by Kadin, Karri
“Don’t waste your energy,” Trevor said. Matt kicked the door.
“It’s fucking bullet-proof and sealed shut from the inside!” Gabby yelled. She jogged off, leading them around the building to find another way.
Allison
Allison rounded a corner and found a hall lined with doors, each with a small window. She ran down the hall, peering into each one. They were all empty except for the one at the end. A small boy, perhaps around six, was slumped over on the cot, unmoving. Allison pulled on the door. Locked. She pulled again but the door didn’t budge. She knocked on the window and called to the boy. His tiny body slowly sat up and his glassy, tear-filled eyes stared at Allison. Her heart ached in her chest and she had to fight off tears at the sight of the boy. Cuts still weeping blood lined his thin legs and burn marks covered his fragile arms. His eyes were sunken in, surrounded by dark circles. His jet-black hair was missing in patches all over his head and his ears were bloody.
Allison felt the warmth she had hated for so long building in her core. Her heartbeat quickened, but unlike before, rage didn’t come alone. Concern, fear, sadness, and the desire to protect filled her. She didn’t fight it, she embraced it, and it spread quicker than ever before throughout her body, filling her to the brim until she might have exploded if she didn’t release it. Her heart raced as she yanked the door off its hinges sending it crashing into the wall behind her.
“I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to help you,” Allison said to the boy. He reached for her. Allison scooped the boy up in her arms and took off down the hall back toward the exit.
Gabby
Outside the Collectors were firing back at the Resistance. The hiss of bullets rained down across the grounds. Men and women in white lab coats rushed to vehicles, frantically loading unconscious people in white clothes into vehicles. Snipers continued to take out Collectors. A jeep plowed through the fence from the woods and Resistance members poured out. The Collectors started to flee as Resistance members pulled as many of the white-clothed people from the vehicles as they could.
“Do you see Allison?” Gabby asked as she continued to fire on the Collectors.
“No,” Matt said as he too continued to fire with shaky hands.
“We need to get in there!” Trevor shouted.
“I haven’t been able to get in a single door!” Cassi said. “Be careful, we don’t want to hit any of the prisoners!” She joined their barrage of weapon fire.
A phalanx of Collectors exited the building. They were heavily armed, moving as one, remaining tightly intertwined around someone in the center. One Collector fell, revealing Dr. Neff taking cover inside his moving wall of Collectors. They all reformed to fill the gap left by their fallen comrade. They moved quickly, heading toward the last remaining vehicle, a van.
“Shoot him! Shoot him!” Trevor yelled as they all took aim for Dr. Neff. Multiple Collectors around him dropped as they were sprayed with bullets. Dr. Neff grimaced as a bullet struck his thigh, and he fell into the van. The door slammed shut and the wheels kicked up a rooster tail of grit and dust as resistance members continued to litter it with bullets. Windows shattered, the van fishtailed in the gravel before the tread caught traction and the van lurched up onto the blacktop, caroming wildly as the driver, likely hit, barely kept it on the road as it wound and wound into the trees and out of sight.
Allison burst through the door right in front of Gabby. She held a small child to her chest as she ran. Allison was a few steps from the building when a blast erupted behind her and a massive wave of force pushed her body forward, flinging her into the air.
“Allison!” Gabby screamed and tried to run to her but Matt wrapped her in his arms holding her back.
“It’s too dangerous, Gabby!” Matt yelled.
As Allison soared through the air, debris fell around her. Gabby watched in horror as Allison threw the boy out in front of her, clearing him of the debris field before she crashed to the ground. Enormous pieces of concrete and metal fell on her and she disappeared from Gabby’s view.
“No! Allison!” Gabby screamed. Tears rushed down her face. She pushed Matt away and ran toward the pile of rubble that encased her friend. She first came across the child lying on the ground twenty yards from Allison. “It’s a little boy!” Tears drenched his red cheeks and he reached for her. She extended her hand to the boy and he tried to stand but fell back to the ground. Trevor came over and lifted the boy up and cradled him in his arms as he jogged toward the rubble, stone and metal, Matt and Gabby close on his heels.
“She’s under here! Allison! Allison, can you hear me?” Matt shouted as he began trying to move rubble aside. The rubble wouldn’t budge. Trevor set the boy on the ground as he and Gabby tried to help Matt.
