Dex

by Claflin, Stacy

  “Did you leave the lid off the stew?” exclaimed a shrill feminine voice in the kitchen.

  “Of course not!” said another female. “It had to have been you.”

  “I would never do such a thing.”

  “Who, then?”

  “Certainly not one of the vaccinated. They’re too scared to disobey the doctors.”

  Someone snorted. “So are we.”

  “Just put the lid back and don’t tell anyone about this, okay? I don’t want to lose my job.”

  “Neither do I.” Ceramic and glass banged together. “You go get the vaccinated. I’ll set up the tables.”

  Footsteps faded away.

  Dex squeezed Lucy’s arm and whispered, “I’m going to see if we can get out of here. Otherwise, we might have to wait until the meal is over, and by then, they’ll probably figure out that you’re not with the others.”

  “I go.”

  “Let me just look,” Dex insisted.

  “I go,” she repeated.

  There was no point in arguing. “Okay.” He pushed aside some of the coats and peeked into the kitchen. It was empty.

  He waved for Lucy to follow them. They crept through the room and he glanced out into the bigger room. A tall muscular woman was setting bowls and silverware onto the tables—and she was facing their direction. Dex stepped back into the kitchen.

  “We go?” Lucy asked.

  “Not yet.” He looked back out. The woman pulled a cart to the next table and set out more utensils and bowls.

  “Now?” Lucy asked.

  Dex held up a finger, indicating for her to wait. They needed to make their escape when she had her back turned, otherwise he’d be forced to kill her, but that would draw too much attention. Unfortunately, it might come down to that if she didn’t face the other way soon. It wouldn’t be long until the other cook returned with a group of people—the vaccinated, they’d called them. Probably the group Lucy had been with when he’d found her.

  “Now?” Lucy asked again.

  “Almost.” Dex waited, hoping the woman would give them the opportunity to escape before he would be forced to kill or injure her. He hated to hurt anyone who hadn’t attempted to harm him.

  The woman began whistling a depressing tune and pulled her cart to the next table. She turned, but not enough. If Dex and Lucy ran through the room, she’d surely see them.

  “Come on,” Dex muttered. He reached for an arrow and held it, ready to use it. That was beginning to look like their only option. If it was her or them, it was her.

  She moved to the next table and turned slightly more. Her back wasn’t to them, but it was going to have to be good enough.

  Dex turned to Lucy. “You ready to run?”

  “Yes!”

  He glanced back out at the woman, still whistling, then he turned to Lucy. “Now.”

  They burst into a run. The door was thirty feet away. Then twenty.

  Ten feet.

  “Hey!”

  Dex turned to see the woman scowling at them.

  “Stop!” She waved a fork in the air and ran toward them. “Get back here!”

  She was going to draw too much attention. In one quick motion, Dex put his bow into place, set the arrow in place, and let go. It sunk into her arm. She reached for it, cursing and screaming as loud as three grown men.

  Dex took Lucy’s hand and pulled her out into the hallway. A commotion sounded in the way from where they’d come.

  “This way.” Lucy pulled in the other direction.

  “Do you know a way out?”

  “Come on.” She pulled harder.

  The woman with the arrow in her arm ran at them, cursing like a cannibal.

  Dex followed Lucy down the hallway.

  “What’s going on over there?” demanded a male voice from behind.

  Lucy pulled Dex down another hall and into an office, closing the door.

  “We should try to get outside.” Dex glanced around.

  “Escape.” Lucy’s eyes widened.

  “Right. That’s what we need to do. Now.”

  “Yes.” She ran to the back of the office, near a window.

  “We can’t jump.” Or could they? It was only one story, which was doable for him, but he was more worried about her.

  Footsteps thundered out in the hall along with yelling and banging.

  Lucy pulled on a latch in the wall.

  A latch?

  She waved him over and pulled open the wall. It was a hidden door!

  Dex stared in disbelief. “How did you…?”

  “I like explore.”

  Their pursuers grew louder. Nearer.

  “You’ll have to tell me about that later.” He grabbed her hand, and they ran into the darkness. She closed the hidden door behind them—just as the main door burst open.

  Dex’s eyes hadn’t adjusted to the darkness, so he followed Lucy’s lead. He nearly lost his footing when they came to a step.

  “Stairs,” Lucy said.

  “I gathered as much.”

  “Hurry.”

  As they made their way down the narrow, steep staircase, he listened for sounds of anyone else in the hidden passage. With one hand in Lucy’s he couldn’t use his bow, so he wrapped his free hand around one of his knives. He didn’t hear anything, but better safe than sorry, especially considering they had a group of angry people after them.

  Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, the tiny passage seemed to go on forever.

  “Where does this come out?”

  “Safety.”

  Dex would believe that when he saw it with his own eyes. Nothing was ever as safe as it seemed. That knowledge was what had kept him alive all these years. Hopefully wherever Lucy was taking him would offer them enough safety to escape the chasing mob. Amazingly, he hadn’t heard the secret door open or the people inside the passageway.

  “How much farther?” he asked.

  “More.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Lucy squeezed his hand. “Watch out. Steps.”

