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Back 36 Righteous Men Save as PDF
Chapters (43)
  1. Cover
  2. BOOK ONE
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. BOOK TWO
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. BOOK THREE
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. BOOK FOUR
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. BOOK FIVE
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. BOOK SIX
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. 25
  33. 26
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. BOOK SEVEN
  38. 30
  39. 31
  40. BOOK EIGHT
  41. 32
  42. SPECIAL THANKS
  43. ALSO BY STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Above Instancer’s chalk marks, in a sign-square on the column, is the street number of the subway stop:

72

19

SEVENTY-SECOND STREET STATION

OUR SELF-DRIVER slaloms to a stop at Broadway and Seventy-Second. Manning hits the sidewalk on a dead run. I’m two paces behind him.

We’re sprinting in the downpour for the Seventy-Second Street subway stop of the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue line.

Time is 1955, five minutes to eight. Manning has ordered Ellie Landau to go home, stopping for nothing, and to keep her driver and security man with her. He has called for backup to DivSix and all contiguous precincts. I have tried every channel, phone, text, DM, and social media to reach and warn Ben-David and Rachel. She, we know, has no phone at all, and Ben-David . . . who knows? Maybe he’s one of those Luddites who turns his off.

Entrance to the Seventy-Second Street station is via two aboveground control houses, on traffic islands in the middle of Broadway. Seventy-Second Street runs between the two. There are stairs down to the tracks, uptown and downtown, from both houses, and two elevators.

Manning points to the control house south of Seventy-Second.

MANNING

Take the downtown side.

We’re half a block east, bolting into traffic from the corner of Seventy-Second and Broadway, running flat-out through the sluicing downpour. Manning’s SIG Sauer is in his hand. He signs to me to unholster my weapon.

MANNING

Aim dead-center. Empty the full mag into him. Whatever you do, do NOT let him get past you.

I have never heard a shoot-to-kill order. Holy shit. I watch Manning burst through the heavy double doors of the control house and tear down the uptown stairwell.

That’s the side Ben-David will be on. The dangerous side. The side where Instancer will be.

I plunge down the stairwell to the downtown side.

Seventy-Second Street is an express stop on one of the two major West Side lines. It has four tracks and two island platforms—one uptown and one downtown. Riders access these down flights of stairs from the mezzanine level. The uptown platform receives the local on one side, the express on the other. Same for the downtown platform. Between the two island platforms are two tracks—one for the uptown express, one for the downtown. Ben-David and Rachel, heading for Ninety-Sixth Street, should be on the uptown platform.

I’m thinking this as I vault the turnstile and skitter out onto the downtown platform, scanning north and south as fast as my neck can swivel. The platforms each hold two dozen people or more, spread out over 100, 150 feet. Despite the storm, trains are still running up here.

Who could Instancer be going after? Rachel? Ben-David? Both? I have no idea.

“Police officer!” I’m shouting, shield in one hand, weapon in the other.