When the girl didn’t answer, just shifted one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug, Emily knew it was time to send her on her way so she could get some real sleep in a real bed. She shifted her gaze to Kirkland.
“You have somewhere for her to sleep?” At his nod, she pushed to her feet. “Then I think you should take her and get her settled in so she can start mending with some real rest.”
He gently slid out from underneath Lisa and then helped her to her feet. Emily leaned forward and placed a kiss on her friend’s cheek before bringing her hands up to cup them. I’m going to miss you so much, Lisa. It’s going to be hard waking up every day and knowing that you’re not there. I really do think you’re making the right decision in staying here but I hope you will come home in the spring and bring your father and his partner and your new sibling with you. There will always be room for you in my home.”
Lisa’s eyes were glazed with the drugs Leslie had given her and her voice was unsteady when she asked, “I’ll see you all tomorrow before you go back to the hospital, right?”
Dara gave her a nod and a gentle hug and so did Josh before moving out of the way so Kirkland could help support her out of the building. Seconds after they had left, Cooper entered the same door and looked around the garage with surprise.
“Was it something I said? When I left there was a ton of people in here and now it’s just us?”
Josh smirked at him and held up his hands in a “what can you do” gesture as he shrugged his shoulders. “Well, I didn’t want to say anything but you know, you do have a distinctive aroma that tends to clear a room.”
Cooper rolled his eyes with a laugh. “I take it by your good mood everything worked out here with the transfer?”
Josh nodded his head. “Yeah, took a little bit of arm-twisting but everybody’s good to go with you guys staying here. I didn’t bring up your new accommodations with Matthew because I thought you would want to stick with us tonight as we plan to leave around five in the morning. Matthew left his map with us and it looks like a straight shot across the river to where we need to go for the medicine.”
Cooper looked around the now nearly empty garage and nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense. No point running around the zoo at that time in the morning to meet back up. Where’s Lisa?”
Emily looked up from where she was packing away the last of the supplies they were going to be keeping. “Her dad took her to where she’s going to be staying from now on. Leslie gave her some more painkillers so she was pretty out of it. I’m not sure she’ll even remember us saying goodbye but we will see her again before we head back to the hospital. Any problems at the gate by the river?”
Cooper shook his head. “Nope, no movement at all. I’m beginning to think the people running around downtown like idiots aren’t that much of a threat to us. If I was them, I’d be all over chasing down a bunch of sleds. I mean – I don’t think for a second that we weren’t noticed and you would think a bunch of operating sleds would be worth a look-see, but no one seems to be looking this way.”
Josh looked thoughtful for a moment before replying. “Well let’s hope they continue to be idiots then and keep out of our way. You should grab something to eat and then we should all hit the sack so we’re fresh and ready to go before dawn.” He turned to the girls and waved at the supplies still loaded in one of the sled trailers. “Why don’t we start emptying that out and stacking everything over against one wall? After we’re gone, Matthew can figure out where to put it.”
Cooper pulled out his last MRE for his own supper - he had left his extra packs with Quinn to share with the other group of kids - while Josh and the girls started unloading the sled of the supplies they were leaving with the community. Dara brooded as she helped unload the boxes of frozen meat until she finally couldn’t take it anymore.
“I don’t see why I have to stay back here now! The community voted to take them in and everyone seems to be on board with it except for a couple of those jerks you told us about. I think I should go with you guys!”
Josh stacked the last box in his hands before turning towards her and looking at the others. “You know what? I don’t see why you couldn’t come with us now either. I still don’t trust those jerks but I don’t think there’s anything they can do at this point to throw Leslie and the kids out. We’re taking all three sleds and trailers with us across the river to pack as many medicines as we can get our hands on so there’s nothing left here for them to try and steal. So…saddle up, girly!”
Emily blew out an exaggerated breath of relief as Dara grinned. “Thank God! Now I don’t have to worry about being the only one on the mission to babysit those two!”
