The Scavenger Series | Book 2 | The Scavenger Hunt

by Lowry, C. L.

  Abigail was still on the ground in the pool of her own blood. Her physical wound was bad, but the emotional wound was even worse. The loss of Orlando left her numb. She did not know how to feel. A part of her wished she were dead, just so she could be with him. She stared at the sea of people who filled the train tunnel below her. There was no way they would have gotten out of that situation alive.

  The hooded man looked down at Abigail. Blood had covered the left side of her face. “Big Rome, take her down into the tunnel and get her patched up.” Rome was the hefty man who delivered the brutal blow that split Abigail’s face. He released the chain that was wrapped around Duncan’s neck and walked over to the thin man who was holding Abigail’s chain.

  “Why can’t I take her, boss?” the scrawny man asked. He knew the answer, but he just wanted to hear it from the boss.

  “You know damn well that if I let you take her into that tunnel, she won’t make it out.”

  “So, you just gon’ keep hiding the women from me. I got needs, too, boss.”

  “What you need to do is worry about this move we are about to make and take your mind off these women. Once they become one of us, they are off limits.”

  “So, what the hell am I supposed to do when I get my cravings?”

  “You got two options. You either get those cravings under control, or you give in, and instead of bothering our women, you go stick that dirty dick of yours inside one of those creatures that are out there.”

  “That’s bull shit,” he replied before walking away and entering the darkness of the tunnel.

  The hooded man turned to Rome and gave him a nod. “Make sure you keep him away from her. You know we need all hands on deck when we head up to the surface.”

  CHAPTER 17

  Abraham ran into his quarters and closed the door. What once was a classroom in the abandoned school now served as the living space for him and two of his peers. Most rooms housed four to five people, but the privileged personnel were given more space and freedom than others. Abraham stumbled onto the old gym mat, which served as the sleeping area in the room. His stomach was still turning. He ripped off his lab coat and threw it against the wall.

  “Doctor, is everything okay?” Lori asked. Lori was a nurse in her past life and used to work for Abraham. When the evacuations occurred, she stayed behind with the doctor and a few of their other friends in an effort to care for the wounded who were left behind. When the group stumbled upon Micah and The Association, they were welcomed with open arms because of their expertise in the medical field. They were seen as an asset to the group and quickly proved to be much more than that.

  “No, Lori. They are doing it. They are killing people.”

  “Who is?”

  “Doctor Jin.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yes. You need to go get Charlotte and the others. We need to leave.”

  Lori shared the room with Abraham, along with her teenage daughter, Charlotte. Although she was not a part of the research team, Lori worked with Abraham to help him take notes and stay organized. Often, he would be up late going over formulas and trying to make sense of the changes that occurred in The Association.

  When the group first arrived, their biggest concern was treating the wounded and tending to the sick and elderly. Lori also checked on a few of the pregnant members of the organization. When there was a demand for supplies, Micah would send out a team to raid pharmacies and doctors’ offices to get Abraham everything he needed. The medical team did not have to worry about working security details or being on search teams, either, which was a benefit to them. The only exception was when Cierra and Amanda went out on the research mission to observe the beasts in the area of the strip mall. That mission ultimately took the lives of several members of The Association, including Amanda’s brother. That was also the mission that brought Kyle and his crew back to The Association.

  It seemed that once Micah’s focus shifted from pure survival to experimentation with the beasts, things changed. Abraham remembered the day that Jin and the soldiers were brought into the building. Abraham and his staff patched up the soldiers just to watch Micah and Adina throw them all in cages and experiment on them.

  When these events occurred, Micah’s behavior changed too. He became more demanding and began threatening the doctors and researchers when he wanted immediate results. The doctors also noticed that they were treating less people and were soon stuck in the building with the caged beasts all day. A few associates of Abraham did not feel safe under the new dictatorship of Micah and Adina, so they left The Association. This was a decision that Abraham wished he made at the time, but he was still in disbelief. He still saw the potential in The Association and what they could have meant for the survival of Philadelphia and the rest of the country.

  “Tell me exactly what happened.”

  “I just left the room with Doctor Jin. Inside of the room was a mutated subject, and they brought in an innocent man and let that mutant kill that man. This is a part of Doctor Jin’s experiments.”

  “Are you telling me that they are keeping some of those things in this building?”

  “Yes and no. It’s not the same mutations. This one wasn’t that big and didn’t look anything like the other ones, but it was just as dangerous. They have it over on the medical ward. It’s in a room at the end of the hallway.”

  “Do you think Micah knows about this? He said he wanted a cure for this disease.”

  “They don’t want a cure, Lori. They want to start a war. Doctor Lee was right. They don’t care who they kill to get what they want. Who will be next? Me? You? Charlotte?”

  “Don’t say that!” Lori could not imagine anything bad happening to her daughter. She vowed to protect her only child, and if Abraham was telling the truth, they all would be at risk.

  “Lori, we have to warn the others before it’s too late.” Abraham popped up and began gathering his notes and other paperwork that was scattered around the room.

