Among the Roaring Dead Read Free Page B

in the season for a freak snowstorm.
    In the low light, Toni spied five small white blisters on her arm. On her other arm, there were even more.
    Her ears picked up a rumbling sound and then she began to feel it in her feet as well. She turned to run back to the building and saw that the automatic doors were starting to close. By the time the wave – whatever it was – hit, she was five feet from the entrance and it was like she was picked up by unseen hands and thrown against the nearby garbage can. Her head hit a bench on the way down and she lost consciousness.
     

Chapter 2
    “What time is it Orson?”
    “6:30.”
    “God! Another two hours!”
    Jess stood in the middle of a subway platform. Escalators ground around and around nearby like giant metallic teeth. A faint breeze came down one of the tunnels, indicating that a train was soon to arrive.
    “The rush hour service has ended so at least the traffic will be less frequent.”
    “Great, because I have to pee. How’s your battery doing?”
    “Oh, I’m fully charged. It was a nice sunny day so the solar sensors were able to give me quite the boost today.”
    “Wish I could say the same.”
    The train roared into the station and metal brakes screeched the machine to a stop.
    “You see that Orson?” A couple passengers almost lost their footing with that crazy stop. I used to be able to run the train down the station faster than that and I was still able to do a nice gentle stop.”
    “The statistics seem to favour the automated system. The number of accidents and delays has decreased dramatically in the last five years.”
    The doors opened and a synthetic voice said: Thank you for riding The Rocket and have a nice day.
    Hundreds of people came out the doors since this was the last stop on the line and made their way, eagerly, to the escalators.
    “Okay people, nice and orderly – be respectful!”
    A teenager turned to Jess and nodded at the PAL watch on his wrist.
    “Nice antique grandpa.”
    “It’s an Extreme4 – and it still works great!” Jess yelled after the kid, but he was already halfway up the escalator, lost in a mosaic of jeans and shirts.
    “Don’t take that personally, Orson.”
    “Of course I won’t,” Orson said . “I know there are newer PALs with faster processors and better hologram technology but think about all the learning I’ve done in the last 15 years. I know that has to count for something.”
    “Of course that counts. Besides, the kids these days don’t have an attachment to anything. Today’s toy is tomorrow’s garbage. Just turn on the printer when Daddy goes to sleep and you’ve got the latest and greatest. But you know I’ll never get rid of you Orson.”
    “I should say perhaps that I’m not adverse to the odd hardware upgrade.”
    “Nice pitch, I thought you were on my side, or do you agree that I’m cheap?”
    “That’s entirely dependent on the angle of perception. I would say generous, Sir. Very generous.”
    “How long until the next train?”
    “Eight minutes.”
    “All right. Let’s dump our cache.”
    “Help yourself,” Orson said. “I’m good.”
    Jess walked to the end of the platform and stood before a thick red door.
    “Access code?”
    “Lynch – 4327.”
    The door clicked and gave way from its latch. Jess pushed open the door and walked inside the staff room.
    “I don’t think this room has changed in 50 years.”
    “Probably because no one uses it anymore.”
    “Thanks for calling me nobody.”
    Jess put his jacket down on the middle table, which was really all there was to the room. Some cleaning supplies sat unused in the corner. An old microwave and coffee machine were off to the side of the room.
    “There are still coffee capsules loaded,” Orson said. “Should I load one to brew for you?”
    “Nah, it’s too late,” Jess said, and walked towards the door to the men’s bathroom.
    He had spent the last 10 hours with a small vial of condensed vodka in the back