while Allistor slammed on his brakes.  The shellback had been targeting the pickup.  With the added speed, Sam had managed to outrun it, the thing’s momentum carrying it across the highway and into the median.  It slid down the slope, nearly rolling over as its shell caught on a stump.  The monster immediately began to right itself and try to turn, but it was more cumbersome than it had been when moving straight forward.

Allistor took advantage and gunned the truck’s engine, shooting forward and past the monster before it could right itself.  Both trucks sped away, with everyone watching their mirrors to see if the ancient mob followed them.

When it seemed as if they were clear, Amanda let out the breath she’d been holding.  “Holy shit, did you see that thing?  It was literally a living tank.  I wouldn’t be surprised if it could shoot fire out its mouth or something!”

“Yeah.  Level twenty.  That thing was no joke.  Probably could have eaten that titan we killed. We’ll have to figure a way around it on the way back.  Or distract it somehow.  It must have been ambushing people here this whole time.  Other creatures too, if it’s up to level twenty.  Unless the system sent it here that way.”