What Remains Series (Book 4): Evasion

by Greene, Kellee L.

  “They excuse you for not being where you’re supposed to be,” Polly said. “Why do you ask?”

  “I have one. Rather, I had one. I dropped it when I thought Mr. Curly Mustache was pulling me in here for a good time. A good time for him that is,” I added. It most definitely wouldn’t be a good time for me.

  “Mr. Curly Mustache!” she said with a muffled laugh.

  I looked upward but I couldn’t see her. “Help me, would you?”

  “I’m not sure why we’re wasting time on this,” she said but I could hear the whoosh of her fabric rubbing together as she lowered herself to the floor.

  My finger touched something and I slid it closer. Unfortunately, I had no idea if it was the pink slip of paper or not but it felt like it was the same size. I had to assume it was the right thing.

  “What if I tear it in half? You hold half and I hold the other half,” I said.

  “Then what? Just walk outside like we have business out there?” Polly asked.

  “Yeah, hide in that shed by the field until dark,” I said feeling a small smile curl onto my mouth. It wasn’t a terrible idea, at least I didn’t think so.

  Polly groaned. I thought she was going to start telling me the numerous reasons my idea wasn’t going to work.

  “I don’t know, Kit,” she said meekly.

  “Do you have a better idea? Or any other idea at all? Because if you do, I’m all ears.”

  Polly sighed. “I don’t. You know, if we get caught, it’s not going to be pretty. There is a prison here.”

  “You mean this isn’t the prison?” I asked rhetorically. “One way or another, I’m going to get out of here and Back to Maddie and Blake. There isn’t anything that can stop me.”

  “You don’t sound anything like yourself,” she said. I hoped that was a compliment. “Tell me again about this stranger you left Maddie with.”

  I clutched the piece of paper and got to my feet. My heart swelled at the thought of him.

  “You’re not going to believe this,” I said.

  “Try me,” she said and somehow, I knew she was crossing her arms.

  “Shouldn’t we attempt to get outside first?” I asked feeling warmth creeping up to the back of my neck. Just the mere thought of Blake was enough to make the blood in my veins pump quicker.

  “No,” Polly answered instantaneously. “I should know about the people I’ll be joining, shouldn’t I?”

  I snorted. “Like you know, all the people here.”

  “Whatever,” Polly said dismissively.

  “Remember my neighbor across the street? I asked with an exhale.

  “No.”

  I took in a quick breath of the dusty closet air. “Well, that’s Blake. He helped us after everyone got sick. We’re alive because of him.”

  “Okay, well, anyone that saves my sister and my favorite niece has to be something special,” Polly said. “I look forward to meeting him. Although Hoyt should have been there for you. I think we all knew Freddie would be useless. I tried so many times to reach Hoyt but he was impossible to reach. Things were falling apart rapidly where I was but in your part of the country, everything was probably business as usual. Hoyt was no doubt at work, slaving away at his desk and to think it was all for nothing.”

  Sadly, part of what she thought was correct. He had been in his office… at his desk but he hadn’t been working. At least not in the way Polly had imagined.

  I would tell her everything about Hoyt once we were safe at the church. Or maybe with the news she’d given me about the baby, I should just tell her that he was dead. It wasn’t like we’d ever cross his path again.

  “Polly,” I said in the quiet of the room.

  “Yes?”

  “Blake’s a good guy. Like a really good guy.” I hesitated. “I’m so in love with him.”

  It was weird to admit it but there hadn’t been much I hadn’t been able to tell my sister. She placed her hand on my shoulder.

  “I’m glad, Kit. You deserve someone good,” she said. “You really do. Mom would be so happy.”

  “She’d be happy about anyone other than Freddie.”

  Polly covered her laugh to mute it. “That’s so true.”

  I folded the piece of paper in half as best as I could in the dark. The ripping sound was loud in the small closet.

  I handed Polly half of the pink slip of paper. “Ready?”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Polly stuck her head out of the closet and looked out in each direction. She stepped out into the hallway, pulling me along with her.

  The lights, even though dim, still managed to sting my eyes as they adjusted to the abrupt change in lighting. I clutched the piece of paper in my hands as I folded them together and put my head down.

  Polly did the same.

  “Which way?” I whispered.

  “Right,” she said. “Then, mostly straight.”

  We turned the corner and my eyes flicked upward even though I had tried to keep them down. Mr. Curly Mustache was walking side by side with another guard I hadn’t seen before.

  The other guard had sandy blonde hair that was naturally curly. His cloudy blue eyes felt as though they were piercing through my skin.

  “Hey, beautiful,” Mr. Curly Mustache said. My eyes flicked upward and our eyes connected. He bit his knuckle as they continued walking by.

  “Head down, girl,” the other guy said before smacking Mr. Curly Mustache on the back of the head. He mumbled something to him that included the word desperate. “Wait.”

  Polly and I stopped walking at the same time. My heart was pounding like a drummer in a marching band.

  “No escort?” the guard asked.

  I flashed him the piece of paper.

  “Hmm,” he muttered. It felt like a long time passed before he spoke again. “Carry on.”

