No Exit

by Taylor Adams

Whoever seems like the nicest character, at first, will always turn out to be the asshole in the end.”

“Yo, Darbs, where are you going?” Darbs. She hadn’t been called that since fifth grade. “Trying again to get a cell signal. My mom’s got pancreatic cancer and she’s in a hospital in Provo.” Without giving Ashley time to respond, she stepped outside into the howling storm, flinching against a wall of bone-chilling air, and recalled an offhand little saying she’d heard once from her mother: The easiest lies to tell are the true ones.

Darby preferred to live her life wide-eyed, tormented, running, because nothing can catch you if you never stop. And thank God for it,

There’s a time, deep into the night, when the forces of evil are said to be at their strongest. The witching hour, Darby’s mom used to call it, with a silly little voodoo twang to her voice. It’s 3:00 a.m.

sentient

Sentient- able to perceive or feel things

You want to know the secret to ruining your life? It’s never one big black-and-white decision. It’s dozens of little ones, that you make every single day. It’s excuses, mostly, in my case. Excuses are poison.

“Excuses are poison,” Ed repeated. “Doing the right thing is hard. Talking yourself out of it is easy.

“The other one

Oh no! Ashley is in on it!!

taiga

Taiga ~ sometimes swampy coniferous forest of high northern latitudes , esp. that between the tundra and steppes of Siberia and North America.

“Bad news, friends.” Ed rattled the security shutter. “Coffee’s out.” Ashley’s eyes goggled with faux-horror. “What? No more caffeine?” “Afraid so.” “Well, I guess we’re all going to start murdering each other now.”

Ugh! Jerk!

Ashley

Because he was a playful sort of evil, fascinated by games and tricks. Sleight of hand, surprises, and misdirection.

History doesn’t quite repeat itself, but damn, it sure can rhyme.

Again, she found herself desperately wishing for someone else to be in her place. Someone smarter, tougher, braver, who everyone could turn to. But they weren’t. There’s only me.

**

Don’t fear the pros, Darby. The pros know what they’re doing, and do it cleanly. Fear the amateurs.

that was the last clear thought that went through Darby’s mind before a pressurized spurt of icy liquid fired into her eyes. Then pain. White-hot pain.

he still had to red-card her for killing his baby brother, so he raised the cordless nailer at Darby, squinted through hot smoke, and fired again. A hollow click. What? He pulled the trigger again—another click. To his horror, the Paslode’s battery light now blinked an urgent red.

Darby came to that rest stop for a reason, Jay’s mother had said back at Saint Joseph. Sometimes God puts people exactly where they need to be. Even when they don’t know it.