inhabitants, but who knew what the future held? Especially when it was measured by the yardstick of the past ten days or so.
There was no way she was going to risk taking the bike or Thor through the crash site. So she reversed direction and headed back to the previous cross street, then rode at a right angle away from the debris field for a mile or so. When she was sure she was clear of the debris, Emily turned north again and began heading back toward her original destination, trying to ignore the smell of burned meat that still lingered in her nostrils.
But, rising up above the roofs and trees, the storm that had seemed so far away just a short while ago had gained on the two travelers. The huge anvil-shaped mass of cloud now seemed to tower over Emily, a wall of red jutting high into the stratosphere, threatening to collapse on them at any moment. It extended from the eastern horizon to the far west, consuming the sky like some ancient angry dragon.
There was an electricity in the air that set the tiny hairs on the back of her head alive. A sense of dread began to beat like adrum in the pit of Emily’s stomach, a dull syncopated rhythm that twisted her belly into tight knots.
She looked down at Thor keeping pace with her. The fine fur of his coat was standing almost erect.
“Come on,” she called out to the dog as her legs began pumping the bike’s pedals.
They reached the town of Stuyvesant before the storm finally caught up with them.
A flash of livid white lightning, followed almost instantly by a horrendous crash of thunder, made Emily leap six inches off her saddle and sent Thor scurrying sideways as the blast exploded almost directly overhead.
“Shit!” she yelled as the first heavy drops of red-tinted rain—eerily reminiscent of the blood rain that had ended the world—began to fall, splattering loudly on the pavement.
She had badly misjudged the storm’s approach, and now they were caught out in the open.
They needed to find cover, and they needed to find it right now.
To Emily’s left was a field surrounded by a few trees that would be no use as cover, but off to her right, a gravel driveway wound up a steep hill. She could just make out the roof of a house on the opposite side of the hill.
“Come on,” she called to Thor.
Emily raced up the gravel road toward the crest of the hill, her legs pumping hard at the pedals as Thor sprinted ahead of her, understanding exactly where they were heading and apparently just as eager to get to shelter.
As she reached the crest of the hill, the gravel road turned into a concrete parking area leading up to a three-car garage. On the side of the garage was a weatherworn door, its paint peeling from the surrounding frame, and Emily rode directly for it. She jumped from her bike and rattled the door handle: it was locked. Racing back around to the garage entrance, she tried each of the roll-up garage doors in turn. The second one complained and squeaked, but after a quick tug on the handle, it started to grate and rattle along its tracks until there was a large enough space for her to slip the bike through and duck under.
Inside, there was just enough daylight for Emily to make out the shadowy outline of a silver Dodge Durango SUV parked in one of the bays. The other two bays were empty. A workbench sat off to one side, and Peg-Boards filled with tools and boxes lined two of the walls. Whoever had lived here had been an incredibly organized neat freak.
A door led from the garage into the main part of the house. Emily leaned her bike against the workbench and tried it. It swung open easily, and Emily and Thor both stepped inside. Thor’s nose instantly went to the ground as he disappeared along the hallway and into the main area of the house while Emily waited patiently in the corridor. This was a routine they’d automatically fallen into since they had found each other: Thor would quickly explore the house and then come back and let her know if the
There was no way she was going to risk taking the bike or Thor through the crash site. So she reversed direction and headed back to the previous cross street, then rode at a right angle away from the debris field for a mile or so. When she was sure she was clear of the debris, Emily turned north again and began heading back toward her original destination, trying to ignore the smell of burned meat that still lingered in her nostrils.
But, rising up above the roofs and trees, the storm that had seemed so far away just a short while ago had gained on the two travelers. The huge anvil-shaped mass of cloud now seemed to tower over Emily, a wall of red jutting high into the stratosphere, threatening to collapse on them at any moment. It extended from the eastern horizon to the far west, consuming the sky like some ancient angry dragon.
There was an electricity in the air that set the tiny hairs on the back of her head alive. A sense of dread began to beat like adrum in the pit of Emily’s stomach, a dull syncopated rhythm that twisted her belly into tight knots.
She looked down at Thor keeping pace with her. The fine fur of his coat was standing almost erect.
“Come on,” she called out to the dog as her legs began pumping the bike’s pedals.
They reached the town of Stuyvesant before the storm finally caught up with them.
A flash of livid white lightning, followed almost instantly by a horrendous crash of thunder, made Emily leap six inches off her saddle and sent Thor scurrying sideways as the blast exploded almost directly overhead.
“Shit!” she yelled as the first heavy drops of red-tinted rain—eerily reminiscent of the blood rain that had ended the world—began to fall, splattering loudly on the pavement.
She had badly misjudged the storm’s approach, and now they were caught out in the open.
They needed to find cover, and they needed to find it right now.
To Emily’s left was a field surrounded by a few trees that would be no use as cover, but off to her right, a gravel driveway wound up a steep hill. She could just make out the roof of a house on the opposite side of the hill.
“Come on,” she called to Thor.
Emily raced up the gravel road toward the crest of the hill, her legs pumping hard at the pedals as Thor sprinted ahead of her, understanding exactly where they were heading and apparently just as eager to get to shelter.
As she reached the crest of the hill, the gravel road turned into a concrete parking area leading up to a three-car garage. On the side of the garage was a weatherworn door, its paint peeling from the surrounding frame, and Emily rode directly for it. She jumped from her bike and rattled the door handle: it was locked. Racing back around to the garage entrance, she tried each of the roll-up garage doors in turn. The second one complained and squeaked, but after a quick tug on the handle, it started to grate and rattle along its tracks until there was a large enough space for her to slip the bike through and duck under.
Inside, there was just enough daylight for Emily to make out the shadowy outline of a silver Dodge Durango SUV parked in one of the bays. The other two bays were empty. A workbench sat off to one side, and Peg-Boards filled with tools and boxes lined two of the walls. Whoever had lived here had been an incredibly organized neat freak.
A door led from the garage into the main part of the house. Emily leaned her bike against the workbench and tried it. It swung open easily, and Emily and Thor both stepped inside. Thor’s nose instantly went to the ground as he disappeared along the hallway and into the main area of the house while Emily waited patiently in the corridor. This was a routine they’d automatically fallen into since they had found each other: Thor would quickly explore the house and then come back and let her know if the
Similar Books
One Man Show
John J. Bonk
Firewall (Magic Born)
Sonya Clark
Helping Hand
Jay Northcote
Laughing Boy
Stuart Pawson
The Fast Metabolism Diet
Haylie Pomroy
Peanut Butter Sweets
Pamela Bennett
The Other Side of Divine
Vanessa Davis Griggs
Cold Snap
J. Clayton Rogers
Perlmann's Silence
Pascal Mercier
Manifest Injustice
Barry Siegel