Suddenly hanging back at the school or going to the clinic, waiting for Sonny’s diversion, was no longer an option.
We all changed direction.
Danny was right. Even though the Sleepers were coming, it was our fight. I wanted to be a part of winning the battle as well.
FORTY – ALEX SANS
It wasn’t the time to worry about whether I was hidden or not. A part of me believed they were too consumed with looting us that they wouldn’t even notice me.
Hank had Mera and was taking her to a truck so she’d be ready to go. That would happen only over my dead body.
My focus was finding them. I emerged from the school on the far east of the property and no one was there. Not even Reefer.
There was something I did notice. The strong smell of Sleepers.
How did Hank’s friend not smell it? It was raw, like living next to a garbage dump.
I ended around the corner to assess my situation.
When I did I saw them. Javier was shouting for them to stop. Hank was clutching Mera’s arm; Reefer was with them. They stopped but Javier hadn’t been trained on the swords and Hank took it from him easily.
Come on, Javier, kick his ass.
Our head science guy was a fighter, but I suppose he was cautious because of Mera. Hank continued on, Javier kept up and then I saw where they headed.
No.
Storage Building Three.
I moved quickly and that was when the commotion began. I could hear people talking, shouting. Either Ed had arrived or the Sleepers were in view.
I started to run their way and was almost there when another man raced close to them and shouted, “Hank! We gotta move or get ready. Massive Creepers are headed this way from all directions!”
“What better reason to open this?” Hank said, standing before Storage Three.
“Don’t be an idiot!” Javier shouted. “Don’t open that door!”
I inched my way closer to them. Reefer was behind Mera a few feet making sure she didn’t run. Hank was by the door.
In that split second, standing fifty feet from them, I had a world of visions happen. In that instant I foresaw the events of March 1st, the unspeakable events that Mera and I never mentioned. Events so horrible that Beck gave up. I wondered how in a Sleeper attack, we’d lose Javier.
There it was. He was right there behind Hank, who had a sword, standing before a storage building full of Sleepers, that I had authorized.
That moment right there was the one that had to change.
The noise grew louder and I could feel the rumbling of the ground. The Sleepers were close and there were so many, they were causing the vibration.
Dear God, what do I do?
“Do not open that!” Javier yelled. “There are—”
Hank jammed the sword into the hinge of the lock and popped it off. Mera backed up. I raced forward, the door blasted open, and just as the first Sleeper raged out, in rode Ed with a vengeance. Like a horse soldier, a hero to save the day, he brought down his sword, swung upward, and decapitated Reefer. In his downswing of the sword, he impaled the Sleeper before Mera.
One down, five Sleepers to go.
Ed dismounted
Two of the Sleepers went after Hank, and he reached out for Mera to use her as a shield. I had to get to her.
A Sleeper lunged at her from behind, grabbing hold of her. I ejected my switchblade and went into the back of the Sleeper, pulling upward with the blade until I hit the resistance of his ribcage. I pulled Mera from Hank’s hold and as I did, one of Hank’s men jumped on me, dropping me to the ground
Was he kidding me? His leader was under Sleeper attack and he came after me?
Enraged, I fought, punched, and eventually knifed my attacker until he let go of his grip on me. I rolled onto my knees.
Javier was trying to get to Mera.
I stood.
Ed had taken out two more Sleepers and was on a third when Hank, bloodied and bitten, shoved the Sleeper from him. He then kicked it, sending the Sleeper into Mera. It didn’t knock her over, for that I was grateful. She was more of a springboard for the Sleeper.
The resilient Sleeper charged again for Hank
Ed had just killed one, and was actually on his way to take out the one between Hank and Mera when Hank grabbed the sword. Like a rookie baseball player going for the low ball, he swung the sword at the Sleeper, slicing it into two parts.
The Sleeper dropped and Ed, without hesitation, beheaded Hank.
I saw it as I approached. Javier’s face, Ed’s face, Mera, holding her stomach, turned to me.
“Alex,” she called. She was in pain.
Mera glanced down, then lowered her hands and when she did, a huge amount of fluid and blood gushed from the wound in her stomach.
Mera’s already stretched to the limit skin split wide open from the horizontal gash in her stomach.
When Hank had sliced though the Sleeper, the tip of the sword had sliced through Mera.
Heart wrenching and with everything I had, I cried out, “No!” I grabbed for her. Before she hit the ground, I had her in my arms.
Ed was hysterical. After all, this was his mother.
Javier raced to us and placed his shirt over her stomach. I could see her, I could see my child. I wanted to scream and cry and an ache filled my chest when Mera’s head fell to my shoulder.
“Let’s go. Now!” Javier yelled, holding the shirt tight to her wound. “We run together, Alex, to the clinic. Go!”
What happened around us, the confusion, the commotion, the Sleeper attack, I couldn’t register. All I focused on was getting Mera to the clinic.
“Alex…” she gasped. “Alex, our baby.”
“It’s okay. You hold on for me. You hold on for me,” I begged on. “Please. Hold on, Mera.”
We arrived at the clinic, burst through the doors, and Javier started backing orders.
