The Dragon Egg Saga. Stephen Lindsay J.

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СКАЧАТЬ and stands up. Ahead of him, Karl has reached some shelving units that have been knocked over onto one another. He leans super-sword (as Clay likes to call it) against the downed shelves and rummages through all of the merchandise they’ve deposited onto the floor.

      Karl digs through piles upon piles of bags like a treasure hunter in some old movie. With each bag he tosses aside he mutters “Come on, come on.” Suddenly he stops. Both hands grip a bag and he starts to laugh wildly.

      Clay thinks he can detect just a hint of madness in that laugh and it makes him nervous. “What is it? What did you find?”

      Karl whirls around, still clutching the bag in both hands. A queer, half-mad smile lights up his face. “Underwear!”

      “Underwear? You’re jazzed about underwear? Man, you’ve lost it.”

      Karl looks at Clay, astonished that the boy doesn’t share in his enthusiasm. “I’m insane?! Clay, these are Hanes boxer briefs! Do you have any idea how hard it is to find new, clean underwear?” He spins back around and snatches up another bag. “Shit, there’s even more than one pack! It’s like Christmas fucking morning!”

      Karl piles three additional bags of the boxer briefs into his arms. They’re size 36. Four full inches down from the size 40 he was at this time last year. When he turns back to face Clay, the boy is dismayed to see that the hint of madness has not yet left the man’s face.

      “Turn around. Let me get these in your backpack.”

      Clay sighs, more than a little annoyed. His backpack has become the catchall for the group. Anything that needed carrying, he always ended up lugging it around. But what could he do? If either Karl or Melissa tried to carry the pack, it would bump and bang around, and every damn Bludden within five miles would hear them coming. So, as usual, he complies with the request and turns around.

      Karl unzips the backpack and stuffs the packages of underwear into it. He jams them down, not paying attention to how much force he is using.

      Clay winces as the straps bite into his shoulders. “Easy, man! Geez.”

      Karl zips the bag shut. “Sorry. It’s just that the prospect of slipping on some fresh new skivvies has me kinda excited.”

      Clay rolls his right shoulder, working out a kink. “Skivvies? Gross.”

      Karl picks up his sword and looks at Clay. The boy hopes that the mad looking grin still plastered across Karl’s face isn’t going to be permanent.

      “What about you, kid? You need anything? I mean, we’re here, so we might as well look.”

      Clay thinks about it for a minute, but can’t come up with anything that he needs. But that doesn’t mean he can’t come up with something that he wants.

      “I’m sure it’s probably a waste of time, but can we head over to electronics?”

      “That works for me.” Overhead, the magical light that Melissa has conjured dims slightly, wavers, and then returns to full strength. “But we better do it quick. I think we’re gonna lose the light soon.”

      Karl and Clay carefully pick their way along another debris strewn aisle of the store. To their left is the Children’s Department. While it’s most definitely a mess, it isn’t nearly as looted as other parts of the store. Beyond that is the jewelry counter. This, of course, has been smashed and emptied some time ago. It seems you can count on people not to give a shit about diapers or formula during Armageddon, but cheap watches, cubic zirconium rings, and useless diamond chip necklaces are pilfered right away.

      Just ahead of them is Electronics. One quick glance tells Clay everything he needs to know. The area is bare. Empty rows that once held countless CDs and DVDs. Broken glass cases built to hold the Microsoft Xbox and Sony Playstation games. Not a portable DVD player, flat screen TV, or pocket sized digital camera in sight.

      “Ah, shit.” Clay shakes his head, disappointed in spite of himself.

      Karl puts a hand on Clay’s shoulder. “What were you hoping to find?”

      “I dunno. Nothin’, I guess. I mean, part of me was hoping there’d be a Nintendo DS or a PSP left behind, ya know? A little entertainment every now and then would be nice.”

      “I can understand that. But don’t give up hope. I’m sure Old Man Winter will have us doing the ol’ sweep and clear on plenty more Wal-Marts. Hell, maybe even a Target or two. Let’s just hope we don’t have to go into any Kmarts.”

      Clay laughs. He knows Karl would never dare call Mayowen “Old Man Winter” to the wizard’s face, but the secrecy of the nickname seemed to make it that much funnier. He looks up at Karl, still laughing, and Karl starts to laugh, too.

      “What are you two clowns laughing at?”

      They look across the barren Electronics department and see Melissa standing on the other side, smiling at them.

      “Nothing.” Karl winks at Clay. “Just guy stuff. You wouldn’t understand. Did you find what you were looking for?”

      The smile fades from Melissa’s face. “No. Can you believe there isn’t a single box of tampons in this place? Not even a leftover maxi pad! It’s ridiculous.”

      “Bummer.” Karl rubs the back of his hand up the stubble on his face again. The gesture is quickly becoming a habit. If he’d been a poker player, it would have been considered a pretty damning tell.

      He looks at Clay, who looks back at him as if to say, You know women better than me, man. Karl tries to think of a good way to change the subject, but he doesn’t have to. The light flickers again, going out for a second before flaring back up.

      Melissa looks up at the light. “It can’t stay up there any longer. It’s going to go out, and when it does, we’re screwed.”

      Karl and Clay move across the Electronics department, subconsciously needing to be closer to her for the moment when the light does go out for good.

      “Is there anything you can do?” Clay looks at her, his eyes full of hope.

      “I can call it back, dim it to where it was before, and we can just stick close together. That way I can make it last pretty much as long as we need it.” She holds her hand, palm up, out toward the light.

      Karl nods. “Sounds good to me. Any light is better than no light.”

      “Amen to that.” Clay slips the other dagger out of its sheath, not even realizing he’s doing it. He effortlessly spins them, one in each hand.

      “Reditus.” Melissa flicks two finger of her outstretched hand in a come here gesture. The light immediately drops from where it hovers near the ceiling and returns to its place over her palm. She brings it to her lips and gently blows. A soft, blue flame spreads up from the bottom like ink spreading through a glass of water.

      “If my focus has to shift, like completely shift off of the light, I’ll lose it.” She looks first at Clay, then at Karl. “So not only do we need to stick close together, but if we should find anything that we, you know, need to fight, you’ll have to take care of it.”

      Karl grips his sword in СКАЧАТЬ