by Jeannie Rae
Hank waited for an answer from the guys in the back, looking in the rearview mirror. He saw Joe lift his head, eyes wide.
“We need to stop somewhere, now,” Joe said calmly.
“What's going on back there?” Hank said scanning the street ahead for a place to stop, but runners began to emerge on the road ahead, attracted to the gunfire.
“Shotgun's been hit.”
CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
Roxy followed Dave across the catwalk, through the door to Angora’s garage, with the ladies at her side. Lynn and Mattie walked casually behind. Relieved to be out of the building and in the parking structure, Roxy exhaled with anticipation. She’d held her breath the entire way through the building. Feeling appreciative that they hadn’t been stopped, she questioned if things were as dire as Mara had implied over the phone. They crossed the lot with marked speed, approaching Mattie’s truck.
“Where’s that scientist lady?” Mattie asked, the truck door squealing as he opened it.
He lifted the bench seat, revealing the other two duffle bags that he had stored upon arrival at Lynn’s house. Retrieving the guns previously stashed in one of the bags, he handed Lynn and Roxy each a pistol, Dave a shotgun, and kept a rifle for himself. He tossed the duffle with the remaining weapons back under the seat.
“Mara should be here. We’ll wait a couple of minutes, if she doesn’t show, then we’ll need to leave without her.” Roxy wiped her hands on her jeans nervously, looking around in the stifling structure.
The gun felt awkward in Roxy’s hand. She’d never used a gun before and the whole idea of shooting someone—monster or not—churned her stomach. Shifting her eyes to Lynn who held a similar piece, Roxy watched as Mattie’s sister examined the weapon, removing the cartridge and replacing it. Lynn glanced at Roxy, displaying a mischievous grin.
“Here, let me show you,” Lynn said, with a newly lit cigarette hanging between her lips.
Explaining the interworkings of the pistol, Lynn spoke sweetly as smoke surrounded her face. Roxy soaked in as much information as she could from Lynn, discerning that she was genuinely a kind person, once you broke through her barriers. Roxy hadn’t imagined that she and Lynn would ever make it to this place, especially after the circumstances in which they met.
“Thank you Lynn,” Roxy said, patting her gun mentor on the upper arm.
A car sped around the corner, the tires screeching in protest at the velocity of the turn. The headlights were blinding in the dark structure, making it difficult to see what type of vehicle approached. It pulled to a stop and the lights went dark, revealing a red and black mini cooper. Mara swiftly exited the tiny vehicle, hurrying toward the truck.
“We should go now. Is this your truck?” She inquired, looking to Mattie.
“Yes ma’am,” Mattie dipped his head.
“Great. Roxy, you and your dogs and,” she paused looking at Dave.
“Dave,” Roxy offered, glancing at Dave and gently grasping his forearm.
“Yes, you guys can ride with me,” she turned her attention to Mattie, “You’ll follow in your truck?”
“Sure will,” Mattie said, slipping into the driver seat with Lynn following.
Roxy took the front seat in Mara’s car, after Dave slipped into the back with the ladies. Gypsy settled immediately on the seat behind Roxy, almost as if it were a race to see who gets the seat and Rogue took a spot on the floorboard just below her. Revving the engine, Mara took off through the parking structure, speeding past the security booth at the exit of the garage. She gave a hasty wave to the security guard in the booth. The man returned her wave with an ominous expression, before reaching for his radio.
Mara drove down the winding road toward the gate, passing the grassy area in front of Angora. As they approached the security booth at the gate, Mara rolled down her window, showing her ID badge to the officer at the gate.
“Dr. Brandenburg, where are you going?” He appealed in a low voice.
“Pardon me?” Mara asked in defense.
“I am not sure if you know this, but we are in a perimeter lock down right now,” he said.
Roxy tried to remain patient in the passenger seat, although she began doubting their ability to leave. Her sense of claustrophobia crept through her again like a stealthy spider ensnaring her in a web of hopelessness. She controlled her breathing, even as she had little hope that this guard would open the gate.
“Listen Brody, we need to leave right now. I wouldn’t ask you to break protocol unless it was important. Please trust that I have an extremely important issue to deal with. I don’t want to go out there any more than you would want to, but I have to,” Mara said diplomatically.
“I am sorry doctor, but I can’t break protocol, not even for you. You are going to have to turn your vehicles around,” he said politely, glancing back at Mattie’s truck.
“Shotgun is bringing in this girl’s family. He is out there and needs assistance in bringing them in. He was supposed to be back a while ago, and we need to get to them before anything happens to them. I’m not sure if you heard, but she is the key to a cure for the disease that is spreading across our city. Her sister is probably the only person that has the cells that can stop this mess. We need to get her sister back here before she is bitten or infected. You see, retrieving her family could be the means to a cure for what’s going on out there. I am only going to ask this once, then I will have your job. Please open the gate now,” Mara fixed her stare on the guard.
“Doctor, if Shotgun needed assistance, he would have radioed it in,” he tugged at the rubberized sat phone clipped to his shoulder. “He would request for us to assist him, not a scientist,” he smirked.
