No Exit by Taylor Adams 2

12:09 a.m.
Ashley moved to the table and sat directly across from her.
He’d crossed the room silently, and he sat now with both
palms flat on the tabletop. His hands were large and callused.
Darby re-folded the napkin and set it in her lap.
The radio crackled.
“I’m sick of Go Fish,” Ashley said crisply. “How about
something else?”
She said nothing.
“How about …” he thought. “Oh! How about War?”
She glanced over at Ed and Sandi—
Ashley snapped his fingers. “Hey. I’m right here, Darbo.
Don’t worry about the rules. War is real simple. Simpler than
Go Fish, even. You just cut the deck in two, see, and take turns
drawing, one after the other, and we see who has the higher
card. Higher card takes both, and adds them to your deck. You
know, because every war is fought one battle at a time.”
He grinned, pleased with himself, and fluidly shuffled the
cards in front of her. Then he curled the cards backward with a
harsh chatter.
“Winner has a full deck at the end.” He looked her in the
eyes. “And the loser? Well, she’s left with nothing.”
Behind her, Ed pumped the COFEE carafe to fill his cup,
and it made that drowning scream again. Like lungs bubbling
with water. Something about it made her shoulder blades
quiver.
“Bad news, friends.” Ed rattled the security shutter.
“Coffee’s out.”
Ashley’s eyes goggled with faux-horror. “What? No more
caffeine?”