Cooper just laughed while Josh rolled his eyes and said, “Yadda, yadda, yadda.”
Once they had laid out their sleeping bags and turned off the lanterns they’d brought with them, everyone settled in for an uncomfortable night on the hard, concrete floor. As Emily started to drift off, her last thoughts were of Alex and Quinn and the hope that they were safe and sound.
Chapter Five
Quinn felt the weight of exhaustion in every bone in his body as he tried to keep his eyes open. He had positioned himself in a hard, straight-backed chair near one of the windows and left a small gap in the curtains so he could keep watch over the dark parking lot between the house they were in and the hospital. The little bit of sleep he had gotten the night before on the cold, concrete floor of the garage at the zoo coupled with the extreme highs and lows of the day that followed had left him drained and struggling to stay alert. The seven children with him had been well-trained by Leslie to keep their noise and movements to a minimum. It made things a little easier - not to have to worry about boisterous children giving away their location to anyone who might be nearby - but it also caused him great sadness knowing that these kids had gone so long without being normal kids with normal kid behavior.
There had been a few quiet tears amongst them with missing Leslie and the only home they had known for the last eight months in the hospital. Thankfully though, Alex had rebounded after a short, restful nap and was able to soothe them with tales of their childhood antics around the farm area they lived in. The children listened with rapt attention as she told them of building tree forts and playing hide and seek in the forest. Question after question was asked of her by the kids and Quinn marveled at how she never once lost her patience with them.
He was grateful to Cooper for leaving them the four MREs as it made feeding all of them so much easier. The kids were used to tiny portions so splitting the four main meals between them all brought no complaints, especially when he passed out the peanut butter and cracker packets and small bags of candy that came with each one.
When the meal was over, Quinn took everyone one-by-one to use the non-functioning bathrooms that were spread out in the massive home. They wouldn’t be staying here past tomorrow noon so the smell shouldn’t be too bad in the short-term. When he helped Alex out of the bed and into the nearby washroom, she seemed steadier on her feet than earlier, but he could tell as he helped her back to bed that the small amount of movement had drained her strength. Once everyone was settled again for the night, Alex told them the story of Charlotte’s Web from memory. Quinn knew it was one of her favorite childhood stories and she used funny voices for each character, delighting the kids.
Once everyone had nodded off to sleep for the night Quinn made his rounds through the house, double-checking every window to make sure the curtains were all closed tight, before settling in the chair he had chosen for his night watch.
He spent the quiet hours staring out into the darkness thinking of the past few months and how he had nearly destroyed his relationship with the love of his life as well as many of his friends. With nothing else to do but sit and watch his brain tracked back through every emotion and action that had brought him to this place. He had been so full of rage when his grandfather died that he was blinded to so many things. The pain he felt at losing the most importan
t man in his whole world made him build a brick wall around his heart to try and prevent it from hurting that way again. After almost losing Alex today, that wall crumbled to dust and he realized that the pain of what might happen was worth the love that she had so willingly given to him. He cursed himself repeatedly at the fool that he had been and prayed that she would forgive him and give him another chance. After everything they had been through since the lights went out, he should have known to grasp every moment of happiness that he could.
As the night deepened and his resolve to stay awake failed, his eyelids began to droop and he found himself nodding off, only to jerk himself awake again and again. He was fading fast and he didn’t know if he’d make it through the night when a faint noise caught his attention and his chin jerked up from where it had started to rest on his chest again.
Dark silhouettes crossing the parking lot had his eyes flaring wide open and adrenaline coursing through his body, bringing him wide awake. It was next to impossible to see how many people were out there but he stopped counting when he reached ten silhouettes and clutched his gun tighter to his chest. He took a quick look over his shoulder and was relieved to see everyone in the room still sound asleep. Their best defense would be staying silent and undiscovered. That plan went out the window when he heard the sound of someone trying to open the main doors.
