Cruel World(46)

“Damn,” Alice whispered, covering her mouth and nose.

“Was he shot or…eaten?” Quinn asked, only able to take short glances at the body.

“Can’t tell. Doesn’t matter.” Alice turned and began moving along the rifle stands. “Damn,” she repeated.

“What?”

“All of these are bolt actions. There’s nothing semi-auto, which is what we need.”

Quinn scanned the displays, not entirely sure he would know the difference. At the end opposite the way Alice moved, a doorway opened into complete darkness. Quinn sidestepped toward it, finally flicking on the light beneath the gun barrel. The doorway opened into a small office complete with a large desk, computer, and file cabinets. Posters of different gun manufacturer’s symbols lined each wall. Bloody handprints and smeared gore covered the floor. The gruesome trail led behind the desk to a narrow door made completely of steel, a heavy deadbolt positioned close to the jamb. Quinn swept the office with the light once more before stepping back into the main store.

“Think I found something,” he said quietly. A moment later, Alice led Ty through the doorway and stopped on the threshold.

“What?”

“See the trail?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m guessing whoever it was is still in there, but I’m betting they aren’t alive anymore.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Alice said, checking the seat of a leather chair near the wall before setting Ty in it. “Don’t move, baby.”

She crossed the office and positioned herself to one side of the door before reaching a hand out to rap twice on the steel. They waited, Quinn’s light doing a shaky dance on the floor at his feet. Alice knocked again, and when there was no answer, she shrugged.

“Wait here,” Quinn said, moving past Ty and back into the main store. Everything was quiet, and the parking lot remained empty save the Tahoe. He gave a brief glance around before hurrying to the aisle they’d passed on the way in. When he returned to the office, Alice gave the short, thick hammer in his hand a look.

“You think you can get through with that?”

“If I hit it right.”

“You look strong, but the door looks stronger.”

Quinn positioned himself beside the door after tucking the handgun into the small of his back and grasped the hammer with both hands. He gave Alice a look and she returned with a thumbs up. Aiming carefully, he wound the hammer back and swung directly for the deadbolt.

The door blasted inward, hitting the wall behind it before bouncing back.

Quinn nearly lost his balance but recovered, setting the hammer down to pull the XDM from his back. He clicked the light on again and paused.

“I think I found Thor.”

The man was huge with a blood-stained belly that hung well over his beltline. He sat on the floor straight across from the door, legs splayed out in a V, head tipped back to rest against the wall. He wore black combat fatigues, his large feet hidden inside military boots. Long, blond hair hung down in two braids on either side of his head, the roots stained red from where the bullet had traveled through the roof of his mouth and out the back of his skull. A black, semi-automatic pistol, the last three inches of its barrel coated in blood, lay in his open palm.

Quinn studied the corpse for a second and then reached out, fumbling along the wall until his fingers met a switch. The room glowed beneath the light of two fluorescents set in the ceiling.

“Holy shit,” Alice said, stepping into the room behind him.

It was an armory.

The walls were glazed with weapons. Handguns, rifles, shotguns, swords, knives of all lengths, and ammo. Stacks of ammo in dark, steel cases. Shelves laden with boxes all marked with the loads they carried. In the corner was a low bin containing rectangular, plastic wrapped objects the size and shape of hardcovers. Black writing graced the front of each one.

“I can’t believe it,” Alice said. She glanced down at Thor’s corpse. “God of thunder took the easy way out, huh?”

“Appears so.”

“Looks like he was wounded by someone before crawling in here.”

Quinn nodded. “Must’ve given up and left him to take care of himself.”

Alice moved to the nearest wall and brought down a wicked looking rifle with an extended magazine protruding from its bottom. She brought the weapon to her shoulder, aiming down its length before dropping it to her side. Her smile seemed to brighten the room further.