by Bella Street
Seffy swallowed. The man was now abreast of her. Any second he would be past her, and moving away.
“Hey, you.”
She froze, then turned slightly and looked at the man. His blue eyes matched his daughter's.
“Whoa. I didn't expect a woman. Is that a new policy here?”
She could only nod mutely.
“Okay, we got a backed-up sink in room 214. Can you check it out for me?”
Seffy nodded again, lowering her voice a notch, which was stupid because he already knew she was female. “Yes, sir.”
“Great.” The man strode off, following his daughter.
Once they turned a corner, Seffy leaned against the wall to catch her breath. Ignoring the idea of a sink clog, she decided to follow the residents. Strawberries? As in fruit? Outside fruit? Or maybe it was the name of a pony. And ponies lived outside. Hopefully, it wasn't the name of anything that was in the building. Keeping herself just out of sight, she followed the couple until she heard a glorious sound.
A door opening, with the rush of wind and outdoor noise.
Seffy hurried to catch up. Sure enough, there was a large, heavy exterior door with a small window. She hurried up to it and peeked through.
Yep, the sky is still pink.
But there was so much more to see. Seffy waited until the father and daughter had disappeared from view, then she pushed open the door and breathed in the fresh air rushing in. It smelled of late summer and sweet loamy earth. Glancing back over her shoulder to make sure no one followed, she slipped out the door and looked around. As her lungs filled, her eyes widened.
Below the small platform where she stood, a concrete stairway led down to a massive garden. The vegetable garden area had to be at least ten acres in size with regimented rows and squares, and absolutely teeming with green leaves and colorful produce. Hundreds of residents tended the plants, hoeing, raking mulch, weeding.
So this is where they are all day.
The garden area was enclosed on three sides by the compound. The far side was full of windows and appeared to be a massive school building. Beyond that, she could see what must be dozens of acres of farmland. Tractors and other farm equipment rolled up and down fields of indeterminate crops.
None of this had been visible from the direction they'd first approached the compound. Probably because the acreage rolled down away from the structure. The vastness of the operation was stunning. And it all looked so delicious. Seffy felt the candy bars pressing against her empty stomach in the pocket of the coveralls. All the grains and produce would be heading to the cafeteria to be made into yummy things. Hot yummy things.
Tears stung Seffy's eyes and a sudden despondency weighted her heart and mind. Surrounded by hundreds of people outside, she felt hollow and alone. Inside, her friends had other distractions; Lani had Malone, Addison had bitterness, and Gareth had...not so much love for Seffy anymore. Olga had abandoned her as well. Even Trent seemed hellbent on just pissing her off. Maybe it was his way of letting her know he didn't have time for her either. And all she had was a couple of stupid candy bars for comfort.
Taking a cleansing breath, Seffy started down the steps. No one seemed to notice her. In fact, she saw other figures in coveralls moving about on the grounds. When she reached the ground, she paused. It had been a while since something other than concrete had been under her feet. The ground had a little give. It was nice. Nicer than cracked and peeling linoleum.
Keeping her head down, Seffy walked along the perimeter, putting as much distance between herself and the door as possible. After walking the length of at least three city blocks, she rounded the corner and saw a more familiar sight. The front of the compound was still enclosed in chain linked fencing, topped by razor wire. If the zombie threat was over, why was it still there? She looked back toward the garden area and realized that if she squinted, she could see fencing around it as well.
Well, crap. The knowledge diminished her options considerably. Should she meander among the veggies or take another route?
Seffy scanned both areas and could only discern one exit, and that was the way she'd originally come in. She chewed her bottom lip. Front gate it is. And it had the added incentive of real liberty. Keeping to the side of the building, Seffy made her way toward the main entrance. There were more figures in coveralls, but they carried guns, not brooms. She propped her broom up against the wall and kept moving. Fifty yards to freedom.
Seffy walked with purpose, hoping it would help her blend in more than if she advanced with furtive movements. So far, so good.
Thirty yards.
Men were shouting orders at each other. The fence gate opened to allow a jeep of uniformed men to enter.
Twenty yards.
“Hey!”
Seffy kept walking. With all the ambient yelling, surely someone else was the target. Unless Cindy's daddy realized the sink unplugger had gone on the lam.
“You! Stop!”
Seffy tipped her head slightly, hoping the brim of her hat kept her face in shadow.
“Yes, you!”
A man pointed at her and headed her way. “Where's your firearm?”
Before she could formulate an answer, the man's eyes narrowed. “You're a woman!”
Uh oh. Equality hadn't quite made it to guarding the compound. Seffy saw the gate closing and had only one option.
She ran.
“Stop!”
Her accuser had a crazy loud voice, but panic lent her feet wings. She threaded her way past uniformed men to the gate while they looked wildly around at the commotion coming from the yeller.
Ten yards.
Footsteps sounded behind her.
“Halt! I said halt!”
Really? Like that would make her stop?
Her lungs burned as she ran faster.
Five yards.
“Stop or we'll shoot!”
Frankly, my dear, I don't give a—OOF!
