MoonFall Read Online Free PDF Page A

gold letters against a blue background, one his father had had. Noah pulled it off the shelf. A sense of warm familiarity spread through him as he eased open the cover, revealing the packed pages behind a picture of a jet plane and a man with a gun. He flicked through, lost for a while in scenes he hadn’t read in half a lifetime. Tales of fights and chases, the likes of which had thrilled him as a kid. But even better were the scenes in bars, casinos and shopping centers, reminders of the rich life that had once been. A world of comforts that seemed decadent now.
    At last he sighed and stowed the book away in his bag for later. The sun was sinking in the sky and part of him knew he ought to move on. But where would he find better shelter tonight?
    “C’mon, let’s get more books,” he said to Bourne. “See if they’ve got your namesake. Don’t reckon we’ll have to worry about a library card.”
    He prowled down the rows of fiction, looking for stylish spines or familiar names. How long had he stood looking through that one book, lost to the world and everything in it? How great would it be to find more of the same, something comforting to see him through the next terrible winter? Not as great as a crate more of Paul’s whiskey, sure, but good enough to make this whole school business worthwhile.
    Behind him a door creaked open.
    Noah spun around. A man stood in the entrance to the library. Dressed in body armor with metal plates protecting his arms and legs, his height added to his intimidating bulk. He raised a musket towards Noah, eyes sparkling above the red bandana around his neck.
    Drawing Bourne as he moved, Noah turned towards the library’s other exit, a pair of double doors leading onto a stairwell. But another man blocked it, also armed and armored with the same red bandana and the same bow and arrow symbol stenciled across his chest.
    If there was one thing worse than men with weapons it was men with uniforms.
    “Hold there, Dionite.” The first guard’s voice rang clear with a hint of a European accent. Between that and his cropped black hair he could have been the villain from one of those precious spy books.
    Noah jerked to his left, out of sight between two rows of shelves. He ran down the aisle, only to see the second soldier appear at the far end.
    The guy’s gun wasn’t raised yet, and there were only yards between them. Straight on looked better than turning back.
    Noah kept running, slamming into the guard. The man dropped his gun and grabbed for Noah. The two of them staggered back and forth, banging against shelves, books tumbling down around them.
    Noah yanked his knee upward. The soldier was wearing a cup and pain jolted up Noah’s leg, but he’d managed enough impact to hurt the other guy, who crumpled over wheezing on the floor.
    Fast as he could, Noah disentangled himself and ran for the empty doorway.
    Except that it wasn’t empty. As he burst through the doors and into the top of the stairwell he almost ran straight into another soldier, a woman with long, black hair. Noah shifted his grip on Bourne, tried to hit the woman over the head with the pistol, but she was faster. She ducked under his swing and grabbed his arm, trying to drag it around behind him.
    Noah yelped in pain and staggered back, trying to ram the woman against the wall. But the floor was smooth and the soles of his shoes were worn flat. He couldn’t get the grip to gain an advantage, while she maneuvered around behind and then slid him forwards, slamming him up against the stair rail and twisting his arm further.
    At last his numbed fingers gave in and Bourne slid from his grip, clattering to the ground. The woman kicked the pistol away and Bourne span out over the stairwell, tumbling towards the ground below.
    “No!” Noah jerked back, the rail giving him enough leverage to bring his greater height into play. With the soldier off balance, he snaked his left arm around behind her shoulder, got a grip and