“Just hang in there, Flea,” Captain said, peeling back a section of his shirt to get a better look at his wounds. “You’re going to be all right. We just need to get you out of here.”
Chapter 15
Zero looked down at Flea as he lay on the jungle floor spitting blood. Judging by the sight of him it was a miracle he was still conscious or even alive at all.
“Everybody put pressure on the areas that are bleeding the most,” Zero said. He stripped off his shirt, ripped it lengthwise into strips, and began wrapping the deepest wounds.
“We can’t help him much here. He needs to get to the clinic,” Lefty said.
“He needs more than the clinic. We need to get him to an Elite hospital,” Captain said. “But for the moment we need to concentrate on getting him out of here. It we don’t hurry, he’s going to bleed out. Plus we’re all running the risk of being attacked by jungle cats right now.”
Zero continued to wrap the worst areas even as Captain and Lemon picked Flea up, leaving a puddle of congealed blood where he had been lying. Flea groaned with every movement. A steady stream of crimson stained a trail in the grass all the way to the fence. Flea cried out in pain as they struggled to thread him through the awkward hole in the fence. They placed him on the pallet that had been used to carry the black panther. As soon as they set him down, Lemon jumped behind the forklift’s steering wheel and twisted the key.
Captain climbed onto the pallet along with Flea. He held onto Flea with one hand and onto the forklift with the other. Zero and Lefty stayed behind to twist the wires closed, and then hurried after them. They weren’t able to catch up to the forklift until they arrived at the clinic. Stitch was standing over Flea, who still lay on the pallet.
“There’s only so much I can do here. Right now we need to control his bleeding,” Stitch said, looking up at Captain. “I need you to go inside and call Lucid. Tell him we need an ambulance to bring him to an Elite hospital.”
Zero closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He knew exactly what that call would mean. Any hope of sliding by without major punishment was gone now that Lucid would be involved. One look at the expression on Lefty’s face told Zero that he was fully aware of that too.
Captain disappeared into the clinic for about a minute to make the call. When he returned he avoided eye contact. “Lemon,” he said urgently, “go see if there’s a delivery truck at the docks. If there is, that’s the fastest way to get him out of town. You’ll drive while Stitch and I ride in the back. We’ll meet the ambulance halfway between here and the nearest Elite hospital.”
Lemon nodded, turned, and ran at full speed.
“Who wrapped these wounds?” Stitch asked.
Everyone turned to look at Zero, who was doing his best to remain inconspicuous. That wasn’t an easy feat since he was the only one without a shirt.
“You did well, Zero,” Stitch said. “He’s not into the clear yet—not even close—but you may have saved his life.”
Everyone teamed up to put pressure on the different parts of Flea’s body oozing blood. When Lemon returned with the delivery truck, they used the forklift to place the pallet into the back. Stitch and Captain jumped in so they could tend to his wounds along the drive.
“There goes my life,” Lefty said as they watched the truck drive away.
“You don’t know that for sure.” Even as the words came out of his mouth, Zero knew they were a lie. Still, he felt it was his duty to say something encouraging.
“Yes, I do know that. Flea is on his way to an Elite city and he’ll tell every person there exactly what I did. Even Captain can’t save me now.” Lefty stared down at the ground. He fidgeted with his feet for a moment, kicking at a pebble, and then he turned toward the cafeteria.
“Where are you going?” Zero asked.
Lefty walked on without saying anything.
“You’re not going to work, are you? What are you—why?” Zero followed quickly behind him.
“I’m getting ready to leave. That’s what I’m doing.”
“At the cafeteria?”
“I’m going through that fence. With any luck, that evil black panther will still be asleep and I can slip right through to the second fence. I’m going to need some food if I’m going to stay alive.”
“I’m coming with you.”
Lefty spun around and pointed a finger into Zero’s face. “No you’re not.”
“Yes I am.”
“Zero, you’ve got it made here. Don’t throw it away like I did. If you come with me you’ll either end up dead or infected.”
“So will you.”
“I prefer that over Exile. You don’t have to make that choice.”
“You don’t know that. You’ve never been to Exile. Maybe it’s not so bad.”
“I know enough about it to know I’d rather wrestle with jaguars the rest of my life, even if that life only lasts another day or two.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“No. You’re not.” Lefty jabbed his finger into Zero’s chest. “If you try to follow me, I’ll ditch you in the jungle the first chance I get.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. Why would you do that?”
“Because that’s how strongly I feel about you not coming with me. Stay here. Live your life.”
“No. I’m coming with you.”
Lefty clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. “I’ll tell you what. You help me pack up and get out of here. Don’t follow me. And if I’m still alive in two weeks, I swear I’ll come back to get you. That way, if I’m able to make it, we have some hope of making it together. If you don’t ever see me again, that means I’m either dead or infected.”
