Spit is following a group of Sneakers to
see how they are getting into the Border Patrol supply depots, when he is
captured—but not by Sneakers. Another group, one that has snake people and
lizard centaurs working within its ranks has taken him captive. The question
is: Are they friend or foe? Spit has no idea, but when they come across a base
under attack from a large group of Sneakers, he has to find out.
Spit is the first book in the On
Patrol series. Set in the near future, in a world on the edge of war,
the series follows Spit and his people in their efforts to protect their homes
and loved ones.
Spit
First Chapter: Sneakers
Spit
watched the Sneakers through the swaying leaves. They all wore black. They all
walked without making a sound.
He
watched as they walked closer to the chain-mesh fence, ducking nearer to the
ground as their leader looked carefully around. Spit did not want to be caught
by the Sneakers, so far from his base.
The
leader seemed to look too long at the trees where Spit was hiding. The leader
wore a mask like a skull. It gleamed whitely in the half-dark of late
afternoon.
Spit
shivered. He wished he could stop looking at the Sneakers at the fence. He
wished he could leave, but he knew he couldn’t. Spit had to find out how they
were getting into the supply dump, and then he had to stop them.
The
Sneakers’ leader turned back to the fence. Spit held his breath as the man took
something shiny from his belt pouch. He squinted, trying to see what it was.
It
was too dark and by the time Spit had lifted his binoculars to his eyes, the
tool was back in the leader’s pouch. The binoculars still helped him see how
the Sneakers rolled a portion of the fence back and clipped it they could pass
through.
Once
all the Sneakers were inside, the leader unclipped the fence and allowed it to
drop back in place, then he led his team into the shadows between the sheds
behind the fence. Spit watched as the fence sparked where the broken mesh
touched.
Once,
twice it sparked and then the sparking stopped.
Spit
waited until the Sneakers had gone around one of the buildings behind the
fence, before he slipped out of his hiding place. He had to follow to see what
they did, and how they escaped.
When
he reached the fence, he couldn’t see where the Sneakers had lifted the mesh.
He ran his hands along the section of fence but could find no breaks.
That’s not possible,
Spit thought, looking cautiously towards the sheds. When he saw no one there,
he pulled a small torch out of his pocket. Maybe
I’m not standing in the right place.
The
torchlight seemed too bright in the dimness of the coming night. Spit looked
towards the sheds once more. Still nothing moved. He turned his eyes to the
ground.
The
Sneakers’ tracks weren’t too hard to find. They stopped in front of the section
of fence he had just looked at. Puzzled, Spit turned his torch to the fence
itself.
After
five minutes of looking at the mesh, he thought he could see where it had been
cut but he couldn’t be sure. There were no breaks. The fence had mended itself!
Knowing,
he couldn’t get in the same way as the Sneakers, Spit decided he’d just have to
use the front gate. His identity card would get him past the guards there.
If there’s still a
guard to get past, he thought. The Sneakers had killed
the guards on all the other supply dumps they’d gotten into.
He
broke into a run that took him along the fence line towards the front gate. If
he was quick, he could warn the guards that the Sneakers were there. I hope I’m not too late.
Spit didn’t see the ghost-pale shadows that rose
out of the bushes behind him. He didn’t hear their quiet footsteps as they
followed him down the fence-line.
END FIRST CHAPTER
If you would like to read more, Spit is currently available on Smashwords, Amazon Kindle, Create Space, Nook, Kobo, and iTunes.
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