by Cameo Renae
I knew this was probably the first time Ava had been outside of the hive and seen Arvies. I didn’t blame her for being scared, but she volunteered. Her brother and Finn could be alive. We had to go.
Uncle Frank mutilated all of the Arvies on the ground, and there didn’t seem to be any more coming.
“I’m going to set this bird down. You all have thirty minutes once you’re out,” Captain Decker said.
I sucked in a deep breath. We would have to be prepared for anything. Going in was like going in blind, and we had no idea what to expect.
As soon as the helicopter touched down, Captain Decker yelled, “Go! Go! Go!”
Adrenaline rushed as we all jumped out. Clicking my safety off, I watched the chopper lift away. We quickly ran to the wreckage and checked it out. There were no bodies inside, but there was blood and matter splattered everywhere from Uncle Frank’s shooting spree. Dozens of Arvy corpses littered ground around us, the earth was soaked with their blood. I shivered, not wanting to step in any of it. Just in case.
Ava suddenly screamed, and grabbed my shoulder. Instinctively, I turned and aimed my gun. An Arvy was still alive and had grabbed ahold of her ankle. She tried to break free, but its grip was fastened, pulling her foot toward its mouth.
I lifted Hellfire. Bam!
One direct head shot, taking out its right eye. Eye juice, blood, and chunks of brain splattered all over Ava. She screamed even louder, so I threw my hand over her mouth.
“Shhh!” I hushed her. “We need to be quiet. There could be more around here.”
“Holy shit.” Ava hyperventilated. She grabbed her heart. “Thank you. You saved my life.”
“No problem,” I said.
There was a medium rock lying next to the Arvy head I’d just shot. If I didn’t shoot it, I probably wouldn’t have noticed it. I bent down and picked it up. Written in blood were the initials FA, with a small arrow pointing into the city. Finn.
“Uncle Frank. It’s Finn. He’s alive!” I tried to suppress my happiness, but seeing the first clue made me smile. “They’ve gone into the city,” I pointed behind us. I ran my finger over his clue, wondering if it was his own blood he wrote with. With that, worry began to set in.
I looked around us for any other clues, but the ground was covered with too many bodies and saturated with blood.
“We need to move. We’re going into the city, so everyone stay tight and together. Keep your eyes open, keep quiet, and hopefully we’ll all get through this alive,” Uncle Frank said, leading the way.
We all followed closely behind, with our weapons drawn. We knew we weren’t alone, and it was just a matter of time before we ran into the mutants. They seemed to be everywhere.
I kept my eyes peeled, looking for more clues from Finn.
Going into the city was overwhelming. There were buildings surrounding us and they could have been in anyone of them, behind any of the hundreds of doors. I wanted to scream out his name, but then I’d risk us being attacked. This sucked, and our time was ticking down.
We went into a few buildings and swept through them, but there were no signs of survivors. We quietly continued, going door to door.
“Come on, Finn. You need to give me more clues,” I whispered under my breath.
Right before they stepped into another building, I noticed something, and it had my heart racing. I walked up to a small arrow drawn on the side of the building, which no one else noticed, but me. It was exactly what I was looking for. Another clue. It was an arrow drawn in blood, and it looked like the same one on the rock. To the side of it was an F, but only half drawn. He must have been in a rush, and had to move on quickly.
“They aren’t in there!” I quietly announced.
They all turned to me. “It’s another clue from Finn. They went this way,” I said, pointing in the direction of the arrow.
Uncle Frank smiled and nodded. “Let’s go,” he said, already moving.
“How did you know he’d leave clues?” Ava asked.
“It was a game we used to play in our old hive,” I answered. “I wasn’t sure if he would, I just hoped he’d remember.”
“Well, looks like he did. Knowing you’d come looking for him,” Pike said.
I smiled, because he was right. Finn must have known I would come, and believed I would find him if he left these clues.
I scanned the surrounding areas, but it was completely overwhelming. It wasn’t like the hive, which was contained, where we could easily find each other’s clues. This was frustrating, and on a much grander scale. As much as I searched, I couldn’t find anything more.
