Buried by Ellison Cooper

Author:Ellison Cooper
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

SOUTHERN RANGER STATION, SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, VA

Ezra’s eyes opened, though he wasn’t sure why.

He stared up at the ceiling, straining to listen for any unexpected sound. Somewhere in the ranger station water dripped in a steady drumbeat onto metal. A well-worn furnace expanded with a faint tick-tick-tick, matching the old clock on the wall.

Nothing but the sounds of a place he wasn’t used to.

At least he hadn’t had one of the dreams. Sometimes the bomb played in his nightmares, tearing his legs from beneath him. But sometimes it was even worse. The dream where he was frozen in slow motion. Trapped in air like molasses, helpless as horrific things happened around him. His baby sister slaughtered before his eyes by a knife-wielding monster, or his mother smashed in a car accident, every graphic second playing out as she slammed into the steering wheel. All the while he stood there, a helpless screaming witness. He knew those nightmares were just his brain trying to process his feelings about the bomb, but logic was nowhere to be found in the middle of the night when he woke thrashing and screaming.

Okay, almost four A.M., time to sit up and do some mindfulness exercises.

Long breath in. Externalize the anxiety. Examine it objectively.…

Scrape.

The sound down the hall caused an explosion of fear, blurring his vision. The bizarre image of a monster roaming the building leaped unbidden to his mind.

Ezra tried to control his shaking hands, listening with every cell in his being.

A dull clacking sound?

Another scrape made him jump.

He made a fist and squeezed, trying to release the fear ricocheting around his body.

The sound started again. No mistaking it now. The unmistakable sounds of a scuffle.

Ezra fumbled for his phone and texted Sayer, SOMEONE HERE IN BUILDING!

Should he sneak into the hall and look? But how could he? Even if he could get his prosthetics on in time, he couldn’t move quietly down the hall. Damn metal legs. Fucking walker. Tears of frustration welled. What kind of FBI agent was he?

The sound grew more confident. Someone was ransacking the bone room.

He put his phone down and decided he wasn’t going to just lie there in bed waiting for Sayer to come save him.

He scooted to the edge and, using his newly strong arms, he carefully lowered himself to the floor. Half crawling, half dragging himself along the cold tile, he quietly shuffled over to the door.

Heart jackhammering, he turned the knob and slowly slid the door open. Large wet footprints puddled along the tile floor. The exaggerated shadow of a head and shoulders extended from the bone room, moving across the tile like a ghost.

Unable to think clearly, Ezra paused and took a slow breath. Don’t be an idiot. Just see if you can get a look at the guy. Just a look. ID him and break the case.

Ezra repeated the mantra in his head. Just a look. Just a look. Just need to see who it is.

He propelled himself down the hall. The sensitive nerve in his right leg felt like pressing broken glass into the stump with every move forward.

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