by William Oday
CRACK.
CRACK.
Rifle shots from behind shattered a sheet of glass above the entrance. Jagged shards rained down and bounced off her helmet as she flew through the entrance. She rode through the gift shop, narrowly avoiding overturned displays and cheap plastic dinosaurs that apparently even looters didn’t consider worth stealing. She slowed down and wound her way through the tighter aisles and made it out into the exhibit hall.
She killed the headlight and popped her visor up to better see in the failing light.
Okay. Now what?
Had she escaped one trap only to flee into another?
CRACK.
A chunk of marble in the column two feet to her left exploded, showering her with fragments. She jerked right and almost dumped the bike as a result. She managed to hang on and rode through a large archway into the main hall.
In the near darkness, she saw even darker shapes hanging in the air ahead. She realized what they were and skidded to a stop before plowing straight into the gigantic skeletons of the Tyrannosaurus Rex battling it out with the Triceratops. They towered some thirty feet into the air. She’d nearly taken out the leg of the Tyrannosaurus. Take that out and the whole thing would’ve come down on her head.
“Straight ahead! She’s in there!”
Beth looked back and saw three flashlights attached to rifles sweeping back and forth. All headed in her direction.
She had an idea. A way to turn this trap back on her pursuers. She shut her bike down and guided it behind a marble pillar in the far corner of the main hall.
The men appeared in the large room with their beams of light slicing this way and that.
“I know she came this way.”
“Little lady? Come out, come out, wherever you are.”
“Kenny, shut your mouth. You sound like an idiot.”
Their flashlights landed on the skeleton dinosaurs. All three focused on the colossal display.
“Whoa! Will you look at that?”
“Big uns, weren’t they?”
“Yeah, but they all died off. You know why?”
“Well, I read that a big asteroid hit sending up a huge pile of dust that covered the—”
“Kenny, shut your mouth with that science crap! They died because they weren’t holding the guns like we are.”
The men walked up to the exhibit stepping into the space between the ancient, motionless adversaries. They stared up at the towering carnivore. One pointed his rifle at its head.
“I’d shoot it dead if it was alive.”
“There’d be a lot of meat on a beast that big. What do you figure it’d taste like?”
“I don’t know. Chicken, probably.”
“I read that chickens are actually descended from dinosaurs. Can you imagine?”
“Kenny, I’ll shoot you if say another word.”
“Be fun to hunt one of these, huh?”
“Be more fun to catch the prey we’re after.”
All the men laughed gruffly. Sickeningly.
“It’s my turn to go first this time.”
“No way! The last one didn’t count. She was big as a cow. I did you both a favor going first.”
“Shut up, the both of you! There will be plenty of time for each of us to get a turn. As many turns as we want.”
“Now you’re talking.”
The hairs on the back of Beth’s neck stood on end. Her belly squirmed with equal parts disgust and terror. How could they be so cavalier? As if raping her were no different than who got to pick what to watch next on TV.
What had mankind come to?
With the men still looking up at the skeleton beast above them, Beth lined up her bike like an arrow. She squeezed the brake and then fired it up. The headlight blinked on blinding the men as they turned in surprise. She cranked the throttle and then released the brake. The bike shot forward and tipped over as it reached them. It skidded across the marble floor and bulldozed through both ancient beasts.
The bones crashed down smashing the men below. They screamed and then went silent as they were either knocked unconscious or killed.
Beth drew the Glock and waited behind the column to see if anyone would crawl out of the jumbled pile of flesh and bones. They’d get a bullet if they did.
No one did.
She tiptoed out of cover and found Spock near the edge of the pile. It lay on its side pinned down by a number of large bones. She set the pistol on the floor and began clearing away the bones.
From somewhere inside the mess, one of the men groaned.
She grabbed the gun and waited, but no threat appeared. After waiting another minute, she returned to the task of digging the bike out. The bones were heavy, but much lighter than expected. It dawned on her that of course they weren’t real bones. They were casts of the found specimens. Real bones weighed too much to use in a full body exhibit.
She pushed the last one off and then squatted Spock to an upright position. Her head throbbed and swam at the same time. She kicked out the kickstand and leaned on a handlebar to keep from passing out.
Lack of calories made intense exertion a brutal chore. It taxed her already overtaxed body.
Something grabbed her right ankle. Cold, hard fingers latched around the sock and yanked her to the ground. Her head smacked Spock’s frame on the way down. Even with the padded helmet for protection, the impact dazed her. She scrambled for the pistol but couldn’t find it.
Another hand grabbed her boot and pulled. The pile of bones shifted as one of the men began to pull himself out while also dragging her closer.
“You’re mine now!”
His battered face emerged from the heap. The dim light reflecting from Spock’s headlight made it a scary mask of shadows and gore. The man smiled and blood spilled out of his mouth.
“You’re gonna pay for this.”
She tried to kick free but his hands held her fast. “No! Let me go!”
The man pulled her closer. “Fighting will only make it worse for you.”
