Evolution Read Online Free PDF Page A

point.
    He kicked off his boots and pulled the only human thing he had left from his backpack. A hand mirror. A silver hand mirror with a die cast rose curling around it and painted red. No...Not red, Crimson. He smiled into the mirror. At least that was what the bottle said when I painted the dang thing, he thought.
    He recalled sitting in his shop pretending to work on his “project”. A 1977 Monte Carlo he inherited. A piece of junk that he never fully intended on restoring. The body was rusted out, the motor was seized up, and the seats were missing. Jedd knew the truth though; it was there because he was a sentimental old fool. Even back then he was. The car had belonged to his father and upon his passing Jedd couldn’t bare to see it scraped for cash.
    He sticks his tongue out at himself and clutches the silver hand mirror to his chest, the only thing he had left of his wife of twenty years. He closes his eyes and falls asleep cuddling Marilyn, thinking of times much better than this.
    His sleep was fitful and his body teetered on the edge of the cot, staying onboard by luck alone. His mind registered the noise, but didn’t fully realize what was happening. The word “Baboons” hung in the air. He saw baboons in sundresses slowly eating cotton candy and riding unicycles in a wondrous big top carnival. They obeyed their master and slowly rode up the little ramp and onto a wire. We all clapped and cheered as one baboon fell of his unicycle and clung to the wire, only to flip his body back up on the bike. A true spectacle that only a top notch circus could pull off.
    In the background light gunfire echoed through the cave and death could be heard all around. Jedd’s eyes rapidly flicked back and forth behind his eyelids, transforming the sounds, absorbing them into tangible illusions only his brain alone could comprehend. The baboons fell from the wires and into little cannons. Colorful clowns tugged at the strings and the sounds of explosions erupted before him. He watched from the crowd, his family right beside him, his daughter’s laughter lifting his soul as the mammals bodies were propelled through the air and across the room. One by one, the little creatures soared through air and exited rings of fire.
    The gun blasts were getting louder and the baboons were screeching with such ferocity that even the deepest sleep couldn’t contain the reality any longer. Jedd's eyes shot open and he shivered as he finally understood.  He throws on his boots and slowly opens the door. Through the tiny sliver he sees vines...hundreds of them. Jedd swallows hard and pushes gently letting the scene unfold little by little.
    Dead bodies littered the cavern floor like candy wrappers and wasted popcorn at a cheap cinema.  A cold shiver runs up his spine and his throat is coated with thick saliva. He lifts his gun and prepares to exit the only truly safe room in the complex. Wait...
    The thought repeated itself in his mind. The only safe room in the complex. It was a moment like this that truly defines a man. Jedd allowed his fear and his moral obligation arm wrestle for his soul. Die fighting for the Morton twins, or slam the door shut on this horrific scene and survive?
    His hands shaking and his courage starting to fail, he starts to push the door open once more. A loud screech stabs his ear drum. An eye, followed by a putrid green face appears before him. Slamming the door shut and locking it, Jedd clings to his chest and feels the soothing cold metal on his back. He slowly slides down the door and cradles his knees, the dam containing his sanity has a hairline crack in it and it’s threatening to spill.
    The image of cute creatures in sundresses fade, replaced by the terrible sight behind the door. Baboons! Jedd shivered. How can that be? The plant life seems to have evolved overnight.
    *~*~*
    Chapter 5
    It’s funny how some things are simply hard to admit to yourself. For me the journey out of New York was both the