“Time is running out. We can’t go too much further in, or we won’t make it back in time,” Uncle Frank said.
No. There had to be something. My heart felt like it had been punctured, and hope started to seep out.
Finn, where are you?
Then, from the corner of my eye, I saw a faint glimmer on a door a few buildings away.
“Wait!” I said, quietly. “I think I see something.”
Uncle Frank turned back to me, his eyes steeled on mine. “Go. Lead the way,” he said.
I nodded and quickly headed towards the glimmer, hoping it wasn‘t just my imagination.
I had to find him.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, two Arvies came running out of one of the buildings, charging at us. Before I could lift my weapon, Pike and the brothers fired, taking them down.
Soon, growls and screams erupted all around us.
“Oh my God! They know we’re here! We need to leave!” Ava screamed.
I didn’t wait and charged ahead. When I reached the door, I gasped. Hanging on the knob was a sterling silver necklace with a single angel’s wing.
“They’re in here!” I screamed, waving them to hurry.
“How do you know?” Ava questioned.
“This,” I said holding up the necklace. “I gave this to Finn.”
I opened the door and ran inside. My heart was hammering. My body was trembling. He was close. So close. Somewhere in this building. Hope was alive again.
Once we were all inside, and the door was closed, I shouted.
“Finn! Finn!” I screamed.
“Grant!” Ava yelled.
I ran up the stairwell, yelling his name. I was not going to wait around, even though I knew I shouldn’t wander off alone. I knew I could find him. I just had to find another clue.
“Abi, wait!” Pike yelled after me, but I couldn’t stop. I wouldn’t stop. I was on a mission, and my feet were on auto-pilot.
I passed by every door until I came to one and froze. I bent down and picked up the second angel wing, sitting under the door frame.
I twisted the door knob but it was locked. “Finn!” I screamed, banging on the door. “Finn, it’s Abi. Open up!”
Horrifying screams echoed down the hall, and just as I looked up countless Arvies were charging in my direction.
“Abi, drop!” Uncle Frank yelled.
We’d learned never to pause when someone yelled, so I quickly dove to the ground. As I did, rapid gunfire whizzed above my head.
Arvies were dropping to the ground ahead of me, but the ones behind them crawled over the dead and kept coming. I covered my head with my arms.
Someone grabbed me, and yanked my arms as the gunshots continued. I screamed, trying to release myself from its grip. Looking up, I realized I was being pulled into a room. It was dark and a hand firmly sealed my mouth.
Chapter 22
“Shhhhhh!” A face appeared inches from mine.
“Grant?” I whispered. He nodded. “Finn. Where’s Finn?”
He lifted me and walked me into another room. “Over there. He’s injured. Stay here, I’ll try and get the others.” He left the room and shut the door.
As my eyes slowly adjusted to the room’s darkness, I could see a silhouette lying on the floor.
“Finn?” I whispered, quickly shuffling over. His pale face was almost glowing. I bent down and
touched him. “Finn?” He wasn’t responding.
I jumped up and headed over to the window and then pulled back the curtain, revealing the fading light outside. My eyes locked onto the most horrifying site. Hundreds of Arvies were advancing, surrounding the building we were in. There was no way we would be able to go back the way we came.
I turned my focus back to Finn. He looked so pale, and there was blood soaking the floor around him. He didn’t even have his gas mask or radiation suit on.
“Finn,” I cried, running back to him and bending down to shake him. He was unresponsive. I felt his pulse. It was very weak, but it was there. “Finn?” Hot tears burned my eyes and spilled down my cheeks.
His eyes began to flutter and then they slowly opened.
“Oh my God!” I sobbed. “I thought I’d lost you.”
“Abi?” he breathed weakly, his brow furrowed.
“Yes, it’s me. I’m here. I came to get you.” I took my mask off, so he could see me clearly.
His hand lifted and touched the side of my face. “I thought I’d just died and gone to heaven,” he smiled weakly.