She shook her right foot as hard as she could and felt the sock slip an inch lower. She whipped her leg hard and the iron grip slipped off, still clinging to her sock. With her leg now free, she aimed a kick at the man’s face. Her heel caught him on the nose with a sickening crunch.
He yelped and let go of her boot. “You broke my nose!” The words came out wet and raspy. “My nose!”
Beth scrambled back and found the Glock under her bike. She grabbed it and aimed it at her would-be rapist.
“Go ahead and shoot me! Do it!” Blood flew from his mouth as he screamed.
She couldn’t kill a man like this. As much as it might’ve been a public service to end his miserable life, she simply couldn’t pull the trigger. Not when the threat had passed. She decided to leave him.
To live.
To die.
Whatever. He was no longer her problem.
He shouted insults as she mounted her bike and left them behind, letting the darkness swallow them whole.
She raced through the ruined glass entrance and out into the the bright sunshine beyond. She skidded to a stop next to their parked Hummer and Jeep. There was no chance she was going to let these vehicles be used to accost other innocent people.
She could shoot all their tires out, but that would be a huge waste of bullets.
How else to disable them?
Of course! She could shoot the gas tank and blow them up. She continued to a safe distance and then lined up the Glock on the Hummer’s gas port figuring it had the larger tank.
BANG.
BANG.
Two holes ripped through the metal skin.
But no explosion.
What? It worked every single time in action movies.
She rode closer and smelled the gasoline before seeing it. A small stream leaked out from underneath. The liquid darkened the pavement as it streamed down the slope.
Mason had packed matches in her backpack in case she needed to start a fi
re. This probably wasn’t the kind he had in mind, but whatever. She followed the direction of the stream and rode ahead a ways. She stopped and dug out the small orange bottle. She unscrewed the cap and grabbed a long wooden match.
Another minute and the leading edge of the tiny rivulet reached her. She sparked the match and dropped it.
A blue orange flame leapt into the air.
She cranked the throttle and didn’t look back. The bike bounced down the curb and onto Exposition Boulevard just as the Hummer exploded. Another massive explosion signaled the Jeep had gone too.
Beth looked over her shoulder and smiled. A black column of smoke billowed up into the air. A smoke signal for anyone interested in investigating its source.
Yes, she didn’t shoot those dirtbags, but that didn’t mean they’d gotten lucky.
She cranked the throttle and headed east. A few more miles and she could drop down into the LA River. She prayed the road ahead didn’t hold any more nasty surprises. She realized with a start that it wasn’t a throwaway prayer. A thought tossed out like an empty bag of chips. It was more reverent than that. It was more honest.
It reminded her of the faith she’d learned as a child in the Catholic church. A past she thought she’d left behind.
33
THERESA stuttered out a greeting. The simple hello that coughed up her throat and tripped on her tongue came out sounding like an alien language. She shook her head and smiled in embarrassment. She never expected to see another normal human being again. Much less their mysterious neighbors. She shook hands with the girl that looked a couple years younger than herself.
“Hi, my name’s Theresa. What’s your name?”
“Noor Hassad. It’s nice to meet you, Theresa.”
“It’s more than nice! It’s amazing. I thought we were the only people left. Other than them.”
Noor gave her a funny look. Did she know about them?
Elio extended his hand. “My name’s Elio Lopez.”
The dark-eyed girl tentatively extended her hand. “Noor Hassad. Nice to meet you.”
They stood like idiots in awkward silence. Every second that passed made the membrane between silence and sound a little bit thicker.
Theresa wasn’t a total dork at carrying a conversation, but she had nowhere near the flair for it that Holly had. Maybe she would’ve been better at it, but with Holly around she’d never had to try. The memory of her best friend’s easy smile made her chest ache.
Not being Holly, she stared at her shoes and chewed her lip.
“I hope everybody has had a chance to get acquainted,” Mason said as he entered the living room. “We need to get to work now.”
Her dad had returned a few minutes ago with news that the neighbors were still alive. Even more surprising was that they’d agreed to combine forces and live together. Before anyone had a chance to digest the information, the father and daughter had shown up at the front door like they were coming over for Sunday dinner.
Days of the week. Strange. She had no idea what day it was. Weekdays versus weekends didn’t matter when you didn’t have school structuring your life. It was like the endless blurred days of summer. Only ten times more terrible.
“Theresa, can you personally set Clyde up next door?”
“Sure.”
Noor looked at her in confusion.
“Clyde is an infant Bili chimpanzee.”
Noor’s eyes opened wider.
“He’s so cute. Big brown eyes and a goofy smile. You’re gonna love him.”
Noor smiled so wide it looked like her cheeks might explode.
“Also Theresa, I need you to lead the crew in getting our supplies packed up and moved over to the Hassad’s house.”
She didn’t think Elio and Noor would be a problem, but she doubted Iridia would accept her as the boss. In the short time that she’d been a part of their household, she was already starting to feel like an older sister. Older sisters were sometimes fun and most times annoying. And they never went along with getting bossed around by a younger sibling.
“No problem, but I’m not sure where Iridia is.”
