Michael held his hand up and then convulsed as if he was going to blow. His mother slid out of the way to avoid what was coming. Michael lurched over involuntarily and the spew that hit the floor was filled with the morning’s meager breakfast. Chris jumped back a good three feet.
“Oh hell.”
A series of childish chuckles rang out from the bed. Each kid pulled away although they were nowhere near the impact.
“You okay?” Sarah asked, patting him on the back.
Michael nodded but didn’t say anything. He steadied himself against the wall, looking up at everyone as if nothing had happened. His face was pasty white, but he looked better than he had a moment before. Chris promptly moved the gathering a few feet toward the windows and then tried to remember what he was talking about.
“I don’t think they’re going to hurt us,” he said. “Why would they? More than likely, they’ll throw us out once they find out what they want to know.”
Jafar crossed his arms and remained silent. He didn’t look convinced. Jenn broke from the group and knelt down in front of Jake and Alicen, opening herself up to Mila and the kids on the bed. She smiled and waved them closer.
“How are you guys doing?”
The girls shrugged, and Mila slipped off the end and got to her feet. The lone boy among them spoke up.
“We’re hungry,” he said.
“We’re always hungry,” Mila countered.
Jenn dug in her jacket pocket and pulled out a bag of crackers. “It’s all I have,” she said. She handed it to Mila as the others stared with wonder. It wasn’t until Mila began snapping each cracker into fours that the true weight of their hunger became evident. The kids devoured their sad portions as if they were slices of birthday cake.
Jenn got straight to the heart of the matter. “We’re here looking for some people.”
“Are they your parents?” Mila asked.
Jenn nodded as she looked from one face to the next. “You think you could find them for me?”
“Sure,” the blondest of the girls said.
Jenn searched her back pocket and found a small picture. “This is my dad and mom.” She pointed at the figures in the image. “Tom and Nell.”
All four kids leaned in close. Alicen slid off the chair and took a look for herself.
“I’ve seen that man,” Mila said.
Jenn’s face lit up. “You have?”
Mila nodded, followed by a similar response from the boy.
“He’s upstairs, I think,” the boy said.
Jenn looked at Chris and then back to the boy. “Can you show us the way?”
The boy’s face went cold as he shook his head. He finished his last cracker and then choked it down. “You’re not allowed up there, and he’s not allowed down here.”
“Why can’t he come down here?” Jenn asked, her voice showing signs of concern.
The boy shrugged as his eyes went back to the empty bag of crackers. “He’s a troublemaker.”
Jenn stayed quiet, holding a fake smile in place. Chris watched the fear creep across her calm demeanor. Her hand started to shake, and she was forced to stand up to control it. She brushed Alicen’s hair with her finger and then encouraged the girl to sit by her brother.
“Thank you, guys, for the info,” she said as she made her way back to the group. “I don’t like the sound of that,” she said low enough so only Chris and the others could hear. “If my dad’s causing trouble, it’s for a damn good reason.”
“These kids are starving,” Sarah said.
Chris looked back at the bed as Mila jumped up and invited Jake and Alicen to join in on a new card game.
“Let’s take this one step at a time,” Chris said, trying to be reassuring. “We’ll get our chance to speak—”
He stopped as the drape over the door was swept aside. The scruffy man from the barricade stepped in, followed by two others, each well armed. “Let’s go,” he said and then stepped out of the way.
“Where are we going?” Chris asked.
“Let’s go,” he repeated.
Chris went first. The scruffy one led the way as the other two fell in behind the group. Chris was overcome by a sudden sensation of imprisonment that he hadn’t felt before. He half expected to be put in chains at the next stop. The hall was quiet and still, and the remaining doorways were covered with no hint of what or who lay behind the curtains.
They were led through the emergency exit at the end of the hall and then up several flights of stairs. Chris counted three floors as they went before stopping at a landing. The sign above the door read 14th floor. The way was opened for them and the hall beyond was cleaner than the one below and void of the god-awful smell.
