Domino Falls by Steven Barnes, Tananarive Due Read Free Book Online

meal, or two or three. His shoulders sagged inside too-big clothing he’d picked up who knew where, grimy enough to be his only clothes. “Take me back to my rig,” he said. “I’m hittin’ the road.”
    The Gold Shirts didn’t look surprised. Crew Cut gestured, and the man at the door stepped aside to open the door and walk him out. Apparently people had walked out of orientation before. But why walk now? Why not before the strip search? Was he bitten or somehow infected? Could the doctor have missed it?
    The stranger looked over his shoulder at the rest of them, as if in apology. “I spent six years in San Quentin. I ain’t goin’ back to prison,” he said. “No thanks.”
    The locked rooms had been the final straw.
    â€œHe won’t last out there,” Sonia whispered, saying what they were all thinking.
    He was ushered out quickly, without any attempts to change his mind. Kendra looked like she wanted to say something to him, but the door was closed in a heartbeat.
    Crew Cut shrugged. “Prison tats gave him away,” he said. “Probably never would’ve gotten past the Council, but he coulda had a couple days’ harbor. Idiot. You got a record? Keep it to yourself.”
    Terry’s heart raced, and he fought not to glance at Piranha and Darius. Good thing the town couldn’t just go to a computer and check them out. He hoped.
    Kendra slipped her hand into Terry’s, squeezing gently, sign language for Relax. He felt an impulse to pull away for reasons he didn’t understand, something to do with the eyes of so many men he didn’t know. But he held on, if only because somebody might think twice about bothering Kendra if he did. Sonia was standing close to Piranha too, and Crew Cut noted the pairings with a gleam in his eye Terry couldn’t place.
    â€œI see you kids like to play a little mix ’n’ match,” Crew Cut said, and Terry suddenly realized what he’d seen in his eyes: mockery. None of them said anything, although Terry could practically feel the wave of irritation rolling through Kendra’s hand.
    Let’s just get through the night, Terry thought.
    The chili was fresh, with what tasted like real ground beef, although there wasn’t much meat. Terry and Piranha had at least three helpings apiece. Within five minutes, Terry’s stomachhurt. Ursalina went to a recliner in the corner, covered her face with an old magazine, and was snoring softly in ninety seconds. Darius tried firing up the DVD player, but even The Hangover was too hard to watch: a time capsule to the world they’d come from. Piranha turned it off without a word.
    â€œHow about Threadrunner Apocalypse, ” Sonia said, waving a DVD over her head. “It’s not bad. It’s about—”
    Piranha rolled his eyes. “Don’t get her started,” he muttered, glancing toward the Gold Shirt watching a small TV in the kitchen.
    â€œNothing with the word Apocalypse in the title, please,” Kendra said, but Sonia had already inserted the disc, and the FBI was threatening them with fines or jail if they made copies or charged friends to watch. Sonia clicked ahead to the opening scene, which reminded Terry of The Shining. From above, a bright red sports car navigated a secluded mountain road. Seeing the road put a bad taste in Terry’s mouth. The pass ahead of the car looked like the perfect hiding place for pirates.
    Darius snatched the remote from Sonia, and the movie skipped ahead. A wild-eyed Joseph “Josey” Wales pushed a sheriff against the wall, holding him by the collar. “What if it’s your virgin daughter they take as their next offering?” Wales growled on the screen, just before Darius clicked it off. Terry was glad for the quiet.
    â€œAre you seriously a Threadie?” Dean whispered to Sonia.
    â€œMan, she can quote whole speeches,” Piranha said.
    Sonia made