  “What if you’re wrong?”

  Abraham stopped in his tracks and looked back at Lori.

  “What if they won’t harm us? What if we are safe?”

  “Lori, don’t be naïve. We are not safe here. You saw how Micah reacted during the last research meeting. He threatened to kill one of us because we didn’t have the cure. Guess what? We still don’t have a cure.”

  “But he didn’t, Doctor Abraham. Those are just scare tactics that he’s using to make us work harder.”

  “So, what about the man I just watched die? Was that a scare tactic too?”

  “I don’t know what that was, but we can’t just overreact and leave. You know they won’t just let us walk away from this place.”

  “I know how we can get out. We just have to find the right time. Just like Doctor Lee and the others.”

  “And where would we go? Do you have that factored into your little plan? Or do you expect me to take my daughter from a place that we feel safe and walk her through these streets of uncertainty?”

  “Safe? You feel safe here? Like you said, we can’t leave. We are prisoners in here. What will happen when we are no longer useful to them, Lori?”

  “Let’s hope we never find out, Doctor Abraham. But as of this moment, I think it’s best that we think rationally and do what we have to do to survive.”

  “I am doing that, Lori. I’m trying to survive.”

  “Am I interrupting something?”

  The third voice in the room startled Abraham and Lori. They both turned to find Jin standing in the doorway. “Doctor Abraham, I came to check up on you. How are you feeling, my friend?”

  “He needs rest,” Lori chimed in. “Isn’t that right, Doctor?”

  Abraham looked nervously at Lori. He did not know how much of their conversation Jin had heard. He put down the papers he had gathered, not to draw suspicion. “Yes, Lori, I think I need to get some rest. Is there something you needed, Doctor Jin?”

  “Yes, I need a hand wit
h something very important.”

  “I can help you,” Lori insisted.

  “Thank you, Lori. Can you do me a favor? Wait for me in the hallway. I’d like to have a quick word with Doctor Abraham.”

  Lori grabbed her lab coat and clipboard. She gave a brief look to Abraham before walking out. Abraham was unquestionably brilliant, but Lori knew that emotions could get the best of him. After walking out, Lori slowly shut the door but did not close it, hoping to eavesdrop on the conversation.

  “Mom!” a voice yelled, coming toward Lori.

  “Charlotte, I was just about to check on you.”

  “Have you seen Tyler?” the teen asked while gasping for air. She had sprinted to the quarters from the supply room.

  “No, I haven’t seen him. Is something wrong?” Lori asked, seeing the concern on her daughter’s face.

  “I don’t know what’s going on. One minute we were doing an inventory in the supply room, and the next, two men with guns came and got him. They told him that they needed him in medical, but they didn’t say what they wanted.”

  “Well, I’m headed over there now. If I see him over there, I’ll tell him that you asked about him.”

  “Okay, thanks, Mom.”

  “Now, you go back to the supply room and finish up. I’ll see you when I get back.”

  The two hugged, and Charlotte headed back to the supply room. Tyler was Charlotte’s best friend, and Lori knew that she would be interrogated by her daughter if she did not relay the message. Charlotte looked after Tyler like a little brother. They grew up in the same neighborhood and went to the same schools since first grade. When he was younger, Tyler was diagnosed with epilepsy. Tyler had the disease under control when he was medicated, but that medicine was rare to come by during the supply runs, so his conditioned worsened. This prevented Tyler from being able to join the security teams and search teams like other young men. Instead, he was placed in the supply room. During one epileptic episode, Tyler had a seizure and dropped a carton of eggs on the floor. The security guards were livid that the food was wasted, and they took it out on Tyler. They beat him down and forced him not to eat for a week to make up for the broken eggs.

  Charlotte felt bad for Tyler and snuck him half of her rations during this time. She noticed that his condition was worsening, so she helped him out in the supply room and watched over him when he had episodes. Lori knew that without Charlotte, Tyler would not be able to manage his day-to-day responsibilities. Lori waited for Jin to exit the room, then the two headed toward the medical ward.

  CHAPTER 18

  Maverick peeked around the edge of the building and gave a head nod to the three men behind him. The road, a filthy stretch of abandoned vehicles and trash, seemed to be clear of any other signs of life.

  “Let’s move,” he ordered, leading with his rifle. The former Army vet and Philadelphia police sergeant was very comfortable with the weapon he toted. Any sudden movements would result in him putting his marksmanship skills to use. Maverick was fortunate enough to have a couple of his officers rolling with him on the mission. Once the evacuations were announced, almost all the officers he knew took their families and headed out of the city. This would become a decision that Maverick wondered if he should have made too. The group moved stealthy toward their target, which was a crappy hospital that sat catty-corner from their current position. Even before the world changed, the hospital was one of the worst in the city.

  It was known for poor service, angry employees, and being in dire need of remodeling. Despite a reputation that would make anyone with common sense turn away from the building, it was still a medical facility, and Maverick ‘s team needed to restock on the supplies that could be inside.

  “I don’t know why we just don’t take the building,” Dalton uttered quietly.

