The Dark Days: The Others - Episode 3

by Ginger Gelsheimer

  We don’t talk on the ride because it’s impossible to hear over the engine. I lay my head back and enjoy the sun on my face as the frigid water lightly splashes my cheeks.

  We pass by the spot where Kane first found us floating adrift, but he keeps going. He looks back and his long, black ponytail blows hard in the wind. “I’ll take you as far as I can,” he shouts over the engine.

  About ten minutes later, we get to “as far as I can” and my stomach is twisted. The thought of going back to the airport makes me sick.

  Kane turns the engine off and we rock in our own waves. He makes his way to the back of the boat and sits down beside me, putting his hand on my knee.

  “Are you sure you won’t stay?” he asks. I love the way he stares into my eyes when he speaks to me.

  “Believe me, if I could. I’ll be back. When do you want to try to meet?”

  We both survey our surroundings. To the east, the new coastline is visible about thirty feet away. Buildings are still submerged up to their rooftops to the west.

  “See that building over there,” he says, pointing to a two-story brick building that also has a one-story attachment. “The one with the Colorado state flag?”

  “Yes, I see it.”

  “Try to get your friends out Wednesday and meet me there at three-thirty. That will give you a few days to plan your escape.”

  “Okay. That should give us enough time.” Could it really happen? Could we rid ourselves of Dorian for good?

  He runs his fingers softly down the side of my face. “I’d come every day to look for you.” He grins. “But I’m running out of fuel.”

  “It’s okay. You’ve already done so much.”

  He leans in to kiss me and I almost pull away. I’ve already resolved that I have to leave, and his kiss is going to mess me up again. Unable to resist, I kiss him back. His full lips are soft and fit perfectly with mine.

  Knee jerk. He stops and stands up rather quickly. He’s probably having the same issue I am. He clears his throat and takes the map out of his coat.

  “Sam found our next spot,” he says. He opens it and points to a location in the mountains that has been circled. “If, for some reason, you don’t make it in time, come here.” He taps the place inside the circle. “It’s just west of Empire.”

  I feel a thousand times better. Now, I’ll know where he is. “I’ll do my best Wednesday, but at least this way-”

  “Not this way. Be here Wednesday.” He kisses me on the cheek and steps onto the platform where the kayak is. After he slides it down into the water, he carefully lowers the first laundry bag into the rider’s hole.

  “You should probably go ahead and climb in.”

  “Yeah, okay.” I can see that my feet are going to get wet, so I take off my hiking boots and socks. I shove them into my backpack and hand it to Kane. “Can you hold this while I get in?”

  He takes it and sets it down on the floor, so he can help me into the kayak. I give him an awkward return peck on the cheek as I step onto the platform. I climb into the kayak and it rocks in the water, causing some to splash inside. The water rushes over my feet when I go to sit down and it’s freezing cold!

  “Think you can carry this one?” he asks heaving the other bag up on the edge of the Bayliner.

  “Yeah, I can handle it.”

  He lowers it onto the front of the kayak. “I guess that does it,” he says. He lowers my backpack to me.

  “Yeah, I guess so,” I reply.

  “Wednesday. Three-thirty.” His eyes are enchanting, green as emeralds reflecting beneath the sun. “Please.”

  “I will.”

  “Okay. You go on. I’ll stay here until I see you make dry land.”

  I pull the paddle up from the floor and begin to row, watching him drift farther and farther away.

  When I get to land, I hear the engine crank up and as I turn to look, he disappears into the distance.

  Chapter 5

  I drag the kayak across the melted snow and ice and my emotions run the gamut from complete despair to anger that could kill. Then a glimmer of hope crosses my mind. Is it possible since Dorian hates us so much, he will just let me take Ben, Masaru and Edgar and leave? Maybe I have been worrying all this time for nothing. He has no rights to us. We’re not actually in prison.

