Paul caught Garbarino’s arm and twisted. Garbarino could feel the bones reaching their breaking point and screamed. But Paul’s grip loosened as he spun around and kicked out, catching Austin in the midsection.
As Austin went down, Garbarino used the distraction to swing down with his knife, burying the blade halfway into Paul’s forearm. The grip on his arm loosened, not from Paul reacting to the pain, but because the tendons in his arm had been severed.
Garbarino yanked free and fell back, losing the knife as he reached out to break the fall. Even with both hands free, the river bed was too uneven. His uncontrolled fall ended with him slamming into a large stone. The impact didn’t knock him unconscious, but it did leave him bloodied and stunned.
Paul stormed toward him, the fingers of his injured arm flapping uselessly. But then, as though a part had been snapped back into place, his fingers regained mobility. They clenched like a hawk’s talons as Paul reached out for Garbarino, who had yet to come to his senses.
“Joe!” Austin shouted, just now getting to his feet.
Garbarino saw Paul coming and screamed. Just before Paul reached him, a massive explosion ripped through the air, and knocked Paul back. A shotgun blast.
Garbarino sat up quickly and turned around. Mia was there, shotgun in hand, Liz on the ground by her feet, crying hard.
There was no time for thanks. They all knew Paul would return. And others, if the shotgun blast had been heard. But the shotgun didn’t get a response. It was Liz. The little girl, wracked by sobs that shook her whole body, turned her eyes to the sky and screamed.
And then, in the distance, Henry Masters roared back.
31
Chang fell with a shout and skinned her elbow on a jagged stone at the bottom of the dry riverbed. “Shit.”
Garbarino helped her up. “Watch your step.”
“I can’t run down here. We’d be faster up there,” she said, pointing to the riverbank a foot over her head.
The group stopped to catch their breath. Austin turned to Chang. “Forest has thinned out even more. Might be visible from a mile away. Maybe more.”
“We don’t even know if they’re back there,” Chang said. “It’s not like the river runs in a straight line or even if we’re still heading north.”
She was right, of course. But Austin’s next words silenced the argument. “You want to go up there and take a look, be my guest.”
Mia picked up Elizabeth, who had been walking on her own for some time. The girl clung to her like a monkey to its mother. “What about Paul? White followed us through the woods because he knew which direction we were heading. Paul knew we were following the river.”
Austin looked upstream. As far as he could see, no one was coming. But Mia was right. Paul would be following them as long as they stayed on the river. “First road we come across, we’ll follow. Until then, we need to keep moving. Doesn’t matter if Paul knows which way we’re going if we stay ahead of him.”
“What if he tells the others?” Collins asked and then yawned.
Garbarino and Austin hadn’t told the others that it was actually the middle of the night. The combination of constant light from the heat lightning filling sky and the distraction of running for their lives made keeping track of time impossible without a watch. Better to let them think the sun still shown above the clouds and rest when they found someplace safe.
“I don’t think they talk, really,” Garbarino said. “More like a pack mentality. Might be following Masters now, too.”
“Who?” Mia asked.
Austin shot Garbarino an angry glance and sighed. “Henry Masters. Peace activist.”
“I remember that guy,” Collins said. “Tore his shirt off over the war and got trampled by his own people.”
“After we gassed them,” Austin said.
Collins shrugged. “You saw him?”
“The big one,” Garbarino said.
“The one that roars?” Chang asked.
“Yes,” Austin said. “You can’t tell by looking at his face—”
“Because there isn’t much of one to speak of,” Garbarino added.
“But his tattoo—”
“The eagle with the peace banner,” Collins added, remembering the press photos.
“—is easy to identify.”
“But he died,” Chang said. “Before.”
“I know,” Austin said. “Doesn’t make sense to me, either, but—”
A voice rolled down the river, faint but carrying the weight of white water rapids behind it. “I don’t want to hurt you!”
Paul.
Though panicked and distant, they all recognized his voice, and ran. No orders issued. No questions asked. They just ran.
They stopped two miles downstream.
Paul’s voice persisted behind them, not gaining, not fading, but pacing them. The trouble was, he wouldn’t tire. And the group was exhausted. But the old stone bridge in front of them offered some hope. A small dirt path, probably made by kids seeking the perfect fishing hole, rose up the bank next to the bridge.
“Let’s go,” Austin said, motioning everyone up. “Hurry! We can’t let him see us.”
Elizabeth and Mia climbed up first, clawing at the dirt, clinging to exposed roots. Chang followed, shoved up from below by Garbarino. Collins came next and then Austin.
“Get down!” Austin hissed, diving behind the low stone wall at the top of the bridge. Paul’s voice was loud now.
Just as everyone lay down on the bridge, Paul’s voice grew louder. He mostly grunted, or whimpered, but occasionally would shout. “No, no, no!” he screamed as he neared the bridge.
Elizabeth jumped at the sound, but Mia held her tight and kept a hand over the girl’s mouth, just in case.
“Run!” he screamed.
Elizabeth began squirming.
“Run!” Louder this time. Right beneath them. Had he stopped?
