Quinn moved off the bed and settled into the comfortable chair without another word of protest - telling her just how exhausted he really was. He closed his eyes briefly but then speared her with a look.
“You have to promise me that you’ll wake me if you start to feel dizzy or drowsy at all. We can’t take the chance of both of us being asleep when they come back.”
She nodded seriously. “I promise. I know what’s at stake Quinn. Now close your eyes and try and get some sleep and don’t worry about me falling asleep myself. I’m going to be too preoccupied worrying about the rest of our friends and what’s happening to them out there in the city to fall asleep for a while.”
He tried to hold her gaze but the weight on his eyelids was too much for him and they slipped closed, trusting her to watch over them for a little while.
True to her word, Alex stayed alert as dawn crept closer. Her thoughts were on Josh, Emily, Dara, and the others and what they might be going through right now as they set out on the main mission to find the medications their town needed. Her thoughts might be full of others but her ears were tuned to any noise she could pick up anywhere around the house, waiting for the attack that she knew would come before they could escape.
Chapter Nine
Josh stepped through the empty window frame, his boots crunching on the glass from the shattered window, scanning the street in both directions before asking Cooper and Dara, “Any contact?”
Cooper backed closer towards him with a shake of his head. “We haven’t seen anybody and it’s making me nervous. It’s not like they don’t know we’re here so what are they waiting for?”
Dara moved closer as well. “Maybe they got what they wanted with Emily and they’re just waiting to get more information from her before they make their next move. I’m with Cooper though, this is making me really nervous that no one’s come after us too. What did you see up there?”
Josh kicked at the snow in frustration before answering her. “They’ve got her all right. I saw her and someone else on the back of her sled drive into a parking garage about two blocks away. There was a lot of people on the ground running around down there. More people than we can take on by ourselves!”
Dara shot him a panicked look. “What are we going to do?”
Josh cursed a stream of angry words before stomping over to his sled. “The only thing we can do right now, we head back to the zoo and reassess and try and come up with a plan.”
At their looks of disbelief, he snapped at them. “Let’s go! We need to get out of here with the medicine and make a plan before anybody comes after us. As much as I hate to admit it, there’s more at stake here than just our friend’s life!”
When they still stood staring at him, he angrily stabbed his finger at Cooper’s sled.
“Let’s go! We can’t go off half-cocked this time. We need to make a plan and we need to do it somewhere secure.”
With that, he jammed his helmet on to his head and fired up his sled, relieved when Dara and Cooper finally moved to join him. The last thing Josh wanted to do was abandon Emily to whoever had taken her but right now he didn’t see any other choice.
Once Dara was settled behind him and Cooper had started his sled, he took off with a burst of speed back the way they had come until he found the cross-street he needed to get them back to the park that led to the river. The whole way across the river he felt eyes boring into the back of his head and he knew whoever was running things in the city was now watching them go. The only thing he could do was have faith in Emily. She was one of the strongest people he knew and he prayed that she could hold out and endure whatever they threw at her until they could figure out a way to rescue her.
Matthew and Jeff were waiting for them at the gate with relieved smiles as they swung it open to let them through. Those smiles turned to looks of concern when only two sleds came through instead of three. Josh headed directly to the garage they’d been using in the zoo because he didn’t want an audience to what they were about to discuss. Matthew had hopped on the back of Cooper’s sled for the quick ride to the garage and jumped off to help Josh roll up the overhead door so that they could pull in and park the sleds. He took in the two trailers full of boxes and jars before scanning the faces of the teens.
“What happened? Where’s the other girl and sled?”
Josh and Cooper just stood staring at each other with grim expressions so it was Dara, with tears dripping down her face, that explained what happened.
“We were fine. We made it to the distribution building and we got in just fine. We loaded up everything we needed without a hitch. It was on our way back that they ambushed us. They managed to cut Emily off and take her. We followed them best we could but they had every intersection blocked so we couldn’t get over to get to them.”
Josh finally found his voice. “I managed to catch a glimpse of where they took her. It was a parking garage a block down from the tower. Any information you have on who’s running the downtown and where they’re based would help us formulate a plan to get our friend back.”
Matthew just shook his head sadly. “There’s nothing you can do now. I’m so sorry - but your friend is gone.”
“Bullshit!” Josh spat at him. “We didn’t cross half a continent and fight a war by leaving our people behind. Just tell us what you know and we’ll take it from there. We’re not asking you to put yourself or your people in any danger.”
Matthew held up his hands to ward off Josh’s anger. “You need to be realistic! They outnumber you at least fifty to one. There’s no way the three of you are going to be able to go in there and find her, even with assault rifles!” He blew out of frustrated breath at their defiant expressions. “You don’t understand the kind of people you would be dealing with. They might have just been normal, everyday people before lights out but they’ve been corrupted by the worst of the worst and now they’re nothing more than monsters. They keep slaves for pity sakes! They kill each other without hesitation and prey on anyone weaker than them. God knows what they’ve been eating these last few months. It could be each other for all we know! Again, I’m sorry for your loss, but there’s nothing you or anyone else can do to save her without getting killed in the process.”
