PODs

by Michelle Pickett

  “No,” the men said in unison.

  “Okay, get dressed and meet us in the cafeteria.” David grabbed my hand and gently pulled me to his side.

  “What’s up?” Devlin asked when we entered the cafeteria.

  “The hunting party was attacked.” David ran his hand down his face and blew out a breath.

  “Everyone get back okay?”

  “No.”

  Devlin nodded his head, running his fingers through his dark hair. “Who?”

  “Roy and Tommy made it back.”

  “That’s all?” Devlin asked, dropping his hand.

  “Yeah.”

  Devlin looked over David’s shoulder. The men had followed us into the cafeteria, their faces grim.

  “Where’s everyone else?” Devlin asked.

  “Dead.” Tommy sounded almost as if he was in a trance.

  “How?”

  “There was a group of infected waiting between the tents when we came back from the hunt. We weren’t expecting them…I mean, we haven’t seen Jacob in almost two days…we were sure it was clear. They picked us off one by one.”

  “Jacob?” Juan asked. I jumped at the sound of his voice behind me.

  “No, Jacob and the others weren’t with them. This was a new group.” Roy’s face remained tomato-red from the run to the POD.

  “C’mon, Roy. Let’s get you something cold to drink.” I took his hand, pulling him with me.

  David held my other hand. I pulled away, but he didn’t let go. I looked up at him and smiled. “It’s okay,” I whispered. He drew me to him, kissing me softly on the lips before letting go, our threaded fingers falling away slowly. Roy followed close behind me, still holding my hand.

  “If it wasn’t Jacob’s group, then who was it?” Devlin asked behind me.

  “I don’t know,” Tommy said.

  “A group of nomads moving through that Jacob and the others attacked, or maybe an entirely new group of infected moving through looking for f and maintenance personnelR cWood. What difference does it make?” David asked.

  “We aren’t safe here,” Judy whispered. She handed Roy a cup of cold water.

  “We’re as safe as we can get,” I answered.

  “I don’t want to,” Jessica whined.

  Her voice carried up the walkway as I was coming back to the sub-POD from the gardens.

  “Too bad,” Devlin said, his voice hard. “I’ve made up my mind.”

  “So? I have a mind, too. And my mind’s made up. I’m not leaving.”

  “Yes, you are.”

  “I’ll stay with the others,” she said.

  “The others are leaving.”

  “Everyone?”

  “I think so.” I could hear the lie in Devlin’s voice and wondered if Jessica could, too.

  “What’dya mean, you think so?”

  “We haven’t talked to Eva and David yet.”

  “Why? You all had a meeting without them? Without me? You made decisions that will affect us all without letting everyone have their say?”

  “It doesn’t matter what your say is. You’re my sister and you’re staying with me. As for Eva and David, they think the PODs are the answer. I don’t think they’ll want to leave.”

  “We would’ve liked a say, Devlin,” I said quietly, stepping into the living area.

  “Ah, Eva, you weren’t supposed to—”

  My hands tightened into fists. “What? I wasn’t supposed to find out?”

  His cheeks colored. “No, we were all going to tell you together. You weren’t supposed to find out this way.”

  “When were you gonna tell us? When you were packing to leave?”

  “Um…”

  “Don’t bother.” I turned to leave and ran into David’s chest. I looked up at him. A vein throbbed in the side of his neck, the tendons tight along his jaw. “David, you scared me.”

  He didn’t speak. At first I didn’t think he’d acknowledge me. Then he looked down and smiled. “Sorry. C’mon. I think we need to talk.”

  He took my hand and pulled me behind him. I had to jog to keep up with his long strides. “Is the greenhouse empty?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good.” We made our way through the metal corridors, our feet clanging against the grates. We passed through the main portion of the POD and I could hear people in the cafeteria talking. I looked at them as we passed. They averted their eyes. David didn’t stop. He kept walking straight to the gardens, pulling me behind him.

