by Maxey, Phil
The girl looked at her captor with conceit. “I’ll break another one!”
Five or so minutes before, Jess had gone to the room to check on the bottles. A feeling she couldn’t explain made her return there. Just to make sure. It had been her second trip to confirm the floorboard was in place during the morning, but this time she stumbled upon Agatha holding one of the small phials in her hand, which she promptly dropped on being discovered, then tried to run out, but Jess blocked her way, causing the girl to run back near the window and grab another of the bottles.
The whole drama was over within seconds and despite Jess’s pleading for the girl to put the bottle down, her explanations of what they were, fell on deaf ears.
What am I going to do… What am I going to do… They’re know… She’ll tell them… Isiah will kill us…
Luckily Landon had received and from his change of tone, understood the secret message they had settled upon if there was an emergency. She knew she couldn’t trust the airwaves. The former farm manager might not have been schooled in genetics and microbiology, but he wasn’t stupid. He had the kind of intelligence that you would miss if you weren’t paying attention. But Jess had been paying attention to the man in charge, and she had no doubt he had someone listening to the messages being sent back and forth across the radios being used. She was also sure even before finding Agatha snooping that the newcomers were being spied on. It was what she would have done if she were in charge. Let her and Landon feel welcome, but secretly work to find out if they could be trusted. If they would accept you were the boss, or… not.
A knock came from the locked door behind her, making her jump.
“Can I go outside?” said Josh
Jess looked at Agatha, not knowing if the child was going to shout out or not, but instead she remained quiet. That was something.
“What’s going on in there?” continued Josh.
“Ah, nothing. I’m just trying to get some rest… er… no you can’t go out. Read a book or something.” Jess’s eyes remained fixed on the kid across the room and the bottle in her hand.
He’ll kill us… She’s going to tell him… But… What can we do… I have to let her go… I can’t…
Josh’s sigh could be heard through the old door. “Okay…” His footsteps faded.
A door opened downstairs somewhere and anger flushed through her.
Josh! I said you couldn’t… Maybe that’s someone else… Isiah? One of his—
The planks on the stairs creaked again, this time more pronounced and were quickly followed by a heavy knock on the door. “It’s me.”
Her heart jumped and she felt a rush of relief in equal measure. “Is there anyone with you? Are you alone?” she said to Landon.
“I’m alone. Everyone else is downstairs.”
She pulled the door open then pulled him inside and closed it in one movement. His shock at how quick she moved and her strength lasted as long as it took him to take in the scene in the bedroom. He looked between the child and his wife. “What’s going on?”
“She found the bottles!” Jess’s words were hushed but still full of panic.
He looked at the broken pieces of glass and the small dark patch on the dusty wooden boards, then back to Jess. He started to talk, but then looked away, back to the child, sweeping his hand through his hair, shaking his head.
“You know what will happen if she tells him, Landon. We’re all dead. You know they kill children as well if they’re not immune!”
“She’s a kid, Jess. This is not her fault. How do you know she’s spying for anyone? Maybe she just found them?”
Jess’s head flicked back to Agatha. “She’s been watching me. At first I thought it was just her being cautious about us. But then I found her in here, with one of the bottles… which is now broken. One less dose!” Agatha’s eyes widened. “She’s been spying on us for Isiah!”
“I’m not spying for Isiah!”
“Yeah, you already said, but I caught you!”
Something felt off to Landon. He had interrogated almost thirty suspects during his short time as a detective, and he knew how people acted when being accused. Some would completely feign innocence, becoming overly relaxed, others would be more emotional. But the kid in front of him was disagreeing with what Jess was accusing her of, in a manner which spoke of something true. He stepped closer to her, making her move even closer to the window behind her. “No one’s going to hurt you. It doesn’t matter that you were caught in here. We just want to know what you were doing in our room and why you have these bottles?”
“I hate Isiah!” shouted Agatha. “He…” Tears started to flow from her eyes.
“It’s okay, you can tell us… We’re no friend to him either…” He could feel Jess’s eyes on him, but ignored her.
Agatha looked up with red eyes. “He killed our friend… Because he wasn’t like us… Isiah said he would become a monster. So he took him away and we never saw him again!”
As if she had emerged from a pool of ice cold water, an idea dawned in Jess’s mind, but with it came guilt and confusion. “I… don’t understand… then why have you been spying on us? Why were you in this room?”
“Gregg asked me to watch you! He said he wanted to know if you were good people! If you could be trusted!”
Jess fell back against a chest of drawers. Her legs felt weak. She had presumed the worst and let it consume her.
“Gregg doesn’t like Isiah, does he?” said Landon. Agatha shook her head, glumly. He looked back to Jess. “You were right, earlier. There are more things coming. We have to leave before the town is completely surrounded.”
“Take us with you!”
“I’m sorry,” said Jess. “I thought you were watching us for Isiah. That you would tell him.”
Now it was the kid’s turn to look confused. She glanced at the bottle in her hand. “What is this stuff? Why is it so important?”