Josh might have been a teenager but the look in his eyes showed his true self in this new and shattered world, and it was that of a soldier willing to die for his comrades. His words confirmed it.
“So be it. I will not leave her at the mercy of those thugs. She would never leave me or any one of us so we’re not going to give up on her. Just tell me, do you know where their main base is?”
Matthew looked pleadingly at each one of the teens but what he saw was raw determination.
“I’m not going to be able to convince you to leave this alone, am I?” When each one of them shook their heads no, he sighed deeply. “It’s the tower. I have no idea how they get up and down it but what we’ve heard is that they’ve made the top of it the center of power. The man who runs things there is a former city council member. His politics were questionable before lights out and then the event just allowed his true colors to come to the forefront. He’s basically tried to make himself into King of the city. At first, many people followed him as they were desperate for some type of leadership but as his evil intentions started showing more and more, the group started fracturing off. The only ones that follow him now are the worst of the worst. Those willing to erase their moral compass and do whatever he orders them to. They just evolved further and further from there. There’s no way to sneak up on the tower - let alone fight your way up all eight hundred stairs to the top and then back down again. I just don’t see how it’s possible without you all ending up captured or dead. Then where will you be? Your other friends at the hospital will be alone and the town you set out to save won’t get the medicine.”
Josh nodded at Matthew. “Thank you for that information. It’s our choice and our risk.”
Matthew’s face hardened. “Is it t
hough? You don’t think that whatever you’re planning on doing isn’t going to stir up that rattler nest? If they haven’t figured it out yet on their own, by now your friend will have told them that you’ve been staying here at the zoo. We’ve been lucky that they haven’t targeted us more than a few times so far and we have been able to defend ourselves, but if you go in and shoot up the place that’ll start a war that we can’t finish. Assuming you are able to get out, it will be us that suffers the consequences of it once you’re all gone.”
Josh stared him down with a hard, defiant look before finally conceding the point to Matthew with a sharp nod.
“Understood, but if you don’t mind, I’d like a few minutes with my friends for us to discuss what our next steps are going to have to be, alone.”
Matthew slowly nodded his head in relieved agreement. “I really am truly sorry for your loss. I wish there was a way to fix it.”
With that, he turned and walked out of the garage. Josh followed behind him and rolled the overhead door down, leaving them in darkness for a few moments until Dara found one of their lanterns and clicked it on. In the dim light, the anguish in her expression was apparent as her eyes met Josh’s.
“We can’t… We can’t leave her there! I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if we did, not to mention what Alex will do when she finds out.”
Cooper echoed her sentiments with anger and determination in his voice.
“There’s no way in hell we’re leaving her to those guys on the other side of the river!”
Josh held up a finger to his lips and shook his head while sending a pointed look at the door before waving them closer. Once they were gathered in a small huddle he began in a low harsh tone.
“Of course not! We’re not going to leave her over there but Matthew had a valid point about what we’re going to leave these guys to clean up once we do get her back. Racing back over there without a plan, other than spray and pray, isn’t an option. And how willing are they going to be here in the zoo to help us out if that is our plan? No, we have to do this the smart way.”
He turned to Dara with his hands up in a placating gesture before she could get going.
“Just hear me out before you lose your mind, okay?”
She gave him a death stare but slowly nodded for him to continue.
“All right, all I’ve got right now is I go across alone and try and blend in with the people already over there. I keep my head down and make my way as close as possible to the tower and with any luck, I will get my chance to get in there.”
When Dara angrily opened her mouth to tell him off, he jumped in. “Babe, you need to listen! It’s not that I don’t want you with me because honestly, I could use an extra gun to have my back. It’s because somebody needs to stay behind in case this goes horribly wrong.” He waved at the trailers full of medication. “We’ve already lost one sled, we can’t afford to lose two more or we’re all screwed, including the town. I need you to do the hard job of waiting here for me and then the even harder job of leaving if need be. Someone needs to be at that hospital to meet Quinn, Alex and the kids by noon. I’m asking you to do that hard job. Please!”
Dara opened and closed her mouth twice while trying to formulate the words to dispute him but nothing came out. She finally heaved out a furious breath and turned away from him to look at the contents of the sled trailers. Cooper and Josh looked at each other with unease as they waited for her response. When she finally turned back to them it was with a calm expression that made Josh immediately worried.
“I’m going to agree. But with some changes to your plan. I will wait here until eleven o’clock and then, if you’re not back, I will go to the hospital to meet Alex and Quinn. That’s when the changes occur. I am going to give them the trailer with all of the medication and send them home. I am not leaving this city without you and that is non-negotiable!”
