The elderly woman nodded and took her bag from Dean. She patted me on the back and guided me toward the dock. “Sure as can be. Go help the others.”
I nodded and stepped off the boat and back onto the dock. Seven immediately jumped on me desperately as though she were a puppy. “Easy, girl. Get down.”
Kneeling down to her level, I gave her a quick hug and scratch behind the ears. Her tail wagged a mile a minute and her desperate panting began to settle. I studied her with a laugh. “Were you really so worried about me? It’s just a boat.”
Dean came up next to me. “How will we get her on the boat later once we get everyone aboard?”
I shook my head, stood, and thought about the medicines I had in my pocket. One of them was a mild sedative. “We’ll cross that bridge as we come to it.”
He nodded and lead the way back to the cab. I opened the back door to let Seven inside and then sat down myself in the passenger seat. Dean started the cab and pulled it out of the parking spot, checking his mirrors as he went. “Where to next?”
In my head, I mapped out where all my patients were in the neighborhood. How many of them would be left when we got there? “Let’s head to Albert’s First, on Sixth Street. He’s the one who lived closest to Gladys.”
Dean chewed his lip again and pulled back out onto the main street. The first drops of rain pelted the windshield, and he flicked on the wipers. Would the rain slow down the purge? That would be a blessing. My skin crawled when I thought of what was happening to my patients at that very moment. I could only hope we weren’t too late.
Seven sat alert in the back seat, her eyes focused forward. I searched through my bag to make sure I had more aluminum powder if I needed it. It was possible the full-on fireball from earlier were just a fluke.
“Scarlet, I need to know all you know about what’s going on here. I’m putting my butt on the line along with yours.” He kept his gaze trained on the road in front of them, passing vehicles as he went. I appreciated that he seemed to be trying hard to get to Albert’s quickly.
I frowned. “I really don’t know much.”
He shook his head. “You know more than me, sweetheart. So give me what you’ve got.”
My heart fluttered a bit like it always did when he called me that. I took a deep breath and sighed, thinking things through. Anger built up within me. “The pathetic excuse we call a government has decided to purge the bedridden elderly in an attempt to solve the overpopulation problem. The way they ransacked Charles’s apartment tells me there’s more to it than that. I think they want to take all the property of the elderly as well. Bank accounts, real estate… whatever they can get their grubby hands on.”
His brow wrinkled, and he ran a hand through his short brown hair. “I wouldn’t put it past them. This whole overpopulation thing has been blown out of proportion if you ask me. It wouldn’t be so hard to expand the city outward and upward. I don’t understand how getting rid of citizens helps that much.”
“These citizens don’t pay taxes, they live on the system. I imagine it’s their way of kicking them off the public hand out, as well.”
The chewing on Dean’s lip increased.
“Do you have family that would be affected by this? Should we go rescue them first?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I’ve got no family in the city. My parents moved south almost five years ago.”
“Thank goodness.” I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Actually, I think that’s where we can go.”
I blinked. “What?”
“Once we get everyone on the houseboat, we can take the river out to the Atlantic and then head south. My parents have a big place down in Georgia—a farm. I’m sure there will be room for everybody.”
Relief unknotted the tension I had between my shoulder blades. I hadn’t really thought everything through. I knew I wanted to get everyone out, but I didn’t know how. Dean provided a way. But even with the method of getting everyone out, I didn’t know what I’d do with them all. Gladys said that her family in Oklahoma would likely take her in, but what of everyone else? I had been determined that I would find a way to take care of them all, but the tension in my shoulders knew it wasn’t logically possible.
We pulled up to the curb in front of the apartment building. I sighed with relief when I saw that the front window to the apartment housing Albert was still intact. I glanced at Seven in the backseat. “Stay here while I get Albert.”
Seven gave me a low whine and hopped to her feet while I got out of the cab. I closed the door and turned around, letting her know with finality that she needed to wait in the car with Dean.
