With that, Chenoa walked out the door and pulled it closed behind her, hearing a whoosh as it sealed tight. There was an audible click of the lock and the sound of a bar sliding across from the inside. They were on their own.
Colleen
Colleen asked the group to meet her roughly an hour before sunset. With it getting further into fall, the nights were getting shorter, but there wasn't any time available to waste.
“We have all trained for this. This is nothing new. As long as Lito hasn’t sold me out, again, we should see him any minute now.”
“We practiced this all right, but not in complete darkness,” Cooper said, “this isn’t something we are used to.”
“You may not be, but I am. I’ve taken threats out in the dark, and if I have to, I’m prepared to do it again,” Colleen looked out over the horizon through the hospital front doors, hoping to see Lito emerge.
“That’s great and all, but we just aren’t,” Marisha said.
“It’s not that different. All you have to do is listen. I’m not asking you to save the world, just our little corner of heaven,” she said, reaching out and grabbing Marisha’s hand. It was cold and clammy. She could see her chest rising and falling quickly with each short, erratic breath. Colleen's face fell, seeing her girlfriend terrified, and knowing that the cause was her fault was almost too much.
Shaking the idea free, she turned to the group, “We all have a different floor to guard. Spreading out will keep them on their toes and give us time to keep them disorganized.”
“How exactly do you plan on communicating with everyone if we’re going to be so spread out?” Cooper asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
“I don’t,” she said, her face expressionless, “You don’t reveal where you are unless you know for sure you have a shot. I’m going to be roaming and drawing people out. I just need you to distract and weaken them. But, only if you have to. I'm willing to bet everything on the idea that Truthmore will come in last. It wouldn’t be him without a grand entrance.”
“Speaking of Truthmore,” Marisha said, “I thought Lito would be back by now. Looks like that was never going to happen.”
“He’ll be here,” Colleen said.
Colleen
The OHSU had fifteen floors; they were numbered to sixteen, but everyone knew hospitals of all places would skip the thirteenth. The emergency access stairwell ran along the east side of the building, with floor-length tempered glass, providing a spectacular view of Mt. Hood, a mere eight miles away.
Colleen spotted Dr. Vasquez, hanging in the back, squatting behind the handrail and acting as if he was invisible.
“What are you doing?” Colleen said in an angry whisper.
“My part,” Dr. Vazquez said with a shrug.
“I’m aware of that, but I thought we had agreed you were needed to keep people alive. I’ve got enough people to do the opposite.”
“I know you fashion yourself a stone-cold killing machine, but you can’t do this on your own. The other guys might be fooled, but I’m not. You need me. I’m still in charge of this place and a captain doesn’t abandon ship,” he symbolically put his foot down.
Colleen threw up her hands slowly, knowing there was nothing she could do. He had chosen the perfect time to negotiate. There was no time to argue; he had a point, a weak one, but the sun was quickly setting.
“Fine, just make sure you can keep pace with me. Once you get to the 14th, you tear off from me and find somewhere to hide.” Colleen began pointing to the others gathering in the stairwell, “Cooper, you take the 12th and Chenoa, you the 10th. Finally, Marisha, you take the 6th. You should be able to create some nice diversions within the surgery wing. I have faith you can put those rusty scalpels to good use. If anyone gets overwhelmed, then run—none of you are good to anyone dead. Questions?”
“Uh…Yeah, about a million,” Cooper said, his eyes huge, “but I’m not sure they will matter.”
“Good, save that thought until we are done. The light is dying and we're out of time.”
Colleen bounded up the stairwell to the 16th, taking two steps at a time. It was as if she was more ready for this than she had been for anything else in her life. By the 8th floor, the exhaustion crept in, but she could see the sun getting lower and lower. At this rate, she wouldn’t make it before the sun was gone. The last of everyone peeled off and made their way to their spots. With just three more floors to go, Dr. Vasquez kept pace but was breathing harder than she'd like.
