Page 24 (1/2)

She hadn’t knohere I hen she had stood here shouting, had not knoith certainty that I could hear her But she had told me the truth about her plan: no search, just patience, counting on a chilling kind of kismet

FORTY-EIGHT

WITH THE STAIRS AND ELEVATOR SHAFT OFF-LIMITS, I had only those resources that the twelfth floor offered

I thought of the kilo of gelignite, or whatever they called it these days A quantity of explosives that could reduce a large house tofellow as desperate as I was

Although I’d received no training in the handling of explosives, I had the benefit of paranorotten ht get me out

I also had that can-do American spirit, which should never be underesti to the history I’ve learned fro around with some cans and wire, invented the telephone, with the help of his assistant Watson, as also an associate of Sherlock Hol the scorn and naysaying of lesserof a rereat Araph, the first sounda slew of other things, also in ninety e, Tom Edison looked like Mickey Rooney, had invented a number of clever devices, and already exhibited the self-confidence to ignore the negativism of the naysayers Edison, Mickey Rooney, and I were all A the coether a useful weapon

Besides, I didn’t see any other prospects

After slinking along theinto Room 1242, where Danny had been held captive, I switched on ht and discovered that Datura had taken away the package of explosives Maybe she didn’t want it to fall into my hands or maybe she had a use for it, or perhaps she just wanted it for senti on what use she ht andday, I exaainst the bathroohtened I would have been heartened if it had presented a logo, a recognizable iless blue-and-yellow its, Chief Porter’s mobile number, but they did not appear on the screen I pressed send and listened Nothing

Had I lived a century earlier, I ht have fiddled with scraps of this and that until, in the can-do spirit, I jury-rigged a nifty cos were more complicated these days Even Edison could not have, on the spot, tinkered up a new microchip brain board

Disappointed by Rooht penetrated from the rooms with open doors than had been the case even half an hour earlier The hallould go dark at least an hour before dusk actually arrived

Although plagued by the creepy feeling of being watched, though visibility was so poor that I couldn’t dis the flashlight while in the corridor Andre and Datura had guns; the light would et

Inside each room that I explored, once I closed the door behind ht I had searched so for a hidey-hole in which to stash Danny I had not found in them what I wanted then; and I didn’t find what I needed now

Deep down, in that coziest corner of the heart, where a belief in miracles abides even in the darkest hours, I expected to stuuest’s suitcase in which would be packed a loaded pistol Although a handgun would have been acceptable, I preferred to discover a freight elevator isolated fro to the kitchen on the ground floor

Eventually I discovered a service closet about ten feet deep and fourteen wide Cleaning supplies, bars of guest soap, and spare lightbulbs stocked the shelves Vacuum sweepers, buckets, and mops were tumbled on the floor

The sprinkler system that had failed elsewhere appeared to have overperformed here, or perhaps a water line had burst Part of the ceiling had collapsed; and swags of Sheetrock, obviously once waterlogged, drooped into the rooes of the void

I quickly inventoried the items on the shelves Bleach, ammonia, and other common household products can be combined in ways that produce explosives, anesthetics, blistering agents, sases Unfortunately, I didn’t know any of those for that I frequently find myself in a patch of trouble and that I’myself in the arts of destruction and assassination The Internet provides a wealth of such information for the earnest autodidact And these days, serious universities offer courses if not entire programs in the philosophy of anarchy and its practical application

When it co a slacker I’d rather perfect my pancake batter than coas I’d rather read an Ozzie Boone novel than spend hours practicing one-thrust heart punctures with a dagger and a CPR duhtthat had not collapsed fro rope handle, the heavy-duty spring closure creaked, groaned, but opened, and a segmented ladder unfolded from the back of the door

When I cliht revealed a four-to-five-foot-high crawlspace between the twelfth and thirteenth floors

Here lay a maze of copper and PVC pipes, electrical conduits, duct work, and equip

I could explore that space or go back down the ladder and drink a bleach-and-ammonia cocktail

Because I didn’t have any slices of fresh lime, I climbed into the crawlspace, pulled up the ladder, and closed the trap behind me

FORTY-NINE

LEGEND CLAIMS THAT ALL AFRICAN ELEPHANTS, AS THEY realize they are dying, proceed to the saround, still undiscovered by le, where lies a mountain of bones and ivory

Between the twelfth and thirteenth floors of the Panaraveyard equivalent to the elephant burial ground--for rats I didn’t encounter one live specimen, but I found at least a hundred that had left this world for eternal cheese

They had died h I found one pile of perhaps twenty I suspected they had suffocated in the sht of the catastrophe After five years, nothing remained of them but skulls, bones, a few scraps of fur, and an occasional fossilized tail

Until this discovery, I would never have i melancholy about piles of rat carcasses The abrupt ter lives, the collapse of all their whisker-twitching dreams of rooroohts of frantic copulation were sad considerations This rat graveyard, no less than an elephant burial ground, spoke to the transitory nature of all things

I et a lu most of my life been a fan of Mr Mickey Mouse, however, I was understandably affected by this ratty apocalypse

Sh I saw little evidence of direct fire da by way of improperly constructed mechanical chases, and had spared this crawlspace as they had spared the twelfth floor