Long Autumn by Joshua C Gaines

Author:Joshua C Gaines [Gaines, Joshua C]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780988716773
Publisher: Thoughtcrime Press
Published: 2019-12-15T22:00:00+00:00

Even in shade, she guessed the air hovered around the 100-degree mark. She was programmed to have an idea of temperature so she could talk about weather, it being of primary concern, or at least mention, in human conversation. Her exact guess was 103, though she didn't have a digital readout, just a sensation.

Not too bad, she thought, considering the past few days on the river, or worse, the hours spent along the bank that pushed well into the 120's. Those temperatures, she was sure, couldn't be good for her circuits.

He hadn’t spoken, and she wondered if his thoughts were equally mundane. She doubted it, and knew, like she knew the weather, that part of him had expected to die from the fall over the dam. Now watching him barely move, painfully cursing his deliverance, she questioned if that outcome might not have proved a kinder end.

The shadows over the river lengthened. She waited. Austin half floated in the raft. Water spilled over the metal edges of the sunken wagon. He looked at the shore, a road half-river cracked and steadily, pebble by rock washing down stream. A wagon wheel had lodged in an underwater road crack, holding them in place against the gentle current. He took a labored breath and once again began to move.

He stood in the shallow water and tried to lift the wagon from its rut but fell forward onto the raft, holding his back. Straightening his back and bending his knees, he tried again, grimacing, lifting with his legs he rocked the wagon free. With the rope around his hips, he walked in half steps, dragging the water heavy raft across the street and over the edge of a low curb onto an eroding sidewalk coated in silt and sand.

He remained standing, leaned against a wall, resting while water drained through the holes in the raft. After untying the wagon, he tipped it sideways, spilling its contents onto the sidewalk. He spread the pile about with his foot, removed his clothing and laid them on the concrete to dry. He moved the wagon to inspect the damage to the raft.

The wheels had punched three roughly five-inch tears through the fabric that splintered at the edges like fiberglass. The fourth left a half-inch thin, almost torn, patch and he looked as disappointed by it as the rest. He dug through the supplies and found first-aid stitching, but not enough to make repairs, and the thread was water-soluble.

They had landed in a warehouse district. Broken windows had been covered three stories high in plywood against buildings in varying degrees of dilapidation. The warehouse closest to her had steel doors that hung dented and swung wide on paint cracked hinges. He tried his flashlight. It was wet, but lit as always. She watched as he walked through the nearest door into darkness.

When he emerged a few minutes later, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes straining for deep slow breaths. The day’s heat dried the dwindling wagon supplies quickly.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.