Days 46 to 53 (Mass Extinction Event 11)

by Amy Cross

  I just hope that people like Elizabeth are able to get to safety. She seemed nice enough, but she also sounded lost and alone.

  “Hey!” a voice hisses suddenly.

  Turning, I look around at the nearby tents, but I can't see anyone.

  “Over here!” the voice calls out.

  Spotting a face staring at me from a few feet away, I hurry over and find that the girl from earlier, Hannah's friend, is crouched behind a tent. She looks scared, but then again that's kind of her default expression these days.

  “What do you want?” I ask, keeping my voice down. “I'm going to -”

  “Get out of sight,” she whispers, grabbing my shirt and trying to pull me down to her level.

  Crouching next to her, I realize that she's absolutely terrified.

  “I've got a message for you,” she continues.

  “From who?”

  “Amanda Quinn.”

  “Quinn?” Looking over my shoulder, I almost expect to see her hiding somewhere nearby. “Where is she?”

  “That's the message,” the girl continues. “She wants you to meet her. She says she's found what she was looking for, but she needs your help. She's -”

  “My help?” I stare at her for a moment, stunned by the idea. “Just tell me where she is.”

  “She said you have to go back to the field you were in yesterday when you were looking for her. She said something about an apple tree you were standing next to, just before you turned back. Does that make any sense?”

  “Sure, but...” I pause as I realize what it means. “She was there,” I add, stunned by the idea that somehow I missed her. “She was right there, watching us! She must have been hiding somewhere and listening to every word we said!”

  “It doesn't matter,” the girl continues. “She just asked me to tell you that you have to go and meet her there as soon as possible, and that she wants to show you the source of the signal. I don't really know what she meant by that, but she said you'd understand. She also said that you have to believe that she didn't kill the other girl, Kaylee. She -”

  “I don't have time to talk,” I tell her, getting to my feet.

  “Wait!” she hisses, pulling me back down. “Quinn didn't kill Kaylee. I was there, I saw what happened. It was the other women, the ones who do the cooking for our group. There were five or six of them, and they turned on her. I don't know whether Kaylee provoked it, but Quinn tried to stop them. They chased her away, and then they lied and said that she was the killer. It's not true, though. I saw it with my own eyes.”

  “Why would all those people lie?” I ask.

  “I've told you. This place isn't right. If you don't believe me, go back to your friend's grave.”

  “Why? What's the point?”

  “Dig her up,” she continues. “Or try to, anyway. I guarantee you, there won't be a body down there. All you'll find will be an empty sheet. They'll have taken the rest.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “It's not right what they're doing. They shouldn't take people and hurt them like this, but they don't care. Sometimes I think they just see us as things to be used for whatever they're planning. Most people are either part of it, or they don't notice because they're too busy working. The people who do this are careful. They only take a few people every month. You just have to believe me when I promise you that Quinn isn't responsible for what happened. If she hadn't managed to get away, they'd have killed her too. I don't know exactly what they do with the bodies, but there's something going on further along the shore. Mark's involved, he knows about it. I think he might even be in charge. Please, you can't tell anyone that I spoke to you, or we'll both be next.” She pauses. “Do you believe me?”

  “I don't know,” I reply. “I've got to go and find Quinn.”

  “Maybe she can explain more,” the girl continues. “All I know is that I was there two days ago and I saw exactly what happened. Why would I lie to you?”

  I stare at her for a moment, and although I find it hard to believe that Quinn could be the victim of some big conspiracy, there's something about this girl that seems very genuine. Then again, she might just be Quinn's latest plaything, someone to be used in an attempt to manipulate me.

  “Melissa,” she says suddenly, with a faint smile. “That's my name. I just thought... You know, if anything happens to me, at least you'll know my name.”

  “I'm going to go and find Quinn,” I tell her, “and I'm going to finish this for good.”

  “But -”

  “Tell Mark I'll be back soon,” I add, before turning and hurrying back toward my tent. As soon as I'm inside, I reach under the flap at the far end and pull out the hunting knife, which I've been keeping hidden in case anyone decides they want to steal it. Once I've hitched the blade to my belt, I turn and make my way between the tents, heading for the crest of the hill. I can feel the fury building in my soul again, urging me forward and making me feel as if the only option is to find Quinn and end her miserable life.

  I don't know how she brainwashed that Melissa girl, but I refuse to believe that there's been some big conspiracy. Quinn murdered Kaylee, and now I'm going to make her pay. It's the right thing to do.

  Elizabeth

  “Stop crying,” I whisper, staring out the kitchen window as Rachel cries in the next room. “Please, just stop...”

  It's late afternoon and I've been standing here by the window for at least an hour. I don't have a watch, but I'm pretty sure it must have been at least twenty-four hours now since Toad set out for his hunting trip, and it must have been eight or nine since the storm died down. Sure, he might have found somewhere to shelter during the worst of the weather, but even so, he should have been able to get back here by now.

  “Stop crying,” I mutter again, trying not to let my frustration boil over. Rachel has been bawling her eyes out non-stop for so long now, I can barely even hear myself think.

