Winter's Awakening: The Metahumans Emerge (Winter's Saga #1)

by Karen Luellen

  And then I remembered where I was, and why my leg hurt like heck, and why I felt incredibly weak. And I remembered Maze bursting in the room and saving my life from that meta-monster. I turned to where I last saw Gavil and noted that he wasn’t moving. Thank goodness!

  “Oh, Maze…you crazy, fool! You wonderful amazing coyote! Thank you for saving me. ‘Course it would have been nice if you had arrived a few minutes sooner, but …” and I laughed, despite my pain, at his facial expression.

  His head tilted to one side, ears perked straight up and his floppy ol’ tongue lolled out. “You completely disobeyed me. I told you to stay in the motel room and out of harm’s way. You could have been badly hurt by that guy if you hadn’t surprised him the way you did.

  “You ran miles and miles to find me, didn’t you? You clever boy! I don’t know if I should be scolding you or hugging you!” And with that, I wrapped my weak arms around my knight in furry armor. “You’re the best friend a girl could ever have, Maze. I love you.”

  And then my whole world went BOOM!

  What in the heck was THAT? More explosions!

  We had to get out of the building, and quick. I felt the floor under me shake and the walls seemed to vibrate in their spots as if trying to uproot themselves and fly away.

  “Come on Maze, we gotta get out of here.” I tried to stand and then caught myself on the edge of the table before collapsing from the shooting pain. Warm wetness trickled down my leg and I knew I was losing even more blood. Darn it! I couldn’t walk at all.

  Maze started whining as if completely understanding the gravity of this moment. Here he had come all this way to save me for an extra five minutes before a building collapsed on both of us. Ugh!

  I sat on the floor and tried to drag myself with my arms. That only got me a yard closer to the door. My body hurt so badly, I just wanted to curl up in a fetal position and wish it all away.

  Maze watched me with his warm yellow eyes. “Go on, Maze! Get out of here. Go downstairs and get help.” I said to the coyote logically. Only he wasn’t listening to me anymore. He looked at me with an expression that read, are you kidding me? After you leave me back at the motel, and put yourself in danger. I escape and rescue you. Now you want me to leave you again? No way, kid. We’re doing this my way.

  Then he sat his butt right next to me and let loose one heck of a howl.

  I rolled my eyes out of frustration at my stubborn coyote. No more cute little whimpers coming from my furry friend. No, Maze howled loud enough for our goats back at the ranch to hear. It was deafening! And as if that weren’t annoying enough, he started barking between howls.

  Oh, good grief. If I’m going to die, at least let me do it in peace, you silly, stubborn, noise-maker! I thought to myself, only half kidding.

  But even through the ear piercing show of loyalty my Maze was putting on for me, I felt a voice calling from out in the hall.

  Chapter 56 Evan, Meg and Maze

  “Meg, are you there! Maze?” Evan called.

  “Oh, thank God! Evan! We’re in here! Evan!”

  Evan came running into the room and looked around for his sister. “Meg, where are you?”

  “I’m down here, behind the desk. I can’t walk on my own, Evan. And we need to get out of the building, like five minutes ago!”

  “Good grief, Meg! What did you do to your leg?” Evan asked staring at all the gore.

  “I tripped and fell on a toothpick, what the heck do you think? I was fighting that guy over there,” I motioned over toward the meta-monster, “and he decided to go excavating in my thigh.” I was so relieved to see my brother that the pain was more manageable … at least, as long as I didn’t move.

  Evan was ripping off a piece of cloth from the elegant black curtains and making a tourniquet for my leg. He positioned it right above the wound and tied a good and tight knot trying to reduce the blood loss. I kept talking as he worked, trying to be brave through his pinching and tugging.

  “Just as that guy, who’s a super strong Meta by the way, was about to finish me off, Maze came out of nowhere and saved me.”

  Maze whined at the sound of his name. Yeah, he knew I was singing his praises.

