Once they reached the top of the hill, they left the main road and cut across a field onto the hospital’s property. Alex squinted her eyes and could make out three separate smoke trails rising from halfway up the side of the massive building. There was no doubt now that the building was occupied. She could only hope that they would not only have what they needed for medicine but also be willing to trade. The thought of spending the day traveling from hospital to hospital searching the ruins for the desperately needed drugs left her with a sour pit in her stomach.
They circled around the building to the front and pulled up in front of the big door frames that marked the main entrance before shutting the sleds down and dismounting. They all exchanged worried glances when they saw the gleam of safety glass scattered across the snow. It had to have been recent that the windows were broken or the glass would have been covered by the last snow fall. Someone had made an attempt to cover the empty frames in the door with what looked like metal shelving but there were still gaps around the frames.
Everyone took a quick step back when a double barrel of a shotgun slid smoothly in between one of those gaps to point at them.
“You all can just climb back on those machines and hightail it outta here! There won’t be any warning shots this time, I promise!” The voice that rang out was furious. When the teens just shot looks at each other the voice got louder. “You bunch ought to be ashamed of yourselves! Attacking a house of children and tryin’ to steal from kids. I should just shoot you all dead right here and now!” The barrels jabbed towards them making Alex flinch but Josh threw up his hands.
“Mister! Hey, Mister! I can see you had some problems here but I can assure you that it wasn’t us. We came to trade. A group over at the Zoo sent us here to trade!”
There was silence on the other side of the door and then some mumbling Alex could just make out.
“Hmm, the zoo? The zoo people? Right, right, they came for baby supplies. Skittish bunch, had trouble over at Foothills…”
To Alex, the voice sounded like an elderly man that was either going senile or was very tired. She reached up to unsnap her helmet strap and then pulled it and her toque off, letting her hair spill down around her shoulders. She took a short step towards the doors and called out.
“Sir? I’m sorry for your troubles but we aren’t here to cause any. We traveled a very long way to find the medicine our people need. Do you think you could help us? We have supplies we can trade if you can.”
There was silence from the other side of the barricade for half a minute while the group held their breaths, hoping for the right outcome. The barrel of the shotgun stayed steady on them even as he replied with a softer tone.
“Trade we can do but don’t think for a moment I wouldn’t put a load of shot into you all at the first sign of funny business!” The barrel jabbed in their direction causing them all to flinch before it pulled back and disappeared. “You all just stay put out there and I’ll go fetch the boss.”
There were sighs of relief from every one of the teens and they all relaxed slightly. As they waited for the man to come back they removed all their head gear and talked quietly about the trade.
“How much food are we willing to trade them if they have what we need?” Quinn asked.
Alex snorted. “All of it!” At Quinn’s frown, she shook her head in exasperation. “If these people have what we need then we give them everything we can to get the deal done. Do you really want to haggle over the little bit of food we brought when it could mean more of our town dying? If we can get what we need here and not have to travel anywhere else in this city, then we should just make it happen.”
Quinn nodded but looked away making Alex want to throw up her hands in frustration. She was so sick of his stubborn, combative attitude. There were a definite time and place for it, but this wasn’t it.
Josh put a hand on her shoulder. “You’re right Alex, but let’s keep that close to our chests for now. We don’t know what the setup is like here so we should keep a few cards up our sleeve until we do.”
She kept her gaze on Quinn for a few more seconds and then sighed in frustration and turned away when he wouldn’t look at her. One thing that would come from this trip was the resolving of their relationship. As much as she wished they would get back on track, he was proving that it wouldn’t happen and she should just let him go. She knew eventually they would have to talk about it. It just wasn’t in her nature to leave something so big unresolved.
It only took a few more moments before they all heard movement behind the shelves blocking the door and then a different voice rang out to them.
“Hello? Al says you’re here to trade?”
Josh was surprised to hear a woman’s voice but he quickly nodded at Alex to take the lead. She took a step towards the door and raised her hands in a peaceful gesture.
“Hi! We were told by a group living at the zoo that you are open to trades. We traveled here from up north looking for medicine. There are a lot of sick people in our town and we hoped to find what we need here.”
There was silence for a few moments and Alex could see someone giving her group a closer look through a small opening between the frame of the busted-out door and the shelving blocking it. When the woman’s voice called out again, Alex had to try hard not to let her eyes roll at the same old question.
“Where are the adults? Why would they send a bunch of teenagers?”
Alex shrugged. “They didn’t. We wanted to help our people, so when the chinook hit, we just decided to come here. Hopefully you have the medicine they need.”
There was no reply right away but the teens could hear sounds of a conversation happening on the other side of the door. When Alex heard the man’s voice rise and say, “A bunch of kids!” she hoped that they would relax enough to deal with them. They all shared a hopeful glance at one another and then turned back to the door when the woman called out to them.
“We are willing to talk about trading but before we let you in, you need to leave all your weapons outside!”
Alex ground her teeth together in frustration but before she could reply, Quinn called back to the woman.
