FIRESTORM by Firestorm

Author:Firestorm [Firestorm]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-10-28T01:19:13+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

A SECOND SHOUT galvanized Anna. She moved past Joseph and down the trail. Mobility restored courage and she was surprised that she'd let the heebie-jeebies soak so deeply into her soul. Still, when yet another cry came she flinched and her step faltered. Lest Joseph notice, she walked faster.

A minute brought her to the end of the pile screening the ravine. She looked over her shoulder. Hayhurst was right behind her. She nodded and he raised his hand, slowing and falling back slightly. There were those with whom communication was effortless, even without words. Maybe especially without words. And then there were the Pages, the Pepperdines, the Bogginses who seemed impervious to all the words in the world. Like lovers, Anna thought. Some understood the merest touch, others even Dr. Ruth couldn't get through to.

Careful to step only in existing tracks so the noise of her footsteps wouldn't broadcast their approach, Anna moved into the crook where the trail hooked around the timber: the place the cheese would be were this indeed a better mousetrap.

From that vantage point she could see into the wash, a shallow creek, five or six feet wide and half that deep, carved by spring runoff. Black snags had fallen across, creating fragile bridges dusted with snow. Beneath were the tracks they'd been following.

Crabbing down the steep bank Anna lost her footing and slid the last few feet. So much for the element of surprise.

"Are you okay?" Joseph whispered from the top of the bank.

Anna made the "okay" symbol with thumb and forefinger.

"Can you see anything?"

Crouching, she looked under the burnt timber spanning the creek bed. For several yards the snow was crushed and trampled. Drops of red, startling in a landscape devoid of color, were spattered in a wedge-shaped pattern.

"Blood."

"No kidding?" Joseph slid down the bank, squatted in the snow beside her and shouted: "Hey, Lawrence! Are you in there?" Maybe it was a tactical error but Anna was glad to have the tension broken.

Footfalls crunched toward them, slow and labored as somebody frog-walked under the downed pines.

"Lawrence?" Anna echoed because she needed to do something.

Another whoop and Lawrence Gonzales crawled from beneath the tree trunks on hands and knees. Blood stained the cuff of his NoMex shirt and he pushed a shovel ahead of him. The blade left a red trail on the snow where it passed.

Lawrence grinned up at them, his teeth white and perfect, then reached back and Anna tensed.

"Breakfast," he said, presenting them with a badger dead of severe head trauma.

Joseph started to giggle, high and sweet like a young girl. Anna became infected and laughter bubbled out.

Gonzales looked from one to the other, a tentative smile on his face as if he was willing to join in if only someone would share the joke with him. "What? What's so funny?" This innocuous phrase tickled Anna and Joseph all out of proportion.

Anna could hear the hysteria, feel it hard in her rib cage. It was out of control but it felt good.

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