Cora knew in her heart she couldn’t just leave Michelle behind and that she would end up having to take care of her. Was there any other option? But Cora didn’t feel brave enough. She didn’t think she could take on the responsibility of another human’s life. Michelle was old enough to take care of herself in the general sense, but she wasn’t old enough to survive this kind of world alone. She didn’t have the experience to outwit adults who might try to abuse her or kill her. Cora wasn’t sure she had that ability herself.
In the darkness of the room, Cora could barely see an outline of Michelle on the bed. So, when a figure stood in her doorway, she did a double-take because she wasn’t sure what she was seeing.
She stood up immediately and gasped when she realized it was a man. At first, she thought it might have been her dad, but the man didn’t say anything and he was breathing heavily.
“This room is occupied,” Cora said.
Through deep breaths and grunts, the man said, “Give me the antibiotics back.”
Cora swore and reached for the pistol tucked under her belt, but the doctor charged and slammed into her. Cora let out a scream, thrashing as she tried to get herself out from under the doctor’s weight, but she knew screaming would do no good. People had been screaming and screaming for the past two days, and there wasn’t anyone to help her. The guns had fallen to the floor out of reach just underneath the bed.
The doctor grabbed her by the throat and lifted. Cora found herself on her tiptoes struggling.
“I want the antibiotics,” the doctor said.
He was squeezing so tight Cora couldn’t make a sound. This wasn’t about the antibiotics. He didn’t even know what he was doing. His mind was broken under the stress of losing a patient and power going out all across the city. He was paralyzed by fear, and his brain had reacted so negatively that he couldn’t bear the thought of losing control—and he was about to kill Cora.
Cora wasn’t sure if her vision was going black or if it was the darkness of the hospital, but she felt like she was about to die. She tried to look over the doctor’s shoulder out the door, but there was barely any light.
Was she seeing things? A shadow moved behind the doctor, but it could have just been her swimming vision. Suddenly the doctor let go of Cora’s throat and yelped in pain. He turned, and Cora immediately dropped to the floor, coughing. There was a burst of gunfire booming so loudly that it deafened Cora. The doctor was slammed against the wall, where he slumped down. Cora looked up at the silhouette, wondering who could have been her savior. The silhouette slumped and fell to its knees. When she crawled closer to it, she saw that it was Michelle.
Cora swore again, then reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Are you okay?” Her voice came out raspy and it hurt to talk.
“We need to get out of here,” Michelle said. “I hear them downstairs. They’re inside the hospital.”
“Can you run?” Cora asked.
Michelle shook her head. “I can walk fast.”
“That’ll have to do.”
Cora pulled herself up to her feet and then picked the guns up off the floor. She looked at the dark form of the doctor against the wall and felt sick by what had happened. No little girl should have to kill someone. No doctor should snap like he did.
The two of them hobbled out of the room. Cora had a gun in each hand, while Michelle carried one. Cora wasn’t about to tell her she wasn’t allowed to carry the gun. She had just saved Cora’s life. She might have to do so again.
They made their way down the hallway and out of the maternity ward. The rioters had begun to stream into the hospital, trampling people on the ground. They were like a zombie horde running through the atrium, oblivious to what they ran into or what they destroyed. They were mindless. Hungry for violence.
They wanted drugs.
“This way,” Cora said, pulling Michelle away from the stairs. They made their way down another dark corridor, and they could barely see where they were going. They got to the elevators and took the stairs next to them. It was a narrow passage, and it didn’t seem any of the rioters had found it yet.
They made their way down, each step more difficult for Michelle as they walked. Cora knew the infection was painful and the medicine wouldn’t heal it that quickly. But Michelle seemed to have enough strength to keep going despite the pain.
Cora didn’t know what they would find when they got to the atrium other than a lot of people on the floors and dozens of running, screaming rioters.
“This hurts so bad,” Michelle said.
“Come on,” Cora answered. She grabbed the gun from Michelle and stuffed all three of them in the back of her pants. She then reached down and pulled Michelle up in her arms. The girl was so heavy for Cora, but there was no other option at the moment. Her arms burned as she stumbled down the stairs. The girl held tightly to her neck and tried not to be a dead weight.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered in Cora’s ear.
“You don’t have to be sorry, sweetheart. You don’t have to be sorry about a thing.”
The hospital was on fire.
Cora didn’t know where the smoke was coming from, but the lower they went, the thicker the air became, and soon they were both coughing uncontrollably.
When Cora finally got to the door, she felt the handle. It wasn’t hot, so she opened and they were engulfed by a cloud of smoke.
Cora fell to the floor, trying not to let Michelle hit her head on the ground. Flames licked the walls and ceiling of the atrium. She watched as one of the rioters threw a Molotov cocktail at a window, and the walls around it burst into flames. Some of these people weren’t even after the drugs. They just wanted people to die. She didn’t understand it.
“I can walk,” Michelle said. She let go of Cora’s neck and started hobbling beside her. The crowd was a mix of rioters and people well enough to be on their feet to get away from the chaos. The ones still on the ground would be the ones to suffer.