Resistance members emerged from the woods, making sure the yard was clear of any Collectors. Cassi and Lyon started digging through the rubble with the others to free Allison.
“Allison, please say something!” Trevor cried as tears welled up in his eyes. No response.
“We need to get some machinery,” Lyon said as sweat dripped from his brow. “We can’t move this ourselves and we need to get the others to safety”
“We can’t stop. We can’t leave her!” Gabby yelled as she continued to push against an unmoving piece of rubble.
The little boy crawled to the rubble pile and sat next to Gabby. He placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. She stopped pushing on the rubble and broke into heavy sobs. Matt came up behind her, wrapping her in a hug as her body heaved with cries. Trevor let himself fall to the ground, staring at the pile of wreckage covering Allison, silent tears streaming down his face.
“Please say something,” Trevor said. A quiet voice rose from the rubble. Everyone lifted their heads, looking for the sound. “Allison, is that you?”
The little boy stood on shaking legs. He reached down with both hands, grasping a sizable piece of mangled steel and concrete. He lifted, and the piece moved. Gabby’s tears slowed and her eyes widened. His little arms shook as he pushed and lifted it higher and higher. His whole body was shaking as he bent his knees and gave the piece of rubble a shove, sending it flipping over itself down the pile of wreckage. Everyone stared at the child in awe before he collapsed to the ground.
“He’s one of them, like Allison. An Impavid.” Gabby picked him up and cradled his limp body in her arms. He was alive. Resistance members gathered around, whispering among themselves, mesmerized by the little boy.
“Allison?” Trevor ran toward the pile of rubble. There, no longer covered by rubble, was Allison. Her hair, full of dust, lay around her in a halo. Her exposed skin was covered in bleeding scrapes and bruises. Trevor dropped to his knees next to her and took her hand in his. Allison smiled at him.
“Well, aren’t you going to help a girl up?” Allison asked. Trevor swooped her up in his arms like a blushing bride and kissed her. The crowd broke out in cheers. Gabby passed the boy to Cassi before she ran to embrace Allison while she was cradled in Trevor’s arms. Matt ran over too, squeezing Allison into a tight hug. The four friends stood there embracing one another in relief.
Allison
After they finished salvaging everything they could, the Resistance members brought their jeeps and trucks around and began loading up anything they’d found in the rubble they thought may be useful. Allison sat on a nice shady patch of grass watching the activity while she drank water and watched the unconscious child lay next to her. She stared at the child, wondering about his life and how he ended up here. She brushed his hair out of his eyes. Being a former Infected, having super strength, dealing with emotional control issues and self-hate, and missing her friends and family, not to mention being hunted by an evil doctor, had about destroyed Allison. She couldn’t imagine trying to face those things as a child. She smiled as she watched him, realizing he was the bravest person she knew. Gabby walked over and sat next to her, and Allison handed her the water canteen. She looked down at the child.
“He’s an Impavid like you. That’s what we call former Infected with abilities.” Gabby took a drink of the water.
“How many of us are there?” Allison asked. Gabby shrugged.
Matt and Trevor joined the girls in the shade. Morgan was nowhere to be found. Resistance members reported they lost sight of her as soon as the gunfire started. Matt was devastated when he heard the news.
“I can’t believe her. She just left,” Matt said as he shook his head. “If I can’t trust my sister, who can I trust?”
“Us,” Allison said. “Always us.” Trevor and Gabby nodded in agreement.
They all loaded up into a van with Lyon and Cassi in the front. Trevor and Matt piled in the back row with the gear. Gabby and Allison sat in the middle with the child lying across their laps, still unconscious.
“What now?” Gabby asked, resting her hand on Allison’s. Allison looked at her friends, new and old, with determined eyes.
“We find Dr. Neff and we kill him,” Allison said as she turned, looking out the van window as the fall trees passed by in a blur of color brighter than any Allison had ever seen.
The End
If you enjoyed reading this book please leave a review!
If you would like to be alerted about my future books please join my mailing list!
https://www.subscribepage.com/d0c5t3
About the Author
Karri lives in Oklahoma, USA, with more bug-out bags than people, possibly too much freeze dried food, and her family who think she’s crazy. When she’s not writing she can be found spending time with her loved ones, binging her current TV obsession, or working on her podcast, The Blitzed Book Club.
Join my reader group on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/257054298982675
Visit my website!
www.karriroberts.com
