After the Fall: Jason's Tale by David E. Nees Read Free Book Online

pointed towards Jason.
    Jason quickly slithered back down the slope. He could hear
them running towards him. Where to go? He couldn’t get away burdened with his
pack and travois, so he left them hidden .
    He had to lead them away from his gear, so he quickly ran
east, through some of the yards, away from the road. He heard a shout as he
bolted between houses. He was seen. Now he needed speed. He ran across the next
street. On the other side there was an older house, the original property from
which the small subdivision had been created. He sprinted for it. As he rounded
the corner of the house he saw an old wooden shed in the back yard. The urge to
hide was overwhelming. The shed door was ajar. There was a hasp with a lock
left on the loop. Jason ran to the shed and, after closing the door, reached
through a hole in the siding to slip the lock on the hasp.
    He had just locked himself in. Panic rose. What had he done?
He had hidden himself, but he had also trapped himself. They won’t think I’m
in here if the door’s locked. If I’m quiet they’ll stop searching. Jason
put his eye close to a small hole in the siding and looked out.
    The men came around the side of the house and stopped running.
    “I saw him cross the street, somewhere around here.” One of
them said. “He can’t be far.” There was a wild energy in his voice.
    “See any prints?”
    “No, the ground’s too hard.”
    “Why are we bothering?” another asked, puffing from the
effort of their run.
    “He was checking us out with binoculars. He wasn’t just
another scavenger.”
    “You think he’s got some supplies?”
    “I don’t know what he’s got, or who he’s with. He may be
part of a gang. He could be trouble. We need to find him.” This was the leader
talking.
    “I’ll check the house. See if he broke in.” Another said.
    Jason watched through his peep hole. The men had a wild look
in their eyes, inflamed by the excitement of the chase. They were fierce
looking. There would be no negotiating if they found him. He shrank back to the
darkest corner of the shed, listening to the discussion going on outside. He
heard someone approach the shed.
    “I wonder if he’s in here.” The speaker tried the lock on
the door.
    “It’s locked, ain’t it?” the leader called out.
    “Yeah, but something’s not right. He just didn’t disappear.
We saw him come this way and now…no sign of him.” He began a careful walk
around the shed, like a dog hunting for a scent. Jason was sweating in spite of
the cold day. He muffled his breathing in his arm, forcing himself to breathe
slowly though his body was screaming for more oxygen. As the man came by the
wall near Jason, he held his breath. Once past, Jason opened his mouth and
slowly breathed into his sleeve again.
    “Gone to ground,” another chimed in.
    “The house is closed; he didn’t go in.”
    “He’s either in one of these houses, or he got to that patch
of woods.” The leader pointed to a small patch of woods at the back of the
large lot the old house sat on. “From there he could sneak off in any
direction.”
    “I didn’t hear him going through the woods.” The man near
the shed declared.
    “How the hell would you with all the talking we’ve been
doing?”
    “And who’s to blame for that?”
    “Stuff it. If push comes to shove, I’ll make you take the
blame for it.”
    “So what do we do now?” asked the man who was short on
breath and not looking for more running.
    “Check the two houses next to this one; if he’s not in them,
we go back, finish what we were doing and head back downtown.”
    The group dispersed to search the nearby houses. Jason lay
back and took large gulps of air, like a man coming up from near drowning. His
heart raced, his head pounded. He just lay there, exhausted from the chase and
the fear that flooded him. Long after the men left, long after the sun went
down, Jason finally stirred.
    He wondered about his resolve. He had killed in the