  Still, she's just a baby. She must be so scared and confused, and I'm sure she's wondering where her real mother is. She knows I'm an imposter.

  “Come on, Toad,” I whisper, hoping that maybe in some way he might be able to hear me. I still don't know if I believe in God, but if there's even the slightest chance of my prayer reaching Toad, I'm willing to give it a try. “Please, just come back. I don't care about anything else, but please -”

  Suddenly Rachel stops crying.

  I turn and look at the door that leads through to the next room.

  Silence.

  I'm glad she stopped, but there's something strange about the way it happened. It almost sounded as if suddenly, with no warning at all, her voice just disappeared. I pause for a moment, almost hoping that she'll at least make some kind of noise so that I know she's okay. Finally, I grab my crutches and make my way slowly across the room, before heading through the door and finding that Rachel's still on the bed where I left her.

  “Hey,” I say as I get closer, “are you upset about something? When are you supposed to start teething, anyway? I thought it was later, but -”

  At that moment, I realize that she's staring at me, almost exactly the same way she was doing earlier in the week. This time, however, there's something different; whereas before she just seemed to be studying me, this time there's a faint smile on her lips, and an undeniable hint of intelligence in her eyes. I want to pick her up and tell her that everything's going to be okay, but at the same time I'm worried about touching her.

  “Don't be scared,” I tell her. “Everything's going to be fine. We're just waiting for Toad to come home.” With that, I turn and make my way back through to the kitchen. I don't want to think the worst, but I can't deny the truth: the way Rachel was looking at me just now wasn't normal. It's almost as if there's another mind in her head, staring out at me through her eyes.

  Seconds later, I hear a noise from her room. It almost sounds like she's getting off the bed.

  Thomas

  Standing by the apple tree, on the edge of a v
ast green field, I look around for some sign of Quinn. She's supposed to be here to meet me, but so far there's no sign of her. I guess she might have been too scared. After all, she must know that I won't believe her bullshit story. I doubt she's brave enough to face up to what she did.

  “Thomas!” a voice calls out suddenly from the distance. “Over here!”

  Turning, I spot someone standing several hundred feet away, at the top of a small hill. It's Quinn, silhouetted against the later afternoon sky as she waves her arms at me. Instinctively, I reach down to check that I've still got the knife.

  “Follow me!” she shouts. “Come on! I need your help!”

  With that, she turns and hurries down the other side of the hill, disappearing from view.

  “Wait!” I call out, before starting to run after her. I swear to God, I should have guessed that this wasn't going to be simple. As I race up the side of the hill, almost losing my footing in the process, all I can think about is the fact that this bitch was able to slip away from me once before. This time, I'm going to make sure she faces the consequences of her actions, but there's no way I'm going to bother dragging her back to face justice in front of the others. I'll deal with her out here, and I'm damn certain my conscience will still be clear by sundown.

  “Hurry!” she shouts excitedly.

  Getting to the top of the hill, I see that she's already managed to get quite a lot further down into the next valley. She stops and waves at me, before turning and hurrying through the grass. Figuring that I'm going to need to catch up to her and force her to stay still, I set off in the same direction, running as fast as I can until finally I notice that she's stopped up ahead. As I get closer, she turns to me and smiles, but there's a hint of sadness in her eyes.

  “Don't worry,” she says suddenly, her voice faltering a little. “It's me.”

  Stopping a few feet away, I stare at her. There's a part of me that wants to kill her right now, but another part of me wants some answers first. The problem is, I don't even know where to start.

  “Why did you do it?” I ask eventually, still a little out of breath from the chase.

  “Do what?”

  “You killed Kaylee. You cut her down in cold blood.”

  “No,” she replies, shaking her head. “I didn't. It was made to seem that way, but I hope you understand that I would never, ever do anything like that. It was those women, Thomas. Other people saw what happened, but most of them are too scared to speak up. There's something very dark happening at that camp, something involving bodies being taken further along the shore. I'd like to investigate a little further, but I haven't had time, not yet. I've been out here tracking down the source of the signal, and I've finally found it. You'll never guess what -”

  “You're deluded,” I say, interrupting her.

  “Why?”

  “Because you think I'm going to fall for your bullshit story.” Reaching down, I take the knife from my belt, and from the look in her eyes it's clear that Quinn realizes what I'm planning to do. “I don't know how you got that girl Melissa to lie for you,” I continue, “but you obviously brainwashed her, the way you brainwashed all those people back in Chicago.”

  “Brainwashed?” She smiles nervously. “What are you talking about? Thomas, I've never brainwashed anyone in my life. Perhaps I'm a little charismatic, but...” She pauses, and this time there are tears in her eyes. “I'm truly sorry about Kaylee. I tried to stop them, but there was nothing I could do, and then they came after me and I barely escaped. I know this must be difficult for you to accept, but what motive could I possibly have to harm that girl? She was in my dream, Thomas, just like you. She was supposed to be here with us when we found the source of the signal.”