“You’ve almost made it, Old Man; I can’t believe you didn’t have a heart attack before we got this far up.”
Dr. Vasquez stopped on the landing and doubled over, gasping for air. Colleen stopped and waited for him, but didn’t have to wait long. He quickly stood back up and exploded up the last flight. A sliver of the sun cut through the glass, nearly blinding him as he faced the window, looking at the snow-capped peak of Mt. Hood. He never had a chance to react.
She watched in horror. The sound of glass shattering filled the voided silence as his head slammed against the door labeled 14. The second shot exploded through his chest into a blossom of cauliflower-like flesh. His eyes went wide then empty as his lifeless body slid down the first two steps.
Twelve
Colleen
Instinctually, Colleen unholstered her gun and fired back while running up the stairs, nearly emptying an entire magazine before realizing what she had done. Bullets slammed into the concrete steps as she bolted forward, shards exploding like fireworks behind her. Soon a cloud of grey enveloped the area, then the shots stopped. There were only a few seconds of cover until the air would clear and leave her a sitting duck once more. She leaped from the fifteenth-floor landing in two clumsy jumps, momentum tossing her forward. Colleen spotted cover in a steel beam and contorted her muscular body inside the cavity to protect her vital organs.
Below laid Dr. Vasquez’s body on stairs, bloody and twisted. A shot rang out and pinged off the beam, then another. This time the shooter seemed to conserve their ammo. If only she had done the same. Dr. Vasquez’s body convulsed as he coughed up a mixture of blood and bile. Even if he had only a few minutes left, she owed it to him to not leave him behind. Colleen checked the Glock’s ejection port, seeing a glint of brass. One or two bullets would be enough to buy some time.
Looking around the beam, she could see where the shots had come from. Two hundred yards away was a twelve-story parking garage, replete with burnt-out cars and trucks, providing nearly limitless cover. There was no telling the exact location of the shooter, but they didn’t know that. Taking a deep breath, she fired a shot; it clanged off a pillar and ricocheted around.
Colleen jumped down to Dr. Vasquez’s body. Grabbing him under the arms and pulling, she slammed against the door to the fourteenth floor. With enough momentum, his body slipped through as the shooter finally located them again. She fired back once more, drawing them off; this time, her slide stayed back.
She was out of ammo.
“Colleen,” Dr. Vasquez coughed and gasped for air. A quick survey of his injuries revealed that the shot to the head looked worse than it really was. A long gash ran down the right side of his scalp, but the one that hit his chest center mass would do him in.
“Don’t move,” she said, her voice broke as she looked at her now bloodied hands that trembled involuntarily, “You…you have to keep still until we can get you help.”
A wet laugh escaped his lips, as a red line of blood fell from the corners of his mouth, “You and I both know that's not going to happen. I am the help.”
“Shut up, you aren’t going to give up that quickly. Don’t you dare!” Colleen screamed as she pounded her fist against the floor next to his body. He motioned her closer, his wets lips trembling, barely able to move, “I should have told you everything earlier. You…you deserved to—”
“Told me what? You can tell me when we get out of here,” she said, trying to fight back the tears that threatened the rims of
her eyes, and forcing a weak smile.
“It’s up to you now…” he trailed off as his eyes closed.
“What’s up to me?” she shook him, jarring him back awake, “Stop talking in riddles!”
“Just listen,” Dr. Vasquez took a huge breath and exhaled, wheezing, “Your parents aren’t what you thought they were; you had it all wrong.”
She shook her head and peered around the door frame, only long enough to scope out the shooter. A glint of glass. If she and Dr. Vazquez could hold out long enough, slow the bleeding, keep him breathing, maybe they could wait them out. “Okay, let's get you further in so I can work on you. I need you to tell me what to do.”
“You already know, Colleen,” he said, his voice fading in and out. Muscles twitched in his arms and chest as if electricity was coursing through his body.
“Don’t you die on me!” She pulled on his arms as he winced, slapping the ground.