  “See you later,” Mr. Curly Mustache called out. The other guard cracked him on the side of his upper arm. “Ow!”

  Their boots smacked the flooring, getting softer as they continued away from us. Polly’s pace increased.

  “I almost threw up,” she whispered.

  “But you didn’t,” I said. “And it worked. We can do this.”

  We continued down the hall, passing only a few more people. None of them even stopped us. Perhaps they saw the pink pieces of paper or perhaps they just didn’t care.

  At the main door, there was a guard on the outside of the door. He stood and stared at us as he unlocked the door.

  “State your—Hey!” The guard’s tone instantly changed. “Do I look different during the day?”

  I dared a glance upward. The guard was looking around but when our eyes met, he smiled at me. It was the guard from last night.

  “Did you see the doc?” he asked.

  I waved the piece of paper. “I did. All is good.”

  “That’s good news,” he said stepping to the side to allow Polly and me outside. “Headed back to work?”

  “That’s right,” I said.

  “Well, sorry to say you just missed them,” the guard said. “They headed in early. Storm brewing.”

  On the horizon, there were frequent flashes of light. The rumbles of thunder weren’t quite as long as the rumbles inside my stomach but they rattled my nerves.

  “Oh, darn,” I said. “We just need to get a few things from the shed and then we’ll head right back in.”

  He looked confused. Probably because he knew we didn’t have any things.

  “I suppose that’ll be all right,” he said. “Dennis is still out there so talk to him, okay? He can escort you back in.”

  “That was the plan,” I said swallowing hard. I drew in a breath and lowered my head again. It was my way of signaling to him that I was done being friendly and that I needed to follow the rules.

  The guard stepped to the side and a gust of wind smacked our faces and prickled my cheeks. Polly drew in a breath so deeply she released a pleasant little whimper.

  “What do you pla
n to do about this Dennis guy?” Polly asked.

  “I haven’t figured that part out yet,” I said.

  I looked up toward the shed. The shovels, rakes, and other tools were lined up against the building and he was bringing them inside one by one.

  “Dillon, the owner of this jumpsuit, told me that they keep the sick inside of the building,” I said.

  “It’s true,” Polly said. “They’re locked up inside the lab. I mean, I guess it could just be a rumor they spread to scare people into staying away from the lab. I’ve never actually seen one inside.”

  All I could do was shake my head at their stupidity. They brought the sickness into the world and their way of eradicating it was to keep it hanging around in the hope of trying to develop a cure.

  The damage had already been done as far as I was concerned. Even if they were able to create something that would cure the sick, how would they administer it to everyone out in the world? They were better off continuing to build their army to wage war against the sick, although I didn’t think that would work either.

  We kept our heads down, following the rules as we approached the shed. The man the guard had called Dennis, stopped to look up at us.

  “What are you doing out here?” he asked.

  I held up my pink slip. “I’m supposed to show this to you.”

  “Everyone went inside. You shouldn’t be out here. Who let you out? I’m going to have to report him,” Dennis said.

  I stepped up next to him, pointing toward the base. “It was that guy. At that door.”

  Dennis narrowed his eyes and I reached behind me, grabbing the handle of the nearest tool.

  “That fool,” Dennis said. “I’m not finished but I’ll have to escort you inside. There’s a—”

  The back of the shovel put a stop to his sentence. Dennis stared at me blankly. After a second, his eyes rolled back and he dropped to the ground.

  “Kit!” Polly said spinning like a music box doll as she looked in every direction. “What are you doing?”

  “Help me get him inside the shed,” I said.

  “Oh, dear God,” she muttered as she grabbed his feet. “You could have told me you’ve become a murderer. Prepared me somehow.”

  I snorted. “I’m not a murderer. He’s not dead. At least I don’t think he is.”

  We got him inside the shed and closed the door. Polly put her hands on her hips.

  “What about all the tools?” she asked. “If someone sees them out there, it’ll be suspicious. They’ll probably come looking for poor Dennis.”

  “Poor Dennis,” I huffed.

  I looked around the shed and found several long pieces of rope. I didn’t even want to know what they’d been used for. Probably something similar to what I was about to use them for only for a less good reason.

  “Help me tie him up first,” I said.

  “Now we’re tying people up?” she said with wide eyes.

  “Maybe I should leave you in here,” I said unable to hide my frustration. “I’m not sure you’ll survive out there.”

  Sadness washed over her face. “Is it terrible?”

  “It’s worse here,” I said tying Dennis’s hands behind his back. “You’ll be fine.”

  “Who are you?” Polly asked as she stared at me… not helping me tie up Dennis at all.

  Her words had hit me hard, like someone taking a baseball bat to the back of my head. At some point, I became the person I was supposed to be all along.

  I was the person who would do anything for her family, even if it was dangerous or scary. It was something I should have realized a long time ago. The idea of leaving Freddie had been so frightening it had paralyzed me but staying had made my life hell. If I would have been the person I was now… well… things would have been a hell of a lot different.

  There was no point in dwelling on the past. I couldn’t change it. I had to focus on the future and to get there, I needed to get Polly and myself away from the base.