Seffy found her face planted firmly in choking sand, while something very hard and gun-barrely bisected her spine. She gasped for air and cracked open dust-filled eyes. A dirty pair of boots met her gaze. The boots moved, and she suspected they were what shoved her over onto her back. Ouch.
The baseball cap came loose and her hair spilled out. A uniformed man leaned over her.
“Just where do you think you're heading, little lady?”
Seffy coughed and sputtered, dimly aware of moisture on her cheeks.
A gasp sounded on the other side of her.
“Sir, it's that woman, the one from the posting.”
More gasps, interspersed with some pretty rough swearing. She looked around to see the weapons pointing in her direction recede.
“Is that true, young lady? Are you the one who was infected?”
Her vision blurred with tears. “Please, just let me go.”
He continued to stare, then straightened. Making jerky motions with his hands, the men started moving away. She closed her eyes and felt tired sobs shake her frame. They let her cry without interruption. Then she realized it was more out of expedience than pity. They were just waiting for the Haz-Mat team to arrive.
Strong arms grabbed her and yanked her to her feet. The silver-suited people dragged her back through the same door she'd arrived through the first time. The uniformed men gave her wide berth, their eyes filled with fear or disgust or both. Seffy was hauled through another bizarre maze of hallways, then dumped onto a chair in a room with one wall made of glass.
The door slammed shut behind her with the click of a lock. She looked down at her filthy hands, at the fresh scrapes on her palms. No doubt she sported bruises on her arms from the silver freaks.
Seffy unzipped the top of her coveralls and pulled out the candy bars, now smashed and leaking stickiness from their torn wrappers. Hot tears streamed down her face as her shoulders wobbled with renewed weeping. She didn't know how long she sat there, crying and wiping her face with dirty hands.
Seffy heard her name
. She looked up and saw Fenn in the window—the dear leader of the Fugere. Yeah, right. He had his arm braced against the window frame. His features seemed more drawn than usual. And despite her predicament, she was again startled by his blue eyes. Seffy stared at him, wondering why he seemed to look like she felt.
“I'm sorry you were dragged in here, Seffy.”
A flash of anger made her sit up straight. “All you ever do is apologize, Fenn. At this point, it's meaningless.”
His expression was stoic. “Unfortunately, you're still under quarantine. The men had to think of the rest of the residents.”
Seffy wished she would've thought to hock a loogie at the man who'd taken her down.
“Why did you try to escape?”
She snorted. “You said anyone could leave when they wanted to. So that's another lie.”
“Where were you going to go? The compound is in the middle of desert, over two hundred miles from the closest town.”
“Why won't you let us leave?”
Fenn firmed his lips. “You obviously have extenuating circumstances.”
“I want to go home.” Seffy cursed the waver in her voice. She lifted her chin and glared at him.
His features softened. “I know. And you have to believe we're doing every thing we can possibly think of to make that happen.”
“Why won't you let Gareth help? He knows a lot of geek science and stuff.”
“Of course he can help.”
“He told me that your people don't want him around.”
Fenn sighed. “The scientists are still uncomfortable with what they know of your circumstances. I'm sorry, but I can't change attitudes that easily.”
Seffy wanted to ask what it was he actually did do around there, but she refrained. “Why won't you put us in a jeep and let us drive to the nearest town and go from there?”
“If you know anything about...your situation, then you know there could be far reaching ramifications that aren't worth the risk.”
Ah, the ol' space-time continuum routine. She wondered why he was using such broad generalities. Probably being spied on by his own precious residents. “Then just let me go. If I die in the desert, there won't be any stupid ramifications.”
Fenn's eyes burned a brighter blue. “I can't let you die, Seffy.”
“Why?”
“Because...that would be unacceptable.”
“You're not responsible for me. Just let me leave.”
“What about your friends?”
“What about them? They're not infected.”
He sighed. “I'm referring to the fact that your presence would upset and irrevocably alter future events.”
She barked a bitter laugh. “Sounds like an excuse, and a lame one at that. You're the ones who brought us here through the wormhole thing.”
“That hasn't been confirmed yet.”
“I just confirmed it.”
Fenn hung his head for a moment. “I have to beg a little more of your patience.”
Seffy swept the locked room with tired eyes. “Looks like I don't have much of a choice.”
“Listen, let's get you back to your room. Get cleaned up, get something to eat...” He shook his head. “It's simply all I can offer at the moment.”
“What about strawberries. Can you offer me those?”
His brows inched up. “Of course, if that's what you want.”
“It's what I want. For now.”
She felt petulant in her demands, but enforced imprisonment and abandonment affected some people that way.
He pushed away from the wall. Seffy heard a buzzer and suddenly a silver guy walked into her room.
“Pete will walk you back up to your quarters.”
“Oh, yay,” she said, sending a dirty look toward 'Pete'.
“Seffy, look at me.”
She stood and despite her intention not to, did as Fenn asked.
“We're going to figure this out. I promise.”
Seffy felt her lip tremble. “You can't promise anything.”
“It's either that or apologize again.”
She turned away and followed Pete out the door. Once they were in the hall, she turned to him. “Dude, that silver totally makes you look hot.”