  “There's no signal,” I tell her.

  “There is,” she says firmly. “We're at the source right now.”

  “Do you really think I'm going to let you get away with what you did?” I ask, taking a step toward her. “You can't distract me with all this garbage about a signal!”

  She immediately steps back, keeping her eyes fixed on the knife.

  “Do you want to know why that Melissa girl agreed to help me?” she asks, holding her hands up. “Don't you realize who she is?”

  “She's just another impressionable idiot who let you get under her skin,” I reply.

  “She's George's daughter.”

  I stare at her, and although I want to believe that this is another of her tricks, I suddenly realize that she might be telling the truth. Not only was the girl named Melissa, but she mentioned a daughter named Katie. It's hard to believe that it could be the same person George and I were looking for last week, but somehow we seem to have found her.

  “It was pure coincidence that I made the connection,” Quinn continues, “but then I asked her, and I told her that her father was alive and that he was looking for her. I think that helped her to trust me, and then it was only a few hours later that poor Kaylee was killed by those murderous women. I honestly don't know what they're doing with the bodies further along the shore, but you mustn't trust Mark. He's involved in something horrific.”

  “This is all a lie,” I tell her. “That girl, her name probably isn't really Melissa. You just manipulate people and make them -”

  “Don't you want to see it?” she asks suddenly.

  “See what?”

  “If you're going to kill me,” she continues, her voice still trembling a little, “then surely you should at least see what I'm going to show you first. I mean, I really have found the source of the signal. Why else would I ask you to meet me out here? I've found it, but I can't do anything with it, not yet. I need help. It's so close, Thomas. Won't you at least let me show you? Even if it's the last thing I ever do?”

  I hold the knife out toward her, but although I'm determined to punish her for Kaylee's death and for all these lies, I figure I might as well see what she's rambling on about.

  “Go on, then,” I say eventually. “Show me.”

  “This way,” she replies, turning and making her way a few feet further down the valley until she stops next to what looks like a shallow pit. Her laptop is on the floor nearby, along with a shovel that I immediately recognize as one that was in the back of my truck. I guess she took something after all.

  “Well?” I ask, keen not to get too close to her.

  “Come and see,” she replies, taking a step back.

  With the knife still held out toward her, I make my way to the edge of the pit and look down. At first, I'm not even sure what I'm seeing, but finally I realize that somehow she's managed to uncover part of a metal structure, with a door set into the top and what appears to be a small glass window.

  “What the hell is this thing?” I ask.

  “I think it's some kind of bunker,” she replies, sounding pretty pleased with herself. “Before my laptop ran out of power, I traced the source of the signal definitively to this spot. I've tried everything I can think of to get the door open, but it won't budge and I'm running out of options. That's one of the reasons I was hoping you might be able to help.”

  With the knife still in my hand, I stare at the door and try to make sense of everything. Sure, Quinn's full of bullshit and she's an expert manipulator, and almost certainly a murderer, but there's no way she could have magicked this bunker out of thin air. Somehow, despite her insanity, she's genuinely managed to track down something extraordinary.

  “Well?” she asks.

  “Well what?” I turn to her. “It's probably just some kind of old Cold War thing.”

  “Look closer,” she continues with a faint smile.

  “Why?”

  “Because then you'll see the other thing that's caught my attention. And I'm pretty sure you'll realize that whatever this place is, it's most certainly not an old Cold War thing, as you so delightfully put it.”

  Figuring that I can fend her off if she tries anything, I step down into the pit and make my way toward the bunker's metal door. As I get cl
oser, I stare at the small round window at the top of the door, and suddenly I realize that there's something moving on the other side of the glass. Finally, even though I can barely believe what I'm seeing, I get close enough to see the truth.

  On the other side of the door, inside the bunker, there's a man. He's staring back at me with wild, startled eyes. And whoever he is, he sure as hell doesn't look very pleased to see us.

  Elizabeth

  It takes a lot of effort, but I'm finally able to get the back of the radio unit open, only to find a partially-melted bundle of wires and cables. I stare at the ruined remains of the system, and although I try to tell myself that maybe I can find a way to fix it, finally I'm forced to accept that there's no way I can get the damn thing up and running.

  From somewhere else in the house, there's a faint creaking sound.

  Looking across the gloomy kitchen, I realize that while I've been trying to fix the radio, the evening has begun to get darker. My heart is pounding as I listen to the silence, praying that I won't hear another of the creaks that have been periodically coming from Rachel's room, but moments later I hear it again, followed by a faint knocking sound. I have no idea what's happening in there, but if I didn't know better, I'd start to think that somehow Rachel is moving around.

  Hobbling over to the back door, I look out at the forest and see that there's still no sign of Toad. He's been gone for so long now, it's hard to believe that he's okay. Something must have happened to him. Either that, or he's decided he can't hang around and risk his life with a cripple and a baby. I don't want to believe that he'd just abandon us like this, but at the same time, the alternative – that he's been hurt or maybe even killed in the storm – is worse.