Free See Tom Run by Scott Wittenburg Page B

clear that
someone had rifled through it. He moved in between the seats and
shone the light into the rear compartment. He saw a few Freon gas
cylinders, an empty tool belt, what looked like a couple of small
air compressors and a few odds and ends. All of the items had been
cased out and shuffled around hastily, or so it appeared. Whatever
the thieves had chosen to take was anyone’s guess. If they had
taken anything at all.
    But the significant thing was what the broken store
window and truck break-in implied: someone was stalking the streets
of New York and had most likely done so since all of this lunacy
had begun. Which to Tom was a good thing.
    Could this have been the work of Kyle and Erin? he
thought. Or someone else? Tom had a feeling the answer was the
latter. It just didn’t seem likely that Kyle and Erin would blow
into town only hours ago and randomly elect to break into a store
and a truck right from the get-go. This had to be the work of
someone else. And whoever that was, he hoped to discover.
    Or did he?
    Tom realized that the mere presence of other life
forms here might not be a good thing after all. In fact, it could
make his finding Kyle and Erin that much more difficult. Maybe even
dangerous—especially if the unknown city stalkers weren’t
particularly in a hospitable mindset.
    What he didn’t need now was someone standing in the
way of his finding Erin and Kyle. His plan was to save the girl and
get the holy hell out of here pronto. His desire to stick around in
this skeleton of a city had evaporated a long time ago …
    Tom hopped out of the truck and pointed his light
down Broadway in either direction. He couldn’t see any more
vehicles within the limited range of the tiny flashlight. He
retraced his steps to Sixth Avenue and looked north and south, but
it was the same story there.
    Decision time again.
    He walked back to the Jeep, got in and stared out at
the darkness. Should he continue looking for a vehicle or stay here
and wait until daylight? The prospect of wandering too far from his
only sense of security—his faithful but flawed Jeep—wasn’t
particularly inviting. In fact, it would be foolish to even attempt
it. He was dead tired from the drive in spite of the inert
adrenalin coursing through his veins, it was dark as pitch, and his
only source of light was a piddling two-AA cell mini Mag-Lite that
was about as effective as a fart in a windstorm.
    All of this and the fact that he was scared
shitless.
    The rational thing to do was stay here in the Jeep
for the night, try to catch a few winks and resume tomorrow morning
in the daylight. At least then he could see what the hell he was
doing.
    His mind made up, Tom cracked his last bottle of
spring water, took a slug and downed a handful of cashews. Feeling
his eyelids droop for what had to be the hundredth time since this
grueling trip through hell began, he rummaged through the duffel
bag for the blanket he’d packed and spread it out over himself. He
locked the doors, pulled the recliner lever up, leaned back in the
seat and stretched his legs out until his feet were rested up
against the carpeted firewall. Within a minute he was fast
asleep.
     
     

CHAPTER 9
     
     
    Tom awoke with a start. An instant later, he heard a
crash and felt shards of glass fall into his lap. Before he could
react, he heard the click of a door lock and saw the Jeep’s
interior bathed in light as the driver’s side door suddenly swung
open.
    In an instant, huge hands clawed at his chest,
pulling him up and out of the Jeep. His heart beating like a
jackhammer, Tom could see the face of his captor in the dim light
of the Jeep. The face was young, about eighteen or so, and a grimy
gray. The boy pulled Tom onto his feet while another youth came out
of nowhere and punched him in the gut.
    “Look what we have here, mates! Another intruder to
our domain!”
    Tom crouched forward from the blow long enough for a
knee to uppercut his jaw. His head whipped backward