Roxy noticed Dave roll down his window half way. He rested the double-barrel shotgun on the glass. The security officer stepped back slowly. His face transformed from a cocky smirk to outright surrender.
“Do as the lady says,” Dave ordered.
Mara took notice of the gun, then eyed Brody—who now, had his palms raised to his shoulders.
“Open the gate Brody, or he’ll shoot you, and we’ll open it, ourselves. Then, there will be no one to close it after we leave. Is that what you want?”
The guard shook his head. Slowly, he reached down with one hand and pulled a knob that could be viewed through the glass. The gates began to open.
CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
Mara killed her engine in the alley behind the small video store, adjacent from the gates of Angora, with Mattie pulling up just behind her. As Roxy exited the vehicle, warm, humid air washed over her body from the scorching evening. The light had all but faded from the sky, creating a spooky feel to the area. The heat mixed with a smoky haze caused by nearby fires. Making her way toward the alley entrance to a video store, Roxy and the others scanned the area for lurking danger. Her dogs scouted the alley, with their noses leading the way, leaving no object unsniffed.
Dave tried the handle to the video store, and found it locked. He knelt down, working over the knob to gain a burglarized entry, to the door with a rather large foreclosure sign taped to it. Roxy noticed a sign on the brick structure, across the alley, for a second hand shop. In the alleyway, a corroded, blue dumpster stood a few feet away, amidst random pieces of trash littered on the ground. She noticed a few busted corkwood shelves on two pallets. The strapping was carelessly cut and flapping as a gust of haze spilled into the alley. The video store shared its building with a Mom and Pop sub shop that only stayed open until 4pm daily, except Sundays—according to the hanging sign, aged with rust and discoloration. Dave’s lock picking skills had proven useful once again, as he opened the door. The ladies darted in first to do their inspection, followed by the humans.
“No power,” Dave declared, flipping light switches near the entrance.
At first Roxy had been hesitant of Dave’s suggestion to hideout and wait out for her family’s arrival in this place. The idea of picking a hiding spot that’s right across the street from Angora,
seemed off-putting, but there’s only one way in or out of Angora—and it’s through that gate. Her family would have to pass the video store, at some point, in order to get in and that is where they could be intercepted, providing that the team at Angora doesn’t discover the video store first.
Heading to the front counter, Roxy tried the telephone, which had no dial tone. She had little hope of it working, but still had to try. Spotting pair of walkie-talkies on the shelf beneath, she twisted the power knobs to reveal nearly a full charge.
Roxy looked around the empty video store, spotting Gypsy and Rouge conducting their own investigation of the space. A dusty smell lingered in the darkened store, leaving the air with a stale, dirty feeling to it. A glass door with a bell tied to the handle was situated within a glass wall with deals scribbled in neon paint—west of the cashier counter. Another glass wall stood on the northern side of the shop—with another door and matching paint. Rows of broken down shelves lay scattered across the center of the room with cardboard cutouts from movie promos torn and knocked down. A solid wall to the east was lined with a few empty cases of new releases. Adjacent to the cashier counter stood two doors. The first, an open door that led to a small room containing the manager’s office, a stockroom, and the roof access stairs, and the second was the alley entrance that they had used to gain access.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Mara's nervous voice echoed across the vacant room.
Roxy walked up behind her, “It's the only idea,” she said, looking out the video store window at Angora's gates across the street. “This is the only way in. They’ll have to come past here. We have to catch them coming down the street…You know, it might not be safe, maybe you should go.”
It astounded Roxy that all of these people inside the video store were aiding her in reuniting with her family. None of them owed her anything. They were in no way obligated to help her, but here they were. Even with Port Steward crumbling all around them, they remained at her side, willing to take risks and make sacrifices to help her. The thought of it, overwhelmed Roxy and made her feel guilty at the same time.
They should be evacuating—going somewhere safe, not risking their lives for me. None of us even knew each other twenty-four hours ago.
“No, Roxy. I can't continue my work without you. Especially now, I don’t have your blood samples anymore, they’re still at Angora. I’m looking forward to meeting your family—your sister in particular. The serum will likely have the same effect on her as it does with you. If she hasn’t been bitten yet, then her cells can really give us a leg up on our research. Comparing your cells to hers will be a tremendous boost for my research. It's just that, I know that they will be speeding out of Angora any minute, and they'll be looking for us. And we’re right across the street. And we’re running out of time,” Mara sank her head into her hands.
Roxy revealed compassion in her eyes while standing before Mara.
She’s right. They will send security after us. I just hope we get to Dad and Kate before that happens…
“It feels like it’s been weeks since I've seen my sister, not knowing whether she is alive or dead or one of them. Not being able to see her or hear her voice. I spend every day with that kid. Most days are great. Other days—we can’t stand each other. But no matter what, she’s always around. Since our mom died, we’ve gotten closer than ever. We count on each other, and we’re all my dad has. He would do anything for us. Nothing would stop him from looking for me. I can’t give up. Every step that I have taken since this whole thing began has been a step to get closer to finding them. I would rather die knowing that they’re safe, than to live an eternity not knowing,” Roxy said.