“I need everyone that’s medical in the emergency suite now!” He walked backwards. “Everybody else, barricade these doors. We can’t have Sleepers in here.” He spun and ran down the hall to prep for surgery.
I followed him there. He had the table ready and I set Mera down. Levi and Noah came in. Who else, I didn’t know. Javier was rushing to get things ready, while Noah took over compressing the wound.
“Alex, you need to leave,” Levi said.
I gripped Mera’s hand. “You’ll be okay. I promise you.” I kissed her. “I promise you.”
“Alex, the baby...”
“Mera, you are my concern right now. I need you.” I locked eyes on her. “I need you. Don’t stop fighting.”
She gripped my hand. “Don’t leave.”
“I have to go, baby.” I kissed her again. “I love you.”
“I love… I love you.” Her hand released and her head dropped to the side.
“No!”
“Alex, go!” Levi shoved me. “Now!”
I backed up and watched them all encircle Mera. When I made it to the door, I heard Noah say something about removing the baby.
The door closed behind me and I just dropped. I fell to the hall floor, brought my knees to my chest and, scared to death of losing what I loved most in the world, I crumbled in that hall.
FORTY-ONE – SONNY WILSON
We were in our own small battle, our mutiny to take back our camp, when all of a sudden the focus of the South Bound people turned from us to the wave of Sleepers that descended on Haven.
There were so many, I don’t believe even our electric fences would have held them back.
The main horde, thousands of them, ran. I had never seen Sleepers run. They ran to the gate and the massive force behind their numbers toppled our resistance.
Me, Danny, Randy, and Michael were like one of them. The moved past us to get to the South Bound people. At that point, I knew it was game over, fight over, we just had to find a place to retreat. The Sleepers would either move on or we would send them packing.
Baby Pho
enix sent them away once, and with the baby and Michael, we’d clear the camp again, but that would have to wait until every single person from South Bound met their due.
Some of them ran for their vehicles. Most didn’t have a chance.
Michael in his goodness tried to help and save some of them.
Not me.
I didn’t look twice or think twice about it. I walked by them as they were mangled to shreds, stepped over them as they bled to their deaths. It was like trying to make my way through a crowd at a rock concert. Only difference was, instead of screams of happiness, the people were screaming in agony.
I watched Sleepers literally rip one man apart. Still clutched in his hand was a bag of items. Our items. I reached down, grabbed the bag, and walked on.
During all that, trying to make our way through the sea of Sleepers, Ed rode over.
Something was wrong, I could tell by the look on his face.
“You have to get to the clinic,” he said. “Mera and the baby are hurt. We have to secure it from Sleepers.”
Suddenly the Sleepers were such a hindrance.
“Back them off, Michael,” I ordered. “Please.”
“I’ll try. But I need distance to concentrate,” Michael said.
Too bad Randy wasn’t born in the time when the world loved football. In linebacker mode, he rammed through, trying to make a path.
The neigh of the horse and Bonnie’s voice caught my attention. “I’ll clear a path. Don’t hesitate. Let’s go, Ed.”
No. I thought. No! She was not cloaked. She was as much a target as any of the South Bound people. The horse bucked up on its hind legs, Bonnie snapped the reins, lifted her sword, and started swinging like a mad woman, left and right.
Ed did, too, it didn’t matter who he hit, he just swung.
The medical building wasn’t that far, but it seemed like a mile.
Danny was sandwiched between me and Randy, Michael brought up the rear, and we moved together, all watching Bonnie.
There were no other buildings in our path to duck into, to take tunnels. Our only course was straight to the medical building.
As we struggled to get inside, it dawned on me that Michael may have had the power to control them and call them, but he couldn’t send them away. What we needed was to get inside, get his blocking band on, and have baby Phoenix tell them to leave.
It took everyone and not only us, to keep the doors secure. It wasn’t that the Sleepers sensed ‘kills’ inside, they just wanted in.
Ed took Phoenix to the roof and working together, they called them off. It took two hours, and not only did the Sleepers start to back off, the cavalry arrived.
Beck and his unit showed up with heavy artillery and began to do their thing. We retreated to the waiting room.
“They’ve been in there for hours,” Alex said. “No word. Nothing. What did we do, Sonny? What did we do?”
I sat next to him. “We did the best we could.”
“I don’t have it, Sonny. I don’t have the ability to protect and keep my family safe. I can’t pull the hero stunts. I screw up.”
“How?” I asked. “How did you screw up? You were there. Ed said you did all you could.”
“Where is she now?” Alex asked. “I’m a fucking mess.”
Danny moved to the other side of Alex. “There are a lot of other things that make a man a hero.” He laid his hand on his back. “You are never less than a hero to me or my mom.”
Alex leaned into Danny for a moment and then his head lifted.
Beck walked in the room.
My first thought was, Here we go again.
“Alex,” Beck said, walking over to him, “Bonnie told me.”
Alex stood. “Beck, I tried. I tried.”
Beck then did something I wasn’t expecting. He embraced Alex. “We’ll get through this. We all have to stand together and be strong.”
We would. We were a family and community. But at that moment, all we could do was wait.
FORTY-TWO – ALEX SANS
Four hours and seventeen minutes after I sat down in that waiting room, Javier finally emerged.
