The fabric around his leg was soaked through again, turning more brown than red now that the older blood had dried. Crawling forward, Stella grabbed the tablecloth that was on the floor, even though it was dirty from the spilled food. Her hands still stung from her own cuts, but she ignored them as she started to rip the cloth into more bandages.
“Stella!” she heard someone whisper.
Crawling back over to the side of the table, she looked around to see one of the boys Mara hung around with, Neal, crouching against the opposite wall.
“Yes?” she whispered back.
“Can you throw me some food?”
Why didn't he just come over here and get some himself.
“Please,” he said when he saw her hesitate. “My little sister and Grandma are with me.”
Guilt filled her and she nodded. Moving around the back to the side where most of the food had spilled, she picked up as much as she could that still look decent, then made a sort of sack out of the cloth she'd ripped.
She tossed it to him, the sack sliding across the floor.
“Neal,” she called out as he turned to leave. He stopped and looked back. “Have you seen Mara? Or my parents?”
His eyes went sad and she knew. Tears blurred her vision as she watched him struggle to say something. Instead he just shook his head.
“I'm sorry, Stell,” he said before crawling away.
No. It wasn't true. Stella fell back against the table, pulling her knees up to her chest. Her family couldn't be dead. It couldn’t be true. What was she going to do? Letting her head drop, she cried softly, her mind racing with the reality that she might be alone now.
How long she stayed that way, she didn't know. All she could think of was how full of life and laughter her sister Mara had been. Life was cruel to snuff out a spirit like hers. Her father's easy smile and her mother's laughter played around and around in her mind.
Even if she did get out of here, what then? Would she just return to her home, alone and empty? How would she support herself? At eighteen, what did she know about taking care of a home and providing for herself?
Would she be sent to the ghetto when she couldn't manage?
When her tears eventually dried up, she still sat like that, curled into a ball with her forehead on her knees. She couldn't move, couldn't accept what Neal had implied.
Only when she heard Mr. Samson moan did she look up. His head rolled from side to side as he called out in his sleep. Wiping her eyes, she went back to him, touching the burning skin of his forehead. He was too hot. She looked back at the soiled bandages and wanted to kick herself for forgetting to change them.
Now was not the time to lose herself in her own heartbreak. She had someone, at least, who still needed her. Working quickly, she changed the bandages then got more juice for him. What she really needed was some water. Maybe she'd venture out of their hidden spot and try to find some once she had him settled again.
“Mr. Samson,” she said, holding the cup to his lips. “Mr. Samson you need to drink more.”
He mumbled something, turning away from her.
“Come on,” she urged. “just a sip. You can do it.”
She got what she could through his slightly parted lips before he quieted down again to sleep.
Sitting against the wall, she let her head fall back, closing her eyes. If she didn't get help soon, she was going to lose Mr. Samson too. What was she going to do?
They crouched behind some rubble from a demolished building. Soldiers were everywhere, Seamus hadn't been exaggerating. Garrett counted twenty-two in his line of sight alone. Lake cursed beside him. They ducked back down, keeping their backs to the stone wall.
“What do we do?” she whispered.
“We'll need to find another way around them.”
“What if all the streets are as heavily patrolled?”
He shook his head saying, “I doubt it. This is the most direct route to the community center. If you circle around on a wider path, you should be able to avoid most of them.”
“Me? What about you?”
He stretched, peeking over the top of the wall to look around again. He was screwed, that's what he was. Ducking down again, he rubbed his eyes, his brain going a mile a minute.
“I need to get to the community center,” he said.
“Are you nuts?” she whisper-yelled.
He looked at her, wondering why she, of all people, couldn't understand. “I came here to check on him. I know Mr. Samson, he would have gone to the meeting. If he's in there, I need to know that for sure.”
She bit her lip, clearly not happy with the idea of them splitting up. He knew she'd be fine. Before he had shown up she was all set to do this alone. There were a lot more soldiers than either of them thought, but Lake was a smart girl.
“Why don't you just check his place first? Just to be sure.”
He shook his head. “That would be a waste of time. I need to get a closer look inside.”
He watched as her shoulders dropped in acceptance.
“Okay,” she said. “There's a fire escape on the back side of the building. You'll find a skylight on the roof.”
He considered this. He doubted they'd have anyone on the roof, but getting to it was a whole other issue. The back of the building would certainly be patrolled. Looking up, he surveyed the other surrounding buildings.
“I don't know what you're thinking, but don't do anything stupid,” Lake said as she watched him.
“Then you don't want to know what I'm thinking,” he said, not looking at her as he tried to judge what the best course of action was. After a few moments he turned to her again. “Are you going to be okay?”
She nodded. “I've done this enough times.”
That's what he thought. He gave her shoulder a quick squeeze. “Be careful and keep your eyes and ears open. We’ll meet back at the house, got it?”
She nodded, her expression looking more nervous than he would have liked. Guilt nudged at him for not sticking with her, but it just made more sense if they split up and didn't waste time.