Theresa congratulated herself on smoothly handling the situation. She’d passed off responsibility for finding Iridia, and more importantly, she’d passed off the responsibility of telling her what to do. Her dad would have no problem doing that.
“I’m sure she’s hiding in her room,” Mason said. “Go let her know it’s time to work.” He turned and began chatting with Ahmed.
Great.
He had just as smoothly dumped it all right back in her lap.
“Elio, can you show Noor where the cloth bags are so you guys can start packing up food?”
“Sure thing. Good luck with Iridia,” he said with a wink.
Awesome.
She headed to Iridia’s room and knocked on the wall next to the barricade of dangling tapestries. “Iridia, do you have clothes on?”
“Who wants to know? Is there more laundry to do? Because I did a ton yesterday and it’s somebody else’s turn.”
“It’s not that.”
“What then?”
It was super annoying speaking through the fabric like a servant at the master’s door.
“Can I come in?”
After a lengthy pause, a face parted the hanging tapestries. Iridia peered through with her gorgeous crystal-green eyes. They literally sparkled like freakin’ emeralds! Whose eyes did that?
“What?” she said.
There was one thing worse than having an annoying older sister. It was having an annoying, supermodel older sister. One that the boy you liked occasionally stared at a little too long.
Theresa realized she was staring. How could she blame Elio when she did it too?
“What?” Iridia said again.
“We need help moving food and supplies next door.”
“Don’t you have a boyfriend for that?”
Boyfriend.
Did she?
And if so, why did it sound so horrible when Iridia said it?
Mr. Piddles strolled through the hanging fabric and wrapped around Theresa’s legs purring loudly. For some reason, the Crayfords’ cat had adopted Iridia as his new BFF. Mom was still a little jealous about it because she wasn’t used to any animal ever liking anyone more than her.
Theresa knelt down and stroked Mr. Piddles’ belly.
“Isn’t he such a cutie wootie pootie?” Iridia said in the most irritating baby voice.
She really knew how to ruin a moment. Theresa stood and used her best bossy voice. “My dad wants us all to help out so it goes faster.”
“Can you give me a couple of hours? I was about to start a yoga workout.”
Her and her yoga workouts, and core workouts, and toning workouts. And the constant complaining about the changing shape of her butt. As far as Theresa could tell, her butt looked exactly the same as it did a week ago. And that wasn’t blind guesswork either. She’d seen Iridia’s naked backside more times than she could count with both hands.
“Dad?” she yelled down the hall.
“What’s up, honey?” he said from the living room.
Iridia’s eyes narrowed. “Fine. I’ll work on my horribly flabby butt later.”
Theresa flashed her best fake smile before Iridia’s face disappeared behind the wall of tapestries. “See you in the kitchen.” She waited. “You’re coming soon, right?”
“I heard you the first time.”
Theresa pivoted on her heels and headed back to the kitchen. A huge grin spread across her face as she turned the corner.
Elio saw her and raised a brow in question. “Oh no. What’s that smile about?”
She shrugged. “Nothing.”
Having an older sister could be awesome.
34
They’d been packing up and moving stuff for hours. Theresa’s belly grumbled and sweat beaded on her upper lip. She looked around the kitchen and was amazed to see that they were almost finished. They had ye
t to touch their bedrooms because her dad said non-essential (as he called them) supplies would be handled later. Food, water, cooking equipment, and things like that were the priorities.
His priorities.
He didn’t have the faintest clue of what essential supplies were for a fifteen-year-old girl. On second thought, she wasn’t sure she did either. Not anymore.
A week ago, her iPhone would’ve made that list, but now it was just a thin brick of smudged glass and rainbow casing. A few things definitely made the list. Her yearbooks. Pictures of friends, especially Holly. Lambchops. Her purple sneakers. Her pillow. The silver locket around her neck.
If she could pick only one thing, it’d be an impossible choice between the locket and Lambchops. Leaving either behind would be like leaving a piece of herself.
Elio returned from dropping off a load. He dumped an armful of empty bags on the counter. She was about to start filling one up for the hundredth time when he grabbed her wrist. “I need to talk to you.”
“Okay, talk.”
“Privately.”
She looked around. “We’re alone.”
Her dad was at the neighbor’s house working on making the place tougher to break into. Ahmed had a lot of leftover lumber stacked up in his garage. While the kids (plus her annoying older sister) hauled stuff over to their new home base, the two dads screwed plywood boards over all the windows on the ground floor.
Ahmed had objected at first as the house was brand new, but Mason’s cold practicality won him over.
A new house wasn’t worth much to a dead person.
Her dad didn’t think she’d heard the comment, but she had. The grim honesty shocked her. She never really believed that it would come to that. They couldn’t die, could they?
Many others had. Many of those that hadn’t died changed into something worse than death, as far as she was concerned. She pledged to herself that she’d choose death over changing into a delta.
No thanks. Never.
But there was no reason to worry. That only happened to other people. She didn’t know why that was true. But it was. They were the living proof. Hadn’t they escaped the pharmacy last night?
“Noor will be back in a few minutes for another load.”