Mrs. Davis’s only response to her daughter’s words was to start rocking back and forth. April closed her eyes in defeat and then stood up and faced Mrs. Moore and Liam. All she could do is shrug her shoulders.
“I’ll try and keep her quiet but at this point there’s no telling what she might do if she gets spooked. I’m sorry.”
Mrs. Moore sent her a reassuring smile.
“It’s not your fault, April. We’ll just be cautious and keep an eye on her. Walter is planning a distraction soon so that both of our groups can slip away while the men are busy elsewhere. We should join the others so we’re ready when it happens.”
Casting one last worried look at her mother, April helped her stand up and impulsively gave her mom a hug. Usually she wouldn’t allow anyone to touch her but though she didn’t hug her daughter back, she didn’t fight to be free either. April released her and searched her face for any sign of recognition but once again her mother wouldn’t look at her. With a sad sigh, April turned away and gathered up the two packs that now weighed less and helped to secure one on her mom. She turned away and scanned the room for anything else she might want to take but found nothing.
Mrs. Moore and Liam were at the door watching the hallway and at her nod they stepped out of the room. April moved to follow and glanced back to make sure her mom was behind her. She had to blow out an exasperated breath. Instead of following her to the door, Laura Davis was hunched over on the floor between the two makeshift beds. April quickly pulled her back up to a standing position.
“Mom! You have to follow me, please!”
With a grunt, her mom pulled her arm from her daughter’s grip and shuffled towards the door and out into the hall. April stayed behind her to make sure they didn’t lose her. They saw no one as they quickly made their way to Jessica’s room and April let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding when they opened the door to see the others crammed into the small room waiting for them. April scanned the faces of her group and with a jolt realized that there’d only be two functioning adults with a group of eleven teenagers and one slightly crazy person to face the dangers of getting out of the park and then the city. Her stomach cramped painfully at the poor odds of them being successful.
Mrs. Hardsky gave Mrs. Moore a nod and waved for the group of girls in the room to rise and put on the packs they were all holding. There was shuffling and bumping as they tried to get ready in the small space. Once everyone was ready and they all looked to Mrs. Moore, the teacher gave instructions.
“My dear students, we have survived for months in this safe haven but the time has come for us to leave. The men that have infiltrated our home are evil and have shown that they will harm us. It’s imperative that we escape from these tunnels and the park. The time has come for us to begin our journey home. I know we’re all scared of what may happen today and in the weeks ahead but I believe in you all. If we stay together and use our heads we’ll make it. The most important thing is to not panic! No matter what happens or what you see, you must keep a level head and look to me and Mrs. Hardsky to guide you.” The older teacher scanned the faces of her charges before continuing, “Walter, the security guard that has helped us in the past five months, is working right now on a distraction that will hopefully pull all of the men away from the exits. He will then lead the other survivors out on a different route than the one we’ll be taking. When it begins, you must stay with the group and follow the person ahead of you. We’ll be as quiet as possible as we make out way to the closest exit stairway but we may also have to run if we’re discovered. Once again, I must stress that panic is the worst danger we’ll face. If you panic and run away blindly, no one will be able to help you! Now, when we leave this room, we’ll be turning right and following this hallway to the second junction. When we reach it, we’ll turn left and follow that hallway to the exit door. If there’s still a man stationed there we WILL deal with him. Nothing and no one will stop us from leaving here!”
April was impressed by her fellow students when she saw them straighten their shoulders and their expressions firmed and hardened at their teacher’s words. They may have escaped the beginning chaos of the city at the start of this new age but they had all found the strength to survive so far from their homes and loved ones. The cramp in her stomach eased at the determination she saw all around her. She felt both of her hands being gripped at almost the same time and was surprised to see Liam on one side of her and Jessica on the other. She squeezed their hands in support and was about to say words of encouragement when the lights went out. This time they didn’t come back on.
Chapter 10
It was a testament to the students’ faith in their teacher that they didn’t panic. There were gasps and mumbling but no one screamed or tried to bolt. April pulled her hands from her friends and fumbled at the chain of small flashlights hanging around her neck. She pressed the tiny buttons on each one until she was surrounded by a small halo of light. When she looked up all eyes were on her. Mrs. Moore carefully made her way through the press of bodies to her side.
“Well, I guess this is the distraction! April, can you separate that chain in to two? We’d have some light at the front of the line as well as the back so no one gets left behind.”
April nodded and quickly pulled her light necklace over her head and unhooked half of the chain. She held them out to Mrs. Moore.
“Who’ll be at the front and back?” April asked.
Mrs. Moore was clipping one half of the light strand around her neck when she began to answer.
“I will…” Her words trailed off as the sound of pounding boots echoed in the hallway on the other side of the door. Everyone in the room froze and seemed to hold their breath as one until the sound receded. Mrs. Moore waved her hand at the group and then handed the second half of the chain of lights to Liam.