“What happens if one of us doesn't come back?” she asked.
He didn't like the idea. “We have two days before Seamus can get away, so we wait until then. If one of us isn't back by that time, the other two have to leave. I left the cell phone under the cushions of the couch. Call the others and tell them you're on your way, no matter what.”
“You're talking like it’s going to be me there and not you. You are planning on coming back, right?”
“Of course I am. Just stick to the plan, okay?”
She didn't look convinced but nodded anyway.
“Be safe,” she said.
“You too.”
He watched as she backtracked, making her way to the abandoned alley they had taken to get this far. Once she was out of sight, he turned his focus back to his own task. He hadn’t been lying. He was planning on getting back to the others, he just wasn't sure if that's exactly how it would all work out. This was a risky situation - possibly a stupid one. Something in his gut though said he needed to check on the old man who had always been there for him. This time, it was Garrett's turn to be there.
Heading west, he skirted the area that was being heavily patrolled, his destination an older building south of the Community Center. There were buildings on three sides of the Center, but this one was the closest, from what he could see. The problem was, he didn't know the layout of the building that he was headed for. If there wasn't a fire escape on the outside he'd have to find a way to get to it from inside. That would not only take more time, but could create a whole slew of problems he wasn't in the mood to deal with.
Stopping close by, Garrett looked around. He stayed on the southern side of the building, as far away from the Center as possible. As he had suspected, it wasn't nearly as well-guarded here as it was closer to the Center. He waited to be sure, hiding behind an old dumpster.
From the looks of it, Garrett guessed t
he building was an office building. Everything was dark and most likely locked up. Moving, he went around the back of another building so he could see the other side of the building. So far, he couldn't see any staircases attached to the exterior.
The back of the building faced the Center, meaning there was no way he could get there without getting caught.
“Fuck,” he whispered. It looked as though he would have to go inside the building, exactly what he didn't want to do. This was completely insane and stupid, his brain shouted at him. Oddly, it sounded a lot like Trent. He sent up a thank you to the higher powers that it had been Pete he'd had to convince to let him do this and not their older brother.
Taking a deep breath, he kept low as he hurried across the street to the front door. Pulling on the handle, the door rattled but didn't budge. Locked. Of course it was, he thought miserably.
Taking another look around, he held his breath and used his elbow to crack through the glass. Stinging pain shot up his arm, but that didn't concern him.
What did, was the blaring sound of the alarm from inside the building.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Somehow he knew instantly it was Garrett. Seamus stopped walking as soon as the alarm sounded around them. It echoed through the empty streets, amplified by the absence of life. The other guard he'd been assigned with started to rush in the direction that it was coming from.
“Wait!” Seamus called out. “Let me go. I'm newer so I doubt they'd want me stationed here alone,” he said, grappling for any excuse.
The other guy seemed to be considering the veracity of this.
“It's probably just a crossed wire or something,” he added quickly. “It's not like there's anyone else left out here.”
Finally the guy nodded. “True. Be quick,” he ordered.
Seamus took off, praying no one else had already gone to investigate. The alarm came from a building right behind the Community Center. He approached it slowly, his gun ready at his side. Pretending to be a NWO soldier certainly had its benefits. The arsenal was just one.
As he drew nearer to the front door, he could see the glass of the front door had been broken. His boots crunched on the shards littering the ground as he tried the door. Whoever it was had unlocked it, which meant they were inside.
He sighed. If this wasn't Garrett and Lake, he had no idea what he could be walking into. Not to mention the fact that the building was huge. He could spend all day looking around the place to no avail. Seamus hated wasting time.
Entering the building, he stood inside a sparsely decorated reception area. Everything was, unsurprisingly, empty and devoid of life. There were no pictures of whoever worked at the front desk's family. Nothing to suggest this was a nice place to work. The desk was almost clinical in its organization.
The chairs that sat across from it were the only things there for visitors. No books or magazines were laid out like there used to be for people. It was rather depressing, and made Seamus thankful for once that he wasn't an Upper forced to work in these kinds of places. He definitely wasn't the suit and tie kind of guy.
Not that he wouldn't make that look good too. He smirked to himself and then started to head toward the elevator area. It looked as though none of them were running, which meant whoever had come in had probably gone up the stairs.
Taking another quick look around, he found the alarm system and shot it once, the annoying, blaring sound instantly quieting.
“Much better,” he said to himself. Satisfied there was nowhere to really hide in this section, he entered the stairwell. Just as the door slammed shut, an arm wrapped around his neck from behind, squeezing. He struggled for a second before ramming his elbow into his assailant's stomach.
The man released his hold, doubling over. Seamus put immediate space between them, spinning to face the bastard. He stopped, just as he was bringing his fists up.
“Bloody hell, Garrett, you almost choked me!”
Garrett held up a finger, his face red with pain. “Just give me a second while my lungs figure out how to breathe again,” he wheezed.