The guide stopped at a set of double doors, knocked twice and then pushed one side open. The wide space was one of the hotel’s many conference rooms. The area spanned the width of several common bedrooms. One entire side was littered with rollout beds lined up like a homeless shelter. The other half was comprised of a series of tables, most of which were dotted with guns and ammo.
A number of people moved among the beds with fewer near the row of windows across the room. A small group was gathered at another double door beyond the tables. Chris and the others were brought to a halt a few paces from the gathering. A woman eyed Chris before addressing the newcomers.
“We don’t take in strays,” she said in a faint Bostonian accent. “Not enough food for the group we have now.” Her dirty, black hair clung to the sides of her face. “It’s too late to leave, but you have to be out in the morning.”
“I’m looking for my parents,” Jenn said before Chris could get his mouth open.
“Never heard of them,” the woman replied without looking at her. “I want you out of here.”
“I didn’t even—”
Chris cut in before Jenn started more trouble than they could handle. “We’re not interested in your food,” he said trying a different approach. “We’ll leave without causing you any problems.”
“And you are?”
“Chris.” He extended his hand for a shake. “Chris West.”
She looked at his hand as if it might bite her. “Isabel,” she said, finally taking it.
Her hand was cold and sticky, but the shake was firm. Chris noted neither she nor any of the others in the gathering looked as undernourished as the others. She examined him from the floor to the top of his head without a hint of shame and then moved her eyes on to Jafar. The awkward silence held everyone still until her inspection was complete.
“You’ve got a strong-looking group there, Chris,” she said at last. “How’ve you managed to stay alive?”
“We keep moving,” Chris said. He wasn’t sure where the conversation was going but decided a cordial approach would serve them best at the moment. “We stick together.”
She eyed him queerly. “Where you headed?”
Chris hesitated, and there was an audible slip in his response. “Nowhere in particular.”
“Then what’s the hurry?”
“We didn’t want to cause you any trouble,” Chris said, now flustered by the change in direction. “Like Jenn said, we’re just looking for her parents and then we’ll be on our way.”
Isabel studied him for a few seconds as the edge of her mouth curled up in a grin. She looked over at the scruffy man who’d led them in and then back at Chris.
“Why not stay on a while?”
Chris wasn’t sure what to say. He couldn’t shake the feeling he was falling into a trap. He said the first thing that came to his mind. “We wouldn’t want to be a burden to you.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” she countered.
“We’re trying to get to…” he stopped himself but knew his mistake the second it came out of his mouth.
“Trying to get where?” Isabel asked.
“Somewhere safe,” Jenn said over his shoulder.
Isabel stared at her and her eyes narrowed. “But we’re safe here,”
she said motioning with her hands. “Unless you’ve found somewhere safer?”
Jenn didn’t answer.
“Eddie will help you find your parents,” Isabel said to Jenn and then held up a finger. “But the rest of you must wait here.”
The scruffy man started for the door without a word. Jenn took a few hesitant steps before looking back for reassurance. Chris wasn’t sure if he should let her go, and furthermore, he wasn’t sure if he had the choice to stop her. She was at the door before he could make up his mind. Two steps more and she was gone.
♦
Jenn followed Eddie down the hall to the stairwell and then up several flights. He apparently didn’t see her as a threat, leaving himself open from behind. Jenn was nervous. She’d also felt the odd change in approach from Isabel. Why did she suddenly want them to stay? Why was she so interested in where they were going? Chances were they would all find out soon enough, and Jenn doubted anyone would like the answers.
He guided her to another double door, and the locked chain running through the outside handles put her on guard. He slipped his hand into his pocket and produced a ring of keys. He balanced his rifle with one hand and thumbed through the set with the other. The lock gave with a twist of the key and he pulled the chain out with one yank, leaving it and the lock on the floor.
