Read Online Eldorado by Jay Allan Storey - Free Book Online Page A

you. Don’t you get lonely?”
    “No – I go hunting and gather the food, collect firewood, keep the fire going, cook the meals – there’s always something to do…”
    “But you don’t have anybody to talk to…” said Danny. Suddenly his strength seemed to drain away. He lay down with his head propped up on a pillow.
    “Is something wrong?” she said.
    “Just a little shaky – and tired. It’s unbelievable. Just talking to you for a few minutes wiped me right out.”
    “I think you’re lucky to be alive. You’ve been sleeping off and on for two days.”
    “What?” said Danny, suddenly awake. “That's not possible!”
    He tried to raise himself up in bed. “I gotta get back. I got business to take care of.” He immediately fell back down.
    “You're too weak to do anything right now. Get some rest. Maybe you'll feel stronger tomorrow.”
    “You don't understand,” he whispered, his voice trembling. “It's not like here. There’s stuff I gotta do…” Once again he tried to rise, but collapsed, and within minutes was asleep.
    Lacy smiled. She adjusted the blanket on his sleeping body, gently repositioned his head on the pillow, and brushed back his hair.
    Already an idea was forming in her mind.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Lost in Suburbia
     
    Richard was drowning under a wave of despair. Lost, alone, paralyzed with fear, he replayed the horror of Keller’s shooting in his mind. Not only did he grieve for his uncle, but Keller was to be his guide – the only one with the knowledge and experience to get him to King George alive. Keller – stand-in father to him and Danny since their own father died and one of his best friends, was probably dead – murdered before they had even begun their search.
    By force of will he calmed himself and examined his surroundings. He stood at the edge of an open expanse almost entirely covered with tall grass about three feet high. The sun was rising and the air was heating up. The space immediately around him was empty, but in what he judged to be the northeast corner stood the crumbling remains of several buildings. Only the jagged remnants of their concrete walls showed, jutting out of the earth like rows of broken teeth, wildly overgrown with vines and brush. It was as if the vegetation was devouring the ancient bones of the structures, drawing them into the ground and toward oblivion.
    A wall of dense underbrush surrounded the field, and in the distance oak and poplar trees clawed and thrust threateningly into the sky. The grass around his feet was so thick he could see almost nothing. He decided he wasn’t safe in this place.
    Crouching down again, he pulled out the map he’d sketched based on the entries in Danny's journal and traced his finger along the red line marking the Sky-train route.
    The dot at the very end marked his goal – the hub that once pumped fifty thousand passengers daily into the heart of Surrey – King George Sky-train station. Steeling himself he took off and headed north, keeping low to let the grass act as some measure of cover.
    He guessed that the Sky-train line would be about a mile from his current position. The elevated track averaged about thirty feet above the ground, so he should be able to see it from here, but the swath of trees ahead would block his view until he got closer. Once he had the track in view, he could simply follow it until he hit King George – the end of the line.
    There were no discernible trails, but the terrain was flat, so for the most part the going was easy. The ground under his feet was strangely hard and uneven. When he bent down and pulled aside the layer of grass, he could see that long ago this space must have been covered with asphalt.
    He hiked for half an hour, and to his relief saw no-one. Finally, as he emerged from a clump of trees he smiled. The monolithic columns of the Sky-train line towered over the surrounding undergrowth. They reminded him eerily of pictures he'd seen of Stonehenge in