“A woman…is that a woman?” an older man asked in disbelief.
Finally, finding a break in the crowd, I took off towards Blake, who I was sure was located at the origin of all the chaos. I didn’t make it far.
****
A bomb. She’d found a bomb. Never had he cared so much about the welfare of one of his partners, and the thought of her up there with an explosive sickened him. He knew she was smart, that she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. After all, she’d already been one of the most promising partners he’d ever had, not to mention annoyingly beautiful. Of course, it also helped that none of the others had been able to uncover the feelings he’d managed to keep buried away for the last several years the way she had.
There was very little time to be secretive as he ran full tilt down the hallway, throwing off his sweater and snapping his helmet into place. An orderly appeared around a corner, eyes widening at the sight of him.
“Evacuate the building now!” Blake ordered, barreling past him without so much as a glance in his direction.
Without questioning him, the frightened orderly frantically nodded as he rushed down the hall. Blake continued his mission, eyes searching the rough exterior of the wall until he found a fire alarm, abruptly setting it off. Crowds filtered into the hallway, their faces changing in expression from sheer annoyance to pure terror when they recognized who it was who had pulled the alarm.
“Evacuate the building now!”
Just as in the case of the orderly, there were no questions directed towards this masked man whose identity they’d attempted to decipher in the countless stories contained within the local newspaper. Instead, only gasps exuded from the scattered groups. While some began to weep, others ran immediately to the nearest exits, their self-serving acts leaving only a select few to head toward the patient room to assist the patients to safety. Blake shook his head in disgust. The selfishness of others never ceased to amaze him. Emergencies had a strange way of bringing a person’s true colors to light.
There was an unwritten rule at headquarters that, over the years, had been drilled repeatedly into his head. This rule roughly stated that it didn’t matter the death toll, the main focus was apprehending The Man in Black. In Blake’s mind, that rule basically meant that it was completely acceptable for tens of thousands of people to die if the vile monster was apprehended, but not at all acceptable if lives were spared and he was to escape in the process. This rule had never set well with him, and was the one cardinal rule he always seemed to break. Allowing people to die went against the very grain of his soul. His true colors always remained the same shade.
From what he’d witnessed today, he was certain that the Intensive Care Unit would be the wing that would take the brunt of the action. He knew The Man in Black had cased the joint just as he had done, inevitably reaching the conclusion that it wouldn’t be worth it, body count wise, to waste his resources on the pediatric unit. Not to mention, just as in every other attack, he suspected that the vile monster was waiting somewhere in the wings in order to witness the devastation he was about to create. He ran on grief, drank in the destruction. It fueled him, providing him with the sustenance he needed to thrive.
Chaos was in full force in the Intensive Care Unit, and Blake’s sudden appearance only fanned the flames. His appearance was likened to that of the angel of death. It was something he thoroughly resented, but nonetheless had learned to deal with. Panic was thick in the air, and there was nothing the flustered doctors or nurses could do to alleviate the situation, making an already stressful event that much more unbearable for those incapacitated patients.
The evacuation process was underway, but it wasn’t moving along well amidst the confusion. For Blake, it was time to take action; it was time to earn the superhero title they’d branded him with. But, as he was about to join in to speed along the evacuation process, a large explosion, originating from the vicinity of the commons area, reverberated throughout the Intensive Care Unit.
Instinctively, Blake’s thoughts turned to Celaine, making it all he could do to hold himself back from taking off down the hall to find her. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, knowing he couldn’t let his emotions get the best of him. Where there was one explosion, others were sure to follow.
In the Intensive Care Unit, the panic stricken had taken to violent desperation, shoving and, in some instances, trampling over each other like savage animals in their attempts to escape. They completely ignored the pleas of the staff to allow all critically ill patients priority over everyone else, choosing instead to save themselves. Blake shook his head in disgust, diving into the center of the chaos. Grabbing patients, along with any and all medical equipment that may be attached to them, he searched for an exit out of the hospital, kicking doors off their hinges in the process. The Man in Black was here; he could feel his presence strongly now.