  The hot, humid air overwhelmed me. Sweat broke out across my face. The hiss of sprinklers came from somewhere deephere’s

  Chapter 32:

  The End

  David and I waited two weeks—giving time for the infected to leave or die—before we attempted to leave the POD on our own.

  “How are we gonna know if they’re in the POD when we come back?” I asked David.

  “This.” He held up a toothpick before inserting it in the small gap between the unlocked hatch door and the frame of the POD. “If this is gone, we know someone, or something, has been here. It’s small enough not to draw attention. No one should see it. If it’s still here when we get back, we can be reasonably sure no one has disturbed the hatch.”

  “Sounds good over my head.im disinfectant favorite movie,” I said.

  “That’s it?”

  “What?”

  “It ‘sounds good’ is all you have to say?” he asked.

  “Oh, okay, how’s this? David, your plan is genius. You’re a genius. I’m in awe of your problem-solving skills. Better?”

  “A simple ‘that’s a great plan, David’ would’ve been enough,” he muttered.

  I laughed and kissed his cheek.

  We started our hunt. We were looking for rabbits, but David said if we found a rattlesnake or two we’d take them. I didn’t agree to that.

  The sun was brutal. Even in the early morning hours it beat down on us with an oppressive heat. We walked for two hours and never saw another living thing—except for some bugs and a few scorpions, none of which I was putting in my mouth. I’d live on the fruit and vegetables the gardens provided before I ate a scorpion.

  David wasn’t an experienced hunter. That made two of us. When the sun was directly above us and the wind blew the sand in our eyes and mouths, we decided to call it quits and go back to the POD.

  “We’ll wait until dusk and try again,” David told me, removing the toothpick from where he left it and opening the hatch for me.

  I heard scratching first, and then the banging started. The hatch didn’t move when they hit it, but the noise was unbearable. The clanging of the metal door was ear-piercing and made my breath hitch in my throat. My hands started to shake and I mentally checked off everything David and I had done after we returned to the POD.

  David opened the hatch for me and I climbed down onto the small ramp leading to the ladder next to the elevator. I waited for David to climb through the hatch and I grabbed the wheel, pulling the door closed after him… then what did I do? Did I turn it to bolt it? I don’t remember turning the wheel.

  Cold sweat slithered down my spine. “They’re at the hatch,” I whispered. “David, I don’t think I locked it. They don’t usually come out during the day, and we were going back out. I don’t think I locked it when we came in! I don’t think it’s locked!”

  “It’s okay. They won’t be able to get in the sub-POD.”

  “David! We won’t be able to get out. Even if they can’t find which sub-POD we’re in, they can stay in the main POD and wait us out. There’s no other way for us to get out of here.”

  They clanged against the hatch at a deafening rate. One after another they hit the door… bang…bang…bang. Every time one of them hit, my stomach lurched painfully. Bile rose in the back of my throat, burning it.

  If they get in here, we’re trapped. Dead. dinner…or worse. We’ll be turned into them, a fate worse than death. I’d rather they killed me.

  David stood looking at
the floor. He was silent so long I didn’t think he was going to answer me. I was just about to shake him and scream at him to do something—anything—when he looked up, his face grim.

  “You’re right. We need to c He chuckledad with yououheck the hatch. I’ll climb up the ladder and—”

  “Like hell you will!” I grabbed his arm when he moved toward the ladder. “If it’s unlocked, they could open it any second. You aren’t going to be sitting up there when they do. No way.”

  He gestured around the POD. “Well, we can’t stay here, Eva.”

  “No kidding.” My voice shook and cracked when I talked. “Let’s move before they get that hatch open.”

  “Okay, but we should set a trap first.” He grabbed the meat out of the sub-POD freezer, leftovers from the last hunting party before Devlin and the rest left the PODs. “Come on, Eva. We have to move fast. Grab the meat—as much as you can carry.”

  We ran down the corridor to the main POD, leaving a trail of meat behind us. I could hear the infected scurrying above the hatch, looking for a way in.

