Unhinge the Universe by Voinov Aleksandr & Witt L. A

Author:Voinov Aleksandr & Witt L. A. [Aleksandr, Voinov & A., Witt L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Hagen slept for a while, but he was wide awake when the night became less deep. Strangely, he was lying right next to John, pressed up against him, John’s back to him, while it had been the other way round at first last night, before they’d—

Yes, that.

What had woken him? Or was that just his normal, broken sleep, small pieces thrown into a day and night, very much the usual thing while he was on a mission and taking the pills? Probably that. He couldn’t make out an immediate threat.

And then he realized that for the first time in what now felt like weeks but had only been a few days (right?), he had both hands free. He pulled them closer, but no length of chain competed for ownership or control of his hands. John had forgotten to chain him again. Or maybe not forgotten. It seemed unlike him to lapse like that.

Hagen lay on his side and eased himself away, telling himself he needed to find a place to piss, but once the contact was interrupted and the bubble of warmth broken, he wasn’t quite so sure anymore. In the gray wintery predawn light, he spotted the pistol lying beside John, who was still sound asleep. Moving slowly and carefully, he got up and went around John, bent, and picked up the gun. He slid it into his belt, and then moved toward the ladder, carefully shifting his weight so the wood floor didn’t creak under his feet.

He reached the ladder without incident and climbed down, aware with every movement that there was another man on the lower floor. He stepped off the ladder.

Sliding his hand over the butt of the pistol, he scanned his surroundings. At first, he didn’t see the other soldier. The stacks of straw were vacant, tamped down a little like someone had been sleeping there but was no longer. Hagen pulled back into the shadows beside the ladder, slowly withdrawing the pistol, and looked around.

Finally, he saw the bent knees in the backseat of the Jeep, and the hat tilted downward to cover the soldier’s face. All his training came back to the surface, reminding Hagen of every way he could dispatch this man without waking anyone and keep him quiet before he made his escape. But he didn’t. Maybe it was exhaustion, or maybe the realization that he couldn’t justify killing one man while letting the other sleep peacefully in his now semen-stained uniform.

Not exactly honorable how he’d gotten his release.

On my honor.

Head down and pistol in hand, he crept away from the ladder and past the Jeep and its dormant passenger.

He slipped out of the barn and jogged across the yard to one of the pastures. It was still early, barely enough light by which to see, and the snow crunching beneath his boots was gray like the skin of a corpse. Already, he had another regret besides leaving a weapon behind: peacoat and gloves or not, it was cold out here.

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