Raptor Apocalypse by Yeager Steve R

Author:Yeager, Steve R. [Yeager, Steve R.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Severed Press
Published: 2015-07-07T04:00:00+00:00

-21-

SPLIT

IT WAS STILL dark outside when Cory woke. The clock inside his head told him it was close to three or four in the morning. He never could sleep for more than a few hours at a time no matter how tired he was. Eve was lying next to him, making light snoring noises. It felt remarkably good to be near someone, which surprised him. Normally, he wanted nothing to do with anyone else. Somehow, this was different. But it would not last. It never did.

He carefully disentangled himself and silently picked up his belongings from a chair near the window then checked on her again. She had turned onto her side. She was still fast asleep. Trying the door, he twisted the knob and pulled gently. It did not open. Someone had locked the padlock on the outside. He had assumed that would happen. He checked the window. It was one of those old push up types with single-pane glass. The paint on the surrounding moldings was thick and soft to the touch. He flipped a small brass lock mechanism and pushed up with the heels of his hands. The window refused to budge. Was it jammed? It felt loose enough in its frame. He probed around the molding, searching for whatever was keeping it shut. His hand landed on something that stuck out, a nail.

He set his pack down next to the window and carefully withdrew a pocketknife from it.

Eve stirred.

He froze with the knife halfway open.

She patted the bed and rolled over, pulling the sheets with her.

He checked around the window frame again for anything else, but found nothing and returned to the nail. He pulled on the head with the thick edge of the knife blade while also rocking it back and forth. The nail came free with a jolt, and his knuckles hit the window. He froze and glanced at Eve.

Nothing. She had not moved.

Exhaling, he dropped the nail in a jacket pocket and opened the window an inch, then another, and kept going. He stopped when it was open just enough to crawl through. Taking one last glance back at her, he mouthed, “Sorry.”

With his bag and shoes and jacket held out front, he crawled through the open window, closed it, and padded softly over to the side of the roof. He stopped and knelt down on one knee. The shingles creaked lightly under his feet. He put on his jacket, sat, and slipped on his shoes. Overhead, the clouds had returned and now blocked out the moon and stars. He could not have timed it any more perfectly.

Two guards were keeping watch, standing on a platform near the eastern wall. They were guiding the makeshift spotlight and scanning the tree line in a slow, deliberate arc. Cory grinned. The two would be night-blind from the brightness of the light, so their chances of spotting him accidentally were low.

He carefully scouted the area until he found something else he had suspected. Ryan and Matt

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