  I brought the tools inside the shed while Polly kept an eye on our new friend Dennis. It was at least twenty minutes before his eyelids started to flutter.

  He looked back and forth between Polly and I. “Stupid bitches,” he said slurring his words as if he’d had a drink too many. “You won’t get away with this.”

  “Stop talking,” I said as if I were suddenly one of the guards.

  He snorted. “Or what?”

  “Or I’ll hit you over the head again,” I said.

  “Do it,” he said. “I can’t wait to visit you every day in your cell.”

  Dennis spat on the ground toward my feet. I was tempted to hit him over the head again but that would have been going too far. He wasn’t a danger at the moment, he was just annoying.

  “Now what?” Polly asked joining me at the small window that faced the base. The storm was behind us and even though we couldn’t see it, we could hear it.

  I exhaled and we locked eyes. “Now, we wait.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Night fell quicker, thanks to the storm. I wasn’t sure how much longer I was going to be able to stay in the shed with Dennis and his constant ramblings and curses.

  Apparently, he didn’t like being held hostage, which was kind of funny considering his job. It wasn’t fun when the tables were turned.

  “I bet they’re looking for me,” Polly said pacing back and forth across the dirt-covered floor.

  “Of course, they are!” Dennis howled. He calmed himself and looked at her with wide eyes. “If you let me go, I’ll tell them it wasn’t your fault. That she did this to us. They’ll go easy on you.”

  “Shut up already,” Polly hissed. She turned to me. “How long do we wait before making a run for it?”

  My head moved slightly side to side. “I’m not sure. Do you think they’re eating yet?”

  “Maybe,” Polly said.

  “It’s still not dark enough,” I said. “I came in the middle of the night and it was pitch black. Lots of shadows to hide in… now, though? Not so much.”

  Dennis laughed. “You idiots didn’t think this through. You might think they aren’t looking for you but they will start looking for me!”

  “He’s right,” Polly said.

  Dennis laughed harder. “Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb!”

  “Maybe,” I said with a half-shrug. “They haven’t started looking for him yet.”

  “How do you know?” Polly asked softly.

  “Because. Where do you think the first place they’d go to look for a farmer?”

  Polly smirked. “Maybe they’ve forgotten all about you.”

  “They’ll come,” Dennis said trying to sound confident but his questioning tone gave away that he wasn’t.

  “I’m sure they will but hopefully it won’t be until tomorrow morning,” I said.

  For a long while, it seemed as though I was right… they weren’t coming for Dennis but when four guards came out of the base, I knew I’d been wrong.

  “Shit,” I said looking around the shed. I grabbed a shovel even though it was big and bulky and I knew the guards were armed. I turned to Polly doing my best to remain calm. “Take something,”

  “For what?” she asked.

  “For a weapon,” I said.

  Polly started shaking her head. “I can’t. I couldn’t.”

  “You might have to,” I said looking down at her stomach. “It’s not just for you.”

  “Okay,” she said grabbing a shovel.

  I held up my hand like a stop sign as I looked out of the small window. Dennis started laughing.

  “They’re coming for you!” he shouted. “I’m in here! I’m in here! Help me!”

  I took three quick steps toward him. My fingertips were numb from gripping the shovel tightly.

  “Want another hit to the back of your head?” I said between my clenched teeth. Bits of spit shot out and speckled his face. “Shut up or you might not wake up from the next one.”

  Dennis pressed his li
ps together. The anger that had been in his eyes turned into dread.

  I wouldn’t have killed him but he didn’t need to know that. Well, if it were life or death… I didn’t want to think about what I was capable of. It was easier not to.

  “They split into two,” Polly reported. “They’re walking around the building. They’re definitely looking for someone.”

  Polly exhaled and aggressively rubbed her shoulder. It was like her shoulder had a magic lamp inside and she was hoping a genie would pop out so it could grant her three wishes.

  “It’s not dark enough,” I said. “But we don’t have a choice. We’re going to have to make a run for it.”

  “Are you sure about this, Kit?” she asked breathing as if she’d already run a mile.

  “No,” I said. “But this could be our only chance and I’m taking it.”

  She swallowed hard. “Okay. What are we going to do?”

  I stepped up to the window and pointed out toward the trees. My eyes narrowed to slits as I peered out at the fence.

  “We’re going to run that way,” I said. “When the guards cross in the middle, that’s when we need to climb the fence. They won’t turn back and even if they do, we’ll hopefully already be over the fence. The trees aren’t far and once we get to them, they won’t be able to shoot.”

  “Shoot,” Polly repeated with a frown.

  “We’ll be okay,” I said. “I didn’t come all this way for nothing.”

  She nodded but the uncertainty brought shadows to her eyes. I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.

  “Are you ready for this?” I asked.

  “No, but like you said, this could be our only chance,” Polly said.

  “Good. As long as I time this right…,” I said first looking at the guards circling the building before shifting my gaze to the ones at the fence. “As long as I time it right, this will work.”

  The guards started to go around the sides of the building. None of them headed toward the shed yet. They were probably looking for Polly or maybe even me. If they were looking for Dennis, they would have come toward the shed first, a fact I would have loved to rub in his face.