“What happened? Were you bitten?” I gasped, wondering where he was bleeding from.
“No. It was shrapnel from the crash. Punctured my leg. Grant pulled it out, but he said it was pretty deep.”
“Oh God. Let me see.”
“No, don’t. Please… it’s alright.”
“Finn, it’s not alright! You’re bleeding to death. Look at you. You’re as pale as a ghost, and there’s blood everywhere. Is there a tourniquet around it?”
“Yes. Under my pants, but I don’t know if Grant made it tight enough.”
“It’s obviously not tight enough,” I said. I took off my backpack, grabbed my knife and cut off one of its straps.
The screams and growls of the Arvies outside were getting louder and louder. How were we ever going to get back? I couldn’t worry about that now. I needed to put all my focus on fixing Finn.
“I need to see your injury,” I said.
“No,” he insisted. I knew it was because he didn’t want me to see how bad it was. “It’s below here,” he said pointing to the top of his thigh.
“You’re so stubborn,” I sighed.
Finn smiled weakly. “You came for me, Abi. You found my clues, didn’t you?”
“Yes, of course I did,” I smiled. “I knew if you were out here, you’d leave a trail of breadcrumbs for me to follow.”
“I knew you’d find a way,” he breathed.
I leaned over and kissed his forehead. “You better show me that injury right now, Finn Armstrong, or…”
“Or what? You’ll kill me?” he chuckled.
“No, but I might have to use excessive force.”
“Well, if I wasn’t so weak, I’d say that was a good thing,” he grinned.
“Save it for later,” I said with a grin, “but we really need to take care of this right now.”
With a lot of effort, he rolled over to his side, groaning as he went.
My breath caught in my throat and I tried to hold my composure as pure horror filled me. The gaping hole in his leg suddenly made everything around me spin. I took in a deep breath, and hoped I wouldn’t pass out. It was worse than I thought. I could see his bone.
Come on, Abi...Breathe. Don’t faint. Quickly wrap it. Tightly.
I was mentally giving myself orders, and it helped. Focused, I placed the strap above the wound and twisted it as hard as I could, until the blood slowly stopped oozing from the wound.
I then grabbed my small medical kit from my backpack. I took out the alcohol wipes, gauze, and medical tape, even though I knew it wasn’t going to be enough. I tried to wipe the wound, but when he yelled in pain, I stopped and laid the gauze over it, wrapping it with the tape. The blood immediately soaked through, but at least it wasn’t open to the elements.
“There. You’ll be just fine,” I said, with every last ounce of hope I had left inside of me.
“I will, now that you’re here. My leg feels numb and tingly. I think the morphine shot Grant gave me earlier is wearing off.”
“How long ago did he give it to you?” I asked.
“A few hours. I’m not sure.”
“I have another one,” I said, reaching in my med kit and taking the morphine injector. I lifted the sleeve on his arm, and shot it into his muscle. “There. Just rest. I’ll be right back.”
“Abi.” Finn grabbed my arm. I turned to him, his eyes looked so weak. “Thank you.”
I took his hand in mine. “Of course, Finn. I love you.” The words slipped easily from my lips.
“I’m so sorry, Abi. I didn’t mean to hurt you the way I did. I didn’t understand. This is all new to me, and I thought Ava was a friend. When I found out what she was doing, it pissed me off because she pushed us apart. I love you, Abi. And you alone. Longer than forever,” he said.
“I know, and I’m sorry I ever doubted you. I just saw Ava for who she really was. A chocolate covered roach. Looks great on the outside, but nothing but smelly shit on the inside.”
He grinned and nodded, and then reached for my hand. “Can you do me two favors before the morphine kicks in?”
“Anything,” I answered.
“Reach into my right pocket.”
“Your pocket?” I questioned.
“Yes. I found something that belongs to you.”
I pushed my hand down into his right pocket and felt one thing. It was hard, and I suddenly realized exactly what it was. I pulled my hand out, along with the ring.
“Finn,” I breathed.