I ducked forward a little in the rain and raced up the steps to the overhang, jumping over the puddle gathering at the first step of the porch. Once at the top, I shook the excess rain from my dark hair and glanced up and down the street. At least now I knew some way of distinguishing the men I looked for from the rest of the population crowding the sidewalks. These men wore the leather jackets of the Wolf gang. To my relief, I saw no black jackets on the sidewalks. Ducking my head again, I stepped in the building and raced up the stairs to the second floor. When I reached Albert’s door, I found it ajar. My heart sank.
“Albert?” I called in and pulled my sword from the scabbard.
The living room was clear of people, and even of the destruction I’d seen at Granny’s and Charles’s places. I rushed toward the bedroom and found them. Three more gang members stood around Albert’s bed, looking down at the old man’s sleeping form. They turned toward me as I came in and yelled, “Stop!”
Three new men... Just how big was the Wolf gang and how many of them were active during the purge? One of the men held a bat over his head and brought it down as I rushed in. The sinister look on his face made me fully aware he had every intention of smashing Albert’s skull in. I leapt between two of the others on the side closest to me, kicking one in the gut as I blocked the bat with my short sword.
The gang member to my right swung at me with a knife almost as long as my short sword, but I dodged to the right, releasing the bat I’d held back, throwing it with the force of my momentum backward. The man stumbled and flew backward toward the wall.
I leapt over Albert who was sitting up and scrubbing his eyes. “What on Earth is going on?”
Using the brass hilt of my sword, I knocked the batter up the side of his head, and he sprawled to the floor. I turned back to the other two, who still stood with the bed between us. I held my sword ready in a defensive stance. At least both hoodlums now had their focus on me instead of Albert.
Albert blinked toward me. “Scarlet?” What’s happening here?”
I shook my head and reached into my bag for a powder. I couldn’t use the yarrow powder here, it would hurt Albert. And a flash bang wouldn’t buy me much time when it was two against one. Besides, last time I couldn’t control the size of the fireball created by the aluminum. I couldn’t risk hurting Albert. I kept my fingers away from that powder, since I didn’t even know why it had lit on its own in the first place. I definitely couldn’t risk any of that indoors. What was I going to do?
My hands began heating up. I blinked at them in response. The warmth emanating from them wasn’t normal. The rain on my bare skin began to steam off my forearms. The men across the bed began making their way around it. I was cornered.
The man at my feet moaned on the floor. I kicked him in the head, hoping to make him lose consciousness for longer this time.
“What do we have here? Scarlet? Is that what the old man called you?” One of the men smiled toward me, his wispy blond hair receded off his high forehead and his beard whiskers were a few shades darker. A metal grill covered his teeth, and even from this distance, I could smell the foul odor of his breath.
I met eyes with Albert. “Stay still, I’ll take care of this.”
He blinked at me, nodded, and pulled his covers up toward his chin.
I’d take care of this? How on Earth did
I plan to do that? Nothing was coming to mind except the acute awareness of the danger I was in. Why on Earth had I left Seven in the car? With her help, at least the odds would have been evened a bit more. My arms heated up more with each thought of the danger I was in. Adrenaline coursed through my veins. Then the unexpected happened.
My sword lit up with yellow flame, sparks jumping off the tip of it. I blinked in shock at my sword, and both the two men in front of me froze in their tracks. Their eyes went wide.
“What is that?” one of them asked, his voice cracking like a teenage boy in puberty.
“Witchcraft,” the other said and spat before charging forward.
I swung my blade his direction, purposefully drawing the swing short, since I didn’t want to cut him if at all possible, but the flame leapt from the blade and set the man’s shirt on fire.
He screamed and jumped backward, trying to put out the flames with his palms, trying to wipe away the fire.
“Oh, no! I didn’t sign up for this!” the other man said and took off out the doorway.
