Read Rapture for Free Online

his stomach to rumble. He was ravenous.
    Sam took out his small cooker and attached the gas cylinder, igniting it with a lighter that he kept in a zipped pocket on his sweatshirt. He pulled out a small pot and selected a can of beans from his dwindling supply which he opened with his pocket knife.
    While he waited for the beans to heat, he moved silently to the edge of the depression and gazed down at the airport. Jacob’s Ladder airport was a small domestic airport, catering to the skiers, mountain bikers and other outdoor enthusiasts who once frequented the area. A small terminal, silent and grey, sat to the left of the runway.
    Two small planes were standing on the runway, doors open but seemingly abandoned. Judging by their coating of ash, they had not moved for some time. He could just make out the tail of another plane down the far end of the runway. It looked like it attempted to take off but had failed and crashed into the safety barrier. Sam couldn’t be sure, but from this distance, it appeared to be blackened with fire.
    The image reminded him of the events following the massive volcanic eruptions in Iceland and Chile some years earlier. Flights around the world had been disrupted because of the dangers of flying in ash clouds. It seemed that these planes had been affected in a similar way. Perhaps the two on the runway had simply refused to start? Maybe a pilot had managed to get the third going which then choked just before take-off, hurtling the doomed plane into the crash barrier …
    There were no signs of life anywhere; no movement at all other than the gentle flutter of dust. There weren’t any bodies visible either but this wasn’t surprising – the demons were thorough. Either that, or the bodies were shrouded in ash.
    Sam shrugged and turned back to his cooker. The beans were hot but he scooped them into his mouth with his fingers, oblivious to the heat. Ash had fallen into the mix but he didn’t care and ate every last morsel. He licked the juice from the bottom of the pot, still hungry but unwilling to deplete his already sparse supplies. There was more buried in the Devil’s Garden but that food would have to sustain him during his trek over the Rockies.
    He took out his water bottle and had a swig. Hardly satisfying, but enough to moisten his tongue. Using a cloth to wipe out the pot – water was too precious to waste on cleaning – Sam put everything carefully back into his pack. He settled it comfortably around his shoulders, did a quick weapon check and then strode over the edge of the crater towards the terminal.
    From one of his few visits to the place, he recalled that the airport contained vending machines. Vending machines meant snacks. He wasn’t hopeful – they’d probably been cleared out like most of the shops and houses in Jacob’s Ladder – but it was worth a shot. As he trudged towards it, he reflected that the Astaroth had done him a favour, albeit a small one and mistakenly given. It had moved him closer to his initial goal of Devil’s Garden – only by a couple of miles , but a couple of miles was better than nothing.
    Perhaps he could subdue an Astaroth and harness it, using it to transport himself over the Rockies? Flying would be preferable to walking. Instantly Sam realized his stupidity. If last night was anything to go by, he doubted whether he’d be able to defeat an Astaroth in combat, let alone subdue it to an extent that he could ride it.
    Not for the first time did he question his refusal to drive on this journey. Hikari had never taught him to drive and the need never arose; not once in his almost eighteen years had he left Jacob’s Ladder or its surrounds. But he was sure he could learn. How hard could it be? Pretty much all the other teenagers in Jacob’s Ladder were doing it. Or had been doing it. He’d even gone so far as to try out one of the abandoned cars parked on the side of Main Street. The owner had clearly been taken by the Rapture – their