  They came to another staircase, but instead of going back up, it went down. Underground.

  His pulse raced with concern. “Where does this go?”

  “Safety.”

  “But where?”

  “Safety,” she repeated.

  “Okay.” He’d have to believe her and take her at her word. Lucy knew more about the buildings than he did, and she clearly didn’t have the vocabulary to express where precisely she was taking them. She’d given him more than enough reason to trust her.

  As they continued down, the air became musty to the point that it was hard to breathe. He continued listening for those in pursuit, but the passage remained quiet, other than the sounds of his and Lucy’s breathing and footsteps.

  The ground sloped down but they didn’t come to more stairs. Dex’s eyes slowly adjusted to the dark. He couldn’t see much, but he could tell the difference between the walls and the walkway. They walked in silence for a couple minutes until they came to a fork in the passage. Either they could go left, or they could continue going straight.

  Lucy turned to the left and tugged on Dex’s hand. “This way.”

  “Do you know where we’re going?”

  “Safety.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yes,” she insisted.

  “Okay. Let’s go.”

  Chapter 17

  The passageway seemed to go on forever and appeared to get narrower the farther they traveled. Or maybe it was his imagination. The tunnel toyed with his senses between being underground and smelling so musty.

  “How much longer?” he asked.

  “Almost there.”

  “Does anyone else know about this place?”

  “My secret.”

  “Let’s hope.” Otherwise, who knew what they would face at the other end? The mob chasing them? A group of wanderers? Something worse?

  Lucy stopped. “We’re here.”

  Wherev
er here was. Dex’s stomach twisted in a tight knot. He stepped forward and felt for the door.

  “No, me.” Lucy reached past him and twisted a tiny knob. She pressed on the door and poked her head out before turning back to Dex. “Safety.”

  Relief washed through him, though he kept his guard up. He wouldn’t relax until he knew they were off the hospital property, and even then, it was doubtful he’d be able to rest easy. Those days had ended as soon as he left his community all those years earlier.

  “Let me go first.”

  Her soft hand tightened around his and then she moved to let him by. Dex glanced out. The tunnel had led them to a small office in perfect shape, short of layers of dust and cobwebs. Nothing was knocked over or out of place like nearly every other room on the premises. The only thing that showed anyone had been there recently was a path of disturbed dust from the passageway door to the main one.

  Dex stepped into the room, covered his mouth, and held back a sneeze.

  Lucy stepped out after him. “Safety.”

  He glanced around, not thrilled about staying there. Another sneeze threatened. He couldn’t stop it, so he sneezed into his elbow, keeping his mouth closed. After sniffling, he turned to Lucy. “You’re the only one that knows about this place?”

  She nodded and followed the dust path to the door. She pressed her ear to the door, twisted a deadbolt, and opened the door. “Empty out there.”

  “Let me.”

  Lucy shrugged and moved aside. Dex stepped into the hall.

  What he saw sent a cold chill down his spine.

  The room directly in front of him was the one he’d slept in the night before.

  Unable to find his voice, he turned to Lucy and pointed to the room.

  She stepped into the hall. “Your room.”

  “I-I… you’re the one who came in last night? You left the flower?”

  “Daisy for luck.”

  He stared at her, a flood of questions running through his mind but knowing there was no time to ask them. They needed to get off the property. Or at least he did. Lucy might want to stay where she had all of her needs met—clean clothes and freshly prepared food.

  She held his gaze as he tried to figure everything out. “What we do?”

  “That depends.”

  Lucy arched a brow but said nothing.

  “I need to get out of here. To leave and never return.”

  She tilted her head.

  “Past the fence outside. I have to find my family.”

  “Family?”

  “Like the mom I told you about before. Families usually have moms, dads, siblings, cousins. They’re all different.”

  Her brows came together in confusion.

  “Families have people that love you and take care of you.”

  “Oh.” She paused. “You go?”

  “You can come if you want. Do you want to?”

  Lucy’s eyes lit up. “I go!”

  Dex smiled, finding he was relieved to hear that. Bringing her along would complicate his travels, but it seemed worth the risk. He trusted her more than any other person he’d run into. “Okay, good. It won’t be easy, though. We might have to fight wanderers. You okay with that?”

  “Wanderers?”

  “Uh, the monsters. Like we saw in that one office.” Dex imitated their movements.

  Lucy struck a fighting pose, holding the knife Dex had given her. “I fight them!”

  A twinge of guilt ran through him. What if she got hurt out there? She was at least safe here. Or was she? In a place where she had no name, only a number. A place where she got over-the-top upset about bad men. Maybe it was worth the risk to her just as much as it was to him.

  “We go now?”

  “Probably should.” The building seemed abandoned but they now had people after them. “We’re going to have to be really careful so we don’t get caught.”

  “Okay.”

  Dex went into the room he’d slept in and looked out the window. There was nobody outside, but the view was so limited from there. He stepped back into the hallway and waved Lucy to follow him. When they reached the front rooms, he gestured to a place for her to hide behind a desk. She did, and he tiptoed over to the large picture windows.

