Free Descent07 - Paradise Damned by S M Reine Page B

for drills soon, so Anthony took the opportunity to duck inside for a drink of water. Leticia cooked breakfast, Debora still fast asleep on her shoulder as she banged around the kitchen in search of a clean skillet.
    “Grab the milk, Tony,” she said. “How was your run this morning?”
    He pulled the carton out of the refrigerator. “It was good.”
    “You know, if I didn’t have to feed the kids, I wouldn’t willingly wake up at three in the morning to go frolicking around the desert.” Leticia filled a bottle with milk, balancing the baby on her hip so that she could use both hands. A spot of drool was spreading over her chest. “I’d be sleeping.”
    “Guess I’m stupid,” Anthony said.
    “I’m just saying, if you want to be up that early, maybe you could try watching Dana’s pre-dawn episode of Caillou with her sometimes so I can actually sleep.” She shrugged. “Just a thought.”
    Anthony grimaced. “I’ll take it under advisement.”
    He grabbed a donut out of the box on the counter and went outside again before she could suggest more babysitting. Anthony had been living with the McIntyres for three months now. He did his fair share of watching Dana, whether or not he wanted to, and even played with Debora sometimes. But when Lucas approached him to ask if Anthony wanted to be his new trainee, he hadn’t mentioned midnight wakings as part of the arrangement.
    Still, he kept an eye on Dana while he ate his cruller, brushing crumbs off of his lap.
    His phone rang again in his pocket. The same unknown number that had been calling him earlier was giving it a second try. He hung up again.
    “What do you got?” Dana asked.
    “It’s a donut.”
    “Give me some,” she said.
    Anthony grudgingly ripped off a piece and she took it with dirt-caked fingers, jamming the entire thing in her face at once.
    Lucas stepped outside and sat next to Anthony, already wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt. “You’re not eating a donut for breakfast, are you, pumpkin?” he asked, setting a pair of sneakers on the step below him.
    Dana grinned. There was frosting between her teeth.
    “It’s a glycogen refuel,” Anthony said. He handed her another piece.
    “Oh, well, that’s different.” Lucas pulled his daughter toward him and planted a kiss on her head. “You’re not wearing sunblock. Get inside.”
    She rolled her eyes, but obeyed. Anthony sneaked the last bite of his cruller to her before she left.
    “It looks like there’s been activity near the mines northeast of here,” Anthony said, wiping his hands on his sweats. “I saw tracks while I was out jogging. I’m not sure what kind—maybe more spider-demons?”
    Lucas glanced over his shoulder, as if to make sure his daughter was out of earshot. Satisfied, he said, “Fuck that.”
    “Well, maybe they were big coyotes.”
    “Eight-legged coyotes?”
    Anthony shrugged. “I’ll take a closer look tonight.”
    Lucas’s response was interrupted by Anthony’s phone ringing again. Maybe it was his imagination, but Anthony thought that it sounded more insistent this time.
    He checked the number. It had changed. The area code was 775—northern Nevada.
    “Hang on,” Anthony said, walking around the end of the trailer so that he could answer it in privacy. “Hello?”
    The other end of the line crackled. The voice that came through was distant, echoing. “Hey, Anthony. It’s Benjamin. How are you?”
    “Fine,” he said cautiously, trying to think of which Benjamin might have been calling him from the Reno area. He had known a couple of Benjamins before he’d dropped out of UNR, but they had all evacuated in the demon apocalypse, and none of them would have had his new number anyway.
    This Benjamin apparently knew that Anthony was confused. He said, “Benjamin Flynn. Remember?”
    Anthony suddenly forgot how to stand. His shoulder thudded into the sun-warmed wall of the trailer, and a cat shot out from under the floor to dart away.
    He did remember