After securing an exit, he ran back inside, scouring each of the patient rooms for those left behind. All had thankfully been emptied until he came across a room housing a man who was most likely either a John Doe or a person whose family had very limited contact with him. Either way, he was easily overlooked in the midst of the horror that was occurring. He was heavily sedated with bandages covering the circumference of his head and arm. Not wanting to worsen his condition, Blake located a gurney that’d been hastily abandoned in the hallway and wheeled it into the room, where he gently lifted the man from his hospital bed and positioned him on it. Maneuvering the man into the hallway, he ran in the direction of the exit.
Time seemed to stand still during his run to safety. Every movement appeared as though it was being done in slow motion. And these slow movements did not hasten the closer he came to the sanctity of the outside; they did not quicken as the second explosion rang through the Intensive Care Unit, burying him and the patient under a pile of debris.
****
I lay in the hall amongst the rubble, several feet from the remains of the commons area of Hope Memorial. Like the dozens of people scattered around me, I should have been killed. My body had been flung into the air as though it had been shot out of a cannon, crashed into a wall and was partially buried by a couple of hundred pounds of steel and concrete. At the very least, I should have been rendered an invalid. But, as I pulled myself from my sepulcher, dusting myself off while checking my body for injury, I was shocked to find not so much as a scratch on either myself or my suit. In fact, there wasn’t even a visible scuff on its exterior. If there were ever a time I would kiss Marcus, it was now.
While I was well protected physically, emotionally was a completely different story. Around me, through the dust, smoke and approaching sirens, the scene that unfolded was a hellish flashback to The Lakes with the moans of the agony of impending death cutting through my head. Anxiety cut through my system, causing me to gasp for breath. Keep it together, I thought.
I climbed through the rubble, where I checked each lifeless body hoping that one of them would contain some semblance of life. No such luck. Taking a deep breath, I continued my journey through the debris. It was still early in the day, too early for Chase’s shift. With any luck, he wouldn’t be anywhere near the vicinity of Hope Memorial until all the action came to a head. If he’d been here, my anxiety would be nothing less than pure panic right now.
I climbed only a few more feet when I heard a muffled cry mere inches from my feet. Crouching down, I lifted chunks of drywall half my size effortlessly, throwing them aside until I uncovered the source of the cry I’d heard. In a crevice, deep within the debris, lay a very badly injured, barely conscious little boy. I put my hand near his mouth, feeling the air caress my fingers, proving there was still life left in his limp body. Although this little boy was several years younger than Jake had been, I couldn’t help but think of how similar in appearance he was to my brother, shaggy hair and all. My eyes were burning from the dust that was able to seep into my helmet, making the tears I shed that much more painful. Gently, I lifte
d the tiny body from its resting place. There would be another bomb, I suspected; and there was no way that mini Jake would be in this building when that second wave of terror began.
Leaping over piles of concrete, moving my legs as fast as they would carry me, I came across what used to be the front entrance of the hospital. It’d been rendered to nothing more than a giant road block in my path. Carefully positioning the boy over my shoulder, I cleared a pathway to the outside world, coughing on the dust and smoke that rushed into my mask, burning the back of my throat. Fearing that the boy’s frail body would asphyxiate on the smoke overtaking us, I worked faster, flinging remnants of Hope Memorial in all directions until the sunlight from the outside poured in to signal the end of my excavation. A virtual mob had formed outside, consisting mainly of the staff and those patients they were able to evacuate. Already, doctors were setting up makeshift hospitals in the parking lot in the hopes that the critically ill patients’ conditions wouldn’t deteriorate before they could be transferred to another hospital. In the distance, I could hear sirens approaching. The local news crew would soon follow suit. Military personnel were already at the scene donning breathing masks so that they could enter the building.
