Jennings' Folly by Stone Thomas C

Author:Stone, Thomas C. [Stone, Thomas C.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Cooper's Press
Published: 2013-05-14T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

After going over maps of the area, we donned our gear and checked our equipment prior to climbing back inside the van.

Grandpaw sat beside me and spoke in a low voice. “I am sorry,” he said.

“For what?”

“For getting you into this.”

I patted his hand and told him not to worry. “We’ll get it done and kill some lizards in the process.”

“You just be careful,” he said. “Don’t stick out your neck. While you’re at it, you might want to remove that bauble you’re wearing.”

“It’s my good luck piece.”

“You don’t see me wearing jewelry, do you?”

“You’re not married.”

“You don’t have to be married to wear jewelry.”

“So why can’t I wear mine?”

“It’s not part of what you need to do this job.”

“Oh, but it is. I feel more secure with my good luck charm. When I’m secure, I’m calm.”

“Amanda?”

“Yes sir?”

“Put the necklace away.”

“Yes sir.” I removed Glaucus’ gift from my neck and pushed it into a zippered pocket.

There were six in our group, counting the driver, and with the weapons and the gear, the van was tight. The entrances to the walled town were blocked, so Genoa pulled up to a graveled area outside the main gate. One door was blown off its lower hinge and hung at an odd angle. Detritus littered the dark, triangular entrance.

I looked up to the wall above me as I stepped from the van. Nothing moved along the palisade. I was assigned to be the point scout and wouldn’t have trusted either Alonzo or Riki for the job in any case.

Under Grandpaw’s watchful eye, I scampered to the place where the gate leaned awkwardly and stood with my back to the vertical wooden beams. Papaw nodded and I faced the darkness, Vimbacher in hand, and flicked on my gun light. The beam shot through the dark and landed on the open jaws of a sizeable lizard. It hissed at me, spraying poisonous spittle and I pulled the trigger on the sucker.

The Vimbacher kicked as I fired an exploding projectile at point blank range. I was too close to miss. The lizard’s elongated skull exploded into a red mist and I marveled at the power of my weapon.

The skirmish took, at most, a second and a half. I shined the light around a bit to have a look-see but there were no other lizards in sight. Papaw sent Kaliis in behind me and when he got inside the “tunnel,” I could hear him wheezing. I told him so. “If I can hear it, they can hear it.”

The little alien reached into a pocket and withdrew an inhaler. He sucked a big breath from it and stuck it away again.

Stepping over the dead lizard, I ducked under a hanging steel support and squeezed past a tractor that someone had used to ram the gate from the inside. Smoke hung in the air and flames licked rooftops in at least three areas. A fire could get out of control quickly in these conditions. The sound of small arms fire echoed through the streets and I realized others were here.

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