Todd by Adam J Nicolai Read Free Book Online Page B

of the sporadic lightning
flashes, Alan saw another tree had come down, this one bulging through the
living room windows. It had claimed the TV—an old standard-definition—and one
of the arm chairs, but the wall was bearing weight. When the flicker of
lightning ended, Alan held onto the afterimage as long as he could, painting it
over the darkness.
    "Okay. We're gonna go into
the kitchen, try to find some light or some food. All right?"
    "Okay."
    "But there's broken glass all
over the floor, and who knows what else, so you have to be careful. No running,
no being crazy." Something occurred to him. "Do you still have both
your shoes on?"
    Todd reached down to feel his
feet—it was the kind of quirky, disconnected behavior his teachers always
commented on at conference time. "Yeah."
    "All right. Walk slow. Try
not to lift your feet. Just kind of... shuffle, along the floor."
    "Like walking on ice?"
    "Yes!" Perfect.
"Just like that."
    Alan led them shuffling into the
dark, feeling along the wall with one hand. When the floor changed from the
scruff of carpet to the squeak of linoleum, he knelt and felt carefully for
broken glass. There was a lot less.
    "Okay. We need to find a
flashlight. Try to feel for drawers or—"
    Click. A light flared on.
Todd was holding a flashlight, his face split in a giant grin.
    "Where was that?" Alan
said, boggling.
    "It was on the wall!"
Todd squealed. "I just felt along the wall and there was a nail and it was
hanging right there! "
    "Nice!" Alan cried, and
Todd squealed again, bouncing up and down, eyes dancing: " Eeeeeeeeeeeee ! "
    "All right," Alan
laughed. "All right. Nice!" He held out his hand. "Can I hold
it?"
    "Sure!"
    Alan took the flashlight, and
suddenly everything felt possible. They'd lived through the storm. They'd made
it to the other side of the river, hopefully leaving the fire behind. They were
in the Twin Cities suburbs, surrounded by grocery stores and generators and
food. They would survive this.
    "Great," he said.
"Nice job, pal."
    "I just felt and it was right
there, I couldn't believe it!"
    "That is fantastic. Here,
come on, let's see if we can find you one."
    Turned out there was another one,
hanging near the back door. In Todd's hands it became an instant counterpoint to
the steady, searching beam from Alan's, lurching and leaping over the walls
like a lemur in the trees.
    The kitchen was old—peeling
laminate countertops and a single rusting sink—but the pantry was stocked, and
the fridge was still cool. Todd grabbed some cheese sticks and crackers while
Alan pulled out the cold lunch meat and some carrots, then hunted down some
bread. There were grocery bags jammed in next to the fridge; Alan loaded up two
of them.
    "All right. Let's go upstairs
and look for a place to sit down and eat."
    They shuffled back through the
living room—a little faster this time; it was easier with the flashlights—and
made their way upstairs, the wooden stairs creaking. Alan had started thinking
of the homeowners as an older couple, maybe retired. They'd been nice people,
he thought, who would've appreciated their food not going to waste.
    Alan and Todd had a 1 AM dinner
sitting on their bedroom floor, the light of one flashlight presiding from the
bed. Alan made Todd eat some carrots, and wondered how much longer he'd be able
to find them. They'd start rotting in a couple weeks, at the most—but then
again, how hard could it be to grow some carrots for two people? I'm no
Robinson Crusoe, but even I can probably manage that.
    "Dad."
    "Yeah."
    "I think I lost Vegatron when
we were running. I had him but now he's just disappeared."
    You're worried about your
stupid toy? You should be happy to be alive. Asshole Alan was always ready
with a remark, but for once, Alan recognized that the voice wasn't really his.
It was his dad's. "That's all right." He chewed, swallowed, tried to
think of the opposite of what his own father might say. "Just think. All
the toys in the city are basically