“Stop!” he said, “Leave me. You have to finish this. Only you can finish what your parents started.” He took another breath as his eyes popped open. This time his mouth didn’t close.
“No, no, no, no, no, no,” she shook him frantically but knew he had taken his last breath. “What are you talking about? What am I supposed to do with that?” The tears streamed down, fists clenched, and muscles trembled with anger. Every stage of grief passed on her face, but today she settled on fury.
No mercy would be given today. Someone would pay for this, and who that was had become dreadfully undeniable, as the familiar voice volleyed between the two buildings.
“You should have killed me when you had the chance, my Little Cardinal. You know, no matter how well-intentioned it may be, mercy never really works. So instead, someone, everyone, will have to die because of your weakness.” The voice of a sociopath drifted along with the wind, bringing fear to her soul. “I’m coming.”
Thirteen
Colleen
Colleen looked down to see the unforgettable face of tyranny and death—Corbin Truthmore. His hair was longer, his face now showed the signs of an unwieldy beard, yet his clothing was pristine.
Just seeing him made the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. He was the cannibalistic man who killed and ate her aunt, along with hundreds of others, and almost took her life as well for the same purpose. Her stomach churned thinking about what she had found in that back room so many months ago... The image would forever be engraved into her mind's eye and would be the sustenance of her nightmares.
He stood there looking at her, not taking the shot or making a move—a predator toying with his prey. The shooter raised their weapon, likely aiming for a clean shot this time, but Truthmore placed his hand on the rifle, pushing it down. Instead, they both stood in silence, staring into a soul that still had not quite recovered.
He mouthed the words, 'I’m coming for you,' before the two attackers turned around and trudged to the stairs. He paused as if to get one last look before following them. He wasn't in a hurry, but quite the opposite, taking a moment to savor each step.
Colleen noticed the shooter walked with a noticeable limp, making sure to hold on to the handrail. She stood there for longer than she should’ve, mesmerized by his nonchalance. The Glock in her hand rattled with the sound of an empty magazine. Why didn’t I take my time? Stupid girl!
Colleen hadn’t fired a shot during her whole 200 miles trip to Roseburg and beyond, and today she had gone through an entire magazine in under 5 seconds. Releasing the slide forward, she depressed the release, allowing the magazine to drop into her hand. There was a yellowed piece of paper encircling the weightless piece of polycarbonate and steel. The magazine had always stayed full, and beyond a press check, she never once had an occasion to remove it. Nora, her mother, had insisted that guns only be used as a last resort. Her idea was that once the guns come out, you had been outmatched.
Unrolling the paper, she saw the familiar uneven lefthanded writing. The paper was stiff, almost like a card. Its size nearly the third of a standard piece of paper. The edges worn and ink had begun to bleed through, but the words were unmistakeably Nora’s.
Dear Collee,
If you are reading this. Something went wrong, but if you are reading this, something went right because you reloaded in time. I love and miss you. This was a trip I knew would be short for me. The moment I saw Chaz, it all came rushing back. There isn’t enough room to explain but know this—your dad never left you; HAARP is the key. It always was. I’m sorrier than you will ever know. If you make it there, stop this. Stop it all. Stop it like we should have done long ago. Now, RELOAD!
Mom.
Colleen felt like someone had punched her in the gut. If this was meant to answer questions, it had done a terrible job and only served to stir up more burning questions inside of her. Her first reaction was to tear up, to fall apart all over again at the mere sight of something written by her mother. Colleen knew better though. It wouldn’t fix anything, no matter how good it might feel. Her mother had hidden all these things, and for so long.
The idea that Nora knew Chaz, the woman who had savagely murdered her, was beyond shocking. But the news that her father hadn't abandoned her was the straw that broke the camel's back. The punches just kept on coming.
She thought back to that fateful night, to the conversation she had or was about to have with her mother. What was it that Mom had said? Something about Dad not being a bad guy. She had a hard time believing it, then and now.