Eddie pushed on the door and held it open for Jenn. She hesitantly stepped through, and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the bright interior. The open ballroom space ran the full length of one side of the building. The drapes along the exterior wall were removed, revealing an impressive expanse of windows. Sunlight flooded in through the glass onto rows of perfectly spaced bedframes lining the floor from one side to the other. People moved along small walkways between the rows, each carrying some type of container. Eddie motioned toward the space and grinned.
“Have a look. Recognize anyone?”
Jenn wasn’t sure what she was looking at. A few steps brought her to the first row, and she got a better view of the bedframes. The mattresses and box springs were removed and the spaces between the remaining frames were filled with dirt. The sprouting leaves and foliage gave a clue to their new purpose.
“Genius,” she muttered to herself.
She let her gaze drift to the figures among the makeshift garden, and another thought came to her. There were men, women, and children mixed amongst the masses. Each carried a canister, stopping from time to time to pour water into one of the frames. A closer inspection revealed the chains and ropes tying them to a section of the garden.
Jenn scanned the faces in a frantic rush to find her parents. She was suddenly convinced neither Eddie nor Isabel was going to let them leave. She walked faster, looking for a way to move to the other side of the room. She reached the midway point of the massive space before she heard someone call out to her.
“Jenny?”
She spun around at the sound of her name. Nobody calls me that, she thought. Nobody but…
“Dad?”
19
“Dad?” Jenn stumbled forward as she took in the vision of the once proud man she knew. “Daddy?”
He looked at her bewildered as if seeing his last dying vision. His shoulders were hunched as he walked. His short steps came to a stop as he settled his sights on his daughter. Jenn pushed past several people trying to reach her father’s row. Standing only a few feet away, the old man didn’t move. His mind appeared unable to believe his eyes.
“Oh, Dad.”
Jenn wrapped her arms around him, and it took a minute for him to respond. She could hear him sobbing in her ear as he finally grabbed hold.
“Jenny, is it really you?”
Jenn wiped the tears from his cheeks as she stood back. “It’s me,” she said. Her father was barely recognizable. His face was caked with dirt, and he was at least fifty pounds lighter than the picture she carried around in her pocket. He was pale as a ghost. She brushed the dirt off his chin and smiled at him.
“Where’s Mom?”
“What the hell are you doing here?” he countered.
“What do you mean?” she asked. “I’ve come to get you.” She looked back at the door to make sure Eddie hadn’t followed her. “I’m going to get you to safety. There’s a group of us—”
He shook his head and forced her to stop. “You need to get out of here while you can.” The fear in his eyes brought Jenn back to her original question.
“Where’s Mom?”
His face soured, and the tears forming in the corners of his eyes told Jenn everything she needed to know. She had to rest her hand on his shoulder to keep standing. A knot formed in her stomach, and she wanted to scream. It took every ounce of strength she had not to ball up on the ground and cry.
“She got sick,” he said in a distant voice. “There was nothing I could do.” He was crying freely, anguish coating his words. “That’s when I tried to leave.” He wiped at his face, smearing dirt across the space Jenn managed to clear off. “Where’s Marcus?” Jenn pursed her lips and tried not to cry at the sound of her husband’s name. “Sara?” Jenn shook her head and he cried harder. “Sam?” He was barely understandable. “Oh, my sweet grandbabies.”
Jenn’s eyes drifted to the shackle locked around his ankle. The chain ran back to the edge of one of the gardens. “I won’t leave you here.” Her eyes scanned the entire room as her mind went to work. On the far side of the space, she found a lone gunman pacing back and forth across the width of the room. “Is that the only guard?”
He looked at him and then snapped his eyes on to her. “Don’t do anything stupid. Please just go.”
His plea fell on deaf ears. She affectionately rubbed her hand along his arm and then turned around. She was walking back to Eddie when her father spoke again. He was asking her to stop, but she already had it in mind what she needed to do. The grin on Eddie’s face fueled her anger, making it easier to mask her fear.
“I want to get him out of here,” she said.
