The Clearing - DSA Season One, Book One
Page 16
Three days of solitude brought him to CBG Corp. The plant lay in the center of dense foliage, ironic considering what they processed. The other trucks sat in their bays, empty—the task complete. Ken followed suit, his body stiff from the lack of movement over the course of the week.
Ken climbed up to check that the contents remained secure. The trunks of dozens of large trees rested within. The others’ trucks had matched his at one point, all from a government site in Spring Hill, Kansas.
Dozens of questions poked to the surface. Ken swallowed them down. Visions of his check kept him satisfied. He whistled a short tune, the song he and his wife had shared at their wedding reception sixteen years earlier. Ken reached for the door to the plant, his bladder waking to the sudden movement. He rushed inside and fell back at the sight of a shadow standing within the frame.
“Whoa there,” Ken exclaimed. He removed his ballcap and mopped sweat from the brow. Cold only moments earlier, now his whole body shuddered as if feverish. “Didn’t… didn’t see you, pal.”
The figure remained silent. Ken fought to focus on the man, short and slender, however his eyes wavered. Black dots ran across the edges of his vision.
“Must be dehydrated or something,” the driver muttered. He stepped around the figure and into the plant. It was silent within, a rarity considering the constant need for lumber in the world. Ken had never been in a silent plant before. Not even during shutdown. Some background noise always remained, some personnel milling about.
Now only a single sound filled the space. A buzzing, just beyond his hearing. It grew louder with each moment. Ken’s hand pressed against his right temple, his left secure against a support beam to stay upright.
“This is a lot of timber for, what did you call it? Research purposes?”
The man circled him in silence. Sweat ran in streams down the truck driver’s cheeks.
“Hush-hush stuff, I know. Curious all the same. What do you, um, plan to do with all this?” The dizziness took him and Ken fell to his knees. His hands covered his ears, and his scream was lost to the noise filling his brain.
Then the man crouched beside him, opaque spectacles fastened tight over his eyes and a wide smile across his face. His finger let loose of the red button caught in his grip and Ken could hear again.
“You won’t need to worry about that, Mr. Bertram,” the man said. His finger clicked the button once more and Ken’s screams echoed through the otherwise silent plant. “It will be put to good use. You’ll see.”
About the Author
Lou Paduano is the author of The DSA, a conspiracy thriller series. He is also the author of the Greystone series of urban fantasy adventures including the upcoming prequel, Hammer and Anvil.
He lives in Buffalo, New York with his wife and two daughters. Sign up for his e-mail list for free content as well as updates on future releases at www.loupaduano.com.
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