  Glory-hungry fur ball, I thought affectionately.

  “Oh, my goodness, Evan. I’ve been so happy to see you I haven’t asked the most important question: Where are Alik and Mom?”

  “Alik is looking for her right now in that southeast building. When you didn’t show up on schedule, he sent me to come find you.”

  “What happened to Williams?” Evan asked, still bandaging my leg as well as possible.

  “He escaped while that guy beat the tar out of me.”

  “At least you’re alive…”

  “For now, we gotta get out of this building. What was up with the additional explosions, by the way?”

  “I’ll tell you my theory later. Meg, I’m going to have to carry you. You can’t walk on this leg at all.”

  “Tell me something I don’t already know.” I grimaced as he easily lifted me off the floor. It’s a good thing Evan is as strong as at least three adult men.

  The room spun. I hope that was just me, because if the room were really spinning, we’d both be screwed. Maze whined to tell me he was right beside us.

  “Keep talking Meg. I need you to stay awake for me. So keep talking.”

  “Awake?” I yawned. “Now that you mention it, I am really sleepy.”

  “Your body is close to going into shock from the loss of blood.” Evan said this sentence in the same tone one might use when reading off the weather forecast for the day: Today’s skies will be partly cloudy with a slight chance for rain in the afternoon.

  I started giggling at him. Evan frowned at me, probably thinking I’d completely lost it. He was speaking, so I told myself to pay attention.

  “…have to take the stairs. The elevators are not safe.”

  The further we went, the more smoke there was. Apparently, whatever exploded had done so on the bottom floor. Too bad, because that’s exactly where we needed to go. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I closed my eyes with a blissful sigh. I was so tired. Just a little nap, that’s all I needed.

  “Meg…come on Megglet. Stay with me.” Evan pleaded.

  At hearing Evan call me “Megglet,” I forced my eyes open just a bit. That was mom’s pet name for me. I missed mom so much, and I must have been mumbling that because I heard Evan say, “I know Meg, I miss her too. Alik must have found her by now and has gotten her to safety. Just stay awake, okay. Mom will want to talk to us when we get outside. You have to stay awake to talk with Mom, Meg….MEG!” But it was too late. My body hung limp in my little brother’s strong arms. I had gone into shock and blacked out.

  Chapter 57 Alik and Mom

  Once the explosions stopped, Alik sat up and tried to see what was hit through the clouds of dust around him. He felt a cold breeze drift across his face. There, not twenty yards away, was a large gaping hole in the side of the building. He could see the lights of the emergency vehicles outside. He could feel the cold night air pouring in pushing the dust around and causing him to shiver. Though he didn’t know if he was shivering from cold, shock or joy. Maybe all three.

  He looked down at his mother. She looked so pale, so peaceful, and that scared the heck out of him. He picked her up as gently as possible and started running toward the opening.

  “HELP! HELP! MY MOM NEEDS A DOCTOR!” Alik yelled. From the ambulance, three paramedics ran toward them with a stretcher. Alik kept moving away from the buildings fearing another round of explosions. They helped Alik put his mother on the stretcher and even as one of them rolled her further away from the burning buildings, the other two were working on her.

  “Is she gonna be okay?” Alik’s voice cracked with emotion.

  He saw the two who were taking her vitals exchange a look before one of them spoke. “We’re going to do everything we can to save your Mom, son. She’s badly hurt but we’re not giving up
, okay?”

  Tears were spilling down Alik’s cheeks as he watched them load her into the ambulance and begin their stabilizing techniques. A warming blanket was put on her body and an IV was started.

  Another paramedic came up to Alik trying to get him to lie down on a stretcher, too. He would have to be treated for a gaping head wound with possible concussion and smoke inhalation. Not a good mix.

  Alik didn’t care what they did to him as long as he could stay next to his mom as they did it. If he could look over at her, reach out and touch her, they could do whatever they wanted to him. He just wanted to be with his mom.