  The scraping and pounding got louder the closer we got to the entrance to the main POD. I stopped and looked at David.

  “Eva, come on!”

  “Do you think they’re this stupid? That they’ll follow a trail of dead meat? It’s frozen, David! You told me they like living animals.”

  “We don’t have anything living to bait a trap with. Get moving.”

  “Yes, we do,” I whispered.

  I yanked my small pocketknife out of my jeans pocket. I turned and ran down the corridor back to the entrance of the sub-POD. My fingers shook, bobbing up and down as I ran. I could barely get the small blade open.

  I heard David curse and run after me.

  “Go back, David. I’ll be right behind you.”

  I slid to a stop in front of the sub-POD door, my shoes squeaking loudly against the metal floor. Without giving myself time to think, I plunged the knife into my arm. Warm, sticky blood gushed from the wound. It trailed down my arm and dripped off my fingertips, forming a small pool at my feet. I walked as slowly as I dared back to where David stood.

  “What the hell, Eva?”

  I shrugged. “Fresh meat. Here, give me your shirt. I need to wrap my arm. I can’t bleed on the floor any more. It’ll lead them right to us.” He pulled his shirt over his head and wrapped it tightly around my arm. “Let’s find a storage locker or somewhere to hide.”

  “No. Your scent will lead them right to you. You have to get as far away from this corridor as possible. We only want them to smell the blood on the floor, not on your arm.”

  “Where then?”

  “One of the sub-PODs on the other side of the main POD. You can hide in one of the bedroom closets. When they follow your blood trail to the sub-POD, I’ll lock them in. Then I’ll come back and get you.”

  I shook my head. “No—”

  “Yes. You can’t be out here. You’re bleeding too badly. Look, you’ve almost bled through my shirt. Take your shirt off.”

  “Why David, are you getting fresh with me?” My voice trembled and my teeth chattered.

  Why are my teeth chattering? Is it shock? Fear? Both? Do I care? No. Pay attention, Eva the smile in his voice.

  “C’mon, Eva, be serious,” David said.

  “Geez, you can’t take a joke.”

  He reached forward and ripped open the front of my t-shirt. Standing in just my bra and jeans, I watched him tie my shirt around my arm, pulling it tight. I could almost feel the blood seeping through the fabric of David’s shirt and into mine.

  “Okay, let’s find you a sub-POD.”

  “No.”

  “We don’t have time for your stubborn streak, Eva. Let’s go.”

  He pulled on my good arm. I jerked away from him.

  “I’m not leaving you here to fight them alone.”

  “Well, you can’t stay. C’mon.”

  I followed him down the hall. Our shoes made dull thuds against the framework of the walkway. The metal shimmied and shook, scraping against the wall. The sound gave me chills.

  The infected banged at the POD, their clubs—baseball bats? tree branches?—bouncing off the hatch, which rattled with every impact. My heart beat painfully in my chest. It was hard to take a breath.

  “David, the greenhouse! We can go into the greenhouse and watch them through the glass door. When they enter the corridor, we can lock them in.”

  “No.”

  “What do you mean no?”

  “You can’t go out there with your arm. The greenhouse is a good place to hide. There are a lot of different smells inside to mask the smell of your blood, but if you come out they’ll smell your wound. You have to stay inside the greenhouse.”

  I nodded once. We ran to the greenhouse, pulling the heavy glass door closed behind us.

  “Listen, Eva. When I leave, I want you to lock this door. Don’t unlock it until you see me.”

  “Okay,” I said, my voice strained.

  We huddled down next to the stack of weeding baskets and hand tools we’d left by the door, hoping its shadow would hide our silhouettes. David used his hand to wipe away a small area of condensation—just big enough that we could look through.

  “The banging stopped,” I whispered. “Maybe they left.” Then I heard it. The unmistakable sound of the hatch hinges creaking open. “Oh. I guess not.” My insides shook. “David?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Kiss me.”

  He put his finger under my chin and lifted my face upward toward his. He touched his lips softly to mine. He pulled back and smoothed some hair from my face, pushing it behind my ear.