Before Josh could respond to that Cooper interjected his two cents. “Explain to me why exactly I won’t be coming with you as well? You’re going to need some major firepower over there.”
Josh scrubbed at his face. “You need to stay here, man. Matthew’s right. If I can’t pull this off then they will be coming here and it’ll be our fault! You need to be here with that firepower to stop them. Think about it, they’re going to come straight across the river at you guys. That’s when you spray and pray and take them all down. Honestly, the more I think about it, having an assault rifle isn’t going to give me that much of an edge in there when I’m sneaking around, two of them would just make things even worse.”
Cooper closed his eyes for a moment to think about the different scenarios. When he opened them again it was to shake his head.
“Like Dara, I agree but with some changes. We take one sled across together and then find a location, like you did earlier, that gives us a view of the area you need to sneak through. I will stay there as a spotter with one of the walkie-talkies to feed you information as you get closer to the tower. Once you’re in I won’t be much help but I will be able to see if you fail and they start massing to attack the zoo. It’ll give the community enough warning to mount a decent defense.”
Josh turned to Dara. “That actually works for your changes too. If you’re going to send Quinn and Alex home with the kids and the medicine and come back to try and go all Xena - Warrior Princess on them, it’ll make me feel better knowing that you’ll have Cooper to back you up. Do you both agree?”
Neither Cooper nor Dara looked happy about it but they both nodded in agreement so Josh glanced nervously at the door before turning back to them.
“All right, now we just have to sell Matthew on it!”
Chapter Ten
Emily Mather was not the same girl she was the day the lights went out. The things she had seen and been forced to do on her trip home and then to fight for her town had changed her into a girl she no longer recognized. Killing the two men who wanted to enslave and abuse her had burned away all the innocence in her heart and soul. What was left was rage. Not the hot, explosive rage of the moment - but the kind that was cold and sharp, like the honed steel of a blade.
She kept it well hidden most of the time but it was always there - crackling under the surface and waiting to cut. She had no qualms anymore about doing what was needed and had no patience left for anyone who didn’t get it or who got in her way. Regrets maybe. Wishes that things weren’t the way they were, definitely. Hesitation though was gone. The driving force in her life now was to do whatever it took to ensure that the people she loved were protected and safe, even at the risk to her own life.
When she saw the dumpster closing off the way ahead, blocking her from following her friends, she didn’t have an ounce of fear. The rage took over like the ice-cold knife it was, letting her cut through the emotions and panic that would have paralyzed the old Emily and allowing her to calculate and plan her next move.
She twisted the handlebars of the sled to the left as soon as she saw she wouldn’t make it through and piled on the throttle, sending a rooster tail of wet snow up behind her to blind whoever was trying to ambush them. Shooting down the cross street away from her friends, she planned to travel down a few blocks to lose her pursuers and then cut back towards the river. The first man who stepped out into the street ahead of her with a pointed rifle didn’t give her pause. She could run him down in a game of chicken and if she hunched down, probably avoid a direct hit from any bullets he sent her way. When three more people rushed out to join him all with weapons pointing her way, she cursed and hit the brakes. The cold rage helped her assess her odds and determine that she would have to let this play out. She knew without a doubt that she would find a better moment to escape if she just bided her time.
Emily brought the sled to a stop and raised her hands as the four attackers surged toward her. The first man that had stepped out into the street reached her first while the others covered him. He grabbed her assault rifle from where it was slung over her back and slipped the sli
ng over her head with a greedy grin. He slung it and his own rifle over his shoulder before pulling a handgun from a holster and waving it in front of her visor to let her know he was still armed. He jumped on the sled behind her and jammed the barrel of the gun painfully into her side.
“Drive! Drive straight ahead and don’t stop until I tell you!”
Emily smiled a grim smile behind her visor and nodded before easing the gas on to get them moving. If he wanted to go for a ride, just the two of them, she’d be happy to oblige. One against one made the odds better. The idiot hadn’t even searched her for more weapons. The handgun under her jacket and knife in her boot more than evened things out in her opinion. She drove slowly to allow her friends plenty of time to track her but the odds swung away from her again as she saw more and more armed people at every blocked intersection she passed. She was still confident she’d find her moment to escape but she understood that it was going to be harder if her friends couldn’t reach her to help.
She was forced to come to a stop again when her headlights showed the street ahead was completely blocked by two dirty, city buses with a wooden barricade built between them. The man behind her jammed the gun harder into her side in warning before rising up behind her and yelling at the guards on top of the buses to open the way. She had to smirk at how undisciplined they were when they made no move to open the gate but instead yelled down questions about who she was and what goodies the man had found on her. She could feel the man’s anger in the way his tense body pressed against her and in the tone of voice he used to yell back.
STRANDED: Box Set: Books 1-6 Page 102