“No offence ma’am, but based on the broken windows and what your man said about an attack, that’s not an option.” When his words were met with silence, he huffed out a sigh. “We really don’t mean you any harm but we’ve travelled a lot in the past eight months and being without a weapon now is suicidal. There are a lot of really bad people out there but we aren’t them. We just want to trade you some good farm food for some medicine and get back to our homes. We aren’t looking for a fight!”
There was more hushed conversation on the other side of the door before they all heard sounds of furniture scraping against the floor. The shelving unit was pulled away from the door and a woman stepped into its place. Her face was tired looking but her expression was hard as she looked them all over. She finally gave them a nod and focused on Quinn.
“I understand your concern but you must understand mine. We are responsible for the lives of sixteen children. I can’t just let a bunch of strangers with rifles into our home and hope for the best.”
Alex moved forward. With the way Quinn had been acting lately, she didn’t want his bad attitude to put the woman off and sour any chance at getting a trade done.
“Ma’am, I completely understand where you’re coming from. I would do the same in your place. Would you be open to just two of us coming in, unarmed, to discuss a trade?”
Quinn’s head snapped in her direction and his voice was a bark. “ALEX!”
She rounded on him and stabbed a finger in his direction and spoke through clenched teeth. “Not…one...word!”
When he broke eye contact with an angry shake of his head and turned his back to her and the woman, Alex returned her gaze to the woman. She had taken a step back into the doorway at Quinn’s harsh tone and now her expression was wary. Alex held up a placating hand.
“I’m sorry. He
’s just very protective.”
The woman glanced quickly at Quinn before cautiously nodding her head. “Yes, I would be ok with that.”
Alex sent her a small smile before turning to the others. “Josh, Dara?”
In response to the silent question, Dara and Josh both lifted the slings of their rifles over their heads and passed them to Emily and Lisa. They walked towards the front doors with their hands out in front of them to show they were unarmed. Alex let out a relieved breath when the woman nodded and stepped back for them to enter the lobby of the hospital.
Once they were gone from sight, Alex turned and scanned the surrounding area for any threats. Cooper, Emily and Lisa fanned out and did the same. She tensed when Quinn took a step towards her. He didn’t speak for a few moments.
“I know you want to get the trade done Alex, but sending our friends in there unarmed?”
She sent him a scathing look before focusing back on the surrounding area. “Yeah, that would have been pretty stupid. Good thing they both have handguns under their parkas!” She shook her head. “I know you don’t think much of me anymore but I’m not an idiot. Try and remember that at least!”
She caught his flinch out of the corner of her eye. “Alex, I don’t…”
Alex narrowed her eyes at a glimpse of movement on the edge of the massive parking lot. She cut Quinn off and started to back up.
“Contact! There are people out there!”
Quinn swung his head to his right and started backing up too.
“There’s more in this direction too! We need to get inside. We’re sitting ducks out here with no cover!”
Alex spun around and bolted towards the lobby door causing the man who was standing in it to raise his shotgun. She was right about him, he was at least seventy years old.
“Mister! Are you expecting company? There’s a bunch of people headed this way!”
His expression changed from confused to fearful when he stepped out onto the sidewalk to look past her.
“It’s those buggers from yesterday! They want in to steal the drugs!”
She came to a halt when the barrel of his gun swung back towards her.
“Whoa! We aren’t the enemy! We can help you fight them off but not from out here. We need some cover to get behind. If you let us into the lobby we will hold them off until you can get the rest of your people in place.”
The man studied her for a few seconds and then looked back out at the threat heading their way. His shoulders drooped and he seemed to deflate before her eyes.
“I have no choice but to trust you. There aren’t any other people to get into place. It’s just me and Leslie left, plus the children.”
Alex felt her jaw drop at his words. How could these two ever protect a building this size from the evil out there? She shook her head. Doesn’t matter now, work to be done! She spun back to her friends.
“Guys! Get the sleds moving, we need to bring them into the lobby!”
As she ran towards her sled, she could hear the old man bellowing into the hospital for the others to come back. Throwing a quick look towards the parking lot as she fired up her sled, she saw at least fifteen people headed their way. The quick glance showed that they all were carrying what looked like bats or crowbars. If that was all the attackers were armed with then they shouldn’t have any problem taking them out. She barely had that thought when a gunshot rang out and she saw the snow fly up not two feet from the front of her sled. As she gunned the sled towards the now open lobby doors, she hunched her shoulders waiting for the bullet that she feared was coming her way.
Chapter Nineteen
Alex, Emily and Cooper managed to drive their sleds into the huge lobby with Lisa hot on their treads with the UTV. They all managed to get inside without getting shot thanks to Quinn who stayed back and laid down covering fire. He burned through two magazines on full auto before diving in behind them. Josh, Dara and the woman they had gone with came running back towards them and lent a hand getting the shelving back in front of the door. They added desks and pieces of wood to the growing pile as well. Once Quinn had caught his breath, he looked around the dim lobby in confusion before zeroing in on the woman.
“Lady, you need to get the rest of your people down here to help defend this place!”