Chapter Six
Dawn was still two hours away when Josh rose to wake the others. He could tell he wasn’t the only one with blurry eyes by the way they staggered to their feet. Sleep and rest would have to take a backseat to getting the job done today in order to reach the hospital by noon. Even though he didn’t think this run would take more than a couple of hours with the address they were heading to so close, he wanted to be sure to give them some wiggle room in case anything did go wrong.
They almost all sighed in unison when Matthew knocked on the door and came into the garage, holding up a thermos of the energy giving coffee they all desperately craved.
Emily blinked owlishly at Matthew after she had taken her first few sips and sent him a grateful smile. “Matthew, I’d like to thank you for the help you’ve given us. Although I’m sure we would have managed to get what we needed on her own, your assistance has made it so much easier. I’m sorry that we caused tension within your group but please know that by helping us you are saving hundreds of people in our town from a horrible death.”
Matthew looked at her seriously before scanning the faces of the other teens. “I think all of us need a reminder now and again that it’s not just enough to survive in this world but that we need to be worthy of surviving. Honestly, you kids coming here has been the kick in the butt I think our community needed. Once you head out, I’m going to give it a few days to let things settle and then I’m going to propose that we start reaching out to other groups in the city to see if we can establish some trade and mutual assistance. The fact that Leslie was in that hospital all this time taking care of those children and we had no clue is unacceptable. The world might have gotten smaller since the lights went out but I think it’s up to each and every one of us to try and make it bigger again. The only way we’re going to do that is reaching out to others so that we have the strength and numbers to start building again.” He pushed to his feet from the crate that he had been sitting on and waved towards the roll-up doors. “I truly hope you guys find what you’re looking for and make it back here safely. I’ll be waiting with the sentry at the gate to let you back in.”
The teens finished the last swallows of coffee before putting on their helmets and moving to start the sleds as Matthew rolled up the overhead door. It only took minutes to reach the gate to the river and once again, Jeff at the end of his shift, was waiting to pull it open and wave them through. Their headlights shone ahead of them as they drove across the frozen river to the opposite bank.
Josh had located a small park on the map not too far from where they entered the river on the other side that they would use to get up the far bank. From there, hopefully they could navigate over the snow-covered walking and bike path pavement through the park to the surface streets. After that, they would have to travel on the streets to get to the address that he had memorized. At least, that was the plan. With no city crews out to clear snow and mark trails, there was an untold number of hazards that could be hidden under the snow.
His sled took the lead with Dara on the seat behind him followed by Emily’s sled and then Cooper on the sled bringing up the rear. They saw no movement as they traveled through the area and not a single light broke the darkness other than their own headlights. The city blocks sped by once they were on the main street heading in the direction they needed to go and it seemed like minutes later Josh was slowing his sled down at the intersection where they would need to turn.
They drove slowly down this street keeping their speed just above stalling so that they could scan the numbers on the buildings until Josh pointed excitedly at the one that they were looking for. It only had a small parking lot in front so he continued past it to loop around at the end of the block hoping for an alleyway that they could hide the sleds in. There had to be a loading dock in the back of the building to load up the boxes for delivery. The alley was there just as he predicted and he spun his sled and trailer into its opening and traveled the length of it until he came to the back of the building that was their target. They shut their sleds down, removed their helmets and just waited quietly, listening to the sounds of the early morning to see if they had been discovered. After five minutes of silent waiting without any sign that they had been detected, Josh waved them towards the loading dock stairs.
He went armed with a crowbar and Cooper carried bolt cutters and his own crowbar as well. The door was completely unmarred, giving them all the hope that the precious inventory inside had not been touched. A small plaque beside the door told them they were in the right place. A now dead keypad beside the door and no sign of any type of lock on the smooth surface showed them that getting in was going to be difficult.