  He was put on a stretcher next to his mother. Just before he passed out from his raging headache, he saw them put a bag to her face and start to breathe for her.

  Oh, please God, was his last conscious thought.

  Chapter 58 Find a Way Out

  Evan reached the bottom of the seven-story building and frantically looked around for an exit. The front entrance was completely blocked by huge debris from the explosions.

  He remembered there were connecting corridors to each of the four smaller buildings, but it was dark and smoky and he was worried about tripping on something and dropping Meg.

  “Maze, buddy, we need your help,” Evan pleaded. “Find a way out, Maze. I need you to find a way for me to get Meg out of here.” Evan looked into the coyote’s soft yellow eyes.

  And with a quick bark, Maze bolted. Evan looked down at his sister in his arms. “I just sent Maze to find us a way out. I hope he understood me because without him, we’re in trouble.”

  As he continued making his way through the darkness looking for a lighted “exit” sign, Evan wondered why there were no fire sprinklers going off. Why would you have all of this important research here and not have multiple fire extinguishing mechanisms? Something wasn’t right.

  Not two minutes had passed before Evan’s thoughts were interrupted by Maze howling. He carefully followed the sound of Maze’s voice. He was so turned around after walking in the dark; he honestly didn’t know which direction he was heading. He had to completely trust Maze to lead them to safety.

  Evan was mumbling to himself, “Maze if you found a way out for us, I’m getting you the biggest steak you’ve ever seen.” And just as he finished his sentence, Evan felt cold air blow in toward him. Maze barked happily at an opening in the wall. “You did it, Maze! You’re awesome!”

  Evan was so thankful to see emergency vehicles that he nearly cried. Nearly.

  Exiting the building with Maze at his heels, Evan started to yell, “HELP, Help! My sister’s hurt! Help!”

  Two paramedics came running pushing a stretcher. Evan laid his sister down gently on it and watched as the professionals tended to her. He felt so much relief to have gotten his big sister to safety, but in his mind he was calculating how much blood she possibly lost.

  Even as he was thinking it, one of the paramedics said, “She’s lost a lot of blood. We need to get her some O-Neg stat!”

  Evan’s mind raced. If he and his siblings had been treated with a mind altering formula that hyper developed their bodies and intellect, then maybe they had different blood than regular people. Maybe regular blood would hurt Meg, not help her.

  “She can have mine. She’s my sister and we have the same rare blood type. Take my blood and give it to her.” Evan said all this with a calmness in his voice that made the adults around him stop and stare.

  “Get in the ambulance; we’re taking her to Saint Frances Medical Center. We can get your blood transfusion there,” the paramedic said and finished pushing my sister’s stretcher into the rig. Evan climbed in next, and just before the doors were slammed shut, Maze jumped into the ambulance. He stood protectively next to Meg’s unconscious body. The paramedics looked at each other with wide eyes.

  “There’s a coyote in here,” one of the paramedics whispered.

  “He’s with us,” Evan said patting the coyote’s soft fur. Maze let out a soft whimper and licked his hand.

  Not willing to argue, the paramedics signaled the driver to move. Moments later they were speeding down the highway with lights and sirens blaring.

  Chapter 59 Saint Frances

  The emergency room was busy though all other ambulances had been diverted to surrounding hospitals while St. Frances took all the injured from The Institute’s explosions.

  The first ambulance rig to arrive carried a female in her forties and a male who looked mid-teens. The paramedics only knew that they were mother and son but had no other identification or background information to share with the emergency staff.

  The female had suffered an unbelievable amount of damage. The trauma looked to have happened well before the blasts tonight, so the doctors were already suspecting foul play. They got right to work on repairing her ruptured organs and setting her broken bones. Jane Doe, because that’s what they call female patients who arrive with no identification, was holding on to life, but barely.

  The male, John Doe (male version of “Jane Doe”), was given a CT scan and treated for a concussion. He was also sedated, hydrated and given oxygen to help with the effects of smoke inhalation.