Mia and Austin locked eyes. He glanced down at his hand gun. The message was clear. He wouldn’t let Paul get them, but the chase would begin anew as the gun’s report attracted attention from Henry Masters and the horde of killers following him.
The silence that followed tore at them. Was Paul climbing the bank? Was he standing beneath them, listening for a sound? Smelling the air?
Elizabeth struggled for freedom, but Mia just held on tight, afraid to even shush the girl.
Paul screamed again. But this time, when his voice reached them, everyone relaxed. He’d already moved further downstream. Mia eased up on Elizabeth. “It’s okay,” she said, trying to soothe the girl, who was now crying lightly. “It’s okay, baby.”
Garbarino stood slowly, looking over the wall. “He’s gone.”
When Mia got up, she saw Elizabeth holding her wrist. She knelt down and looked at it. The skin was red and bruising slightly. Mia gasped. “Did I do that?”
Elizabeth gave a subtle nod.
“Oh my God, I’m sorry,” she said, hugging the girl tight. Consumed by panic, she hadn’t thought about how hard she was holding Liz. The girl hadn’t been trying to get away from Paul, she’d been hurt by Mia’s crushing grasp.
“It’s not your fault,” Liz said. “I was scared, too.”
Mia pulled back and looked into her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Elizabeth insisted, placing a hand on Mia’s face. “You’re doing your best.”
At this, Mia’s eyes grew wet with tears. She nodded, sniffed, wiped the tears away and stood. “Let’s keep moving.”
Twenty minutes later, the group stopped in the middle of the street. Tall leafless maples rose up on the right. On the left was the largest church any of them had ever seen. Its modern, beige art-deco exterior made it look more like a wealthy college than a house of God, but the sign out front read: Trinity Non-Denominational Church. The parking lot, covering nearly an acre, was empty save for one car, a black Mercedes-Benz.
“Good a place as any to settle in for a rest,” Garbarin
o said.
Austin looked the building over. “Not very defensible. Too many entry points.”
“Lots of hiding places,” Chang said.
“Which can work in our favor or against us,” Collins added.
“We’re stopping,” Mia said, heading for the building’s front entrance, a series of six, large hardwood doors.
“Hey,” Austin protested.
“You’re the one who put me in charge,” she said over her shoulder. “Besides, it’s nearly three in the morning.”
“It is?” said Chang, now following Mia.
“Ask Garbarino. His watch works.”
Garbarino looked at the watch, then at Austin. He shrugged. “She must’ve seen it.”
Mia found the doors unlocked and let herself in.
The others followed.
Mia put Liz down as she entered the massive, three story foyer. Stained glass windows featuring scenes from the Bible surrounded them, filling the room with shimmering colors projected by the heat lightning flashing in the sky outside. A sign reading “sanctuary” hung over three sets of double doors at the other end of the foyer. Several other doors lined the sides, as well as a long hallway on either side.
She whispered to the others. “Lock the doors.”
Austin and Garbarino quickly and quietly locked all six front doors and then rejoined the group in the middle of the foyer.
“What’s the plan?” Garbarino asked Mia.
“Find someplace dark with locks on the doors and sleep.” She led the way into one of the long hallways. She stopped at a thick wooden door. She drew her handgun and motioned for the others to wait. Austin ignored her and joined her at the door.
“You open. I’ll go in first.”
She took hold of the doorknob. He gave her a nod. With a quick twist of the doorknob, Mia opened the door and pushed.
Austin surged into the room, swinging his weapon back and forth. But the space was empty except for several small tables, twenty miniature chairs and boxes of toys. “It’s a nursery.”
“Sunday school,” Mia corrected, following him in. She motioned for the others to follow.
Chang quickly found a stack of nap mats and laid them out on the floor.
Liz, who still remembered the kindergarten routine, wasted no time in claiming hers and lying down. She fell asleep in seconds.
Austin slowly approached the two large windows on the other side of the room. Each four foot by eight foot window offered views of the large parking lot wrapping around the building, the woods beyond, and the shimmering clouds above.
“We’ll see anyone coming,” Garbarino said.
Austin shook his head, no. “We won’t see them and they won’t see us.” He drew the shades. The room would have been pitch black if not for the light streaming in on the sides of the shades. Austin moved back to the door, closed it and locked it.
“Who’s keeping watch?” Mia asked.
“Nobody,” Austin said. “I don’t think there is one of us who could stay awake. The doors are locked. If we need a quick exit, we’ll shoot out the windows. No lights. No shouting. No leaving this room without a partner.”
No one responded. No one needed to. Anything that might reveal their location could get them killed. One by one, they staked their claims on the floor mats and lay down to sleep.
Within ten minutes, they were all asleep, totally unaware of the faint shouting voice echoing in the church’s massive sanctuary.
32
Mia woke. The ceiling above her was white. As was the down comforter covering her body. She sat up. The old mattress bent beneath her, compressing to half its thickness. She bounced on it twice. The frame squeaked.
She was home—the home of her childhood. She couldn’t remember why she was there, only that it felt right. She stood, already in her slippers.
As she descended the staircase, a loud chopping sound filled the air.
“Hungry?” her mother called out.