Cooper, being taller than Josh, wedged his crowbar into the seam between the door and the door jamb slightly above halfway while Josh did the same just under half way from where a traditional lock would be. Both of the boys pushed with all their might to try and pry the door open while Emily and Dara stayed alert, each scanning the opposite direction of the alley to watch their backs. After ten minutes of grunting and groaning without any success, the boys paused to regroup, joining the girls back down in the alley.
Josh blew out of frustrated breath. “Okay, it’s not happening this way - so plan B anyone?”
Emily and Dara scanned the building looking for inspiration but with no windows and the only opening being the smooth, locked door they both shrugged.
Dara asked, “Do you want to try the front door? The lobby door might be easier to get through, and then we can work on any interior doors to get into where they house the inventory.”
Emily looked up towards the roof before making her suggestion.
“You guys could boost me up and I could look to see if there are any vents that I could slide down through. Once I’m in, I can open up the door for you guys.”
Josh look towards Cooper. “What do you think? Plan B or plan C?”
He rubbed his chin and thought for a moment before responding. “I don’t think we should spend too much time at the front of the building where we’d be exposed so plan C might be the best bet.”
Josh gave a curt nod and pointed at Emily. “Plan C it is. Are you sure you’re good to go up there?”
She nodded her head with an eye roll. “I’m the smallest one here so I don’t see what choice we have. I’m going to need one of those pry bars to take up with me in case I find a vent big enough to fit into.”
Josh, Cooper, and Emily headed back up the stairs to the loading dock while Dara kept watch down in the alley. There was an air conditioning unit halfway up the wall that they aimed for and it was quick work to lift Emily’s light we
ight high enough for her to step onto it. From there, her height barely allowed her to curl her fingertips over the edge of the roof. It wasn’t much leverage to work with but luckily the building had a rough brick siding on it and she was able to get a little bit of traction on that with her feet. Muscles straining with the effort, she was able to push herself high enough to get a better grip on the roof. Her fingers, arms, and legs practically screamed at her but she managed to get far enough up the wall to get her chest onto the roof and from there it was easier to pull the rest of her body up and roll onto the surface of it.
When she had caught her breath, she got to her feet and took a look around the roof to see what she had to work with. There was still a layer of snow up here but there were also patches of it that had melted in the warm weather over the last few days. She headed over to the most likely target that had an air intake vent on the side of it.
Using the crowbar that she had wedged in the back of her pants for the climb up, she managed to pry off the thin aluminum cover in minutes. Dropping the crowbar, she pulled out her flashlight and leaned into the opening to shine the light down the vent. She could see the vent traveled straight down to the main floor with nothing on the smooth sides to give her leverage to control her descent, so she’d have to be very careful making her way down or she’d end up with a broken leg or two.
Taking a deep breath, Emily pushed aside her fear at what she was about to do. She grabbed the crowbar from where she dropped it and tossed it down the duct, listening to the clanging and banging echoing in the tight space as it ricocheted off the sides and finally settled at the bottom, trying not to imagine her own body making similar sounds if she fell.
Clamping the flashlight between her teeth she positioned her legs into the vent until she could use them to brace her body on the opposite side. Wedged into the vent, with just the pressure of her feet on one side and her back pressed tightly against the other, she inched her way down the vent until she could no longer hold onto the lip of it. The only thing she could do was let go and pray that she didn’t lose the pressure keeping her upright in the vent so that she didn’t plummet to the bottom of it. Inch by inch she wiggled and slid her way down with her eyes clenched tightly closed. After what felt like forever but was actually only five minutes, she willed herself to open her eyes and angle the flashlight down to see how much further she had to go. She clenched her teeth around the hard plastic of the flashlight handle making her jaw ache when she realized she had only made it halfway down the vent and still had at least six feet to go. Emily figured that at four feet or so, she could drop without doing too much damage to her body so she wiggled and slid another two feet before pulling the flashlight from her mouth, counting to three, and letting her feet slide down towards the bottom of the duct.
STRANDED: Box Set: Books 1-6 Page 100