“Quickly now, everyone, they will be heading to the generator room! We must take our chance. I’ll lead and Liam will bring up the rear. It’ll be dark out there so hold on to the person in front of you and stay together and be quiet. Remember, right out the door, past the first junction and left at the second then straight to the stairs at the exit. Let’s go!”
Mrs. Moore pulled open the door and darkness greeted them. The dim glow of the flashlights around her neck barely penetrated more than a few feet. They could all hear faint shouting in the distance but no one seemed to be near their room so the teacher slid out into the hall with a wave for the others to follow.
April’s heart was pounding so loud it was all she could hear. The thought of being lost down in these tunnels with no light to see by made her want to throw up. She was jolted forward when Jessica pulled on her shirt as she stepped into the hall. April quickly patted at the darkness until she made contact with her mother’s sleeve and dragged her forward with her. With Jessica holding onto her shirt from the front, April had a free hand that she used to trail along the wall beside her. She felt more anchored and secure feeling the cool concrete pass against her fingertips. No one made a sound except for the soft scuff of their feet as they shambled forward. A soft gasp escaped her mouth when her fingers fell into open air. She had to remind herself that they were passing a junction but it wasn’t until she whacked the side of her hand painfully against the next corner that her heart slowed somewhat. The pain helped her focus and the terror of being essentially blind eased somewhat. They were making progress and with the turn coming up they would be in the final stretch. April imagined the sun on her face and an ocean breeze tinted with salt to get her through that dark walk. Somewhere in the back of her mind she marvelled at how her mother was following along quietly.
Jessica came to a stop ahead of her and April bumped into her. The hand clutching her shirt steadied her and pulled her closer.
“Turn to your left and keep walking. Tell the ones behind you to pass it along,” Jessica whispered in a rasping voice.
April leaned to the side and tried to look back down the hall around her mother. S
he could just make out Liam at the end of the line of people with his necklace of lights. She told the girl behind her mom that the turn was coming up and to walk forward two steps and then turn left and tell the next person in line. With it being so dark, she just had to hope the girl had understood her so she moved ahead and let Jessica lead once again.
They must have been in the center of the hallway because April couldn’t feel the walls this time. She took deep breaths and kept putting one foot in front of the other. They had gone around forty feet and just when April’s breathing picked up in the beginnings of panic, Jessica tugged on her shirt.
“Look ahead!” her friend rasped.
April strained to see what was ahead of them but all she could see was the back of Mrs. Moore. She looked at Jessica and was going to ask what it was when she realized that she could make out her friend’s features. It was still dark in the tunnel but it wasn’t completely black anymore.
“There’s a light ahead!” She cheered quietly before speeding her pace up to match the people in front of them. The closer they got to the exit the brighter it became in the hallway until they could see that the exit door to the stairwell had been propped open and daylight streamed down the stairs from above. April was ready to run up those stairs to freedom and light when she remembered that the dark wasn’t the only danger. She scanned the hallway in front and behind her but there was no sign of the men that had taken over.
Mrs. Moore had almost made it to the top of the stairs when the light was blocked by a silhouette of a man. His voice barked out at them.
“Go back down. No one leaves!”
April knew it was Marco and her temporary joy fled. All she could see was the back of her teacher but her voice was clear as it echoed in the stairwell.
“Marco, the children are scared. It’s pitch dark down there! Let us wait up here until they get the generator fixed and the lights back on. Someone will get hurt down there!”
Marco said something to Mrs. Moore that didn’t make it down to the others but at Mrs. Moore’s nod he stepped aside and let her pass.
The people ahead of April climbed the stairs and filed out of sight. When she reached the top she lifted her head to the bright sun and marveled at the warmth that seemed to infuse her whole body before moving out of the way to let the others below out. They gathered to the side of the exit and sent nervous looks at Marco who was scowling at them. It was the only expression April had ever seen him wearing and for a brief moment she felt pity for someone who was filled with so much anger and bitterness. The feeling only lasted for a heartbeat before she remembered that this man’s actions had harmed so many.
He kept telling the group to sit down on the concrete but at Mrs. Moore’s quick head shake the all stayed standing. When Liam exited from the stair well and joined them, Mrs. Moore squared her shoulders and faced the menacing man.
“Marco, we’re leaving the park. The tunnels and everything in them are yours and your men’s.”
Marco’s black eyes stared hate at the teacher before he let out a bitter laugh.
“You think it’s that easy? You’re just going to walk out into that hell and be on your merry way? None of you would survive for more than a day! You think you know anything??? While you sat on your lazy asses with power and water and food all comfy and safe, the rest of us had to turn into animals just to make it through the day!” He was so furious that he was spitting out the words. With an angry jerk he pulled a gun from behind his back and waved the cold black barrel at them.
“You fucking tourists! You should be dead with all the rest! But you’re right about one thing, the tunnels are mine and the supplies are too! You want to go see the sights in the city? Be my guest! You and the other old lady and the crazy hag are free to go. Take the boy with you too, but the girls stay! My men will need…companionship,” he said the last word on a sneer and scanned the ten teenage girls with disgust.