  Ten minutes after the first rig arrived, a second pulled up to St. Frances’ emergency room doors. Out jumped what looked like to the residents, nurses, and staff to be a coyote. But after working in the ER for all these years, these professionals were pretty tough to surprise. They focused not on the nearly sixty-pound dog that jumped out of the ambulance, but on the young people inside.

  A female named Meg Winter was badly bruised and had several broken ribs. But most urgently, she was suffering from a large knife wound in the left thigh and had lost a significant amount of blood.

  Her brother, Evan Winter, insisted that they had the same rare blood type and that he be her direct donor should she need a transfusion. A quick test confirmed the boy’s claim, so they set Evan up immediately to draw his blood. As one nurse worked on Evan, two nurses and a doctor worked on Meg.

  “Were you the one who put this tourniquet on?” the ER doctor asked Evan.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Well, son. You probably saved your sister’s life by doing that. She would have lost too much blood otherwise. Well done.”

  “Thank you, sir. I am well read on all first aid medical lifesaving techniques.”

  The doctor glanced up at Evan who was watching him with keen, curious eyes. “Have you ever thought about becoming a doctor?”

  “Yes, sir. Well, a scientist. Like my mother, Dr. Margo Winter.”

  “Your mother’s name is Margo?” The doctor stopped briefly and looked up at Evan.

  Holy cow, his mom! Alik! “My mom and brother were at The Institute too. Have they been brought in yet?” Evan tried to stay calm knowing the needle drawing his blood would work more efficiently if he held still.

  “We’ll have someone check to see who else was brought in. Betty, do you mind looking into that for Mr. Winter?” The doctor said all this without looking up from Meg’s wound.

  “Right away, doctor,” Nurse Betty responded to the obviously respected physician. She squeezed Evan’s shoulder encouragingly as she walked out the room.

  “Margo is your mother? She used to work at The Institute, right?” The doctor sounded like he was fishing, and Evan was not about to take the bait.

  “I’m feeling a little dizzy,” he said changing the subject.

  Chapter 60 Flight 217 From Kansas

  He had received a phone call from Alik Winter earlier this afternoon warning him of what was to happen that night and asking him if he would help.

  Alik sounded scared but determined and nothing Dr. Andrews said would sway him from his plan to save his mom.

  He and Cole grabbed the first flight out of Kansas to LAX. The children needed him, and he was going to be there for them.

  The good doctor and his son had just climbed into a rental car when they heard the news flash on the local radio station.

  �
�Just after 5pm this evening The Institute of Neurobiological Studies in Upland, California suffered a series of explosions causing extensive damage. Most employees had already left the buildings by the time the blasts hit, but there were a handful of victims who have been taken to St. Frances Medical Center for treatment. No word yet on the extent of those injuries. Dr. Kenneth Williams, noted scientist and Chief Executive Officer of The Institute, could not be reached for comment. We’ll keep you informed with more details as they’re brought to our attention. This is Kat Kirpatrick for 106.1FM.”

  Dr. Andrews was already leaning over the car’s GPS typing in St. Frances and getting directions.

  “Do you think they’re okay, dad?” Cole asked, truly worried about his friends.

  “I don’t know son. I’ll make some phone calls as we drive. We’ll see what we can find out. The computer says drive time from here is fifty-four minutes. We’ll get there as fast as we can.”

  Cole’s brows were furrowed. “Why did they have to do this, dad? Why did all this stuff have to happen to them? They’re just kids like me! Just three kids who wanted their mom back.” Cole was trying hard not to cry.

  “You’re right. None of this was fair or right. Those children didn’t deserve to have their lives altered by Dr. Williams when they were babies and they sure as heck didn’t deserve to have their mom stolen away from them now. Their mom is their whole world, all they’ve ever known. They feel she’s the only person who ever loved them. If you think about it from their point of view, they had no choice. They had to go fight to get her back.” Dr. Andrew’s voice was calming to Cole.