Ignoring the question, Landon asked his own. “Does Gregg want to leave?”
“I… don’t know. I think he wants to be in charge, but he’s scared of Isiah. But I won’t tell him about you wanting to leave… or these bottles, if you take us with you.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
1: 36 p.m. Main Street. Boarding house.
Jess stood at the head of the large dining table, which was similarly attended as before, but this time the pressure at the front of her skull had lifted slightly, being replaced with determination.
Arlo pointed at the arrangement of salt and pepper shakers, together with cups and pieces of cutlery. “This is my best estimation of the town’s layout. The buildings around us, the wagons outside. The plastic beads are the position of Isiah’s men.”
Landon chewed on a health breakfast bar then smiled, looking to Jess and Meg. “He was keeping track of where all of them were, without telling me.”
“Yeah well, I figured if things went bad we would need a way out. And knowing where Isiah placed his scouts would be a good thing to know.” He looked back at the makeshift model. “So yeah, you can see there are about fourteen of his people on the roofs around us, along the street outside. Luckily we’re near the southernmost point.” He pointed at a red and green bead. “Which is covered by two of his people.”
“There are also watchers further out,” said Landon, pointing to a bottle representing the water tower. “Another there, which can see for miles to the south and west. I presume he’s got a few more to the west and north. Covering the whole surrounding area and town.”
“Not, the whole town…” said Arlo. He moved around the table, pointing to the southwestern point, where a collection of brown and beige coffee mugs sat. “Here are homes and good tree cover. If we can get to these roads, they won’t see us even if they are looking in that direction.”
Landon nodded. “Should be vehicles outside those homes as well.”
“And then we can leave?,” said Toby. He was stood alongside Agatha, Helen, Josh, Sam and Tye.
; Landon smiled with a nod. “That’s the plan.”
“Once it’s dark,” said Meg. “We should leave in small groups. A few kids to one adult.” She looked at Jess who looked unsure. “You don’t agree?”
“If one of the groups get caught… Maybe it’s better we all go at once.”
Landon nodded. “We all make it… or we all don’t.”
“Um…”
Everyone looked at the quietest child around the table. “Yes, Tye?” said Jess.
“Maybe… we do something and it makes all the people look at it, and then we can—”
“Yes!” said Arlo. He ran around the table again, crouching, looking at his miniature construction from different angles. “Great idea. A distraction.”
“What if they thought they were being attacked by the things from the north?” said Sam.
“And we all slip out through the south,” said Landon. “We find a vehicle, then head out over a track. Staying away from the highway, where the things… are…”
For most around the table the creatures had momentarily been forgotten. Replaced with the more immediate problem, but now that the prospect of leaving the security of the town was becoming real, so were the dangers beyond it again. Jess put her hand around her daughter’s shoulder who she noticed was shivering. Landon joined her.
He looked at Arlo. “I’m trusting you to come up with a plan to get us all out.”
The older man nodded, looking back to the table. His mind already in motion.
“Where do we all go once we leave this town?” said Josh. It was an obvious question to which none of the adults had an honest answer.
“Not to a big town, that’s for sure,” said Arlo, writing notes in a small, ragged writing pad.
Landon nodded. “Somewhere out in the middle of nowhere.” He looked at his son and smiled. “We just need to ride this thing out for a few more days. We’ll find a place, don’t worry.”
Jess looked at her watch. “It will be dark around 4:30. So we all need to be ready to—” She heard the footsteps before most of the others, but still couldn’t react in time. A knock came at the front door.
“Shit!” said Arlo, scrambling to rearrange the items on the table, while scattering the beads.
Meg had already moved to the front window and looked through the drapes. “It’s Gregg…” The older man was standing on the porch, his hat in one hand, a flower in another. He swept his hand through what remained of his hair. She sighed. “Aw, hell.”
“What?” said Jess.
“I think he’s here to see me. Everyone be calm. I’ll get rid of him.” As each of them tried to think of what behaving ‘normal’ would be, she walked into the hallway and cleared her mind of monsters and escape plans, then opened the door. “Oh, Gregg,” she said, trying to seem surprised. “Is everything okay?” She tried not to look at the white flower.
He smiled, briefly looked down, then held the plant up. “Got you this. Saw it in a garden. Looks real nice. Thought maybe it could brighten the place up.” He handed it to her.
“Umm… thank you. Looks…” She looked back at him while he looked left and right along the street.
“Can I come in? There’s stuff I need to say.”
Oh hell.
She briefly looked behind her. “I… really don’t…”
“It’s real important.”
His expression had changed from a possible suitor to a man with grave concerns. She nodded and took a step back, allowing him to walk inside. She hoped those in the dining room had heard the sound of his boots on the hardwood floor.
He looked across the paintings and photos positioned across the striped papered walls. “Real smart place. Would make a good home…” Knocks and shuffling sounds came from the door to the dining room. “Maybe we could go somewhere private?”