  Again, the grounds were clear. Everybody had to still be in the other building searching for them. It was doubtful they’d stay there long. The sooner he and Lucy left, the better. He walked the length of the two rooms again, double-checking the windows.

  All was still clear.

  He waved her over, and once she was by his side, he grasped the door handle. “I hope you can run.”

  “I fast.”

  “We go straight to the gate, then you follow me to the woods. Got that?”

  Lucy nodded with fierce determination in her eyes.

  Dex pulled open the door and let her out first. He closed the door behind him and took in the sweet fresh air. In the distance, a bell-like sound wailed. It had to have something to do with looking for them.

  “You ready to run?”

  “Run!”

  He readied his bow and arrows. “Keep your knife ready.”

  “Ready.”

  Dex burst into a run. To his surprise, Lucy actually kept up with him, and with bare feet, no less. He’d expected to need to slow down for her. He raced for the gate. It seemed farther away than he remembered.

  The bell-like noises continued screaming in the distance, seeming to get louder. Or maybe that was his nerves.

  Only about a hundred feet to the gate. They were almost there. That much closer to the protective walls of his old community. But first, they had to escape the confining walls of the fence.

  “There they are!”

  “Get them!”

  Dex turned to see a group of white-coats running from the building where he’d found Lucy.

  “Just keep going. Don’t stop!”

  He wanted to aim the arrows at the men, but they were too far away.

  “Bad men!”

  “Right. We need to get out of here.”

  The gate was about fifty feet away now, and the men continued shouting.

  Gunfire sounded.

  Pow! Pow!

  Bullets raced past Dex and Lucy, missing by several feet.

  The shots continued, and a few even came within a foot of them.

  Assuming they did escape, all the noise would alert every wanderer within hearing. All of them would already be making their way toward the hospital.

  He would be leading Lucy from one set of monsters to another.

  Gunfire continued ringing through the air.

  A bullet grazed by Dex’s head, barely missing. He grabbed Lucy’s hand and picked up his speed. The gate was almost within reach. More shots sounded.

  Why were they so concerned about him and Lucy? Ammunition was as valuable as food. Why not save it for the wanderers or groups of murderous people?

  They reached the gate. A bullet flew by Lucy. Dex pulled her closer to him and yanked the gate open. They ran through, and Dex shoved it open as far as it would go.

  Let the wanderers pile inside. The white-jackets deserved it for whatever they’d done to Lucy.

  More shots rang out as Dex and Lucy ran down the path toward the woods. Grunts and hisses—noises unique to the wanderers—came from within the woods.

  They were surrounded by bloodthirsty enemies.

  Chapter 18

  Dex feared the wanderers far less than any group of people. He turned to Lucy. “We’re going to have to fight in a minute. Hang onto your knife and don’t let go.”

  “Got it.”

  “And if you can, dig it into the wanderer’s—”

  “Head. Brain.”

  “Sounds like you know what you’re doing.”

  They made it into the woods. Most of the monster noises came from the left, so Dex turned right. Lucy followed, keeping up with him still. The plant life in front of them was overgrown. It was the perfect hiding spot, assuming they
could get underneath.

  Lucy jumped in front of him and cut vines out of the way in rapid motions. She crawled underneath, and Dex followed, impressed by her quick thinking. For someone with such limited verbal skills, she clearly made up for that with her intellect.

  They waited, their sides pressed against each other and breathing heavily. Footsteps and shouting grew louder. More shots rang through the air. The men wanted to bring out the wanderers. That was the only explanation for such brazen shooting. Either that, or they were extremely stupid, but that seemed unlikely. They had to want the wanderers to kill Dex and Lucy so they could go back to the hospital and not have to worry about them.

  Dex pressed some leaves out of the way and watched as the white-jackets ran by, just feet away from them. They kept going, not even slowing as they passed. He breathed a sigh of relief.

  “They gone?” Lucy whispered.

  “Yeah, but they’ll be back. And so will the wanderers, thanks to all their noise.”

  “Bad men.”

  “You’ve got that right.”

  “We go now?”

  He took a deep breath. “I think we’re better off waiting. Like I said, they’ll head back, and they’ve alerted every monster within hearing. We’re best off here, waiting.”

  “Okay.”

  They sat in silence for a few minutes. Dex dug some partially-squished berries from his pocket. “You want some?”

  “Thanks.” She took exactly half of them.

  “You can have them all.” He moved them closer to her.

  Lucy shook her head. “We share.”

  He didn’t eat them, wanting her to have them.

  Snap!

  Dex leaned forward, trying to see what he could of the path.

  Growl. Hiss-snarl.

  Wanderers were close, though he couldn’t see them. Dex dropped the rest of the berries into Lucy’s palm and readied an arrow into his bow. The leaves and vines rustled as he moved into place.

  Crack!

  He aimed his arrow as best he could through the overgrown plant life surrounding them. No monsters were in view, and that made his heart race. He couldn’t kill them if he didn’t know where the creatures were, but they might be able to sniff him and Lucy out.

  Another gunshot rang out through the air.

  Or the wanderers would just follow the noise and attack the white-coats. That worked, too. They were the ones dumb enough to draw so much attention to themselves.