They stepped over people who were calling out for help, screaming for the pain to stop, the rioting to end. It pained Cora to ignore them. As a nurse, she felt a duty to help anyone calling out in need. But she had done that for Michelle. And Michelle was her patient. She would be until Cora saw her safe and away from the city. Away from the chaos.
The cold air hit them when they reached the hospital exit, but the commotion outside wasn’t any less than within the hospital walls. Crowds lined the streets, chanting, shouting. They wanted answers. They wanted someone to hear them. But there were no cameras. No cell phones recording them. They were a voice screaming into the wind. No one would hear them. No one would satisfy their thirst for answers.
“Where should we go?” Michelle asked weakly.
Cora looked forward at the street. She didn’t want to go through the crowd. She didn’t want to catch the eye of someone who would make them a victim. She wanted out of there.
“The corner of Sycamore and Blithe,” she said. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
Henry’s face was bruised and aching from another slap across the face. He had said too much to Leland, and now Elias looked like he was about to snap. He held a pistol in his hand, probably contemplating whether or not to keep the two of them alive. Henry looked at Sam, and for the first time in a while, Sam had some semblance of an expression on his face: fear.
“I can’t seem to figure out which building,” Leland said through the radio. “There’s just too much going on out here.”
Elias shook head and grated his teeth. “He’s not out there. There wasn’t any noise in the background.” He looked like he was about to throw the radio against the wall and smash it, but then he stopped himself, his eyes darting back and forth as though an idea was forming in his head. He set the radio on the ground in front of him and pulled another radio off his belt.
“All units back away from interrogation. We have an intruder in the building, but I want you to let him through. I want everybody to pull bac
k. Stay in the rooms and close the doors.”
Elias got a few slow confirmations and affirmatives, and he seemed satisfied with the result. He latched the receiver back to his belt then picked up Henry’s radio off the ground.
He stepped in front of Henry and kneeled to meet his eyes. “Say exactly what I want you to say, or I will put a bullet in your brother’s brain. Do you understand me?”
Henry knew this guy wasn’t messing around. He barely had any reason left to keep them alive.
Henry nodded slowly and looked at his brother, who returned his stare and shook his head. He knew what his brother was trying to tell him—that they were all dead anyway. Henry’s compliance, however, had nothing to do with evading Elias’s wrath. It was buying them time to get out of there. He didn’t think for one second that Elias would let them live, but the longer they were alive, the more time they had to figure out a way to escape. Chances were slim but better than zero. Chances were never zero.
“This is what I want you to say: if you have made it inside the building, make your way down the south corridor.”
Henry sighed. “If you have made it inside the building, make your way down the south corridor.”
There was no response from the other end, but Henry only took that to mean Leland was still inside.
“You said something to him, didn’t you?” Elias said to Henry. “You said something to him to tip him off. That’s why he’s inside the building.”
Henry didn’t deny it, but he didn’t say anything. Elias was no fool. He held the radio close to Henry again.
“Go down the stairs and to the right,” Elias said. You’ll see a door with a light underneath. That’s where I am.”
Henry repeated the words. And there was still no response from Leland.
“Now say this: I know I gave you the code phrase earlier, but I’m good now.”
“He’s going to see right through that,” Henry said. “He’s smart.”
“Just do what I told you.”
He held up the radio and pushed the button in front of Henry’s face. Henry repeated the words. “I gave you the code phrase earlier, but I’m good now.” As he was saying the words, he saw a shadow cross under the door. It was behind Elias’s back, so the man didn’t see it. “So come in right now, his back’s to you!” Henry screamed. He didn’t know if Elias cut off the communication midway, but it didn’t matter. Leland got the message.
The door flew open and the deafening sound of a gun blast went off in the air. Henry saw Leland burst into view and let off a round into Elias, which threw the man back against the opposite wall. Henry was wide-eyed as he looked at Elias, whose chest spewed out blood from a gaping hole. Normally, a firefight like that would have probably called in the guards, but Elias had told the guards to stand down and to remain where they were. To hear a gun blast after that command might make them question what they were doing, but it wouldn’t be enough for them to come back to their posts.
“I never thought I would be so happy to see you again,” Henry said.
“I can’t say I am happy to be here,” said Leland as he kneeled to work Henry’s ropes with his pocketknife.
“This is my brother, Sam.”
Sam wasn’t looking at Leland or Henry. His eyes were focused on Elias, who lay on the floor gurgling.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Sam couldn’t believe his eyes.
There lay Blackleaf in a pool of his own blood. The tables had completely turned. The Horsemen had his computer and hard drive, but none of that mattered anymore. Sam was alive. Henry was alive. All that mattered now was that they got out of this building and away from the soldiers. The person Henry had called Leland moved around behind Sam and cut his ropes. Blood started pumping through his arms again and a rush of warmth ran to his fingers. He rubbed his wrists, his eyes still on Elias.
“We don’t have much time,” Leland said. “We have to get to the hospital. My daughter is there.”