I didn’t move for the longest time. I stayed there, hand tight, shifting my eyes to the padre, hoping he was doing that prayer thing he was so good at.
Beck was upset, it was apparent, but he remained strong and dealt with the aftermath of what happened.
We had to salvage what we could of the food. The camp wouldn’t be viable for long. We would have to search out another home.
All that was a moot point, if Mera didn’t make it.
Beck’s army was still counting bodies of the South Bound people, but believed that many had escaped.
Sonny said half the vehicles were gone.
I don’t know what they got away with, it was something we’d assess later.
I was on pins and needles, racing back and forth, hoping against hope and then Javier told us, “Mera is fine.”
My knees buckled and I exhaled so hard, I swore I didn’t have any air left in my body.
“She is very strong and tough,” Javier said. “Thankfully the laceration wasn’t more than an inch or so deep and had she not been with child, she would have died.” He looked at me. “The baby, in essence, saved her.”
My heart sunk. I didn’t want to ask. No one did. I think we all knew the answer.
But Beck asked. “How is she? The baby, I mean.”
Javier face saddened. “She’s alive but… the little one had a very traumatic birth. It was rough and sudden. It sent her into respiratory distress and heart failure. She also sustained a minor injury, though that was the least of our worries. She… she more than likely is not going to make it through the night.”
“Can I see my mom?” Danny asked. “Please?”
“She should be waking up,” Javier said. “Yes, you can go see her. And the baby—”
“No,” I said. “Not yet. We see the baby when she does.”
Javier nodded.
I was ready to see Mera. I needed to see her and I needed to know that she was going to be all right.
FORTY-THREE – MERA STEVENS
I dreamt of my old life, my old house, and all of my children. Danny was younger, so was Jessie. Jeremy was still in diapers. I don’t know what caused that dream, the only one that wasn’t in it was Daniel.
Instead of Daniel, it was Alex.
I felt myself coming out of the sleep, my senses returning gradually. There was a dull ache in my abdomen, but it paled in comparison to the one in my heart.
It was waking up to the reality that I didn’t have a nightmare. That I had been injured and worse, I lost my child.
Was that what happened? Was it so painful to me that I never discussed it? Or was it the circumstances surrounding the event that I was ashamed of? Truth be known, I caused all of the hurt by being naïve.
I opened my eyes to see everyone I loved standing around my bed. Was I dying?
Alex sat on one side, Danny on the other, and surprisingly, Beck was there as well.
“Go get Javier,” Beck told Randy. “Tell him she’s up.”
Randy slipped from the room.
“Hey,” Alex whispered. “How are you?”
“Thirsty.”
Danny embraced me carefully. “Mom, I was so worried. I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“I’m fine. Sore. But fine.” Alex handed me the water and it tasted good and refreshing. I swished it around my dry mouth and let it slip down my throat, which felt raw and sore. I needed to know. “The baby?”
Alex lowered his head. “She’s very sick, Mera.”
“She didn’t die?” I asked with shock. “Oh my God, she didn’t die.”
“They don’t think she’ll make it.”
“But we get to see her, right? Hold her. Let her know she is loved, right? We’ll get that chance.”
“You have that chance,” Javier said. He was carrying a small bundle in his arms. “She’s very beautiful, Mera. B
ut weak.”
I extended my arms. “I get to hold her, right?”
He placed my daughter in my arms. I gasped and whimpered. She was so tiny, and pink. She didn’t look like a sick baby. Her shoulder was bandaged and everyone gathered around to see her. I couldn’t stop looking at her.
“Hey, little one. Meet your family.” I wiped the tears from my cheek and asked Javier. “How long?”
“Hold her, Mera. Just hold her. Don’t put a time on how long you have left, look at it as how much time can you get with her right now.”
I ran my index finger over her face. “Look, Alex, she’s so beautiful.”
“And tiny.” He reached down for her hands. He looked at Ed. “You were this small.”
“Yeah,” Beck said and sounded angry. “And what did you say about him, Alex? Remember? Think.”
Alex crinkled his brow.
“You said Phoenix was too small, too weak, and he wouldn’t make it. Remember? And Mera, she did not give up hope for one minute. I’m begging all of you, don’t give up on this little one.” His huge hand reached down for the baby. “She has a tough mother and an even tougher father.” Beck looked at Alex.
Alex lowered his head.
Beck turned to Javier. “Is there a chance she will make it?”
“Yes. It’s small, but if she makes it through the night, her chances increase dramatically.”
Beck exhaled. “Michael, you have some work to do.”
Michael stood. “I’m on it.” He moved to the bed.
I raised the baby to him. “Hold her.”
Michael’s lips quivered as he took my daughter in his arms. He breathed heavily and placed his lips to her forehead. “I’m going to pray so hard for you. Everyone will. It is a pleasure to meet you… and may God bless and keep you. Mera, what are you naming her?”
“I believe I want to name her Hope. Because no matter what, she has given me that.”
“Hope.” Michael smiled. “Perfect beautiful name for a perfect girl.” He extended her to Danny.
Sleepers (Book 6) Page 20