to—”
Smiling as he shook his head, Ram said, “I’m not asking, Andy.” When he saw that they were going to get out, Ram turned and went back to the patrol car and knocked on Burkett’s window, then opened the door a crack. “Can you step out here for a second, Olivia?”
He stepped aside and she pushed the door all the way open. As she got out of the car, Ram took his gun from its holster, leveled it with the back of her head and fired.
The crack of the gun sounded thick and insulated in the wind and rain.
Deputy Olivia Burkett fell forward, hit the car door, then collapsed to the ground.
Ram looked across the road at Andy and Donny standing beside the SUV, gawking at him.
“C’mon, chop-chop!” Ram shouted. “Get in the car!”
He bent down and grabbed Burkett’s hair and dragged her away from the open door. He looked across the road again and saw that they were still standing there.
Ram hefted the gun in his hand and said, “Am I gonna have to come over there and get you?”
Andy put a hand on the back of Donny’s head and they started toward Ram and the patrol car.
9
At eighteen minutes after one on Saturday morning, the town of Eureka, California, was dark. Normally a bed of diamonds at night on the dark Pacific coast, it now seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth.
A storm was still raging, but it was no longer the destructive force that had passed through town that night.
The only lights were those of emergency vehicles trying to make their way through the storm and the damage it had done—flooded roads, fallen trees and power poles, piles of rubble. Some roads that weren’t flooded were piled with debris—the remains of homes, entire mobile homes, even some small vehicles, as well as trees and power poles had become roadblocks that resembled giant beaver dams.
The tree that had fallen on the dark front of the long-abandoned Springmeier Neuropsychiatric Hospital had crushed the reception area with its three-story-tall vaulted ceiling. But the damage continued to spread well after the tree had fallen.
Eddie Loomis had been crawling slowly through the water and mud toward the spot where they’d entered the grounds. He knew they would return to that fence when they were done, and he wanted to be there. Each time he used his hands and left leg to pull and push himself forward, the movement sent jolts of hot electricity through his right leg. He clenched his teeth and let the pain out as a big breath with a little groan behind it. Then he would have to rest a bit and recover from that before doing it again.
As he made that painful journey across the flooded parking lot, Eddie kept hearing sounds inside the building. He still wore his night-vision goggles and each time he looked over at the building, something was collapsing. Wood crunched and glass shattered.
But those sounds were overwhelmed by the pain in Eddie’s leg, pain that chewed through him like fangs. He tried to ignore everything else and focus on getting to that fence.
Emilio grabbed Fara and pulled her back into the office as the flaming screamer ran by, close enough for her to feel heat radiating from the flames. He shoved her farther into the office and ran out again, hurrying across the corridor.
Fara remembered the fire extinguisher hanging on the wall across the way. She went to the open door—Ollie’s two men stood just behind her—and watched Emilio run to the flames. Ollie shoved his way to the door and stood beside her. The person had fallen to the floor. Emilio sprayed the flames with the extinguisher, moving the nozzle back and forth to cover the burning body. The flames flickered in the billowing white cloud, but not for long.
Screams came from the main corridor and Fara and Ollie turned their heads toward it. The beam of Ollie’s headlamp illuminated the corridor for a surprising distance, but it still ended at a wall of darkness. Another burning person ran down the main corridor,
Smiling as he shook his head, Ram said, “I’m not asking, Andy.” When he saw that they were going to get out, Ram turned and went back to the patrol car and knocked on Burkett’s window, then opened the door a crack. “Can you step out here for a second, Olivia?”
He stepped aside and she pushed the door all the way open. As she got out of the car, Ram took his gun from its holster, leveled it with the back of her head and fired.
The crack of the gun sounded thick and insulated in the wind and rain.
Deputy Olivia Burkett fell forward, hit the car door, then collapsed to the ground.
Ram looked across the road at Andy and Donny standing beside the SUV, gawking at him.
“C’mon, chop-chop!” Ram shouted. “Get in the car!”
He bent down and grabbed Burkett’s hair and dragged her away from the open door. He looked across the road again and saw that they were still standing there.
Ram hefted the gun in his hand and said, “Am I gonna have to come over there and get you?”
Andy put a hand on the back of Donny’s head and they started toward Ram and the patrol car.
9
At eighteen minutes after one on Saturday morning, the town of Eureka, California, was dark. Normally a bed of diamonds at night on the dark Pacific coast, it now seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth.
A storm was still raging, but it was no longer the destructive force that had passed through town that night.
The only lights were those of emergency vehicles trying to make their way through the storm and the damage it had done—flooded roads, fallen trees and power poles, piles of rubble. Some roads that weren’t flooded were piled with debris—the remains of homes, entire mobile homes, even some small vehicles, as well as trees and power poles had become roadblocks that resembled giant beaver dams.
The tree that had fallen on the dark front of the long-abandoned Springmeier Neuropsychiatric Hospital had crushed the reception area with its three-story-tall vaulted ceiling. But the damage continued to spread well after the tree had fallen.
Eddie Loomis had been crawling slowly through the water and mud toward the spot where they’d entered the grounds. He knew they would return to that fence when they were done, and he wanted to be there. Each time he used his hands and left leg to pull and push himself forward, the movement sent jolts of hot electricity through his right leg. He clenched his teeth and let the pain out as a big breath with a little groan behind it. Then he would have to rest a bit and recover from that before doing it again.
As he made that painful journey across the flooded parking lot, Eddie kept hearing sounds inside the building. He still wore his night-vision goggles and each time he looked over at the building, something was collapsing. Wood crunched and glass shattered.
But those sounds were overwhelmed by the pain in Eddie’s leg, pain that chewed through him like fangs. He tried to ignore everything else and focus on getting to that fence.
Emilio grabbed Fara and pulled her back into the office as the flaming screamer ran by, close enough for her to feel heat radiating from the flames. He shoved her farther into the office and ran out again, hurrying across the corridor.
Fara remembered the fire extinguisher hanging on the wall across the way. She went to the open door—Ollie’s two men stood just behind her—and watched Emilio run to the flames. Ollie shoved his way to the door and stood beside her. The person had fallen to the floor. Emilio sprayed the flames with the extinguisher, moving the nozzle back and forth to cover the burning body. The flames flickered in the billowing white cloud, but not for long.
Screams came from the main corridor and Fara and Ollie turned their heads toward it. The beam of Ollie’s headlamp illuminated the corridor for a surprising distance, but it still ended at a wall of darkness. Another burning person ran down the main corridor,
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