Time Split by Patricia Smith

Author:Patricia Smith [Smith, Patricia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: thriller, world war ii, adventure, apocalypse, science fiction, world war 2, time, time travel, alternate history, nuclear war, bomb, world war iii, world war 3, patricia smith, time split, atomic war
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Jason walked to the Town Hall and climbed the stairs to the entrance. Tentatively he tried the handle and was surprised to find it open. If there were someone inside, they were either unable to lock the building or didn’t feel the need. Carefully, controlling the weight of the door, he pushed against it until it was wide enough to peer inside.

His view from the entrance was limited, but gradually, as he grew more confident that the ground floor level was empty, he allowed more of his body to pass through, until eventually he stepped inside.

The foyer consisted of a large marbled open hall with a high, elaborately decorated ceiling. To the left of the door was a reception area.

Papers strewn across the desk and surrounding floor, and a fax machine which still retained a copy of the last signal received, all added to the notion it had been left in a hurry.

He moved to the machine and checked the contents of the fax. The document was incomplete. It seemed to have stopped mid-sentence. The time and date in the top left corner stated, January 28th, 16.47. The fax felt damp to the touch and broken glass was scattered on and around the desk. When he looked up the reason became clear. All the windows, directly above and off to his right, were broken.

Jason slipped off his rucksack and retrieved the torch from a zipped panel at the side. It was too important, now that it was his only source of light in the dark, to be carried around in his pocket. He switched on the beam and swung it across the floor.

It seemed the windows had been hit with great force as shards of glass had been sprayed for some distance into the foyer. A fine scattering of dark grey dust, which in places had pooled into mud where the rain had leaked in, appeared to envelop everything. Jason stopped when his beam crossed a dead bird on the floor in the middle of the hall. He moved closer to look at the creature.

The patchy feathers and half-starved frame gave little clue to its origin, only the bright orange beak identified it as a black bird.

He realised the first bird he’d seen, since his return, was a dead one. It hadn’t dawned, until now, how quiet the skies had been. The lack of air traffic established this wasn’t just a local problem. And the lack of birds indicated it was not just a human problem also.

He returned his attention to the hall. There were stairs at both sides. As the window with the light had been to the left of the main doors, he decided the left-hand staircase was the best place to start.

A sense of unease grew with each step Jason climbed. Halfway to the next level he stopped. Some glass embedded in the base of his shoe was squeaking with every turn. He had managed to suppress his disquiet enough to continue by the time he’d dislodged the irritant.

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