Sam wanted to say something. He tried to give out a warning, but his voice caught in his throat as he watched Elias struggle to bring the radio to his face. All Sam managed to get out was a “No!” But not before Elias pressed the button and said, “They’re headed for the hospital. Move.”
Leland attempted to silence Elias with another gunshot to the chest, but the words were already out. The bullet ripped through his body once again, and this time he fell limp with his eyes wide open. Elias was dead, but the alarm had already been sounded.
Henry swore, jumped to his feet, and grabbed Sam by the shoulders. “Do you have the strength to move? To run?”
Sam wasn’t sure of the answer. The serum that had run through his body had left him spent, and he couldn’t imagine walking much less running. But he knew that sitting in the seat and doing nothing would be the end of his life. They now had a chance to do something, and they were either going to take it or they were going to die.
Sam nodded and then got to his feet. His head swam, but he stumbled forward behind Leland, who cocked his rifle and looked both ways out of the door. Soldiers were coming, but Leland knew the way out. If they were going to make it at all, they had only a matter of seconds.
“If we can just get outside, there’s enough chaos happening that I think we can get lost in the crowd,” Leland said. “And we might be able to get our hands on a truck.”
Sam felt like his ankles had anchors chained to them, but he moved as quickly as Leland, who took a cautious pace. It was a fine line between being vigilant and ready to meet the enemy face-to-face, and being swift and getting out of the building as quickly as possible. The stairs proved more difficult for Sam, and he felt Henry wedge his shoulder under his armpit. Sam tried to help, but he found his feet completely suspended while Henry carried him. When they reached the top of the stairs, Henry set him down on his feet. With each passing second, with each pump of adrenaline, with every heartbeat, he felt he was gaining a little more strength. If this kept up, he would be able to go to full sprint soon if he had to. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t collapse and die because of it, but the effects of the drugs were wearing off quickly.
They heard the rush of soldiers screaming and shouting orders below them on the floor where they had been tied up. They heard the soldiers shouting as they discovered Elias’s body. They probably had a few seconds before the soldiers were up the stairs and discovered them.
Leland took another turn, and they saw the backs of two soldiers looking in the opposite direction. Leland let off a round in the back of the one on the right, then cocked the rifle and took down the other one as he was turning. More shouts behind them. The soldiers were on their floor. Leland took the group to a door and smashed it open. The cold air slammed into them and nearly took Sam’s breath away. The sky was lit orange with fire, and the air was filled with the vicious screams of rioters and gunshots of defending soldiers.
They saw several groups of soldiers converging on the building around them, but they were far enough away that Leland was able to lead the three of them into the crowd of rioters.
“There shouldn’t be too many people who know what we look like,” Henry said.
Leland looked in every direction for a truck, and he spotted one just a block ahead. There was a soldier on the back with a gun mounted on a tripod, but the vehicle was otherwise empty.
They knew Elias had sent the soldiers to the hospital to intercept them. But maybe they didn’t all have to go there.
“Wait.” Sam turned to Leland. “What if you just went to the hospital? They’ll be expecting three of us. If it’s just you, you can find your daughter and we can meet somewhere else.” Leland stopped in the middle of the street and looked at Sam and Henry.
“If we split up right now, we will never find each other. We don’t have radios, and we have to avoid the soldiers at all costs. If we want to get out of here alive, I don’t know if splitting up is the best option.”
“If we don’t want the soldiers to find us, then we don’t n
eed to be in a group of three,” Sam said.
“I agree with Sam,” Henry said. “The two of us can lay low while you find your daughter, and we will meet at the corner where that truck is parked. We can stay far back enough to watch for you but remain inconspicuous.”
“Then what?” Leland said.
“Hopefully you’ll be back before that truck is gone,” Sam said. “Then, you do what you do best. You kill the guy and we take it.”
Leland frowned at what Sam said, but then he nodded and took off in the opposite direction. Sam leaned into Henry as the two of them made their way through the crowd. None of the rioters seemed to notice them, and the soldiers were too busy with the rioters.
“We need to let you rest,” Henry said.
Sam didn’t argue with him. He would never be able to describe the pain the fire serum had caused. His nerve endings still hurt all over his body, and he felt numb in the face.
The two of them found a small alley with a putrid, overflowing trashcan, which they ducked behind. They were able to keep an eye on the truck from there. The soldier on the back of it stared at the crowd in the distance and likely had no idea that the two people he was looking for were staring right at him.
“Why are they still here?” Henry asked. “Why do they even care what you might know or not know? There isn’t anything you can do with the information.”
“They have other plans,” Sam said. “Worse plans. I don’t know what they are, though.”
“Exactly,” Henry said. “And they took your computer, so you have nothing.”
Sam shook his head. “I have something.” He reached down and pulled off his right shoe, then he removed the sole. In it was a carved out square that held an enclosed SD card. He held it in front of his face for Henry to see. “Everything we want to know is on this little card. I may not figure out their plans before they’re able to implement them, but one way or another, we’re going to find out what they are up to.”
Fallen Earth | Book 2 | Aftermath Page 24
