Raising Stony Mayhall by Daryl Gregory

Author:Daryl Gregory
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Psychological, Fantasy, Horror, General, Fiction
ISBN: 0345522370
Publisher: Del Rey
Published: 2011-06-28T04:00:00+00:00

Stony emerged from the stairwell a few minutes later, then found a spot behind a cement pillar where he could lean out and see the Caprice and the panel truck. The two vehicles were parked in the first row, about fifteen spots down from the store entrance. The car was empty, but there was a figure in the cab of the truck, masked by a fog of cigarette smoke. The parking garage was filling up, and people that Stony took to be staff members were being let into the store by a security guard. Two older women in bulky coats stood outside the doors, waiting for ZCMI to open, and more shoppers were probably waiting at the other entrances. It would be a busy shopping day. Christmas was only a week away. Mormons celebrated Christmas, didn’t they?

He leaned back against the pillar and checked his watch. It was 8:35, twenty-five minutes before opening. Were the men from the Caprice in the truck? Was Zip in there with them? And what about Blunt?

The big question: If Blunt was in there, was Stony willing to sacrifice him to stop Zip?

He leaned out again and saw the man in the truck cab looking at him. Stony jerked his head back behind the pillar—and felt something hard press against his temple.

“Holy shit. Zac was right. You’re the kid from Iowa.”

Stony turned his head slightly, trying to ignore the pressure of the metal. It was the man with the Moe Howard haircut. The pistol looked smaller in his hand than it felt against Stony’s temple.

Moe leaned past Stony to look at the store entrance. “Here’s what we’re going to do,” he said. “We’re going to walk to the back of the truck. If you say a word, or try to signal that security guard, I will shoot you in the back of the head.”

Stony stopped himself from putting up his hands. “Is that where Zip is?” he asked. “In the truck?”

“Shut the fuck up. Move.”

Moe lowered the gun, then shoved Stony between the shoulder blades. Stony had been afraid before, but never like this. He’d grown up feeling invulnerable. Unstoppable. But now that he was a twitch of a finger from having his head blown off, he realized that he was not brave at all. He wanted to live. He wanted it desperately. So he was going to do whatever this LD man said.

They walked slowly to the truck, the man a few feet behind him. He looked toward the entrance without moving his head, but now the security guard had disappeared, and the number of waiting customers had swelled to almost twenty. None of them glanced in his direction.

Stony reached the back bumper of the truck, and Moe rapped on the panel door, three quick knocks. The door slid up and a ripe, butcher-shop smell rolled out. Inside were five LD men, in various states of decay. All carried bulky assault weapons. In front was Tevvy, the green-skinned LD who’d thrown Stony around at the congress.

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.