“Serves you right, arse.”
He straightened gingerly. “How was I supposed to know it was you? You look like the lot of them.”
Seamus gasped. “I look way better than the others, how dare you?”
That got him to smile. Garrett was always the easy going one of the McKays, which meant the two of them were used to joking around with each other.
“Why didn't you head up?” he asked on a more serious note, motioning toward the stairs.
“Because I knew someone would come, and there was no way I'd get all the way up before they came in here and heard me. I'm trying to avoid being shot at,” he replied.
Seamus snorted. “Probably not a good idea to set off alarms there, mate.”
Garrett rolled his eyes. “Thanks for the tip.”
Seamus looked around the small stairwell. “Where's Lake?”
“She went to her Aunt's. We're meeting back at home.”
“You let her go alone?” What an idiot! Didn't he warn them there would be way more soldiers out here now?
“It's the fastest way for us to get in and out. She'll be fine.”
“Well if she isn't, that'll be on your head.”
He nodded, his eyes belying his concern for the girl.
Seamus decided to end the guilt trip for now. “So what's the plan?”
“I'm going to get to the roof and then jump to the Community Center's,” he said so simply that one would have just nodded along with him - if you weren’t listening to the actual words coming out of his mouth.
Seamus laughed in disbelief. “Mate, you're bloody insane.”
Garrett grinned, heading to the stairs. “I know,” he said over his shoulder. “Wish me luck.”
“You'll need more than luck, you'll need wings!”
Garrett just laughed as he started up the stairs, quicker than Seamus had expected. Seamus stood there for a moment, conflicted over what to do. Cursing, he started up after him. There was no way he could just walk away from this. If his friend was seriously going to risk his life like this, the least he could do was be there by his side and help if he could. It was official, they were both nuts.
This was bad.
Lake hid in another doorway as two more soldiers walked by. She pressed back against the cold stone, praying neither thought to look back and see her. As soon as she could no longer hear their footfalls, she took off again.
Despite the fact that she had done this numerous times before, never had she had to hide from the NWO so much. Normally the streets would have been filled with civilians she could blend in with. The emptiness around her was making it impossible for her to get by unnoticed.
What should have taken her only twenty minutes or so, took her longer than hour. On each street she had to slip down an alley, or hide behind whatever was available, as soldiers patrolled. It wasn't nearly as guarded as the street where the Community Center was, but Ludwig still had his men watching the surrounding areas. More so than she had anticipated.
As soon as her aunt's building came into view, she let out a sigh of relief. She considered checking on the Doctor too, knowing he'd probably be locked up in his apartment, and may need something. Her Aunt was her first priority.
Standing on the opposite side of the street, she hid against a building, her eyes sweeping the area for any sign of movement. From what she could see, there was no one around. Taking off on a run, she rushed toward the building, slamming through the front door that was, thankfully, left unlocked.
She quickly corrected that, turning the deadbolt before climbing the stairs to her Aunt's apartment. Her door was also left unlocked. Lake walked in, her eyes adjusting to the dim lighting.
All the blinds were closed, the air stuffy and stale from the windows being closed. Her Aunt usually had the sunlight filling the small room, and something baking in her oven.
The room was as eerily quiet as the street
s. Walking through cautiously, Lake called out for her, worry slithering up her spine, turning her stomach.
“Lake?” she heard her Aunt's voice call out weakly.
Entering the bedroom at the back of the apartment, Lake instantly found her lying in her bed, a cloth draped across her forehead.
“Auntie?” She rushed to her side, falling to her knees beside the bed. “What's wrong?”
“Don't look so worried, child. It's just a cold,” she answered with a small smile.
Lake reached out to remove the cloth so she could feel her head. She was warm but not dangerously so. A bit of her worry eased.
“How long have you been like this? Have you seen a doctor?”
Her Aunt waved her off. “I don't need no damn doctor poking at me. It's just a cold, I'll be right as rain in a couple of days.” She huffed out a breath as she pushed herself to a sitting position. Lake helped, fluffing the pillows behind her. Once she was settled, Lake moved to open the blinds and went to the kitchen to get her a fresh glass of water.
“Thank you, love”
Lake pulled up the chair that sat in the corner of her room.
“So, are you going to tell me why you're here?” her aunt asked. “I can always tell when something's bothering you.”
She didn't know. Lake debated on whether to keep the truth from her, but knew it was only a matter of time before she left the apartment and found out what had happened. Taking a deep breath, she told her about the hostage situation, instantly regretting it. Her aunt's face paled.
“Dear Jesus,” she breathed, crossing herself.
“You're going to have to stay inside until the soldiers have everything under control,” Lake told her. “I don't want anything to happen to you.”
“Where would I go?” she asked, shaking her head. “No doubt every store owner is there.”
“Don't worry, Auntie. I'll make sure you're taken care of. I can go out and find you whatever you need.”
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