Under a Broken Sun by Kevin P. Sheridan Read Free Book Online Page A

I knew the guy was dead.  He couldn't have been dead long - must’ve died from a heart attack or something, because he looked like he was frozen in shock.  And in this heat, nothing was frozen. 
    I knelt down to get a good look, and caught a whiff of something I wish I hadn’t: the guy had crapped his pants, probably after he died.  Which means in the not-too-distant future things were about to get really foul-smelling around here.  I looked up at the girls, and behind them, through the front window, I saw a cop looking in.  Busted.  I killed the torch, but that just smoked up the place.  We had to move.
    I whispered “down!” and the girls shot down to a crouch, looking around for what I saw.  I motioned for them to come over to me, which meant stepping over the dead guy.  Marilyn – no problem.  Ashley?  She took her own sweet time.  The cop stood in front of the shattered door.
    “Hello?” he shouted.
    I grabbed Marilyn’s hand and duck-walked down the side aisle all the way to the back.  The cop had no flashlight, but it didn't take a lighter to see the body on the floor.  We had to get out, but I couldn’t see an exit.  We ran, still crouching, to the pharmacy.  Up front the cop rushed back to the door and shouted out a name; “Frank” or something.  My eyes had adjusted by now, and I could see a little better in the dark. 
    Marilyn tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to a swinging door with a small square window in it.  That had to be the back storeroom.  I grabbed Marilyn’s hand and pulled her along.  I assumed she took Ashley’s. 
    The light completely disappeared in the storeroom.  I felt a desk in front of me, and I could smell a bathroom, but other than that; nothing.
    I thought of our orientation.  The main entry was to my left.  The rear door we saw in the alley then had to be to my right. 
    I had to move, but with care.  I had no idea what kind of shit we’d run into back there.  I heard a squeak to my right followed by a scurry of little feet.  A fucking rat.  I’d take the chance of running into something with my forehead over the chance of a rat snuggling up to me.  I stood up and with arms outstretched in front moved slowly to my right.  If someone switched a light on then I’d probably look like Frankenstein.  One wrong turn and I could knock something over, alert the cops, and fuck us all up. 
     
    We made it to the corner near what felt like the emergency exit.  I opened the door a little, spilling a thread of light into the room.  I peeked outside, then turned to make sure the other two were still behind me.  I saw Ashley, but no Marilyn.  I opened the door further and pushed Ashley outside.  “Wait out here,” I said.  “Don’t make a sound.”
    I propped the door open a crack with a rock nearby, and went back into the darkness.  “Marilyn,” I whispered.  “Hey, where are you?”  I heard sniffling coming from my left, and went over to her.  Reaching out with my arms I felt my hand brush against her hair.  “I'm ok,” she said, “Give me your hand.”  I felt her shoulder and slid my hand down her arm to find her hand.  My fingers slid over warm and sticky liquid.  I knew blood when I felt it.  She inhaled sharply as I passed over it.
    I found her hand.  “C’mon.”  A light tug and she started following me, her hand shaking in mine.  I followed the light to the door and led her outside.
    Her left arm showed the mess of red streaks of cuts.
    “Oh my God,” Ashley said when she saw the blood.  “What the hell happened?”
    She didn’t understand.  She probably would never understand.  I dropped the bag to the ground and fished out a roll of gauze, tape and antibiotic cream.  I dabbed off the blood.  “I'm fine,” Marilyn told Ashley.  “I'll be fine.”
    “What happened?” Ashley asked me.
    “She cut herself. She said she’s fine.”
    Ashley looked deeper at the cut.  “She cut herself?  Like on