When a couple argues outside, under the eyes of God, it has a sweet quietness. I went to the window that faced the barn. Rita was yelling. David was up on a ladder. Rita threw a brush and it fell short. Her left arm was in a sling. They had started painting the far end of the barn and almost had it finished. The yelling turned to laughter, and David cli…

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The elevator opened to a staff hallway. It smelled of vinegar and bleach. I ran, following the fire exit signs. I found a door, and came out into an alley.

I moved toward the street. I saw Ramone and Lalli crossing. He had his gun in one hand, and held the bin over his head with the other. Lalli looked up at the Descartes. Her shoe broke on the wet pavem…

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The service elevator was original to the building, a mesh cage that moved in hiccups. I counted doors as they passed. I could hear the rain pelting the side of the building. It sounded like hail.

I had never moved so slow. I considered getting off and finding the stairs but I knew thirty floors would kick my ass.

Something in my pants began to shake. I st…

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The door opened.

“Who the hell are you?” The man was in an evening suit, pressed and freshly cleaned. His breath stank of Islay.

“David York?” I asked. “Rita is in the hospital.”

The color drained from his face. He shuffled aside.

The apartment was minimalist. It was out of place in the old wonder of the Descartes. A gray couch and gray coffee table on a gr…

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The rig didn’t fit into the hospital drive through, so I had to drag Rita out of the cab, through the rushing creek of a street, and up onto the concrete sidewalk.

The automatic doors opened.

I pulled Rita through and laid her on the floor mat. The woman at the desk stood up and yelled. I was back into the dark rain.

I got in the truck as a scream came fro…

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The trucker’s name was Dennis, and he drove a bulldog. The Mack ripped past the charred corpse of the German auto. I watched it fade to nothing in the side mirror. The semi punched through the rain. I kept an eye out for a tail, but didn’t see anyone.

Rita moaned on the driver’s cot. I wrapped her arm tight with the driver’s soiled sheets, tying a tourni…

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I drove with my hood pulled tight to my face. The one headlight struggled in the darkness. Steam leaked. The engine temp was pinned to red. Rita stayed on the floor. Her face was illuminated.

“How is there still no signal,” she whispered. “I can’t call for help.”

“The new frequencies require a tower every mile. The nearest one is two counties over.”

“How d…

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I led Rita to my barn. She said her car was gas. I bet that I could get her car moving with some fuel and a jump. I opened the big door and started my ’87 GMC. It was two shades of brown, 4x4, and had a five-gallon jerry can strapped in the bed. I flipped the switch for the headlights. Rita looked at the dashboard like it was alien. I rolled the truck o…

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The weather vane screamed, twisting in the summer wind. Beneath it was a kitchen, a bedroom, a bathroom, a living area, and me, holding a glass of whiskeyed ice.

There was no rain yet outside. Lighting seared. I could see across road to the field. My only neighbors were corn.

I listened to the twisting rooster. I bet I could grease the bastard before the …

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