Роберт Уилсон - Days Since... - Thomas - Day 758

“You’d think someone would have grabbed all this up. I mean… Why haven’t we?”

Thomas thought the same thing upon seeing the collection of books. It had become common practice to hoard them—every book had a use, even if for some it was simply burning. But with the good ones, the information was priceless. The Second Alliance had gone through great lengths to secure more and more literature throughout the region. This would be huge. This find alone might secure their promotions.

“How many of these libraries do you think still sit stacked like this?” Thomas could feel the smile stretching across his face, his imagination lumping all the pages together. He was on the verge of salivating. “Seriously, every one of the colleges on campus has its own library, and the university itself has one huge one. We’ll have to let them know about this tomorrow at the rendezvous.”

“We could use this for the Butcher’s tribute, right?”

“Probably, but I’m not looking right now. I need some damn sleep, man. I’m beat.” Thomas started pulling the seats out from the conference table. “What do you think?”

“You sleeping under there?”

“Yep.” Thomas crawled underneath the table and lay on his back. “Make sure to blow out the candles.”

James faced two chairs together, adjusting the distance for his impromptu bed. “This’ll work for me.” He went to blow out the candles, and the office fell back into darkness.

“Tommy, slow down, bud. You’re losing it.”

“I’m—I’m fine.”

“The hell if you are. Sit down. Take a drink.”

“Nothing left. I—I gave the last bit to her.”

“What! You gave her all your water?”

“Had to.”

“Look at her! She’s already fucking dead, man! Look at her!”

“No—No she’s not. She’ll make it.”

“The hell if she will. If we don’t make it, she don’t make it. Tommy, we gotta leave her, man.”

“I got her.”

“Leave her.”

“I have her, damn it!”

“Sit down! You’re a damn mess.”

“Okay, let’s figure this out. Which way do we go? James… I don’t recognize this.”

“What do you mean, ‘you don’t recognize shit’? It’s the damn desert.”

“How long do you think we’ve been walking?”

“Long enough. Focus, Tommy. We leave her here or we die.”

“I won’t leave her!”

“Give her here, Ricard!”

“No! Get the fuck off her!”

“Get over here! Now! Get over here!”

“Give her back!”

“Look that way, girl. That’s right.”

“James, no!”

“Just walk that way. Go!”

“Don’t shoot her! Run!”

“Run, little girl! Run! Run!

“No! We can still save her.”

“Shut up, Tommy! I’m getting us the fuck out of here.”

“No, please come back! Quit pointing it at her!”

“Stay here. Take my water. I’m finding us what we need to get out of here.”

“Fuck you. Now, she’s definitely dead. You can’t take that back. What the hell’s wrong with you?”

“Someday you’ll appreciate this when we’re back home. Away from Almawt. Away from all this war.

“Thomas…” James shook him. “Wake up. Someone’s here.”

“What?” Thomas pushed his hand away. “Get off me.”

James shushed him, then whispered, “Someone’s in the library.”

“What?” Thomas’s frustration rose, clearly disoriented, unable to process what was really happening.

James spoke slower, firm, but low. “There is somebody in the library with us. I don’t know who it is, but they might be here to kill us.”

The words finally sank in, and Thomas snapped to, but a feeling of dread passed through his body. Shit! His instincts took over. He rolled from under the table, withdrew his pistol from its holster, and took a position of concealment next to James. “How many did you see?”

“Don’t know. I heard some glass break and a few books fall out there, but haven’t heard anything else.” James took hold of Thomas’s arm and helped to orient him within the room. “There’s a light.”

Thomas could see it in between the bookcases toward the front of the library. A dim light, probably a lantern, swung as it floated down the aisles like an apparition. Slowly. Calm. Unfortunately, it provided very little information other than that someone was there. The shadow was ambiguous as to who held it—the projection against the wall cast the person as a giant.

“I would think it’s only one, right?” Thomas leaned in toward James, leaving the words only to his ears. “What do you think?”

“That’s all I’ve seen. No other shadows. What do we do?”

“We’ll take him. If it’s one of the Butcher’s men, the Intel will be worth it.”

“If it’s not one his?”

“We’ll figure it out—can’t let this opportunity slip away. Stay close. No lights from us.” Thomas moved toward the door to the stacks and could feel James at his six. “We’ll use his light against him. That guy can’t point it, so we should be able to sneak up on him, but remember“—Thomas swallowed—“unless we have to, don’t use your gun. We don’t want to alert the camp.”

James tapped him on the shoulder, acknowledging his statement and letting him know he was ready. Thomas unlocked the door and slowly pulled it inward. He stood and moved into a corner to their left. From there, he could see the lantern shining periodically between the spaces in the shelving as it moved. Thud! Another book fell. This guy’s not being too careful. No idea we’re here. Thomas closed his eyes and tried to recreate the layout of the library in his mind. Of course it had been years since he was last here, but the state of the office left little doubt that the main portion of the library sat unaltered.

He moved through it in his head. Round tables and single work stations in the middle. Most of the bookshelves run parallel to the wall… maybe four deep? Where he is runs the opposite way. “This way.” He tugged James toward the outside wall, leading them down that last row of bookshelves.

They monitored the lantern as it continued its way along the front wall opposite the office they had exited. Thomas could feel James’s hand at his back as they moved—Thomas forward, James watching behind—both of their pistols drawn.

The two moved through the darkness as one, working as this single entity ready to neutralize an intruder. Along the perimeter, they proceeded with light, quick steps. Closer and closer to the lantern they came. They crouched down at the cap to the aisle, ready to turn the corner and engage the man with the light. Just a quick glance— Damn!— Thomas stumbled back into James.

The lantern sat unattended. In his haste, Thomas failed to realize the light stopped moving. He grabbed James and forced him to look then bolted round the next bookcase. Doing their best to keep from the light, they took to the opposite side of the stacks, taking a defensive posture as they assessed the situation.

“What do we do now?” James forced a whisper.

Thomas responded by pulling James with him toward the back of the library. If only they could get back to the office and regroup—disengage from this mistake, make a plan then follow through. Even if it meant retreating back up through the hatch, it wasn’t worth getting ambushed in the dark. They had lost the advantage. It was time to acknowledge that and respond.