Reincursion by Ryan Harding & Jason Taverner

Author:Ryan Harding & Jason Taverner [Harding, Ryan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sort4
Publisher: Death's Head Press
Published: 2021-08-02T22:00:00+00:00

VIII.

“I JUST WANT to go home,” Shelly said. Her new mantra.

Tina folded her close, wishing their circumstances allowed Shelly to take more pictures. She established order that way. After the tunnel, she bounced back quickly from her meltdown by focusing on the camera. Even with the heads by the railroad tracks, the process distanced her from the horror through an alchemy of framing, control, and the illusion of observation numbing the reality of her participation. The JPEGs of their expeditions were less an archive than a calming mechanism, one Shelly herself might not have realized.

No one would condone the pictures now, like irate characters in a found footage movie demanding the chronicler stop filming everything and get that camera out of my face!

So Tina kept Shelly near and made assurances she believed . . . mostly.

Shelly sniffled. “My mom’s going to kill me if he doesn’t.”

Tina squeezed her in a lumbering hug. “Same.”

“They’ll kick us off the team.” She looked up sharply. “We might get expelled!”

“Oh, no way, don’t think like that.” Tina hadn’t followed this path of logic to its grim conclusion, but Shelly needn’t worry because she wouldn’t be able to afford school anyway once they stripped her scholarship. Might as well fret over the spelling of her name on a mug shot.

“Do you think Erica’s . . . ”

“She’s fine,” Tina said, surprised this automatic lip service rang true on further inspection. “She always lands on her feet. We will too. You’ll see.”

Shelly nodded. “We just need a little luck.”

Tina held in a humorless laugh. It sounded so simple, but after crossing paths with Orange and getting locked out of their escape, they’d have to start shitting four-leaf clovers to receive a little luck.

“I just want to go home,” Shelly repeated.

Bryce bolted past them at the sight of Omar, who guided the little girl’s mother. What was her name? Megan? She took measured steps, like a drunk on a sobriety test. The behemoth Grant followed close behind Bryce to lend his support to Megan.

With no further incident, they slowed a mile from the drainpipe to catch their breath and give the others time to catch up—hopefully sans pursuer. It seemed a good sign Omar had time to lead the woman in such a state.

“Where’s Erica?” Bryce asked, obviously on the edge of panic.

“She and Clark went after Sarah,” Omar said. “Orange took her up the hill.”

“She went after Orange? That’s insane!”

Tina tended to agree, but that was also pure Erica. Fearless and not more than a little reckless. She never understood Erica’s attraction to Bryce. He adored her and his face looked ready to crumble at Omar’s news, but as a good match for Erica? He may as well have been the key to the padlock they couldn’t open on the drainpipe.

She deemed Clark a goner for sure, so that was a nice surprise, but he didn’t seem to mind testing his good fortune.

Omar let Grant take over with Megan. She’d managed to put an arm around Omar’s shoulders; she had to settle for Grant’s waist.

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