That last part shouldn’t have made any sense.
Then again, what did make sense?
Nothing.
Not a goddamn thing.
They had lights, but nothing to see with. Just each other and the seemingly haphazardly-put-together room. This prison.
How had she gotten here?
Who had brought her here?
Why had they done so?
Someone had gone to great pains to remove her from Anton’s warehouse (and Cole) and brought her here. That same someone had done it to the others as well. Seven people, from seven different states. Was that on purpose? Or just coincidence?
Emily didn’t believe in coincidences.
Stacy and Fisher had gotten cozier since everyone had gotten lost in their own thoughts. The young woman was resting her head against his broad shoulder and might have fallen asleep. She hadn’t opened her eyes for a few minutes. Jeff was still hiding behind his bent knees—Emily wondered how long he could keep up that position before his joints ached; then again, he was just a kid—while Paul continued to stare up at the ceiling as if he could find a way out if he looked long and hard enough. Belinda and Klein remained near each other, but there wasn’t the closeness between them that Stacy and Fisher had apparently developed.
“Well, this sucks.” That was Jeff, finally breaking the silence. The teenager unfurled his long legs and splayed them on the hard floor. “Anyone wanna play charades?”
Paul chuckled. “You want to play charades?”
“Sure. Nothing else to do.”
“I’m not very good at charades,” Belinda said, smiling slightly.
“Me neither,” Klein said.
“I’m pretty good,” Fisher said.
Stacy lifted her head off Fisher’s shoulder and yawned. “I’m in.”
“Great,” Jeff said. “I’ll start.”
The teenager got up and stretched. It took a while, considering how long he’d been curled up on the floor. Emily thought she could hear joints crackling—
The clack from slightly behind and to the left of Emily startled her.
It startled the others, too.
Fisher, sitting directly across from Emily, was the first one to jump up to his feet. Stacy, who’d been sitting next to him, was so shocked by the big man’s surprisingly quick reaction that she almost tipped over onto her side. A hard thing to do since she was sitting at the time.
Emily, for her part, scrambled to her feet, turning and taking two, then three quick steps back as she did so. Her eyes zeroed in on the steel-plated door, expecting to suddenly find it wide open.
But it wasn’t.
Instead, a small, rectangular opening had appeared in the center, about two-thirds of the way up. It formed some kind of slot that she hadn’t noticed earlier had been closed. Or maybe she hadn’t noticed because it hadn’t been there before. Was that possible?
Anything was possible. Anything.
Emily heard footsteps behind and to the sides of her. The others were moving to get a better look. One of them was Fisher, whose breath she could feel pushing against the back of her neck. She wanted to turn around and tell him to give her space, but didn’t. He, like the others, had every right to gather in front of the door and see what was happening just as much as she did.
The small opening looked like a mail slot—about 8 inches wide and 3 inches high—and there was a sea of black on the other side, as if she were looking through a straw at a wide, dark ocean. She expected to hear something that reminded her of the outside world coming through, but there was none of that.
There was just…darkness.
…and silence.
“Now that’s not spooky at all,” Jeff said from somewhere to her right.
“That’s pretty spooky to me,” Belinda said on her left.
“I was being funny.”
“This is no time for that, son,” Paul said.
“Everyone’s a critic.”
“Shhh,” Fisher said. “I’m trying to listen.”
“To what?” Klein asked.
“I don’t know. That’s why I said trying to listen.”
Emily wished they’d all shut the hell up so she could concentrate. There was a total lack of anything coming from the other side of the rectangular opening that was disturbing. Not that everything wasn’t already, but this added another level to what already existed.
A heavy presence appeared to her right just before Fisher rounded her frozen form to get a better look. She thought about reaching out to grab him, to tell him to hang back until they knew what was happening, just to be safe, but didn’t.
She needed to know, just as Fisher did, and it was better he find out than her. It wasn’t a particularly pleasant thought on her part, but Emily had learned long ago that sometimes you didn’t always have to take the risks, especially when there was a big, strong man around to do it for you.
Besides, she had a baby to think about.
“Be careful,” Stacy said from somewhere in the back.
“Hang back, everyone,” Fisher said as he moved closer to the door. He didn’t have to really bend, but he leaned in anyway to see straight out the slot in front of him without getting right up next to it.
“Man, be careful,” Jeff said. “No telling what’s out there.”
“I said shhh,” Fisher said.
He turned around and glared at them. At Jeff, mostly. Fisher didn’t look especially menacing with his bruised and purple nose, but he was the biggest one in the room by far, and that still counted for something.
“Hang back. Let me see what’s out there,” the man said. “Let me deal with this.”
No one said a word as Fisher turned back around and walked closer to the door. No one spoke, but Emily could hear their noticeably quickened breathing and heartbeats. She assumed she was similarly affected, but couldn’t be sure. She was too focused on Fisher as he got closer, and closer still, to the opening.
