Silence After The Storm (C.O.R.P.S.E. Book 3) by Michael Anderle

Author:Michael Anderle [Anderle, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing
Published: 2024-02-12T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Maris knew she was taking a significant chance when she dove from a fourth-story window frame. Her body was strong, but four floors was a long way down for anyone. There would be no soft parade floats to break her fall this time. On the other hand, the police were approaching on the floor below her as she threw the door open and bolted down the corridor. She was out of time and could evade them no longer.

She dashed toward the blown-out windows and dove into the open air beyond. Maris curled her body as she fell, calculating the exact angle she needed to hit, roll, and pop up running.

The impact was jarring, but she didn’t have time to think about it or slow down to notice the pain. Maris needed to get off the street as soon as the police and physics allowed.

Miraculously, no one had been looking up when she jumped, and Maris was alone when she landed. She disappeared down a back alley, but it wouldn’t take them long to realize she’d escaped the building. They had dozens of officers, and the radio chatter she picked up focused on her rather than the Mark III team.

Hovercopters circled above, and more sirens closed in from every direction. They’d converge on her position the moment anyone spotted her. Running on the street wouldn’t save her. The rooftops were out for the same reason.

With a twinge of dread, Maris realized her only real chance was to find the Rat Rail. She knew it ran all over the city, but beyond the two points she’d seen, she had no clue how to access it.

In a stroke of mathematical inspiration, she realized how she might do it.

The Rat Rail was a network of straight lines with an occasional curve to change direction from what she’d seen in her limited experience. By applying her database’s knowledge of the city’s underground infrastructure and extrapolating the two points she knew on the line, Maris could calculate the approximate area where the closest access point was likely to be. She could have called MM to ask but didn’t want to rely on him given his current antics.

Maris calculated while she ran and adjusted her course to match. The entry point would be in an abandoned building. Fortunately, there wouldn’t be many of those in the upscale district.

“Spyder, I’m going to give you a heading. I need you to find an abandoned building for me as close as you can to the coordinates.”

“An abandoned… Oh, right. The Rat Rail! Creepy but genius. I’m on it.”

She told him the area her system provided, and he directed her to a crumbling mansion slightly past the downtown neighborhood.

“It’s called Penitence House. There’s kind of a funny story attached to it.”

Maris had no attention to spare for anything that didn’t relate to her survival as she ran through alleys and dodged hovercopters. “Can the funny story wait? I’m in a bit of a spot here.”

“What? Oh, sure, it can wait. The place is supposed to be haunted, that’s all.

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