Zero stared at him for a long time, processing his options. This did seem like the best one—the only option. Lefty’s threat of leaving him in the jungle didn’t sound idle. He really was stubborn enough to ditch him out there. “Okay. I can live with that. Two weeks.”
***
Zero and Lefty did their best to be inconspicuous as they walked through the cafeteria and into the kitchen, but the other kitchen workers were quick to take notice of their presence. Zero and Lefty went straight for the fridge, keeping their voices to a low whisper, but there was no use trying to hide their intentions.
“Going somewhere?” a voice said from behind. They spun around to see one of the kitchen staff hovering close behind them, wiping his hands on a towel.
“Oh, hey, Tucan,” Lefty said uncomfortably. “I was just… you know… grabbing a few things to take to my room.”
Tucan shook his head. “Sure you are. Word travels pretty fast around here. I bet everyone in Quirigua knows about your little hole in the fence within an hour.”
Lefty scratched the back of his head nervously, and then folded his arms in front of his chest. “Okay. So now what? You’re gonna call security on me or something?”
Tucan smiled. “Relax. I don’t care what you do. But I don’t think you want to take any of that food with you if you’re going through the jungle.” He pointed at the fridge.
“And why not?” Lefty said.
Tucan pulled open the fridge and began pulling things out one by one. “Chicken. Chicken. Pork. Chicken. Beef.” He held some fish wrapped in plastic under Lefty’s nose. “Do you really want to go running through the jungle smelling like a kebab? You’ll attract every jungle cat within ten miles.”
“He’s right,” Zero said. “We should only take foods that don’t smell good to jungle cats. What do they eat besides chicken and people?”
Tucan shrugged. “I’ve never fed one.”
“I have,” Lefty said. “Let’s take some breads, some potatoes. Those are filling and they wouldn’t eat those… I don’t think.”
They busied themselves with the stock shelves, deciding together which items would be the most filling while
also not being an enticement to the senses of jungle predators. Once their arms were full, they hurried out of the kitchen and through the cafeteria toward the exit. They cracked the door open to peek outside, relieved to find the streets still void of people.
“Lefty, hold up,” Tucan yelled from the kitchen. He hurried over to them. He was holding something he had wrapped in butcher paper. He peeled back a corner of the paper to reveal four knives of varying sizes, and then wrapped them back up. He wedged the small package between two loaves of bread in Lefty’s arms, and then turned back toward the kitchen without another word.
“Uh… thanks, man,” Lefty said.
Tucan didn’t turn around, but held up one hand to say “you’re welcome” before disappearing again through the kitchen doors.
Zero followed closely behind Lefty as they made their way back to his dorm room. He shook his head the whole way there, mumbling to himself as he walked. “There’s something seriously wrong with me,” Lefty said once they reached his room. He opened his door and stepped inside.
“Why do you say that?” Zero asked.
“I have only known Tucan for a few days. And still, he was cool enough to give me something to help me out. Almost everyone in Quirigua is awesome like that. Ever since we got here, I’ve spent every waking hour thinking about those dumb cats. I’ve only been interested in things beyond that fence. Really. I think there’s something wrong with me. I wasted my chance to take advantage of how cool this place is.” He dropped his armful of supplies onto his bed and then turned to face Zero. “I messed up big time.”
Zero had no response. It was true. He’d been trying to tell him the whole time to stop obsessing over the outside world and those cats. He wouldn’t listen.
Lefty retrieved his backpack from the closet—the one he had used at school with his name written on the front. He began stuffing it full of food, not caring that he was smashing all the bread in the process.
“Maybe we should have grabbed you a few pieces of raw chicken in case you get chased toward the fence again,” Zero said. “You could have tossed them as a diversion.”
“That would have been good.”
“Do you want me to run back and get some?”
Lefty zipped up his backpack and slid it over one shoulder. “No time. I’m ready to go right now. I want to get out there while it’s still light—so I can scout out the area for a safe place to camp.”
***
Lefty stood at the fence with his fingers interlocked into its links. He sighed. “The cat’s awake now. What am I gonna do?”
The black panther was pacing back and forth by the section of the fence that was wired shut. That cat always looked angry, but now thanks to the tranquilizer it had received, it looked hung over as well as angry—that would be a bad combination.
“We wait, I guess.” Zero asked.
“Where’s Captain’s rifle?” Lefty asked.
“He took it with him—not that you know how to use something like that anyway.”
Lefty studied the scene for a moment. “This spot is no good. That cat’s never going to leave until it eats me. We’re going to have to make a new hole.”
“And how are you going to do that?”
“The same way I did this one. We’ll go get some wire cutters from the tool shed, find a different section of fence, and clip through it.”
“And hope that the second fence is only a short distance away. For all we know, the second fence could be five miles away if we go in a different direction.”
“Yeah, well, that’s a gamble I’m going to have to take.”
They began to hurry back toward town. The sun was beginning its final stages of daylight before it would disappear for the night.