Now she tells me that HAARP is the key? I don’t even know what HAARP is? Who is supposed to tell me what all this means?
“Just what I needed, a riddle instead of clear answers. Just like mom, though.”
Colleen balled her fists and punched the ground. Only after she had done so, did she realize what a bad idea it was, already feeling her hand start to ache. There was no more time to think about this, and there were enough problems that posed imminent threats to dwell on.
Truthmore and his pet had gone back down the steps. It wouldn’t take the two of them more than ten minutes to get back down to the floor level to join with everyone else, and if he hurried, much faster. Nearly five minutes had passed already. She would have to find another spot, and quick. There was no way the others hadn’t heard the glass shatter above them. She would just have to hope everyone remained where they were.
The top floor of the OHSU housed the radiology department. Having only been there once, navigating the rooms would be a challenge. Colleen entered from the stairwell and tried the first door she saw inside. The door emptied into a hallway that branched right and left. Following along the outside wall, she immediately cut to the right, grazing her hand against the moist sheetrock. It funneled her out into the nurse's station in front of the elevator on the north side of the floor. There were no windows, and the further she went, the darker it became. Colleen pulled out her crank flashlight and with it, she found a laminated floor map fastened to the wall behind the front desk.
According to the map, behind the nurse's station was a door leading to an open office area. On the west side was the Prep Area, the east, a waiting room. Further south was a door to the corridor that led to the MRI and CT rooms—all of which only had one way out. There was a maintenance room at the end of the corridor, exiting to where she had first come in. If she was lucky, it could be unlocked from the inside, creating a direct path from the elevator doors to the exit. The legend noted the maintenance room housed the breakers controlling power to the imaging machines. With limited electrical capacity for the hospital, they had all been manually turned off. She left the station and ran south through the office leading to the imaging rooms. Her flashlight skated over the white signs above the door warning, DANGER Strong Magnetic Field. She opened the door to the office and was greeted with almost complete darkness.
Colleen entered the room slowly, but the hinges still whined under their enormous weight and age. Once inside, she flipped on the light switches haphazardly. No power.
&nbs
p; She backed out of the room and crossed to the other side, doing the same. The door at the south end of the office was in rough shape. The handle was missing, and the metal had caved in.
It had been ten minutes by now, and the attackers would be making their way inside. She had to get into the imaging rooms.
Back up to the front desk, she ran, grabbing a chair to smash. At full speed, the chair bounced off the metal door with a clang, tossing her back. Repeating this, there were signs of it moving but not enough for her to believe she would get it open before they arrived. An IV stand with the top removed in the prep area would make an excellent pry bar. Sliding it in between the latch and the doorjamb, Colleen leaned against the rigid metal pole. The bar bent at first, but with further pressure, she could hear concrete on metal screeching as the door slid open inch by inch.
Letting the pole drop, she pushed her way through as the smell of mildew and alcohol slapped her in the face. Most of the imaging rooms were empty; There were no knives, scalpels, or anything of use as a weapon. Upon further inspection, she found an old teaching skeleton, a transport gurney, and few more IV poles with several rolls of IV tubing nearby. She tossed everything onto the gurney and rolled into one of the MRI rooms.
The MRI was a giant donut-shaped magnet covered in plastic with an elevated table thin enough to fit through the hole. A transparent plexiglass barrier lay in the middle of the floor.
She ran to the front desk, grabbed some office supplies, and tossed them into the back corner.
Colleen placed the skeleton behind the radiation barrier at the machine's head and tied several lengths of gauze together at the base, then quickly tossed the other metallic items on top of the table. She ran back to the maintenance room and slipped inside. With a quick flip of a breaker, the machine hummed to life. There was an increasing drone as the equipment ramped up. Then a loud thunk and clang followed. She flipped the breaker again and listened as everything ramped back down.
The Maddening: Book 2 in the Terror Saga Page 7
