Excerpt: Perseverance

Prologue

Like whipped cream, the snow fell from the concrete grey sky in large wet clumps. It made driving seem like skiing with a blindfold, except more treacherous. Jerry really wasn't sure if Lloyd could actually see out of any portion of the windshield or not. To him, it had ceased to be a windshield and now resembled frosted glass. His stomach churned at the thought. Jerry was a nervous passenger at the best of times, something Lloyd liked to pester him about at almost every opportunity.

"It's only snow," Lloyd's voice rang out. "OOoooo... big bad Jerry's scared of a little water tonight is he?"

He couldn't bring himself to respond. Mustering all the willpower he could, Jerry attempted to distract himself by turning to look in the backseat. Scattered over the seat were the various spoils they'd gotten out of several of the garages at the apartment building. A couple radios, a table lamp, four cases of Coca-Cola and one of Sprite, a box of antique ornaments, a jug of wiper fluid (why Lloyd grabbed that he had no idea); it was amazing what some people kept in their garages. A couple bikes and some power tools were in the trunk, along with a box of sealed and unwrapped toys...complete with two rolls of wrapping paper for closer to Christmas. As his eyes made contact with the stuffed smiley face sitting next to the one door, he grinned. On the floor in front of the door there were what appeared to be two gun cases.

What people kept in their garages...indeed.

"Not a bad haul for less than twenty minutes of work." Lloyd seemed to be in a chipper mood. A soft click, and the car was filled with the sounds of Nickelback.

"Yeah." Jerry reached inside his jacket and pulled out a pack of Marlborough's, expertly tapping one out, mouthing it, an replacing the pack in his jacket to pull out a lighter. Seconds later, he leaned back in the seat and let out the first puffs of smoke. The nicotine seemed to calm him down almost immediately.

Time stretched out before them.

* * *

As Jerry's eyes adjusted to the dark, he began to be able to make out the shelving lining most of the walls of the garage. His trademark crooked grin crept onto his face. Mother Lode. From somewhere outside the garage, he heard Lloyd whistle...which meant Lloyd had found some sweet stash as well. Carefully edging his way around the little black car and deeper into the garage, Jerry flipped on his Maglite.