The one with the shirt on fire threw himself to the ground, rolling like we’d all been taught in elementary school. Alfred stood and threw his blanket on the man. The flames were doused, and the man let out a whimpering cry of relief. He scrambled to his feet and studied me and my flaming sword, eyes wide. His midriff showed where his shirt had been burned away, but his skin looked clean and scar free. Relief washed over me. He wasn’t seriously injured. Then, like his friend, he took off.
Alfred stood on his feet now, making a kicking motion toward the man who’d taken off. “Good riddance.”
My eyes remained fixed on the flame in front of me, as I slashed my sword to the left and right. More sparks jumped from the sword. But slowly the flame began to die. I tried to bring it back again full force, but it snuffed out in a matter of seconds, darkening the room around us.
“How’d you do that, Scarlet?” Alfred stood next to me, putting a wary finger out toward the blade.
“Don’t—” I started, but when he touched the blade, he looked up at me with a smile.
“It’s not even hot.”
I frowned and touched the blade with my bare fingers. The metal was as cool to the touch as it always was. I shook my head. The man on the floor moaned, making my heart jump toward my throat. “Alfred. Pack a bag. Hurry. We need to get out of here before more of them show up.”
He nodded and got to work.
We didn’t spend any time on small talk, as we wanted to get out of the apartment before the unconscious man on the floor woke, or the two who’d left called for backup. I knew that at least one of the members of the gang had a gun. Who knew how many more might. Flaming sword or not, I didn’t want to pit myself against a gun if I could help it.
When we got downstairs, Dean had hopped out of the cab, and Seven stood next to him. “What was with those two guys who ran out of the building? They were wearing Wolf jackets.”
I frowned. “I know.”
Albert whooped. “It was Scarlet. She chased them off. She’s a wonder with that sword.”
I cut him off by squeezing him lightly on the arm and shaking my head slightly. I didn’t understand the fire myself and didn’t want anyone to go jumping to conclusions about the situation. “My blade was just bigger than theirs. I guess they were intimidated.”
Dean lifted an eyebrow, giving me the distinct feeling that he didn’t believe a word I’d said. He pulled open the back door of his cab and Albert slipped in after giving Seven a scratch behind the ears. Seven hopped in afterward.
Once I settled into the passenger seat, I turned toward Dean. "I think we should go back and drop of Albert before we go on to Mabel's house. Mabel lives between here and the docks, but also I don't like that we left Gladys all alone."
Dean nodded resolutely as he pulled the cab into traffic. "I agree. We should definitely take him back. I don't like leaving anyone alone like that."
I pulled my seat belt buckle down and snapped it into place not a moment too soon, because Dean started swerving around the cars in the rain as we went forward. A peel of thunder shook the car, creating a vibration in my chest. I needed to be thankful for the rain. The rain might honestly help us get out my patients before the purge. It made me feel better thinking that way.
Once we pulled into the docks, my stomach settled a bit when I saw a light on in the cabin of the houseboat. The rain began pouring down in earnest. I took a deep breath to steel myself and then started to pull on the door handle.
Dean's hand on my shoulder stopped me. "Give the rain just a minute. I think this band will pass and lighten up a bit before we need to head out."
I took another deep breath. Somehow it felt as though I couldn't get enough air into my lungs to satisfy my need for oxygen. My chest felt tight, and my anxiety rose. I closed my eyes, taking several more deep breaths, but when I did, all I saw behind my lids was the light leaving my Granny's eyes. I snapped my eyes open again as a sob rose up and threaten to leave my body. I hiccupped in response, my body forcing the sob back down into the oblivion where it belonged. Dean's arm wrapped around my shoulders, and I found myself resting my head upon his chest. I took a deep breath of the strong citrus scent of his body wash. It reminded me of the south and made me wonder if maybe Dean's family had an orange grove on their farm. I let my mind wonder in a different direction, finding comfort in his warmth and his scent.