She was reminded of something from a horror movie. The only thing left was for an alien parasite to leap through the hole and clamp down on Fisher’s face, dooming the big man. Fisher would then scream as he viciously thrashed about, trying to get the creature off him before it could burrow into his skull and then the brain on the other side.
All those things flashed across her mind’s eye, but Emily kept quiet. She needed to know. Just as the others did. And if Fisher was volunteering—nay, demanding that he be the one to find out—then who was she to argue?
“God, Fisher, be careful,” Stacy finally said, her voice coming through as barely a whisper.
Fisher held up one hand, either to acknowledge her worry or to silence her, as he finally reached the door and leaned in even closer to the opening. The big man pressed one palm against the steel door and peered out.
Emily held her breath. So did everyone around her. No one—not Paul and Jeff to her right, or Klein and Belinda to her left—had ventured past the invisible line that stretched out from Emily’s shoulders. Stacy was still somewhere behind her, not that she glanced back to confirm.
They watched Fisher look out through the hole. Which he did for, seemingly, endless hours.
Finally, Fisher pulled back from the opening and straightened up before turning around to look at them.
“Well?” Klein said. “What do you see?”
“Nothing,” Fisher said.
“What do you mean, ‘nothing?’”
Fisher shook his head. “Nothing. I don’t see a damn thing.”
“You must see something.”
“I don’t.”
“You blind?”
“Not the last time I checked,” Fisher said. He narrowed his eyes back at Klein, as if daring the other man to keep their back-and-forth going.
“Let me see,” Klein said and hurried forward to get a look. Fisher moved away to let him access the door and look out.
“What a dud,” Jeff said.
“What were you expecting?” Paul asked.
&
nbsp; “I dunno. Something exciting, maybe?”
“I think, in this case, a lack of excitement is just what the doctor ordered. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve had enough excitement to last a few lifetimes.”
“But there can’t be nothing out there,” Belinda said. “Right?”
“I wouldn’t think so,” Paul said. “But then, nothing about any of this makes any sense. I mean, nothing was making sense before, but, well…” He paused briefly, before continuing. “I thought things couldn’t get any worse. This proves me wrong.”
“Hey, at least no psycho with bloodshot eyes are trying to murder us,” Jeff said. “I’ll take this over that any day of the week.”
“You have a point, son,” Paul said.
“It’s been known to happen,” the kid said.
“Klein?” Belinda said. She’d taken a step forward, just enough that Emily could finally see her out of the corner of one eye. “What do you see?”
Klein pulled his head away from the door, before turning around and shaking his head at them. “He’s right. There’s nothing out there.”
“I told you,” Fisher said.
“How is that possible?” Paul asked.
“I don’t know, old timer. It just is.”
“There’s nothing?” Belinda said.
“Nothing,” Klein said. He didn’t bother to hide the confusion on his face.
“You mean, it’s dark out there?” Stacy asked.
“Yes,” Klein said. “Sort of.” He glanced at Fisher, standing next to him. “It’s a little hard to explain.”
“There’s just…nothing out there,” Fisher said. From the expression on his face, Emily could see he was still trying to figure out what he’d seen. Or, in this case, not seen.
That did it. Emily fought through her caution and moved over to them. The two men parted for her, which was surprising because she had expected at least one of them to hold her back because it might have been “too dangerous.” She wondered if they would have done exactly that to Stacy or Belinda; maybe both men were still smarting from her attack on them earlier.
She leaned toward the slot and peeked out.
There was nothing out there but a sea of black, just as Klein and Fisher had said. She understood now why they’d seemed so perplexed by what they’d not seen. The lack of something—anything—made absolutely no sense. There had to be something out there.
Didn’t there?
“Emily?” Stacy asked.
She pulled slightly back. “They’re right. It’s pitch black. Like looking into a universe without stars.”
“Wow, that’s some imagery,” Paul said.
“What now?” Belinda asked.
Emily straightened and started to turn around when there was a second clank.
She whirled back toward the door, as did Fisher on her right and Klein to her left, as…
…the door…
I was right, Emily thought.
…slowly opened…
This is a horror movie.
…by itself…
And I’m stuck inside it with no way out.
Chapter Five
“Don’t do it.” That was Jeff, somewhere behind them, saying the most obvious thing you’d expect someone in a horror movie to say.
“Why not?” Paul, asking the obvious question in return.
“Um, have you ever seen a horror movie, old man?” Of course it would be Jeff who would liken this to a horror movie, just as she did.
“Not really my type of genre, son.”
“Well, I’ve seen way more than I should, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned from them, it’s to never ever ever walk into a dark room. Especially one on the other side of a door that just opened by itself.”
“We have to find out what’s out there.”
“Which part of the door just opened by itself didn’t you understand, you old fart?”
“He’s got a point.” Stacy, chiming in.
“Gee, thanks.” Jeff again.
“I mean, why did it just open by itself? How did it do that?”
“It didn’t.” Fisher, standing in front of Emily. He’d said it with just enough conviction that Emily thought he might actually believe it.