The streets were no longer empty when they reached town. Since so many people had abandoned their daily routine and retreated to the dorm buildings, the area around those living quarters was buzzing with people again. By now nearly everyone must have known what Lefty had done, and walking amongst them anonymously would be next to impossible.
Chapter 16
Zero hid behind the trunk of a banana tree gawking at the mass of people in the streets. They hadn’t been spotted yet.
“Those people are going to swarm us if we both try to go to the tool shed,” Zero said. “You stay here. I’ll run in there to get some wire cutters, and then I’ll meet you back here.”
Lefty grabbed his shirt. “No way. The last thing you need is to be seen helping me escape. You’d be sent to Exile for sure.”
“I’m the master of invisibility. Remember? That’s how I got my name. Most people don’t even notice I’m there.”
“You’re an idiot. You’re one of the biggest guys in Quirigua. Everyone who knows me knows you’re my friend. You’d be spotted for sure. You need to stay hidden until after I’m long gone.”
Zero opened his mouth to respond, but Lefty slapped his hand over Zero’s mouth and held a finger to his lips. Lefty then removed his backpack, set it in the grass, and took off at a dead sprint to the tool shed with his head down.
Zero monitored the people chatting in the streets. Nobody seemed to notice Lefty running. He breathed a sigh of relief. The intensity of the situation sank in as he waited. The birds seemed more animated than usual, and every squawk from the crows overhead caused him to jump.
It didn’t take Lefty very long to find what he was looking for and as subtly as he’d slipped past them the first time, he was able to make his way back to the grove of banana trees. He lay in the tall grass to hide as he caught his breath.
“How are you going to come get me?” Zero asked.
“What?” Lefty sucked in a deep breath. “Get you for what?”
“In two weeks. You promised me you’d come get me after two weeks.”
“Oh. Right. I’ll come in the middle of the night. I’ll just come wake you up.”
“Really? You’re going to just walk right through the jaguar jungle in the dark? That’s a brilliant plan. If you make it through those two weeks, you’ll die trying to come get me.”
“Do you have a better idea? You’re not coming with me.”
“Why don’t you just come to the front gate?” Zero asked. “In exactly two weeks I’ll meet you there at dawn. You hide out in the bushes just in case someone else strolls along. I’ll have my own bag full of supplies and I’ll be ready to go. We can just leave from there.”
Lefty sat up and backhanded Zero across the chest—hard.
“Ow. What was that for?”
“Do you have a key to the front gate?”
Zero realized his stupidity and said nothing. “Why didn’t I think of this before? Here we are trying to figure out how to get past that black panther without ending up as cat food, and I forgot this whole time that I have keys to the front gate.” He stood up and brushed himself off. “Come on. We’d better hurry or the Elite security guards will get here before we can get out of town.” He jingled his keys in front of his face. “I also have keys to the forklift. It’s still sitting by the clinic. That should be a lot faster than running.”
“How fast is it?”
Zero shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’ve never pressed the pedal down very far. It scares me.”
“Can it go faster than we can run?”
“A lot faster.”
“Can it go faster than the jungle cats?”
“I have no idea.”
“Well, let’s hope so. I remember seeing an awful lot of cats clustered between the gates.”
They ran through the banana trees until they reached the corner of town near the clinic. Zero hurried to the driver’s seat and Lefty jumped onto the back. Zero began idling toward the trees, thinking it would be best to stay hidden in the grove until they had some distance between them and the cluster of buildings.
“Hurry up, would y
ou?” Lefty yelled. “You said this thing was fast.”
Zero pressed down hard with his right foot. The forklift leapt forward, throwing Lefty off the back. He landed on his side and rolled.
“Sorry,” Zero said.
“No worries. What’s another scrape or bruise?” Lefty latched on to the back again.
Zero was more gradual with his acceleration this time. He had never had the gas pedal pushed down more than halfway before, but he grew gradually braver the more he drove. He weaved through the trees until they were on the other side of town, leaving them free to take the main road. The wind rushed into their nostrils as they drove. Zero’s heart pounded faster every time he braved the gas pedal a little more, and within a few minutes he had it pressed all the way down. He was right. This thing was much faster than a person could run. He gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles were white, holding his breath every time they hit a bump.
“When I come back to get you, we’re definitely taking off with this thing!” Lefty yelled through the sound of air rushing past their ears. “This is living!”
The air was cool on their faces. The distance to the gates felt like it was a lot farther than it did before. The only time they had traveled this road was when they arrived on the bus. It took them about fifteen minutes that day to make the trip, and that was with them traveling much faster than this little thing could go. After half an hour, Zero’s arms began to tire from holding the steering wheel steady for so long—especially since he was gripping it so tightly.
The Inner Fence: a dystopian post-apocalyptic young adult novella series (Remnants of Zone Four Chronicles Book 2) Page 11