“Oh, well—”
The dining room door opened and Josh and Agatha ran out, laughing, then ran up the stairs. Jess came out after them. “Don’t run!” she shouted, then smiled on seeing the visitor. “Hello again. Come to see Meg?” The older woman’s awkwardness would have made Jess chuckle if the situation wasn’t so serious, but then the man in the hallway surprised them both.
“Actually, I could do with saying what I need to say, to you as well.”
Landon appeared, standing in the doorway. “What is it?” he said to Gregg.
“You alone in this house? Just your people?”
They all nodded.
“I thought you should know that Isiah got it in for all of ya. He don’t like ya.” Gregg looked down into his hat. “I don’t know why, but he think’s you’re holding out on him. Not telling him the truth about something… and he’s not a man you want thinking like that. I’ve seen him do… some bad things to people… over the years… So…” He looked back to those around him. “I’m here to say you need to leave. I know there are—”
“We’ll leave when it gets dark,” said Jess.
He looked at her, shocked. “Today?”
“Well, you said we should go. That he’s a bad man. So we’ll leave today.”
He nodded. “It’s probably for the best… problem is, he’s been keeping a close eye on this place. The two he’s got on the roofs outside are not just looking out for the creatures, they’ve been told to watch what you folks get up to as well. They’re going to know if you all suddenly leave.”
“We know about Agatha…” said Jess.
“Oh…” An awkward pause settled amongst them before he continued. “I needed to know if you could be trusted…”
“They’re taking us with them,” said the young girl, standing on the topmost step of the stairs.
Gregg looked up and smiled, nodding, then looked back to Jess. “I knew you were good people. Had a feeling.”
“Help us…” said Meg. She knew it was a blatant abuse of whatever he felt for her, but she didn’t care. Between the mutants outside and the monster inside, they needed help.
He drew his fingers across the gray bristles on his chin.
Landon took a step forward. “Are all the people on the roof’s loyal to him?”
“Most… not all. Warren might be persuaded to look the other way, but he’s posted way out there on that water tower.”
Arlo appeared at Landon’s side. “We just need the man on the roof, next door, replaced. We can slip out the back, through the gate. Just need ten minutes and we’ll be gone.”
Gregg nodded. “Reckon I can convince Warren to do that.”
“What’s Isiah going to do, when he knows we’re gone?” said Landon.
Gregg smiled. “Meh… no need to worry about little old me. Me and him go way back. He ain’t gonna do anything to me, even if he thinks I helped. Well, I better be on my way.” He turned and walked to the door.
“Umm…” said Meg.
He turned around.
She held up the flower. “This is real nice. Thank you.”
He smiled with a nod, placing his hat back on and left.
CHAPTER TWELVE
3: 41 p.m. Main Street. Boarding house.
A pale blue light bathed those inside the boardinghouse’s hallway, as the shadows lengthened outside.
Jess buttoned the top of Helen’s pink winter jacket, then pattered her head. She hoped the young girl didn’t notice her shaking fingers. “You’re now, monster proof!”
The girl giggled, her expression then quickly becoming serious. “Will there be cake where we are going?”
Jess placed a woolen hat on her head. “Yes. Lots of cakes. And if not—”
“Don’t say you’ll make one,” said Sam, putting on her own winter jacket. She looked at the girl. “You don’t want her to make one.”
Jess stood, frowning. “I make great cakes.”
Meg appeared at the stop of the stairs, descending with the other children in tow. She looked at Landon who came out of the dining room, his rifle over his shoulder. “Any word from Gregg?” she said.
He shook his head
then looked through the small glass panels on the front door to the dissolving daylight. “Still got a bit of time before it’s completely dark.”
Arlo appeared behind him, his coat fastened, his pack already over one shoulder. He pointed to his head. “I got the route all in here. No chance of getting lost.”
“We’ll need to find a—” Static came from Landon’s radio. His heart skipped then fell flat on hearing the voice that came through the speaker.
“Get to the church at the top of Main,” said Isiah, not bothering to properly sign his message off.
Those in the hallway were all holding their breaths.
Landon clicked on the talk button. “I’m in the middle of someth—”
“There’s movement north of the church,” continued Isiah. “You want some of my people to come and get you?”
Landon let out a breath, looking at his wife. He shook his head. “No, no. I’m on my way.” The feeling of deflation was palpable amongst those in the gloom.
“Could Gregg—”
Meg shook her head, interrupting Arlo. “No, I believe him when he said he would help us.”
“Then?”
“It doesn’t matter. There’s nothing we can do about it now. I’ll go check out what they’re seeing north of the church, then get back here as quick as I can, but—”
“No! We won’t leave without you!”
Landon looked at his wife. “Jess. This might be the only chance you get. That Josh and Sam get…”
Jess had the expression he had seen a few times throughout his marriage. One which there was no arguing with, but he had to anyway. He moved closer to her, as he did she shook her head. “If you get a message from Gregg, saying Warren is in position. Then you go.”
She started to reply but her throat tightened, her eyes becoming moist. She knew he was right.
He drew her into him, hugging her tight. “You go if you get the chance. I’ll catch up.”