The big man stood next to Klein, the two of them having moved forward to put themselves between Emily and the door as soon as the steel slab had begun opening wider. She hadn’t asked them to do it and was surprised they had reacted so quickly.
More knights in shining armor. Yay for me.
The last person who had put himself between her and harm’s way was Greg. As far as Emily knew, the former contractor was dead. The last she’d seen of him was inside Anton’s warehouse, lying on the ground, covered in blood and bites. For his sake—and considering the number of wolves in the building with him at the time—she hoped he was long dead before she took her eyes away and fled the warehouse.
The guilt over Greg was still there, but she’d pushed it all the way down to focus on the more important matter at hand: Saving herself and her unborn child. Right now, that was her goal. Right now, that was her only goal.
Jeff wasn’t wrong when he said walking through the door and into whatever was waiting on the other side was possibly the dumbest thing any one of them could do. It wasn’t that the door had opened by itself, as the kid had said. Like Fisher, Emily didn’t believe that for one second.
No. Someone had done that. Someone they couldn’t see. And it was that person that they had to be worried about.
She expected and was ready for—her hands formed fists, and had been for the last minute or so—a man or woman with bloodshot eyes, blood dripping down their cheeks, to rush in at them as soon as the door swung fully open. Hell, she didn’t think they’d have to wait even that long.
But no one charged inside.
No one.
And nothing.
That didn’t put her mind at ease for even a little bit. She’d learned from Don Taylor and her former neighbors back at Bear Lake that the infected didn’t lose their intelligence once they turned. They retained the ability to think, to strategize. Not that she thought they had gotten smarter or anything, but they hadn’t become dumb as rocks, either. Which made them dangerous. Very, very dangerous.
Whoever was out there wouldn’t reveal themselves to seven people that could fight back. Even a crazy with enough adrenaline pumping through their veins for an entire army wouldn’t be able to take on all seven of them at once. Especially the two big brutes standing in front of Emily right now.
It had been, as far as she could tell, about two minutes since the door opened, revealing the absolute nothing beyond the rectangular opening. Like with the open slot earlier, Emily couldn’t see anything out there except…black.
Pitch black.
There was also no sound and no hints that there were people outside. Nothing that even remotely sounded or smelled or felt like a presence, human or otherwise. Normal or infected.
Just…nothing.
That lack of anything was why neither Fisher nor Klein had moved. The same for Emily and the others behind her. For the longest time, no one said a word. The only sounds were their shallow breathing.
Anxious. Afraid. And at the same time, intrigued.
She wasn’t quite sure what she was looking at. It wasn’t night outside. No, it was more than that. There was an emptiness beyond the opening, a kind of eerie nebulous ocean, that just felt…wrong.
It was strange. That was the word. Strange.
Very, very strange.
“Someone’s fucking with us,” Klein finally said, with conviction and more than a little bit of irritation.
“Yeah, I think we all came to that same conclusion,” Fisher said. “The question is, what do we do about it?”
“Who says we have to do anything?”
“Come again?”
“They want us to play along. Why should we?”
Fisher glanced over at Emily and the others, as if looking
for help. Before anyone could offer it, he had turned back to Klein. “What are you getting at?”
Klein shook his head. “I don’t want to play.”
“Play?” Paul said from the back. “Play what? What’s out there?”
“I don’t want to play anymore,” Klein said.
“So what are you gonna do?” Fisher asked.
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“That’s right. I’m not going to do anything.”
Again, Fisher looked to Emily and the others for assistance.
“We can’t just do nothing,” Belinda said. Then, with more than a little tinge of uncertainty, “Right?”
“We can’t stay here forever,” Stacy said.
“Why not?” Klein said.
“Well, for one, we don’t have any food or water. Or haven’t you noticed?”
Klein may or may not have noticed, but he didn’t let that persuade him. Or maybe he just realized he’d made a mistake but wasn’t yet willing to accept defeat.
“I don’t care,” he said.
“You don’t care?” Stacy said. “What do you mean, you don’t care? You have to care.”
“No, I don’t. I don’t care.”
“You should care,” Fisher said. “We’re all in this together.”
“Then you play their games, because I’m not going to.”
Klein turned and walked away. A puzzled Fisher looked after him. Emily knew what they both were feeling. She shared Klein’s resignation, but also understood Fisher: Even if she didn’t want to play along, what choice did they have?
Emily watched Klein walk to the back of the room and sit down at about the same spot Fisher had sat in not too long ago. The big man splayed his legs out in front of him, closed his eyes, and seemed to drift off. But of course he hadn’t. No one could go to sleep that fast.
She exchanged a look with Stacy, who had wandered over to stand next to her. Then Belinda, behind her. The well-dressed woman gazed over at Klein, as if trying to decide whether to join him or remain where she was. She was currently undecided.
“Uh, are we just gonna stand like this all day?” Jeff asked.
“Well, he’s not entirely wrong,” Paul said, looking back at Klein.
Fall of Man | Book 4 | The Tide Page 4