A Survivor's Guide to the Dinosaur Apocalypse, Episode Five: "Elegy" A Survivor's Guide to the Dinosaur Apocalypse, #5【電子書籍】[ Wayne Kyle Spitzer ]
＜p＞That's when I heard the strange sound: a kind of forlorn mewing, like the note of a horn being drug out too long, coming from just around the corner, just beyond the liquor storeーand paused, holding up my hand.＜/p＞ ＜p＞"What? What's going on?"＜/p＞ ＜p＞I waved her into silence, dropping the rein, then hustled to the edge of the buildingーwhere, after peeking around the corner, I saw a juvenile sauropod of the Diplodocus family (meaning it was the size of a typical school bus) collapsed in the middle of the streetーits right front leg stuck in a manhole.＜/p＞ ＜p＞"What is it? What do you see?"＜/p＞ ＜p＞I looked from the sauropod to the corner of a nearby building, where something had moved, then across the street to an overgrown alley. Yes, I thought. There. And there. Between the tattoo parlor and the marijuana dispensary …＜/p＞ ＜p＞"Allosaurs," I said, gravely. "An entire pack of them. In desert camouflage. Theyーthey've got something trapped."＜/p＞ ＜p＞"Omigod. Itーit's not your dog, is it?"＜/p＞ ＜p＞I returned and picked up the rein, began leading Blucifer forward, into the intersection. "No."＜/p＞ ＜p＞"Wait … what are youー"＜/p＞ ＜p＞"We're going through," I said.＜/p＞ ＜p＞"But what if those thingsー"＜/p＞ ＜p＞"They don't care about us; they want the bigger game. For now. Just hold on."＜/p＞ ＜p＞The horse's hooves went clip-clop, clip-clop as we passed, the bluish-gray sauropod coming into full view ...＜/p＞ ＜p＞A moment later she said, "Itーit's stuck. In the manhole. Do you see that?"＜/p＞ ＜p＞I eyed the predators warily, continuing to lead. "There's nothing we can do about it."＜/p＞ ＜p＞"But she'll be helpless againstー"＜/p＞ ＜p＞"That is the way of it," I insisted. "The way of theー"＜/p＞ ＜p＞"Look, would you stop with the Indian clap-trap? I'm not even sureー"＜/p＞ ＜p＞There was a thwomp as the allosaur by the building leapt into the roadーnot by us but about fifty feet away, near the sauropod.＜/p＞ ＜p＞"Jesus, can't you do anything? What about your bow?"＜/p＞ ＜p＞"And risk bringing them down on us?" I intensified our pace, sprinting toward the Stratosphere. "No!"＜/p＞ ＜p＞And then they were comingーthe allosaurs from across the streetーpassing so close we could smell the meat on their breath; closing in on the frightened herbivore … until we passed the scene completely and sought refuge in a nearby gas station (its storefront had long since collapsed) and gathered there trembling as the sauropod cried outーfor it wouldn't be long now until they fell upon her.＜/p＞ ＜p＞"Jesus," said Essie, listening. "What a world."＜/p＞ ＜p＞"Yes," I said, remembering. "My father used to say it had a demonic sublime; every tree and every rock, every animal, including man, down to the lowest insect." I listened as the sauropod moaned, seeming already to give up, to resign its fate. "And yet."＜/p＞ ＜p＞"What do you mean?"＜/p＞ ＜p＞"What?"＜/p＞ ＜p＞"You said, 'and yet.' What did you mean?"＜/p＞ ＜p＞I un-shouldered the compound bowーrubbing my aching deltoid, stretching my arm. "Nothing. It's just that … maybe it doesn't have to be this way."＜/p＞ ＜p＞When she didn't respond I looked at herーfound her already looking at me: calmly, meditatively, her eyes seeming to glimmer. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean."＜/p＞ ＜p＞"I mean … that I could end it. Her confusion and terror. That Iーcould prevent her from suffering." I looked at the bow and the dark, poisoned bolts attached to it. "That it's in my hands to do so."＜/p＞画面が切り替わりますので、しばらくお待ち下さい。 ※ご購入は、楽天kobo商品ページからお願いします。※切り替わらない場合は、こちら をクリックして下さい。 ※このページからは注文できません。200円 0.0(0) 楽天Kobo電子書籍ストア / Rakuten