Page 111 (1/2)

… and a body.

A b.l.o.o.d.y mess of a body, a man, still wearing a black suit, facedown, arms spread out across blood-streaked carpet. His head looked dented, smashed and cracked beneath a wet mop of black hair. In front of him lay a folded metal chair, the side of the seat streaked with blood and matted with bits of that same hair.

Cooper heard the door quietly close behind him.

“We have to hide,” the girl said. “Fast, they’re coming.”

He heard noises outside the door, had images of a horde of villagers storming down some gothic German street, torches raised high as they came to kill the monster — except he was the monster they wanted dead.

Hide? There wasn’t any place to hide. He was in a hotel conference room.

“Please,” the girl said. “I … can’t stand. Help me.”

He turned to look at her. So pale. The pistol hung heavy in her grip, as if it was all she could do to keep it from falling to the floor.

So easy to take it from her …

He pushed the thought away, moved to the back of the room. He tipped two of the round tables on their edges, tops facing the door. Tablecloths fell into wrinkled piles. The tables’ metal legs kept the round tops from rolling.

The end of the world had come, and his defense against the boogeymen was a child’s fort.

He rushed back to the woman. “Come on,” he whispered. “We can lie back here. If they do open the door, maybe they won’t see us and they’ll move on.”

He helped her walk behind the tables.

She stared down at them doubtfully. “This is the best you can do?”

“I left my army tank in my other pants.”

He helped ease her down gently. As soon as she sat, he saw her relax, the last of her fight slipping away.

The girl looked at him through half-lidded eyes. She whispered: “What’s your name?”

“Cooper,” he whispered back. “Yours?”

“Sofia.”

“That’s a s.e.xy name.”

He gave his head a sharp shake. What the h.e.l.l was he doing? Was he hitting on this girl? Now? Or maybe it was a nervous thing, an impulse to make this insanity feel at least a tiny bit normal.

“That’s funny,” she said, “I don’t feel all that s.e.xy right now.”

The noises outside the room grew louder. Whoever it was, they were coming close. It wasn’t just the sound of people talking loudly — Cooper heard doors opening.

Sofia lifted the gun again, but this time b.u.t.t-first. She offered him the handle.

He took it. His hand slid around the grip, his finger felt the cool rea.s.surance of the trigger.

The room’s lights went out — the sensor that detected motion didn’t pick up their movements from behind the tables.

Cooper made himself as small as he could. Gun in hand, he waited.