  “I’m scared,” I said, barely a whisper.

  “I know, Eva. I am, too.” He kissed me again, stopping when we heard the first grunt in the main POD.

  “How ironic would it be if we died in the very place that was supposed to save us?” I let out a half-hysterical giggle.

  Feet shuffled down the ladder. We could hear the grunts and groans, and then the screams of the infected echoed against the metal walls.

  Through the wiped spot in the condensation, I watched the first My eyes never left David’s face.opt want youou man step off the ladder. His weapon—it looked to be a two-by-four—bounced along the metal floor grating as he dragged it across the room. Another, and then another, and another came down the ladder—seventeen in all. Some were unarmed, but most had bats or clubs of some kind.

  “There are so many.”

  “Mm-hmm,” David said.

  “What are you thinking?” I turned to look at him, pulling his face to me so I could see his eyes.

  “I’m hoping they take your bait.”

  The group of infected wandered around the large room in the main POD. Occasionally they’d disappear into other rooms, but always returned to the main room. I held my breath. My chest hurt from lack of oxygen.

  Through the foggy glass we watched as one of the infected came closer to the glass door of the greenhouse. David and I slid back, away from the glass. The blood rushed behind my ears so loudly that I almost couldn’t hear the infected rattling the door. It grunted and groaned with the effort.

  I put my hands over my mouth to hold in any sound. Pulling my knees to my chest and laying my head on them, I faced the door and watched the infected look for a way inside. David wrapped his arms around me, squeezing me to him.

  The infected pulled at the door, which shimmied in response. It pulled harder. The door clanged, moving against the metal doorjamb. The infected raised its weapon—a tire iron.

  It’s gonna hit the glass.

  I leaned into David, grabbing his arms. We’re dead. If it breaks the glass…

  Please, please, please don’t break.

  It pulled back, ready to swing.

  Just go away…go away!

  Something caught its attention. It turned its head and dropped its arms, mid-swing. The tire iron connected with the glass with a small tap. The infec
ted turned and shuffled away.

  I felt David let out a breath. The room spun around me. I didn’t feel as though I could breathe. It was as if I’d held my breath so long my body had forgotten how.

  “Eva,” David whispered, shaking me gently. I dropped my hands from my mouth and gulped in a huge lungful of air. “That was too close.”

  “Yeah. They’ve been here too long. They aren’t falling for it, David.” An edge of panic crept into my voice.

  “Look.” He nodded his head at the sub-POD entry. “They found it. That’s what drew the infected away from the greenhouse door.”

  The group congregated at the opening of the sub-POD. A few of them took tentative steps into the corridor. When nothing happened, they ventured further inside. Others followed. Soon they were all in the corridor, visible as a collection of shuffling, dark shadows.

  “I have to go now. I need to collapse it before they get to the end of the blood trail.”

  I nodded. I couldn’t trust my voice to speak. A tear escaped my eye. David brushed it away with the pad of his thumb. He kissed me quickly and slipped out the door.

  I watched him move across the room toward the sub-POD. My gaze moved from David to the opening and back again. Through the foggy glass, I saw the moment we had a problem. He chuckledad with youou

  As David moved toward the sub-POD corridor, an infected man turned, his pale face eerie in the dark corridor. He watched David for a millisecond before running down the corridor toward him. David started sprinting for the opening. My heart raced as I watched the two men running toward each other. “Run, run, run,” I whispered. My hands slick with sweat, I balled them into fists, my fingernails digging painfully into my palms.

  David was almost to the sub-POD corridor. All he needed to do was pull the red lever, and the corridor would collapse, killing the infected inside. He reached the metal box containing the shut-off lever. The infected man was nearly to the end of the corridor.

  David pulled his elbow back and jammed it through the glass door of the box. He reached for the lever. The infected man reached out of the corridor for him. David’s fingers wrapped around the lever. The infected man’s hand grabbed for David’s arm.