The man ignored her and hustled her back to her room—a mere ten miles away if her exhaustion was any measure. After shaking off Pete's hand, Seffy trailed into her room, despised its blandness, peeled off the disgusting coveralls and dressed in some flannel pajamas someone had put in the dresser. She climbed on the bed, sat cross-legged, and used the remote to turn on the crappy little TV. Her selection was varying degrees of snow.
Someone knocked on the door. Seffy didn't bother looking up. “Come in.”
Lani, Addison and Gareth strolled in and plunked onto the bed with her.
“Gareth decided we need to spend more time together, so we're having a movie night in your room. He found this classic movie he says even you will love.”
“It's called Logan's Run,” he said, smiling. “Seriously, I promise, you'll be a fan.”
Seffy looked up at him with tired eyes. “Did he get away?”
Gareth sent her a funny look. “What?”
“Did Logan get away from whatever he was running from?”
“Geez, Sef, I'm not gonna blow the movie for you. You'll just have to watch and see.”
Seffy looked at each of their faces in turn and realized no one knew she'd ever been gone.
Chapter Eleven
Seffy sat on her bed the next morning, which as far as she was concerned, represented her dead end. The Haz-Mat team had left, leaving her with that rosy, violated afterglow, and her friends were off no doubt wallowing in downy pancakes and warm maple syrup. Seffy looked at her little trail bar in its foil package. She could tell by the way the contents shifted around that the bar had turned to crumbs. Yum.
A knock sounded on the door. She heaved herself from the bed and answered the door. No one. Seffy frowned and looked down the hallway. Empty.
Another knock. She turned and stared at her closet door.
You have got to be kidding. She strode over, slid back the lock and opened the door. Trent stood in the little passageway, his hair tousled, his face scruffy, with his hands jammed in his pockets—all framed by poly-cotton blends hanging down by his head from the closet hanger rod.
“Hey, beautiful.”
Seffy shot him a withering look. But instead of withering, his smile deepened. “You have some nerve.”
Trent stepped past her into the room. “Nice lock you have there. Whoever installed it did an excellent job.”
“Yes, it's nice, isn't it? Like Gareth said, it's to keep the bogeyman away.”
He put his hands up. “Sorry, I didn't think you'd be offended by us sharing a little room connectivity.”
“You didn't think, period.”
“I just thought it might come in handy for when you wanted to sneak into my room to make sweet, sweet love to me.”
Before she could think of a retort, she burst out laughing. It was more hysterical than amused, but it helped diffuse a measure of her stress. “You're out of your mind.”
His gray eyes sparkled. “I heard you had a little adventure yesterday.”
Seffy's quasi-smile faded. “Where would you hear something like that?”
“I have connections.”
“Connections,” she said flatly.
“Want to talk about it?”
“No.”
He sighed. “Okay, time for Plan B. I need to show you something.”
“Knock yourself out.”
“Um, here's the tricky part. You have to come to my room to see it.”
Seffy snorted. “Sorry, not feeling all that amorous at the moment.”
“Well, maybe that's not the kind of hunger I'm offering to appease right now.”
She shook her head. “You're a piece of work, you know that?”
Trent stepped back into the passageway. He crooked his finger.
“C'mon. You'll love it, I promise.”
“Not interested.” She headed for the bed to resume wall-staring.
“I'll make it worth your while.”
Seffy sat on the edge of the bed and studied a scuff mark on the wall. Ink blot test-wise, she'd say it was a little Martian doing a cartwheel. She wondered what her friends were up to. Why weren't they all huddled together strategizing, planning ways of escape?
“You know you want what I have. You are just dying to know—”
“Fine!” Seffy jumped up. At least Trent could provide a diversion for a few minutes. “If you'll stop being an idiot for ten seconds. Besides, you're giving me a headache.”
He grinned. “Follow me.”
Seffy ignored him and went to the main door. She headed out into the hall and walked all the way around the corner that led to Trent's door. When she arrived, she knocked. After a few minutes, it opened. Trent's smile had disappeared.
“You made your point.”
“Good.” Seffy entered his room and looked around. What she spotted on his desk made her ball her hands up under her chin. She knew her eyes must be as big as saucers. She began to whimper.
Trent ushered her toward the desk with a flourish. “Fluffy scrambled eggs, crisp bacon and a tall orange juice. All for you.”
Her mouth watered like a leaky faucet. “What's it gonna cost me?”
“Well, if you rewind to the earlier part of our conversation—”
Seffy ignored him and approached the desk. She resisted the urge to climb up onto the chair and squat, hunched over, with her arms between her legs, to shovel bits of food through her puckered lips. Instead she sat down properly, picked up the shiny silver fork next to the plate and dug in. The eggs were divine, the bacon, heavenly.
“Pretty good, huh? In addition to my hardware installing skills, I can cook, too.”
“So you expect me to believe you put the lock on my door.”
“Trust is such an important element in a relationship, don't you think?” He nodded toward her breakfast. “And there's more where that came from.”
Seffy shook her head in disbelief, then took a long drink of the orange juice. She tried not to sigh too blissfully, too loudly—in case Trent got the wrong idea. “Any drug dealing in your past?”