Jonah Havensby Read Free Page B

to leave when he spotted something that the other caves didn’t offer. Between two blankets, he found an electronic tablet and its power cord. When he pressed the power button, he found that it held enough juice to turn it on. It was loaded with everything, e-mail, a word processor, a web browser. The internet connection didn’t work out here, of course, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t find somewhere to connect eventually.
    It suddenly occurred to him that there might be some kind of evidence somewhere in this tablet. Maybe something about the ‘dangerous men’ and who they were or what they might want. Or maybe a note from his father, explaining what had happened and what he should do now. Jonah frantically searched everywhere he could think of within the tablet, but it seemed to be brand new. There was no e-mail address installed, there were no documents saved. There was no evidence or anything to tell him what to do.
    Jonah swallowed hard. He had been unaware how deeply the thought had gripped him that this might be some kind of break-through. He took out the water bottle and took more than a few sips to make the clutching feeling in his throat go down. Then he thought he was pretty stupid. As if some hologram of his father was going to pop out of this machine and explain just what exactly was happening and where he should go and maybe that the explosion was just a cover–up, like in the movies, and he should come meet him at their designated secret base. That was just dumb. Wasn’t it?
    He turned the tablet off and shoved it and its power cord into the now bulging backpack. It was heavy, and lumpy, but he didn’t find it very difficult to walk while it was on his back. He left the cave. One side of his brain was completely unsure about where he was going to go. The other side was completely sure he had made up his whole mind that he was going to walk to the town down the road. So, outside of the cave, he turned right and made his way out to the narrow highway.
    There wasn’t much traffic to speak of coming up the road towards the bluff, but he took to the trees when he saw a car approaching from either direction. People would almost certainly stop if they saw a boy his age walking down the highway with a giant pack on his back. And then there would certainly be questions. Questions he couldn’t answer.
    It was dusk by the time he made it to the first signs of the town. The first stop light on the outskirts was the first crossroad he’d seen. Far down one side he could see a farm house with the lights blazing inside. Down the other, he could see nothing but trees.
    It was growing colder, but the winter coat his father had packed away was quite warm and had a hood, so he pulled that up and zipped the coat further, stuffing his hands in the pockets.
    A few more blocks and he came to the second stoplight. There were more obvious signs of civilization now, a row of shops and restaurants, but few people came and went. Most of the shops seemed to be closed, and the restaurants seemed to be full. Fortunately, it seemed that the town was small, but not small enough where a stranger his age would immediately get stopped and questioned on the street. There was an occasional sideways glance from a couple going into a restaurant. And one old woman who had taken a coffee break from sweeping her storefront actually seemed to stare.
    He decided to get off this street, so he turned left and walked a few more blocks. The buildings became larger and more industrial looking.  There was still an office building or a storefront here or there but most of the buildings looked like warehouses. A few more blocks up, a residential neighborhood loomed. Jonah was sure he didn’t want to attempt that. Someone was bound to notice a boy out of place in their neighborhood.
    He decided to take a right and walk down another street. The sun had gone down and now he was quite cold even through the coat. He had to find somewhere to get away