Extinct Read Online Free PDF Page B

travel of the door.
    “If you’re right about this local extinction, where would the people go?” asked Sam.
    “I couldn’t really say,” Robby said.
    “Now c’mon, Robby, this is no time to be coy,” his father said. “I’m not asking for rock solid, I’m asking for your best guess. Fire up your thinker and give me a guess.”
    “Well… It’s the why more than the where ,” Robby said. He sensed his father’s frustration at his answer and quickly amended—“Most extinctions are gradual, and based on resources, environment, habitat, or predators. If this is really a local extinction, then it’s more likely some pathogen, since we can rule out volcano or meteor strike.”
    “If it’s a disease, then why haven’t we got it?” asked Sam.
    “We may yet,” Robby said. “Or we may have a natural immunity. Maybe we haven’t been exposed to the wrong combination of things yet.”
    “Or maybe we’re just overreacting," Paulie said.
    “That’s always a possibility, Paulie," Sam said. “But I vote we treat everything as the worst case, just so it doesn’t surprise us if it is.” He turned back to his son. "So where do you figure the sick people are then?”
    “It could be like brodifacoum,” Robby said. His dad raised his eyebrows. “You know, that stuff you use for rats.”
    “Oh, d-Con," Sam said. “The rat poison. Draws them to water?”
    “Yeah,” Robby said. “It’s an anticoagulant that’s used as a rat poison. It makes the rats so thirsty that they…”
    Sam finished the sentence for him, “Leave the house just before they die. So whatever’s making people sick could also be making them disappear before they die.”
    “If it’s a water thing, that would explain why all those people disappeared off the ferry today," Paulie said.
    “It would also explain why we were almost mowed down by that herd of deer trying to get to the shore," Sam said. “So that’s what’s going on you think?” he asked Robby.
    “It’s just a working theory,” Robby said. “We don’t have enough evidence to support or refute it, but it’s something we can test against.”
    “Maybe we’ll find some tracks outside then. Give us an idea of where he went. Let’s go check upstairs first, just to be sure," Sam said. He led the way back into the dining room. First they looked in the little privy, off the back hall, and in the den. Upstairs, they found two bedrooms and a bathroom. They were all empty. After making a quick check of the rooms, Sam led them back into each one so they could poke around in the closets, just to be sure.
    Sam stood at the top of the stairs, shining his light at the access panel to the attic.
    “He couldn’t be up there," Paulie said. “There’d have to be a ladder here somewhere. Irwin wasn’t exactly a gymnast.”
    “I’m just thinking," Sam said. “There’s a panel like this under the rug in the privy. I saw it when I helped Irwin snake out his shitter.”
    “Can’t be much more than a crawlspace under here," Paulie said. “This place is right on ledge.”
    “We might as well be thorough," Sam said. “No sense in turning out the whole house just to stop now.”
    They found the living room as they had left it, but the lantern started to sputter. Sam gave it a couple of pumps and adjusted the valve until it burned silently again. The two men and the boy collected in the back hallway and opened the door to the small bathroom. It contained only enough room for a toilet and a vanity.  
    Sam reached for the thick throw rug which sat between the toilet and the sink.
    He paused just before his hand touched the rug. “Corner is turned under,” Sam said. He grabbed the corner of the rug and pulled. The thick rug hid a panel set in flush with the floor. Sam pulled a metal ring and lifted the panel open. Cold air seeped up from the hole. Sam propped the panel against the vanity.  
    Sam shone his light down into a shallow cellar. It had a rough ladder built in to the