The rain beat a steady hard rhythm on the roof of the cab, but after a few minutes, the drum beat slowed and softened. I leaned forward and out of Dean's comforting grasp. His eyes met mine and he nodded with a soft, supportive smile. I tried to smile in return, but the movement felt foreign and wrong on my face. With another deep breath, I grabbed my door handle, and headed out into the light rain.
Dean got ahead of me, opening the back door for Albert. I ducked my head to look through the window and found that Seven had gone out the same door, following after her patient. I knew that's how Seven felt about our patients, too. They were both hers and mine. If I could help it, we wouldn't let them down.
Seven trotted down the dock ahead of us, stopping at the area where the houseboat had been moored to the dock. I met her at the end and gave her a pat on the head. "Good girl."
Then I jumped the small gap between the dock and the boat. Once inside, I headed toward the inner cabin, calling out, "Gladys? Are you there?"
"Scarlet! I'm coming," a voice called from the kitchen area. The scent of fresh baked bread filled the air.
"Are you baking?"
Dean's eyes widened as he ducked into the cabin. He shook his head and shrugged. "I had no idea I had the ingredients to bake anything with."
Gladys rounded the corner and offered a plate full of cornbread muffins. "I just put a pat of butter in each of them. It's best that way. And I found a bit of honey to add to the butter and mixed it before."
I grinned. Gladys always amazed me with her prowess around a kitchen. Even Granny only baked things that came out of a simple boxed mix. I didn't even know if I could accomplish that much, honestly.
Albert offered Gladys a wide smile and plucked one of the muffins off the plate she held. "Don't mind if I do."
I took one when she offered the plate toward me, and nibbled on the edge of it. My appetite was almost nonexistent, but I didn't remember eating anything for breakfast in my hurry to get to the human resources building a few short hours ago. And then afterward... Had all that really happened today. This had to be the longest day of my life.
"Mmmm-hmmm," Albert exaggerated his praise of the muffin with true hyperbole. "If I had a wife that could cook like this, I'd have want of nothing else for the rest of my days. Your husband must be one lucky man."
Gladys's brow wrinkled. "My Roger passed on almost fifteen years ago."
Albert's wide smile took on a crooked, flirty feel to it as he sidled up next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I'm so sorry to hear that. But if you don't mind me
saying, a pretty little thing like you has been alone for much too long. You and I should do our best to become good friends. What do you say?"
Tension filled Gladys's jaw as she pulled out of Albert's grip. "I'm just fine as I am, but I'm more than happy to make a new acquaintance." She put a hard emphasis on the last word, lifting an eye brow to make sure he got her meaning.
After lifting his shoulders in a defeated sigh, Albert offered her another smile and pulled a second muffin off the plate. "As long as you keep cooking tasty morsels like this one, I'll be happy to have any sort of relationship with you, madame. My taste buds are in heaven."
Gladys smiled genuinely and bowed her head slightly. "Thank you, and of course."
I couldn't help but smile at the banter between the two. So this was what it was like when my patients met each other. All this time, I'd been keeping each one to myself, because they were housebound, but it had never occurred to me how much fun it could be to have them all together in one place. It warmed my heart a bit.
Thunder struck again, and the lights in the houseboat wavered. I frowned as the weather brought me back to the reality of what I needed to get done. Another deluge poured down as the sky opened up again. I hated the rain when it was like this. I had so much to do, and yet it felt that I constantly needed to wait for the next lull before I could leave.
Seven sat on the dock in the pouring down rain, with her back turned toward the wind and her head down low. She looked absolutely miserable. I wished she'd come in but she didn't come no matter how much I called. The boat just put too much fear in her. It was a strange feeling to have Seven ignore my calling, but I understood her fear, and respected it. Still, I didn't like it any more than I liked this rain. Or the fact the city was purging their own citizens like they were doing. If only the rain would freaking stop so that I could get back to helping my patients! My hands fisted hard enough that my nails were digging into my palms.
Dean's arm came around my shoulder once again. "We'll save them, Scarlet. Don't worry too hard.”
Last Escape Page 5