After us the road goes on forever
«Garraty! Garraty! Garraty!»
The crowd's ovations echoed in the distance like ferocious howls muffled by a solid sheet of unbreakable glass. Wherever they are, whatever they did, Garraty could feel secure that, no, they wouldn't take him. He wouldn't stop and wouldn't be warned again.
He just had to keep moving his legs, dragging his feet, chase off the hands that desperately were trying to grab him.
They wanted to kill him!
The figure before him turned back, but it was too far away to see who it was. It was always too far away, always before him. Vague and ethereal, unattainable and omnipresent. When he believed to have reached it, the shape accelerated, putting one step after another from itself and him.
Maybe it was the rabbit!
The Stebbins' rabbit, or Stebbins himself! But he always walked behind him like a vulture, eager for carrion. He turned around to make sure he was there where he should be, in the backline, his head bowed, to annoy everyone with his silences and his abstruse speeches, and saw him lying on the floor, eyes closed, his head disappearing into a plastic black sack.
«Oh, Stebbins...» he thought. It was too late to be worry about him.
When its hand touched his shoulder again, it was like hear shouting «Warning! Warning, N°47!»Garraty shot forward, restarting to march.
«If there are such things as souls,» said Stebbins
(Shut up! Shut up! You got a ticket, why don't you die in silence?)
«his is still close. You could catch up.»
Instinctively reached out his hand.
«Pete?»
The figure turned back slightly and Garraty seemed to see it smiling.
«Just go on dancing with me like this forever, Garraty, and I'll never tire.»
Notes: I'm in love with that book * ^ * And Pete, obviously XD The title comes from "Visions (Southern Cross)" by Stratovarius.
I'm italian so sorry if I did mistakes in the translation ^_^