She shot him an annoyed look and turned towards the barricade.
“Yeah, that would be helpful. Too bad there is no one else. It’s just me and Albert left now!”
Quinn started to sputter in surprise but was cut off when Cooper thrust a handful of spare magazines his way.
“Here, reload! How many do you think you took out? How many are left out there?”
Quinn shook his head as he ejected the empty magazine from his rifle and inserted a full one.
“I don’t know. I saw at least six or seven go down but it might have been more. I was just hoping that the spray would get them to give up and retreat.” He turned to the old man who was looking out at the lot between the shelf and the frame of the door.
“Albert? How many do you see out there?”
The older man grunted, turned his head and opened his mouth to answer when a shot rang out and he flew backwards off his feet. Quinn’s mouth gaped open in shock as he watched the man hit the cold tile floor. Albert’s arm flew out to the side and the butt of the shotgun he was holding slammed down beside him. He must have had his finger on the trigger because it belched out the shot in the chamber. The sound was deafening in the enclosed space and they were all lucky the barrel was pointed off to the side or they all would have been injured from the spread of the pellets.
Most of them had instinctively dropped to the ground when the shotgun went off. Cooper had been facing Quinn so he didn’t see Albert hit the ground but he did see Alex slam violently against the wall as she caught part of the shot in her right shoulder. He watched as if in slow motion as she flew forward and then toppled back. He didn’t hear the noise of her head cracking against the floor but his brain imagined it.
Cooper shoved Quinn to the side and scrambled on hands and knees over to her while screaming her name. His voice was lost in the barrage of automatic gunfire as Josh, Dara, Emily and Lisa poured fire from their rifles around the barricade. He gathered Alex into his arms and lifted her. Keeping his head down as low as he could he shuffled towards the back of the lobby as fast as he could with her dead weight in his arms. He slid into the dark doorway of an empty café and gently laid her back down, quickly checking to make sure she was still breathing. When he found that she was, he jumped to his feet and ran around the counter of the café and pulled dish towels from a shelf to use as padding for her head and to put pressure on her shoulder wound.
He had just turned her on her side to apply pressure when the woman, Leslie, dropped to her knees beside him. He looked at her desperately when she took the towels from his hand.
“GO! I’ll take care of her!”
Cooper shook his head harshly. “I’m not leaving her!”
Leslie grabbed his shoulder and gave it a shake. “I’m a trauma nurse, I know what to do here. They need your help out there! GO!”
Cooper stared at her hard for a few moments before giving a reluctant nod and with one last look at Alex’s blank features, pushed to his feet. He rushed back out into the lobby and did a quick scan. Everyone was still firing their rifles around the barricade except Quinn who was still on his knees. His gaze was fixed on the small pool of blood that Alex had left on the tile from where she had landed after getting shot. Cooper raced towards him and roared Quinn’s name breaking him from his fixation with the blood. Cooper had no choice but to ignore the utter devastation in Quinn’s eyes when he looked up at him. Hauling him to his feet, Cooper shoved Quinn towards a hallway to the right with signage pointing to the parkade. They needed a better look at the parking lot and the attackers than what they had if they were going to end this attack.
Quinn stumbled ahead of him, constantly looking back towards the lobby until Cooper
grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him.
“Snap out of it, man! She’s alive and the nurse is fixing her up. We need to get a bead on these bastards and take them out or we’ll all be dead!”
Quinn took a deeper breath and steadied himself when Cooper said Alex was alive and being looked after by the nurse. He pulled away from Cooper and straightened his shoulders. His expression hardened.
“I’m going to kill them all!”
It was said so coldly that Cooper took a small step back but then nodded and waved Quinn on. They followed the dark hallway for a few feet to a corner and looked around it. The hallway turned into a section that was all glass on the outer wall, flooding it with light. The double glass doors to the parkade were twenty feet further on. They would be exposed to the parking lot the whole way. When Quinn only hesitated for a few seconds before charging forward, Cooper groaned but followed quickly behind him, keeping an eye on the lot through the windows. He could see five attackers still on their feet and many more laying lifelessly on the snow-covered pavement. The ones that were still up were using abandoned cars and an empty cement fountain as cover while they took shots towards the barricaded lobby doors. Thankfully none of them were looking their way.
They made it through to the open-air parkade and crouch-walked towards the end of it until they were slightly past the attackers. They rose up until they could see over the cement half-wall and did a scan of the area to look for any other attackers besides the five they had already seen. A faint scream reached them from inside the hospital causing them both to abandon their search. In unison, both boys rose to their feet and started firing into the sides of the men that were shooting at the doors, being careful not to aim towards the barricade themselves.
All five attackers were down in less than a minute. The boys dropped back down behind the cement half-wall and waited for any return fire. After a few nerve-racking minutes when none came, they cautiously raised back up. There was no movement and only silence from the parking lot. Both their rifles jerked towards a piercing cry coming from one of the downed attackers but nothing came after it. They waited again and then Quinn nodded towards the lot.
STRANDED: Box Set: Books 1-6 Page 92
