THE KILLER ANGEL: Book One "Hard Player" (THE KILLER ANGEL TRILOGY 1) by Myles Stafford Page B
Authors: Myles Stafford
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from an easier, more comfortabletime. Nevertheless, I reminded myself that I was a Redstone and, hopefully one day, a Kellogg by marriage. I would never allow a tough life to force me to give up my heritage. Never.
~
Because of the warnings of old Abe, Brick and I decided to bi-pass Sacramento and stick to back roads and small towns. Passing rivers, villages, and orchards, we eventually came to an old abandoned barricade, probably put up by a nearby municipality. We had seen similar barriers before, and it had the usual script of warnings and instructions.
“Road block, I guess.”
I said with in my deepest voice, with a slow mid-west accent.
“Starman
? You’re doing
Starman
now? That goes way back.” My powerful friend said smoothly with a smile.
“Of course! You’re no source of entertainment, Brick, so I’m carrying the load for the two of us. I have an expansive repertoire, so hang on to your diaper,
Kicking Bird.”
I chirped with a clicking, sweet accent.
“Jesus,
Dances With Wolves
, too. Wow.” And we laughed, finally breaking days of deep depression with back and forth impressions from various films and television shows, now all forever in the past.
Always remembering their immense value, I proposed a distant water tower for the night’s layover, as it was ideally situated for a perfect view of what layahead and, of course, it afforded excellent protection for the night. We easily broke the gate lock and then hoisted Ben to the first level, thirty feet up.
Having eaten, comfortably situated ourselves and serviced our gear, we relaxed after dark, and soon noticed a luminescence above the trees in the distance. Brick and I climbed up much higher and sat on a landing with our feet dangling over the edge.
The elevated vantage point revealed an astonishing sight: full blown city lights. Occasionally, in our travels we had encountered road signs powered by solar cells, and those were marvelously bright wonders in this age of technological austerity. But this...an entire city?
“Wow...I did not expect that. Amazing!” I exclaimed.
“It is indeed beautiful,” noted Brick. “I never realized how comforting city lights are. Maybe the most obvious sign of civilization. Traffic signals; neon signs; billboards; I miss them all.”
“Yeah...me too.” I sighed. “Hydro-electric maybe? Surely no nuclear facility would have been left running. The glow must attract attention from many miles around. Hmmmm... maybe this mystery is one to skip. What do you think, Brick? What do we need there, even if it is properly civilized?”
“Oh yeah, I agree,” acknowledged Brick. “We don’t need the delay or the possible trouble. There must be all kinds of people - and things - attracted by those lights, circling the town day and night. I don’t see us passing through without a fight. The place could also just be aghost town, beckoning to passers-by, but with little to offer... except for air conditioning, hot showers, working microwaves, DVD players, video games, and....”
I laughed; Brick can be so funny. “Okay, okay, I get it chief
‘I live off the land’
Charbonneau. If you want to go in, then we go in, damn the torpedoes, weapons of mass destruction, and maybe vampires.”
Brick: “Only kidding. I agree with you, Nicki. Let’s skip it. Just dreaming a bit. Still, what a sight, though, eh? We may never see anything like it again.”
There was silence, then Brick added, “I would fight a horde of flesh-nibblers for a cheeseburger right now.”
I chuckled, “You just don’t give up...”
We mused over the lighted town for a long time, as Ben kept doleful, yet protective eyes on us from below.
~
The sun revealed itself at dawn with an orange horizon and waves of long, thin wispy clouds. In a world without electricity, one tends to live by the sun.
It was difficult to disengage from Ben in the morning, so warm and cozy. I was loathe to move.
“Comment ça se va, mon ami?”
Brick asked,
~
Because of the warnings of old Abe, Brick and I decided to bi-pass Sacramento and stick to back roads and small towns. Passing rivers, villages, and orchards, we eventually came to an old abandoned barricade, probably put up by a nearby municipality. We had seen similar barriers before, and it had the usual script of warnings and instructions.
“Road block, I guess.”
I said with in my deepest voice, with a slow mid-west accent.
“Starman
? You’re doing
Starman
now? That goes way back.” My powerful friend said smoothly with a smile.
“Of course! You’re no source of entertainment, Brick, so I’m carrying the load for the two of us. I have an expansive repertoire, so hang on to your diaper,
Kicking Bird.”
I chirped with a clicking, sweet accent.
“Jesus,
Dances With Wolves
, too. Wow.” And we laughed, finally breaking days of deep depression with back and forth impressions from various films and television shows, now all forever in the past.
Always remembering their immense value, I proposed a distant water tower for the night’s layover, as it was ideally situated for a perfect view of what layahead and, of course, it afforded excellent protection for the night. We easily broke the gate lock and then hoisted Ben to the first level, thirty feet up.
Having eaten, comfortably situated ourselves and serviced our gear, we relaxed after dark, and soon noticed a luminescence above the trees in the distance. Brick and I climbed up much higher and sat on a landing with our feet dangling over the edge.
The elevated vantage point revealed an astonishing sight: full blown city lights. Occasionally, in our travels we had encountered road signs powered by solar cells, and those were marvelously bright wonders in this age of technological austerity. But this...an entire city?
“Wow...I did not expect that. Amazing!” I exclaimed.
“It is indeed beautiful,” noted Brick. “I never realized how comforting city lights are. Maybe the most obvious sign of civilization. Traffic signals; neon signs; billboards; I miss them all.”
“Yeah...me too.” I sighed. “Hydro-electric maybe? Surely no nuclear facility would have been left running. The glow must attract attention from many miles around. Hmmmm... maybe this mystery is one to skip. What do you think, Brick? What do we need there, even if it is properly civilized?”
“Oh yeah, I agree,” acknowledged Brick. “We don’t need the delay or the possible trouble. There must be all kinds of people - and things - attracted by those lights, circling the town day and night. I don’t see us passing through without a fight. The place could also just be aghost town, beckoning to passers-by, but with little to offer... except for air conditioning, hot showers, working microwaves, DVD players, video games, and....”
I laughed; Brick can be so funny. “Okay, okay, I get it chief
‘I live off the land’
Charbonneau. If you want to go in, then we go in, damn the torpedoes, weapons of mass destruction, and maybe vampires.”
Brick: “Only kidding. I agree with you, Nicki. Let’s skip it. Just dreaming a bit. Still, what a sight, though, eh? We may never see anything like it again.”
There was silence, then Brick added, “I would fight a horde of flesh-nibblers for a cheeseburger right now.”
I chuckled, “You just don’t give up...”
We mused over the lighted town for a long time, as Ben kept doleful, yet protective eyes on us from below.
~
The sun revealed itself at dawn with an orange horizon and waves of long, thin wispy clouds. In a world without electricity, one tends to live by the sun.
It was difficult to disengage from Ben in the morning, so warm and cozy. I was loathe to move.
“Comment ça se va, mon ami?”
Brick asked,
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