I ran several feet before finding a doctor to turn the boy over to. The balding, bespectacled man took the boy from my arms, nodding his approval. All eyes were now on me despite the utter devastation unfolding before them. Most were curious while some, I sensed, felt that my presence was all too convenient. However, there was a common thread that united the two divisions: their overwhelming fear of me. People tend to fear the unknown and the incomprehensible. To them, I was all of the above.
As I ran back into Hope Memorial, the second explosion occurred, rocking the hospital and the people near it to their cores. Screams emanated from the crowds. Without further hesitation, I took off back in the direction of the source of the blast, for I knew that Hope Memorial would not be able to withstand any further assault, and I wasn’t going to let her go down without a fight.
The second blast had blown a hole in the corridor that lead to the Intensive Care Unit. Leaping five feet into the newly minted doorway, I choked on the smoke from one of the many small fires that surrounded me while tapping my finger against my ear bud to reach Blake. “Blake, can you hear me?” I coughed. Silence. With my vision blurred by the veil of smoke, dust and debris, I worked my way down the corridor, hoping to hear from him. Surely, he must be all right as he’s done this several times now. This all should be like clockwork to him. Nevertheless, pangs of worry began eating away at my stomach. And although it had only been minutes since my last attempt at communication with him, it felt more like hours before he finally responded.
“I’m in the ICU. Meet me in here so we can regroup. Apparently, our informants have spotted The Man in Black. The excitement here was too much for him. They think he’s keeping shop in an abandoned warehouse across from the hospital, a couple of blocks over on Spruce Street.”
My heart pounded in my chest. The Man in Black was only a couple of blocks away. This was the closest I’d been to him live and in person since that day at The Lakes. Today was turning into everything I’d waited for in the last ten years. At last, my chance to bring down the man who’d brought my world to a screeching halt was upon me. Soon, I would finally be able to fulfill the promise I’d made to my family when they were laid to rest in the hardened, dark earth that cold, December day.
“Dr. Harris says to calm down. Your cardiac readings are all over the chart,” Kara’s voice came over loud and clear in my ear bud.
In hindsight, it made perfect sense, but before hearing her stern voice booming in my ear, correcting me like a stern parent, I hadn’t entertained the notion that whatever Blake and I said to each other could be heard throughout headquarters as well. “Tell the good doctor that I’ll try, but I can’t make any promises.”
I entered the ICU, smoking and in shambles from the second blast. Thankfully, it appeared to be empty, for the most part. Glancing left down the hallway, I was relieved to see Blake. He was draping a blanket over a body next to a mass of metal that looked to be the remnants of a gurney or hospital bed of sorts. He looked up at me, regaining his composure. “We’d better get out of here before another one goes off,” he stated, rather coldly.
“Aren’t we going to stay here and try to help the people who haven’t gotten out of here yet before they’re blown to bits? There are three whole floors of rooms. Surely, they couldn’t have all been evacuated.”
“I don’t like it any more than you do, but saving them isn’t part of our mission. Capturing The Man in Black is.”
“That’s ludicrous. Sure, our ultimate goal is to catch him, but we’re catching him to save lives, to prevent death, not to just turn our backs on it.”
“If catching him means that a few dozen have to die in the process, then so be it. Capturing him will only serve to save countless others.”
“You don’t honestly believe that,” I fumed. “This whole thing disturbs you just as much as it does me.”
“You’re letting this mission become too personal for you, Celaine.”
“Screw you.”
His body stiffened in anger, but he remained silent. I felt guilty for having gotten angry with him. This hospital had been my refuge, my life for so long. How could I not take it personally when told that I had to let it and the people within it die?
“Blake…I’m…”
“Let’s go.” He trudged through the rubble. “Before another blast rips through this place and makes it harder for us to get out and find that bastard.” He took a flying leap at a nearby wall, his foot caving it inward as the foundation stubbornly refused to give way. Following suit, I brought my leg up, striking the wall, feeling it crumbling, giving way beneath my foot, revealing the world outside once the dust settled. “Show off,” he muttered.
