Judgment Read Online Free Page A

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                  The panicked man was the first to speak again. “Civil disobedience? Are they fucking kidding me? Did you see those things? Did you see what they do to people?” No one answered him. At the far side of the room a man was searching the workbenches, apparently looking for a weapon. He was of the more rugged sort, with a permanent five-o’clock shadow and a muscular build that his business suit couldn’t hide. The janitor objected to his rummaging. “Hey, don’t be touchin’ that stuff.”
                  “Really man? You really think this is your building anymore? You see what the hell is going on out there? If you were smart you’d arm yourself too. No winged freak is gonna kill me today.” The janitor seemed to consider those words for a moment, and then he joined the man in searching for anything that would make a good weapon. I saw the gruff man grab a large pipe wrench, while the janitor settled for a hammer. Loud noises from the bolted lobby door up the hallway reminded all of us how badly we wanted to be away from there.
     
                  Approaching the janitor, I saw his name embroidered on his work shirt. “Hey…Reggie, right?” He looked at me strangely for a moment, as if trying to figure out if he recognized me or not.
     
                  “Yeah.”
     
                  “I’m Adam. I work up on 52. Listen, where does this hallway go? Can we get out of here without going back to the lobby?”
     
                  It took him a second to answer as he shoved the hammer into his belt before speaking. “The loading dock, where all the deliveries come in. It opens up to the alley behind 8 th street. But you don’t wanna go out there man.”
     
                  The rugged guy with the pipe wrench spoke up suddenly. “Well I ain’t fucking staying in here. How long before one of those freaks comes through that door, or finds another way in here. I’m getting the hell away from here.”
     
                  Reggie was stressed, agitated, the sweat from his brow looking like beads of silver against his dark skin, but he spoke calmly. “You can do what you want man, but I’m telling you, this shit started out there. I saw it. Those flying people are all over out there.”
     
                  The only other woman in the room besides Jennifer moved closer to us. “What did you see out there? Where did they come from?”
     
                  Reggie looked at her like he knew she wouldn’t believe him, so he didn’t want to say it, but he said it anyway. “Right outta the damn sky. They all just started dropping out of the clouds. Flying around like birds or sumthin’. It’s crazy.”
     
                  “It’s God,” answered the woman. “This is Revelations. It’s the end times. Judgment Day.”
     
                  The guy with the wrench wasn’t buying it. “That’s bullshit. These are some out of control activists or some bullshit. It’s a stunt. They’re just assholes.”
     
                  “People don’t fly,” answered the woman. “I saw them from the 20 th floor. They were hovering outside the windows, and then they started breaking them in.”
     
                  Reggie spoke more loudly, more firmly. “They’re killin’ people out there man.”
     
                  The smaller, panicked man spoke up. “Didn’t you see what they were doing to people, Joe? By the revolving doors? They were grabbing them, and burning them up somehow, turning people into dust.”
     
                  Joe hoisted the heavy wrench up against his shoulder. “I don’t know who or what the hell they are. But I’m not waiting around in here for them to break in and find