Instinct Read Online Free PDF Page B

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    “It seems pretty nice so far,” Tim said.  
    Cedric was peeing on the side of a concrete barrier. He finished and began sniffing at some trash by the side of the road.
    “Come here, Cedric,” Tim said. He pulled a leash from his bag. Tim unbuckled his belt, threaded the end through the handle of the leash, and then buckled his belt again. He clipped the other end of the leash to Cedric’s harness.
    Cedric stayed at his side as Tim walked the length of the retaining wall. The top of the wall sloped down towards the road, as did the hill it held back. On the other side of the bank was the entrance to the highway. Just beyond that, a tall concrete barrier rose at least twenty feet. This is what Tim came to see.
    He kept his eyes pointed at the ground. Tim blocked out most of his vision with a hand. He saw the corner of red graffiti on the wall. It was about twenty yards away, but that was close enough.  
    “If I screw up, you know what to do,” Tim said to Cedric. He pulled his camera from his pocket and got it ready before he raised it.

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    Tim’s eyelids fluttered. He heard the dog panting and the scraping of a body against sandy pavement. He felt the grinding on the back of his head. The scraping sound was him.
    “Okay, okay,” he said. His voice was slurred. He was stretched out on the side of the highway. From his belt, the leash was stretched tight over to Cedric’s harness. The dog was still pulling, dragging him down the road. “That’s enough. I’m awake.”
    Tim was careful to close his eyes as he rolled over to his stomach. Cedric ran over to him. His legs were tangled in his leash and his tail was wagging so hard that it created a breeze.
    “Thank you,” Tim said. He pushed up to his hands and knees and then touched the back of his head. It was sore, but not bleeding. Tim unclipped the leash and then removed it from his own belt. He crawled down the length of the retaining wall until he was sure it would block out the far wall with the graffiti.
    The camera dangled from the strap around his neck. Tim covered half of the display with his hand and powered the camera on. The first thing he checked was the clock. It read 11:50am. It wasn’t accurate, but it would tell him how much time had elapsed. He checked the time on the first picture. It read 11:25am.  
    “That was twenty-five minutes,” he said to Cedric. The dog was digging in the sand at the side of the road. “That’s the longest yet. That thing must be huge.”
    He scrolled through the first few pictures. They wouldn’t have an effect as long as he kept his hand over half of the image, but he didn’t want to take a chance. He only looked at half of them before he shut the camera off.
    Cedric unearthed a tennis ball from the sand. He squeezed it in his jaw with his tongue hanging out to the side.
    “That’s disgusting,” Tim said. He pulled his bag from his shoulder and tucked the camera inside. He dug around until he found a new tennis ball. “You want this one? It’s clean at least.”
    Cedric dropped the ball he’d found and looked off into the distance. Tim turned slowly to see what the dog was looking at.
    “Shit,” Tim said. He dropped the ball he held and ran.

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    Tim tried to focus on the preflight checklist, but his breath was coming fast and his eyes wanted to glance back over his shoulder. Cedric emitted a low and steady whine.
    “I know, I know, I know,” Tim mumbled as he worked his way down the list. “Fuck it.” He tossed the book over his shoulder and ran up the throttle. The plane didn’t move.  
    “Chocks!” he yelled. Tim reached for the door handle. His eyes locked on the sky and he froze. Each funnel cloud was spinning clockwise, but the whole circle of them revolved counter-clockwise. They rose up and down like needles on a destructive sewing machine.  
    Tim licked his lips. They were numb.
    Behind him, Cedric barked. Tim