  “Because it’s too far from our safe zone,” Maverick replied. “We can’t take any unnecessary chances right now.”

  Dalton was a forward thinker, but Maverick was the most logical in the group, and that was why he led them. Just like The Association, Maverick belonged to his own organization. They called themselves The Saviors. The organization consisted of local police officers, firefighters, paramedics, military personnel, and civilians who wanted to take part in the new battle between good and evil.

  The Saviors were on a mission to protect innocent civilians who were still in the city and to also take down any criminal organizations that existed to cause terror. The Underlings were at the top of their list. Although there were brutal attacks on officers and their police stations during the end of times, The Saviors managed to preserve their station, which was also on the same block as the fire department, grocery stores, a used car dealership, and two small pharmacies. There were also similar groups like them operating in other parts of the city. Using radio communication to update each other, there was a common goal to take back the city and to restore humanity. They cordoned off a five-block radius in this neighborhood, planning to continue to spread their reach throughout northeast Philly. The Saviors would have to spread out to approximately eighteen blocks if they wanted the hospital to be in their safe zone. This was a task that would take them a few months and would stretch them thin.

  “I’m not going to give up an entire neighborhood for this shitty ass hospital,” Maverick said to his team. “Plus, we don’t know who or what is in this place.”

  This was the first time The Saviors branched out to the hospital. Most of the medication and supplies they obtained were from the small pharmacies that were in their safe zone and a few that were just outside of the zone. They, along with others, had cleaned those places out, and it was time to find a new source.

  “I hope this place isn’t booby-trapped like the Walgreens was last week,” Jace said as he swiveled his head backward to ensure no one attempted to ambush his team.

  “Well, if there is, Darren and the Bravo team can roll up and give us a hand,” Maverick replied.

  After almost losing a member of his team due to someone setting up a homemade explosive device at the Walgreens, Maverick made sure a second team came along with them. That team was led by Darren Gardner, a former bomb squad technician with the Philadelphia Police Department. Darren’s team conducted an initial sweep of the exterior of the hospital for any suspicious devices, but none were located. They were now going to secure the exterior of the hospital while Maverick and the Alpha team carried out their mission.

  “Dalton, hit the door,” Maverick ordered.

  Dalton was breathing heavily, awaiting the order. He nodded, then headed straight to the front doors. He looked back at Maverick after tugging on each handle. “They’re locked.”

  “Get them open.”

  Dalton pulled out his Glock 17 handgun and screwed on a suppressor on the end of the barrel. He sent four shots through the large glass on the door, shattering it. He then pulled out an expandable baton and knocked out the remaining glass before sticking his hand through the new opening and unlocking one of the doors from inside. Dalton opened the door, allowing his team to move in.

  The glass cracked under their boots as they crept in. Maverick’s rifle was locked and loaded. He was the point man in the diamond formation as they entered. This was a position he had been in often, leading SWAT teams on some of the most dangerous situations throughout Philadelphia.

  Sunlight shone through the windows, providing ample lighting for the team as they moved through the building. Any other areas would be lit by the flashlights on the end each man’s weapon of choice. The bright LED light on Maverick’s rifle hit the dark corners and lit them up.

  “Look at this place. It’s a mess,” Maverick muttered under his breath.

  “It was already a mess. The apocalypse just gave it an upgrade,” Dalton chimed in while chuckling.

  “You got a point.”

  “Hey, look on the bright side. Maybe the poor reputation of this place was enough to keep the scavengers out.”

  Other members of the grou
p laughed at Dalton’s statement. He could not help himself. Dalton found humor in every situation, no matter how serious or dangerous it was.

  Maverick raised his fist, stopping the group in their tracks. “Give me two left,” he ordered. His eyes were focused down the hallway, ready for any type of threat to pop out. Two of his men broke the formation and stacked up on the doorway of a room on the left side of the hallway.

  Dalton and Erik tactically entered the room. It only took the two men seconds to clear the small triage room. Dalton hooked, and Erik crossed, both digging deep into the corners of the room. Dalton noticed that the cabinets and drawers in the room were all ransacked.

  “The room is clear,” Dalton announced.

  “Come on out,” Maverick ordered.

  “Someone already cleaned out that room, Mav.”

  “Figures. What kind of room was it?”

  “Triage.”

  “Copy. Let’s keep moving and try to find the supply closet.”

  Dalton and Erik hopped back into their positions in the formation. “Two right,” Maverick ordered just before two hit the next room. The team continued through the first floor of the hospital, clearing each room as they passed. The deeper they got into the hospital, the less ransacked the rooms seemed to be. Dalton’s eyes lit up seeing the supplies in the rooms they were clearing. There were boxes of rubber gloves, gauze, and basic medical equipment just sitting in some of the rooms.

  Maverick raised his hand once again, halting his team.

  “Look at that,” he muttered as he intensified the flashlight on his rifle.

  Maverick was observant. He noticed the damage to that section of the hospital. The overhead lights were broken, deep scratch marks decorated the walls, and dry streaks of blood lined the floor.