“It’s yours, Abi. It’s always been yours,” he said. “Put it back on.” I carefully slid the beautiful piece of jewelry back on my finger. It was perfect. Right where it should be.
“So what’s the second thing?” I asked.
“Kiss me.”
“In your condition?” I was shocked at his request, but wasn’t going to deny him.
“I don’t care if I die here. As long as you’re here with me.”
My heart burst, pushing tears to my eyes. “You’re not going to die, Finn Armstrong. I won’t let you,” I said, leaning over pressing my lips against his. His weak hands held my face.
Suddenly the door swung open, and our lips parted.
“We need to go. Now.” Pike urged.
“Finn’s injured and can’t walk,” I said.
“What happened?” Uncle Frank questioned, walking into the room.
“When the chopper crashed, a piece of shrapnel cut his leg,” I answered.
“How bad is it?” he asked.
I looked at him and shook my head, not wanting to answer the truth out loud.
“I just tied a tourniquet above the wound, covered it with some bandages, and gave him a morphine injection. He needs medical attention. Immediately.” My eyes hopefully told him exactly how urgent it was.
“Well, we have a situation. The Arvies know we’re here and have surrounded the building. We can’t go out the way we came in.”
“I know,” I said pointing out the window.
“We have less than ten minutes left to make it to our rendezvous point. We need to get to the roof and send off some kind of signal to the chopper,” Uncle Frank said, staring blankly out the window.
Pike, Ava, and Grant chose that time to come into the room.
Grant and Ava were standing together, and she had a look of relief on her face.
“Thanks for taking care of Finn,” I said to Grant.
“He actually saved me. He told me we needed to leave the clues just in case you came. I’m glad you did, Abi. He knew that if you did, you would find us.”
I smiled, unable to respond. I turned back to Finn and he’d fallen asleep.
“Where are the others in your unit?” Uncle Frank asked Grant.
“The pilot was thrown out, and we couldn’t find his body. Right after the crash the other four took off. They didn’t even care that Finn was injured. They just
ran away.”
“But you stayed,” Ava said, proudly putting her arm around him.
“I wasn’t going to leave him. He’s my friend. But I think we are the only ones left alive,” he said looking down.
“What do you mean, Grant?” Ava asked.
“A few hours ago we heard screams outside. Painful screams. I know they weren’t coming from those creatures. They were human, and they were being tortured.” He covered his ears and closed his eyes. “There was nothing we could do for them. Nothing. All we could do was sit in here and listen.”
“Hey, it’s okay, Grant,” Ava said, hugging him. “You’re right. There was nothing you could have done.”
“We really need to move,” Uncle Frank said. “The Abbott brothers have finished clearing the hallway of Arvies for now, but I’m sure the rest will find a way in. I need everyone to pile up the Arvy bodies behind the door in the hallway, as high as you can. We’ll have to make a barrier to buy us some time.”
“Let’s do it,” Pike said.
We all ran out to the hallway, and witnessed a massacre. Dozens of bloody Arvy corpses filled the hallway. It was a bloodbath, and I literally slipped in red puddles. Crimson and matter were splattered all over the walls, ceiling, and floor. It was the most gruesome site I’d ever witnessed.
“Just grab a body and start piling ‘em on top of each other,” Peter said. He and his brothers had already started. The others stood there, frozen, so I was the first to grab an Arvy’s arm. Its skin felt hard and rough like sandpaper.
“Help!” I snapped. I knew no one wanted to touch them, but we needed to get this done if we were going to survive.
Pike and the others ran over and began grabbing and dragging bodies, piling them up on top of each other to barricade the hallway. Even Ava helped, but she didn’t look happy about it. She even shrieked a few times.
After the Arvy body barrier was complete, Uncle Frank came out with Finn thrown over his shoulder. His injured leg was facing upward. “Let’s move. We’re heading up the stairway to the roof,” he said. His agility was amazing, especially for an older guy. Uncle Frank looked like a true hero, carrying the love of my life to safety on his shoulders.