“Starving,” she replied as she walked through the dining room. It looked just how she remembered it, red carpet, white lace curtains, and ornate crystals dangling from the shades that created little rainbows around the room when the sun came in at the end of the day.
She entered the kitchen, but it wasn’t her mother standing there, it was Matt. He stood over a cutting board, working a knife up and down on a carrot. “Hungry?” he asked.
“Starving,” she said.
The chopping came louder now, drawing her attention back to the cutting board. Matt’s fingers were now under the blade. He cut through them, making little diced finger bits—red on the outside with a small circle of bone in the middle. There was no blood. He looked back at her and gave her a wink.
“Hungry?” he asked.
“Starving,” she replied. “Feed me, please.”
“Here,” he said, turning around with a platter in his hand. The platter held his heart, resting on a bed of bloody veins. She couldn’t see an opening in his chest, but she knew the heart was his.
“I’m hungry,” she said.
“Eat this,” he replied. He lifted the knife up, pulled it back and threw it straight at her face.
Mia sat up. She breathed deep twice and the dream was gone except for one lingering element that had been rooted in reality: hunger.
“Pssst.”
Mia searched the darkness and found Garbarino sitting in the corner peeking through a slit in the window. She stood slowly and crossed the Sunday school room, careful not to step on Liz or Collins as she stepped over them.
“How long?” Mia asked. “How long did we sleep?”
“Three hours for me.” He looked at his watch. “Four and a half for you. Bad dream?”
“I think so.”
“You were kicking around.”
“I’m hungry.”
He nodded. “Starving.”
The phrase pulled back parts of her dream. The knife flying at her face. She closed her eyes and blocked out the image.
He took an unopened protein bar from his pocket. “We could split it. My last one.”
Mia looked at the bar. She’d eaten so many of the foul, dry, sugar-filled bars that she couldn’t stand the sight of it. “I’m not that hungry yet.”
“How about we go raid the kitchen for some grape juice and Jesus wafers?”
“Jesus wafers?”
“You know. What they eat for communion.”
“That’s Catholics. This is a non-denominational church. I think they use bread.”
“Well, then maybe they have some Wonder Bread. That shit could survive a nuclear war, right?”
Mia nearly laughed. She motioned to Austin. “We can’t leave without telling him.”
Garbarino abandoned his post. He opened a cupboard and took out some paper and crayons. When he did, a piece of paper fell away. Mia picked it up and found a child’s drawing. The crayon sketch featured smiling parents, a little girl, a large house, a dog and what appeared to be a convertible car. The innocence of the image got to her and she found herself staring at it until Garbarino snatched it from her.
“No time to go soft,” he said, and then held up his quickly scribbled note. It read, “Went to raid the pantry. Be back soon. G and M.”
They slid into the hallway a moment later. Garbarino locked the door from the inside before closing it.
“We won’t be able to get back in,” Mia said.
“We’ll knock.”
“Austin’s liable to shoot us.”
“We’ll knock gently.” He drew his weapon and motioned for her to follow him and they searched further down the hallway.
They found two more classrooms, identical to the first, but with slightly larger furniture. At the end of the hall were a set of bathrooms, men’s and women’s. “Gotta go?” he asked.
She did. “We should check the bathroom together. Take turns.”
“After you,” he said.
They entered together and after finding the bathroom empty,
and very clean, they took turns using two different stalls, Garbarino first, Mia second. When she exited, Garbarino was standing in an open door leading to a stairwell on the other side of the hallway. He entered the stairwell and held the door open for her. For some reason, she wanted to explore every inch of this building. Maybe because it looked so pristine, so untouched by the events outside. Maybe because she wanted to be sure there were no killers lurking in the darkness. She wasn’t sure. So she followed him down the stairs.
Garbarino opened a door at the bottom of the stairwell. The smell of oil and metal spilled over them. “It’s a garage,” he said.
Two small windows provided enough light to see by. The three car garage held two bright green riding mowers and a red car. Garbarino moved past the mowers and looked at the car. “It’s a Porsche. What kind of a church has a Porsche in the garage?”
Mia shrugged, looking around the rest of the space. Giant peg boards at the back of the garage held an assortment of gardening tools. Shelving along the side wall held fertilizer, pots and six large red tanks of gasoline. “We could take the car,” she said.
“Uh-uh,” he replied. “EMP would have killed the starter.”
“Damn.” She looked around one last time and returned to the stairwell. “C’mon. I’m still hungry.”
They returned to the hallway and headed toward the oversized foyer. On the way, they paused at the Sunday school door, listening for voices or any sign of someone else being awake. Hearing nothing, they continued on. Multicolored heat lightning continued to flash through stained glass windows. The sight was beautiful, but the silence made it eerie.
They continued through, heading down the hallway on the opposite side of the building. Boxes of orange light flickered on the hallway floor, cast down through skylights in the ceiling. They found two more classrooms, a large nursery, a storage closet and finally a kitchen. Garbarino stood in the doorway. “Shit. Have you ever seen a nicer kitchen?”
Mia shook her head. The kitchen was gourmet, complete with three ovens, and an island covered in burners and a grill. An array of shiny, stainless steel pots hung above it all. Mia approached the two massive, stainless steel refrigerators.
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