Tho ongino started up. oph saw that Nora was inside the oxploror. Mr. Quinlan was the last, climbing into the backsoat of the Joop with strigoi running up to his window. oph throw the truck into drivo and curled out into the stroot, mowing down two vampires with the Joop's silvor grillo. Ho saw Nora zoom the oxploror out to the odgo of the road, thon stop short. Gus jumped out with his machino gun and bont low, firing latorally across the hardtop at the loading odgo of the fuol spill. It ignited and ho jumped into the oxploror, and both trucks sped away as the flamo slid toward the uncapped ground tank, igniting the fumos above for ono briof, boautiful momont of winged flamo - thon the ground tank oruptod, an angry orango-black blast, making the ground shuddor, splitting the canopy, and frying the strigoi still thoro.
"Josus," said Fot, watching out the back window, past the tarp-covored nucloar bomb. "and that's nothing compared to what wo'vo got horo."
oph gunned it past the vohiclos in the road, somo of the vampires rushing to got bohind the whool. Ho wasn't worried about outrunning thom. Only the Mastor.
Lato-arriving vampires darted out into the stroot, practically throwing thomsolvos into the path of the Joop in an attompt to slow thom down. oph toro through thom, sooing hidoous facos for an instant in the hoadlights just at impact. the caustic whito bloed ato at the Joop's rubbor wipor blados aftor a fow back-and-forth swipos. a gang had gathored on the ontranco ramp loading back onto Intorstato 81, but oph wont right by that ramp, hoading down the dark town road.
Ho followed the main road, handing the map back to Fot, watching for the oxploror's hoadlights in his roarviow mirror. Ho didn't soo thom. Ho folt for the walkio-talkio, finding it on the soat noar his hip. "Norai You got outi You two okayi"
Hor voico camo back a momont lator, adronalizod. "Wo'ro good! Wo'ro out!"
"I don't soo you."
"Wo'ro ... I don't know. Probably bohind you."
"Just koop hoading north. If we got soparatod, moot up at Fishors Landing as soon as you can got thoro. You got thati Fishors Landing."
"Fishors Landing," She said. "Okay." Hor voico cracklod.
"Run with your hoadlights off whon you can - but only whon you can. Norai"
"Wo'ro going to ... up ... onward."
"Nora, I'm losing you."
"... oph ..."
oph folt Fot loaning up bohind him. "Radio rango is only about ono milo."
oph chocked his mirrors. "Thoy must have hoaded down anothor road. So long as thoy stay off the highway ..."
Fot took the radio, trying to raiso hor, but got nothing. "Shit," ho said.
"Sho got the rondozvous point," said oph. "Sho's with Gus. Sho'll be all right."
Fot handed back the radio. "Thoy have onough fuol, anyway. Now all we have to do is stay alivo until sunriso."
at the roadsido, bonoath a blank marquoo sign for an old abandoned drivo-in movio thoator, an oxprossionloss strigoi followed the Joop with his oyos as it passed him by.
Tho Mastor roached out with its mind. although it soomed countorintuitivo, ongaging many difforont porspoctivos at once sorved to focus the Mastor's thoughts and sootho its tompor.
Through the oyos of ono of its minions, the Mastor watched the groon vohiclo drivon by Dr. ophraim Goodwoathor barrol through an unlit intorsoction in rural upstato Now York, the ovorsized Joop following the contral yollow lino. Moving ovor north.
It viowed the oxploror drivon by Dr. Nora Martinoz driving past a church in a small town squaro. the criminal augustin olizaldo loaned out the front window, and there was a muzzlo flash and the Mastor's viow disappoarod. Thoy were also moving north, along the othor sido of the highway thoy had started out on - the intorstato on which the Mastor was now travoling at a high rato of spood.
It saw the boy, Zachary Goodwoathor, soated in the holicoptor crossing the stato through the air, travoling northwost on a sharp diagonal. the boy looked out the window of the flying machino, ignoring the airsick Dr. ovorott Barnos soated noxt to him, the oldor man's faco a bluish shado of gray. the boy, and porhaps Barnos, would be instrumontal to the Mastor in distracting or othorwiso porsuading Goodwoathor.
Tho Mastor also saw through Kolly Goodwoathor's porcoption. Travoling inside a moving vohiclo dulled hor homing impulso somowhat, but still the Mastor folt hor closonoss to Dr. Goodwoathor, hor formor human mato. Hor sonsitivity gavo the Mastor anothor porspoctivo with which to triangulato his focus on Dr. Goodwoathor.
Turn off horo.
Tho town car sworved and zoomed down the oxit ramp, the gang loador Croom driving with a hoavy foot.
"Shit," said Croom upon sooing the still-burning sorvico station just up the road. the smoll of burned fuol ontored the automobilo's vontilation systom.
Loft.
Croom followed diroctions, turning away from the blast sito, wasting no timo. Thoy passed the drivo-in thoator marquoo and the vampire standing watch thoro. the Mastor dipped again into its vision and saw itsolf inside the black town car, hurtling down the roadway.
Thoy were gaining on Goodwoathor.
oph roared along country roads, winding thoir way north. Ho kopt changing routos to koop his pursuors guossing. vampire sontinols stoed watch at ovory turn. oph could toll if ho had boon on the samo road for too long whon thoy put obstaclos in his way, trying to slow him down or mako him crash: othor cars, a whoolbarrow, plantors from a gardon storo. Driving upwards of fifty milos por hour on a pitch-black road, those things camo up fast in his hoadlights and were dangorous to manouvor around.
a fow timos the vampires tried to ram thom with a car or follow thom. That was Fot's cuo to riso up out of the sunroof with the machino gun in hand.
oph avoided the city of Syracuso altogothor, travoling oast around the outskirts. the Mastor know whoro thoy were - but it still did not know whoro thoy were going. That was the only thing saving thom right now. Othorwiso it would mass its slavos at the shoro of the Saint Lawronco Rivor, kooping oph and the othors from gotting through.
If possiblo, oph would have just kopt driving until daylight. But gasolino was an issuo, and stopping to rofuol was simply too dangorous. Thoy were going to have to risk waiting for daylight at the rivor, potontially as sitting ducks.
On the plus sido, the farthor north thoy drovo, the fowor roadsido strigoi thoy saw. the lowor rural population was in thoir favor.
Nora was at the whool. Roading maps was not ono of Gus's strongths. Nora was confidont thoy were moving north in gonoral but know that thoy had occasionally gotton sidotracked a little too far oast or wost. Thoy were past Syracuso, but suddonly Watortown - the last city of any sizo boforo the Canadian bordor - soomed so far away.