“You got it started for me…”
“Uh-huh.”
We climbed through the hole in the wall. Outside, the dust and smoke swirled in the wind. Half of Hope Memorial stood ablaze. A news station helicopter swirled overhead, churning up the air. Thankfully, the side we were on was not as busy as the front of the building, which housed all of the evacuees and news crews. It allotted Blake and I a sort of secrecy in our departure. “Run,” Blake commanded.
We took off through the field behind Hope Memorial toward the abandoned sector of town, but we didn’t get far before another, even more potent explosion ripped through the sky, shaking the ground like an earthquake. My heart sank into the depths of despair when I looked behind me and saw what had been the epicenter of the explosion as flames shot through the pediatric unit.
“Son of a bitch,” Blake’s voice bellowed behind me, enraged.
I began to shake; the air left my body, deflating me. My knees buckled, taking my body down with them. Blake’s arms wrapped around me, keeping me upright. A moan involuntarily escaped my mouth like a reflex. And that was all it took for the uncontrollable sobbing to start. He pulled me up to face him, but instead of telling me to calm down, he pulled my body into his, embracing my limp being.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly in my ear. “This is why it’s more important that we get the bastard when the opportunity presents itself.”
I pulled my body away from his, realizing that I hadn’t taken a breath yet. “Let’s find him…now.”
He smiled. “Now you’re talking.”
Taking one last glimpse back at the near-decimated Hope Memorial Hospital, I turned my attention straight ahead and started running. With Blake hot on my heels, we tore through the field, the world going by us in a blur of color. Bending my knees, I made a flying leap over the chain link fence, landing expertly on the other side. “Spruce Street?” I asked Blake.
“Yeah, at a former office supply warehouse that apparently went out of business during the recession and subsequent mass exodus from this dump.”
“This dump was my home.”
/> “That must have sucked.”
“No, actually it was peaceful…having an entire city to yourself at night was eerily soothing.” I looked over at Blake, his face bearing a surprisingly stoic expression.
“What’s the plan?” My question didn’t seem to surprise him.
“We check it out…see if it all jives.”
“And if it does?”
“Then you apply what you’ve learned in the simulator.”
“And?”
“Stick with me, don…”
“I know…I know…don’t play the hero.”
“I was going to say ‘don’t get yourself killed’ but that works, too. Kind of goes hand in hand, I guess.”
Formerly the home of Steinbach’s Office Supplies, Inc., the abandoned warehouse had once been a lucrative metropolis of efficiency. Many school districts from the area had furnished their classrooms with furniture and supplies from Steinbach’s. With several locations statewide, the small family-owned business managed to turn into a corporate empire seemingly overnight. Unfortunately, corporate-sized expansion generates corporate-sized mentality, masking a familiar face, making it a complete stranger to the public. Thus, an expanding ego coupled with an expanding recession worked together perfectly toward the alienation and utter devastation of a once great company. Several stores closed their doors, making way for strip malls, inevitably forcing the former bustling warehouse into bankruptcy. Now all that remains of the Steinbach legacy is a boarded-up, empty concrete cocoon. Its only means of recognition to the outside world consists of half of a dilapidated sign on its concrete exterior that read: Steinb.
As we neared the building, I could almost feel his eyes watching my every step. I knew he was in there. I didn’t need any corroborating evidence to confirm that in my mind. He was in the air, in my bones. My body felt his presence clearly. It was so profound that I could almost hear them…my family…calling me from inside the building, their faces peering out of the cracks in the boarded-up windows, motioning for me to come to their rescue. An intense rush of adrenaline, the likes of which I’d never felt before, wound its way through my veins. There was nothing I wanted more at that moment than to explode through those concrete doors and take care of business. Whether or not I was taking care of myself in the process, I didn’t care.
Enigma Black Page 26
