Wayward Pines: A Trick of Memory (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Jeffrey Getzin

Author:Jeffrey Getzin [Getzin, Jeffrey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery/Suspense
Publisher: Kindle Worlds
Published: 2016-03-27T05:00:00+00:00

22

In the dream, the feral children were after him again. He leaped over a fallen log then slid down an embankment made slick with pine needles. His hands were wet with dew and kept slipping from under him as he struggled to get up.

Once on his feet, he thought he heard the sound of rushing water and for a moment, he felt hope. The children tracked him by smell. If he was quick, he might be able to lose them by crossing the river.

Smith changed course, headed directly toward the sound of the water. He burst from the forest at the top of a monstrous waterfall. Water roared down a hundred feet to atomize into vapor.

He didn’t hesitate. He started across the river as it rushed to the waterfall, but his feet were surer than they had been, and the river bed wasn’t as slippery and uneven as before.

Behind him, he heard the children break from the woods and head directly for him, hooting and clacking as they did.

How the hell can they run so fast with such tiny legs? he wondered.

It was less than a minute before he heard the splashes as they pursued him into the river. He looked back, and all of them were chasing him, gaining on him. All but one, who hopped up and down on Smith’s gear bag before picking it up and threw it down the falls.

He had a strong feeling of déjà vu at that but he didn’t stop to examine himself too carefully.

He had almost reached the shore when a figure stepped out from behind a tree, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and cowboy boots. Sheriff Pope!

Pope reached for his pistol. Smith tried to backpedal but his feet slid out from under him and he headed toward Pope like a runner sliding toward home plate. He slid up short, scraping against numerous rocks. Behind him, he could hear the hordes of children—larger than it had ever been.

“Here in Wayward Pines we eat our own,” Sheriff Pope said, with a shit-eating grin. He brought his pistol to bear. “Sorry, partner.”

A brilliant idea occurred to Smith. He pointed at Pope and yelled, “Take him!”

Pope looked betrayed. “Now that’s just fighting dirty, Hoss.”

The feral children ran past Smith and leaped at Pope. They brought him screaming to his knees, and then he was gone beneath a blanket of claws and teeth.

It seemed like only moments. The children cleared away from Pope’s skeleton, picked clean to the bone. Not a trace of flesh was to be found.

Now the children shifted their attention to Smith.

Uh oh.

They spread around him until they had him circled at least five deep. They growled and growled, but they also sniffed; all of them were sniffing.

They weren’t hostile toward him. In fact, they were …

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