At the word companionship, April’s hand went to the front pocket of her sweatshirt to grasp the butcher knife. She froze in disbelief when she found her pocket empty and her mind flashed back to when she’d thrown it down on the bed and never picked it back up. Marco was still ranting about his plans for the girls when April looked up with wide horrified eyes and made contact with his. His eyes narrowed at her expression.
“Don’t worry, chica, you’re cute. They’ll take good care of you.” He dismissed her with a nod and swung his gun back towards Mrs. Moore. He opened his mouth to spew more hatred when a bundled blur lunged towards him and his eyes widened with shock as he swung the gun back to meet the threat.
Time slowed down for April and she saw what happened next in a series of freeze frames. Her mother pushed her aside and flew towards Marco with a crazed expression. In her hands pointed straight at his chest was the butcher knife April had dropped. They collided together and Marco’s pain-filled grunt was almost masked by the muffled sound of the gun going off between their bodies. The two collapsed together in a heap on the hot concrete. For a split second no one moved or made a sound.
Time snapped back and Mrs. Moore and Liam both dove towards the two struggling bodies on the ground. April stared in stunned disbelief as a bloom of red started to spread across her mother’s back. Her view of that ugly color was blocked when Liam leaned over and pulled her mom off of Marco. When he pulled her to the side and laid her on her back Marco was exposed. His mouth gaped open and closed as his hands flexed open and closed around the knife handle that was buried deep in his chest. April watched those hands flex three times before they dropped lifeless to his sides.
A searing pain sharpened reality around her as Jessica clutched her arm and dragged her towards her fallen mother. She hissed in pain and glanced down at her arm but didn’t really see the blood soaking into her sleeve. Her eyes tracked back to the woman that had been such a huge controlling force in her life before the ill-fated school trip. She fell to her knees beside her and for the first time in months met her mom’s strong penetrating eyes. Those eyes looked at her with love and determination. There were signs of pain but they were sharp with clarity.
Laura Davis raised a dirty bloody hand to her daughter’s face and cupped her cheek.
“All my love, my life for you, my precious baby girl.” The last word came on a gasp and blood bubbled out of her mouth to trickle down her cheek.
Looking into her mom’s eyes, memories swirled through her head like flashes. Letting go of her hand that clutched so tight on the first day of kindergarten. Meeting her love-filled eyes in the mirror as she braided her hair. Seeing her on the sidelines as she cheered the loudest during her first soccer game. So many memories flashed and all the anger disappeared from her heart. It didn’t matter what had happened in the last few years. This was the one person who loved her the most and she was leaving.
“Mommy, don’t go,” she whispered. The soft smile that spread across her mom’s face stayed there as her eyes lost focus and went blank. April felt like her heart had been ripped out of her chest. This was the second time she’d lost her mom and now it was final. Too late to make amends. Too late to start over. Too late for a future of memories.
Hands slid under her arms and April was pulled away from her mom’s body. She didn’t fight or resist. Her whole body was numb from shock and she let the others strip her sweatshirt off her body. She didn’t even flinch when Mrs. Moore hastily cleaned and bandaged the graze on her arm that had come from the bullet that took her mother’s life. She blinked and she was on her feet being dragged at a quick pace but nothing around her registered until the sun and light went away and she was pushed into a chair.
Liam’s dim face in front of her came into focus for a second before a bright flash light was shone directly into her eyes. She yanked her head away and batted the light to the side. His voice rang out in an echo that caused her to look around their surroundings.
“Mrs. Moore, she’s back!”
April had a moment of panic that they were back in the
dark tunnels but the light shining through high dirty windows said otherwise.
Mrs. Moore’s hands cupped her face and directed it towards her.
“April, can you understand me?”
April tried to nod and then asked, “Where are we?” But all that came out was a dry croak.
The teacher reached down and grabbed a water bottle and wrapped April’s fingers around it. She stared at it for a few seconds before lifting it to drink. April felt like she was wading through thick syrup. She felt slow and confused. After taking a deep drink, she leaned back against the chair and felt pain flare in her arm. Glancing down at the bandage she tried again to speak with more success.
“Where are we? Why does my arm hurt?” she asked in a clearer voice as she looked from Mrs. Moore to Jessica and Liam who were gathered around her chair.
The three shared a look before her teacher kneeled before her and took her hands into hers.
“April, do you remember what happened when we came out of the tunnel?”
April sipped her water and nodded with a frown.
“My mom attacked Marco and he shot her. She…died.”
Mrs. Moore squeezed her hands in comfort.
“Yes, she saved us. She saved you. Your mother loved you very much, April, and she will always be remembered by us as a hero.”
April swallowed past the ache in her chest and tried to hold back the tears that filled her eyes. After everything that had happened between them and the last few months of her deteriorating mental health, April had gotten her mom back long enough for her to give the ultimate sacrifice to her daughter. April wasn’t ready to talk about her mother yet so she looked around at the dim space they were in and asked again, “Where are we?”
Mrs. Moore studied her face for a few seconds before nodding and moving on.
Stranded (Book 4): City Escape Page 7