Eddie took a defensive stance but not enough to show her any respect. He kept hold of his gun with one hand around the stock and the barrel resting in the palm of his other hand.
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Why not?” She took a step forward, and Eddie didn’t react. “I don’t know what’s going on and I don’t care. He’s my dad and he’s coming with me.”
Eddie’s grin faded and he slid his free hand down the barrel of his gun. Jenn reacted, not sure she would have another chance. One sudden step brought her face to face with Eddie. She brought her knee up and caught him square in the balls. He fell forward as every ounce of air burst from his mouth.
Jenn took the full weight of him. She wrapped both hands around the rifle and pulled. Eddie resisted, but another knee to the groin dropped him on the floor. Jenn spun around and sent the butt of the gun across his jaw. The resulting impact left him out cold and a fresh splatter of blood running down his chin.
She scanned the open floor and settled her eyes across the room. Dread set in when she couldn’t locate the guard. She rushed toward the garden rows as a general sound of panic rose from the workers. Jenn found her father, but a sudden rush of movement pulled her to the lone gunman. He’d reached the center of the gardens and had his weapon aimed at her.
The first shot whizzed past her head and the second shattered a pane of glass along the outer wall. Jenn pulled the trigger and the rifle went off. She wasn’t prepared for the kick, and the impact knocked her back. She planted her feet and took aim. The second shot held true, and the round tore into the gunman, lifting him off the ground. He came down on one of the bedframe gardens, his chest open in a mess of blood and guts.
“Stand back,” she ordered and then shot through the chain connected to her father’s ankle, and the room erupted into chaos. Everywhere around them people hacked and banged at their bindings with anything they could find. “Let’s go.” She pulled at Tom, and it took a moment for him to get his legs moving. Several of the cap
tives managed to release themselves, and by the time Jenn got back to Eddie, a group of them was already out the door and in the hallway. “So much for surprise.” She tried to rush for the exit, but a yank from her father nearly caused her to drop the rifle. “Dad, we don’t have time to talk.”
“There’s more,” he said.
“You can tell me later.” Jenn faced him, frustrated with the dialogue. “We have to get out of here before they bring up reinforcements.”
“It’s not Isabel you need to worry about.”
Jenn wasn’t sure her dad was in the right frame of mind to offer directions. “They’re the ones who locked you up, right?”
“Yes, yes, but that’s not why everyone else stays. It’s the infected. Didn’t you see them?”
Jenn wasn’t sure what he was getting at. “I’ve seen my share.”
Tom shook his head adamantly. “Not like this.” He grabbed her by the arm so she couldn’t keep moving. “Not like this,” he repeated. “They communicate with one another. They’ve coordinated attacks on the building. It’s only a matter of time before they figure out a way to get up here.”
Jenn stopped trying to get away. The conversation triggered her memory of a dialogue between Chris and Jafar. “They’re evolving,” she heard herself say. “So what’s next?” she asked, not looking for a reply.
“You shouldn’t have come here.”
“Dad.” She shook her head. “I had to. There are more of us. We don’t have to go it alone.”
“It doesn’t matter.” He let go of her. “We’re all going to die.”
The weight of his words hit her between the eyes. She felt like laying her gun down and giving up. Her father had always been a strong man, proud and optimistic. The man before her was none of those things. He appeared willing to let either Isabel or the infected end it all for him.
“It doesn’t end here,” she said, snapping out of the haze. “There are people depending on me,” she said more for herself. “Kids, Dad. There are kids waiting for me to come back.”
Jenn was moving again, pulling her father as she went. His strength was sapped, and she knew she’d only be able to push him so far. They were at the door as another group of freed workers pushed past them into the hall. Jenn poked her head out for a quick look. A mass of people had gathered in a herd trying to push their way into the stairs at the far end of the hall. A gunshot caused her to jerk back, and the roaring screams told her that Isabel’s men were trying to corral the escapees.
The Decaying World Saga Box Set [Prequel #1-#2 & Books #1-#2] Page 37
