Transcontinental by Brad Cook

Author:Brad Cook
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Fiction Works
Published: 2014-03-19T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Topeka, KS

The whole scene had been a blur for Leroy since the giant cop picked him up and slammed him into the train. His sight had gone white momentarily, accompanied by a sharp pain at the back of his head. He may or may not have cried out for Ant, he only knew that he’d tried. Then he’d crumpled against the ground with a thud.

Leroy’s vision returned as he rubbed the back of his head. In a daze, Leroy watched the cop storm toward Ant, who motioned at Leroy to get up, but his legs lacked feeling, as if there was a disconnect between them and his brain.

Ant gestured wildly at him as the two men drew further away, yet closer together. Leroy wriggled his ankle. The pain ignited anew. He could move.

He got to his feet and hobbled over to Ant’s bag, then looked up at the men, who had stopped just feet apart, facing each other. Leroy’d thought Ant was tall, but the cop was bigger in every dimension. They were talking, but Leroy couldn’t make out what they were saying. From his belt, the cop pulled a gun, and aimed it straight at Ant’s chest.

In that moment, Leroy felt true helplessness. There was absolutely nothing he could do to help this man who had helped him countless times in the past few days. With that realization came another—whether or not he needed Ant to make it to Tampa, Leroy wanted him to come. For all the stress and danger Ant had caused, he’d also been a teacher, a source of entertainment, a leader—even when Leroy hadn’t wanted it. A guardian. It was only now that Leroy began to acknowledge the bond that’d grown between them. And all it took was the threatening of Ant’s life. Great timing.

Leroy gasped as Ant turned and ran from the cop. It was over. He braced himself for the gunshot that would change everything, but instead heard a strange electrical tck-tck-tck, which terrified him for reasons he didn’t understand, and instantly Ant went down, convulsing and grunting and snorting and making faces Leroy hoped he’d never see again. He held his breath, watching with wide eyes, helplessness paralyzing him.

The bull stood hunched over Ant’s body, his chest heaving as he squeezed the trigger, sucking in breath after raspy breath. It looked to Leroy as if he grew with each. Then, he threw the gun to the ground, and Ant’s body went still. He clenched his fists and let out a sound halfway between a growl and a roar that made Leroy’s skin crawl, then ripped the nightstick from his belt, flipped Ant’s unconscious body over, and was upon him in one swift movement.

Leroy couldn’t speak or move, anchored by the bags and his sense of mortality. He was forced to watch the brutality waged on his friend.

The nightstick quivered in the officer’s hand as he raised it in the air, then unleashed a mighty swing upon Ant’s face, splitting the skin below his eye.

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