“I understand—I’ll stay with you as long as it takes. Listen, I really think that I need to stick close to you for a while, at least for a few days. After speaking with Randy and James, I found out that Randy used to be under the care of a scientist while he adjusted to the serum’s effects. There may be some side effects that we aren’t aware of,” Mara confided.
“Side effects, like what? You mean like being able to transmit the infection to others?”
“Well…that could be possible. But I can’t say for certain what side effects there may be. The data I have does not cover human subjects. There was something that James said about Randy needing to be monitored until he had everything under control that sounded…”
Mara paused, examining a perplexed look on Roxy face. “Are you alright?”
Roxy raised her index finger as her eyes widened. A noise hummed in the distance. It sounded like a slow moan, blended with a whomp, whomp—as though someone were pounding on an empty barrel at an inconceivable speed.
“Hear that?” Roxy murmured.
Mara silently shook her head, staring strangely at the girl before her. Roxy tilted her head to the side trying to make out the sound. The drumming became louder now, closer and faster. And the moan morphed, beginning to sound like a demonic growl. The sound filled her head and as she concentrated on it, all other noises faded away.
Mara’s face perked up, “I hear it! What is it?”
Roxy recognized the sound, as Mara posed her question. A helicopter approached. As it neared, the sound became faster, blending into a steady throbbing—like a sprinkler at maximum volume and speed. They looked out the window through the gaps in neon paint, the helicopter materializing in the distance. It cleared the walls surrounding Angora, landing on the roof of the building.
“There's a landing zone on the rooftop,” Mara explained. “James is probably evacuating the staff.”
The others had gathered behind them staring out the window, as the bird touched-down.
Dave made his way to everyone checking their weapons and making sure that they had ammo from Mattie’s duffle bags. Mattie and Lynn double checked the doors to make sure that they were all locked. Mattie took his position hidden behind the front door. He looked through a small clearing in the window, amidst the huge words $3.99 2-Night Rental.
“From this-here vantage point, I can see partly down Eighth and D Streets,” Mattie called out.
Lynn & Mara stood on point, near the oversized glass wall that faced Angora.
“We can see pretty far down D Street in both directions,” Lynn stated.
Roxy nodded in the direction of the girls, making her way to Mattie and handing off a radio to him. The look on his face turned to surprise, as an enormous grin broadened across his face.
“Found these behind the counter, even without the power on, they’re still fully charged. We're on seven,” Roxy looked at Mattie sincerely. “We'll be up top.”
Dave was already waiting in the manager’s office, as Roxy walked in. She watched the ladies enter, closing the door behind them. They would be safer and less likely to give their position up if they were in the office. Giving them each a kiss and a couple of pats on the head, she said, “Stay.”
She followed Dave up the roof access stairs in the corner of the office. As they exited through the door on the roof, the sun had retreated and the first stars were casting their glow in the night’s sky. Dave motioned for Roxy to go to the front corner, relatively close to where Mattie stood on the ground floor, while he took position at the opposite corner of the roof, above the front corner of the sub shop.
Mara’s mind raced with anticipation as she made her best attempt to portray patience. She leaned her head against the cold, glass wall, staring at Angora. Darkness and shadows owned the street. Dimly lit street lamps cast their sparse, yellow illumination on the sidewalks in front of the massive wall that encased Angora and few early fallen leaves clustered in the lighted gutter beneath.
James told her that Port Steward would be destroyed at midnight and precious minutes were passing by bringing that destruction closer and closer. She had taken a big chance, leaving the laboratory with Roxy, trying to do the right thing. But now, it seemed like her attempt at redemption, for being at the epicenter of this outbreak, had become a mistake.
When—and if, we find Roxy’s family, how are we going to make it out of town in time? I should have never left the lab… They are evacuating. What was I thinking? I could have waited until we were safely out of The Port before I tried to make a noble decision. How could I have been so stupid? Now we are all going to die here and that little girl, our best chance at salvation, will too.
CHAPTER SEVENTY
James sat quietly with his back to his office door, when he heard it open. Tenacious footsteps began to cross the room. He knew it was Randy. His footsteps were very distinct, hard and relatively quick. In the years James had known him, Randy’s gait had never changed. He could set a watch to the pace of Randy’s walk.
Observing the city through the tinted glass wall behind his lavish desk, James assessed the damage that Port Steward had sustained. Smoke swirled up from behind buildings, the glow of several fires decorated the darkened town and even a few flames could be seen seizing the tops of trees in the distance. The power was out to half of Port Steward, some houses and buildings were lighted, but most were swallowed by the night. Hundreds of people, scattered on roof tops of buildings, flapped homemade signs, flicked flashlights back and forth and waved their arms tirelessly at the barrage of helicopters that passed overhead. Most of the helicopters were from news crews, hanging their cameras and spotlights downward to capture the damage and chaos. At least three were military grade, likely ensuring that none of the other choppers touch-down anywhere. Anywhere except Angora. James had his agreement with the colonel and his staff would safely be allowed to leave The Port. He swiveled his chair around to see that Randy, Rhino and Junior were standing before his desk.