  I plop down on a pile of packed snow to take a break. The extra weight of the laundry bags is almost more than I can handle. I forgot about this part of the journey. “Yeah, I’ll make them fit…”

  I’m less than a mile from the airport and it’s time to stash my load. I rummage through both bags, pulling out the stuff I want to keep—the clothes, a couple first aid kits and some antibiotics, a few jars of cashews, most of the beef jerky, some coffee and a few other things. Glancing around, I see a station wagon and I don’t see the remains of anyone inside.

  I approach the wagon and look through the window. It’s clean. The person must have gotten out and tried to run away from the tsunami. Poor soul whoever that was. As I pull on the handle of the back door, it opens and I quickly shove the stuff inside and close the door. I split the rest of the items between the two bags. Now, I can throw one over my shoulder and pull the other one in the kayak.

  Instead of entering the airport grounds from the southwest side where they’ll be expecting me, I cut north about a half-mile away and come in from the northeast side. I hope this will give me a chance to see if Janie is still here before Dorian or one of his goons spots me.

  Exhaustion has set in when I get there and I swear my arms are going to fall off. The good news is that it’s quiet, not a soul around—just as I thought. I toss the kayak rope to the ground and head over to Janie’s plane.

  I whistle lightly, hoping she might hear me so I don’t have to climb up the inflatable slide. That didn’t go over so well last time, and I’ll probably have a scar forever. I look over my shoulder and I’m still alone. I whistle a little louder but either she can’t hear me, or she’s not there.

  Only one way to find out for sure. This time, I climb up the raft without incident. Practice makes perfect.

  All is quiet when I enter. “Janie, you here?” Nothing.

  Heading toward the rear galley, I notice the doors to the lavatories are open. She’s gone. I hope she got out okay. Maybe she’ll get lucky and find Kane and his group. Kane—I already miss him, and Elsie, too. Even Jimbo and Molly. I have to get back there—Wednesday, three-thirty.

  I slide down the raft and not two minutes later, Finch pulls up in the cart. I guess he’s been making rounds. My arms hurt so bad, I’m actually glad to see him.

  “What are you doing up there, Claudia?” he asks, but his tone says he doesn’t care that much.

  “Thought I’d scavenge it real quick before I came back. It’s been cleaned out, though,” I reply—just in case Janie is still living there and she’s just out on a search.

  Finch drives the cart over next to the kayak. He gets out and grabs one of the laundry bags and places it in the front seat of the cart.

  “Need any help?” I ask. Not sure why I offer since he’s one of Dorian’s thugs, but he is the nicest one. I may need him later.

  “I’d imagine you’re worn out from the journey home with all this stuff. I can get it,” he says and with a smile.

  I wouldn’t call this home. “Yeah,” I reply, as I walk over to the cart. “Thanks.”

  He loads the kayak into the back of the cart where the luggage would normally go. “Where’d you make it to?”

  Here we go. “Downtown Denver,” I reply. Do I tell him anything else? And strange that he hasn’t asked about-

  “Where’s Elsie?”

  Never mind. I’m only going to get one chance at this. I run through things in my mind.

  “Claudia, where’s Elsie?” he asks again. Now he sounds like he cares—probably because he knows he better have an answer when he shows up without her to the shelter.

  “She, uh,” I begin. Did she die? Did she stay wit
h the others? Do I tell him there are others? Would he help us escape?

  “She, uh?” His expression illustrates impatience.

  I go for it, deciding that telling everyone that there are others, who have nice warm beds to sleep in, will motivate them to do something other than sit under Dorian’s thumb. “Elsie stayed with them.”

  “Them? Who is ‘them’?” he asks with a raised brow. Now, he really cares.

  “The others we found.” I have to try to lie, which I’ve never been good at because I typically only straight shoot people. “Staying in a hotel in Downtown Denver—about two hundred of them.”

  Finch stares at me long and hard. Have I made a terrible mistake?

  “I wouldn’t tell Dorian that,” he warns before driving away.

  ***

  I walk back to the shelter entrance and Dorian and Finch are standing outside. I wonder what Finch has told him.

  “Claudia, sorry to hear about Elsie,” Dorian says, and he actually sounds halfway sincere.

  I glance to Finch. Help?

  He saves me. “I told him how she died…when you guys were trying to get those medical supplies—like you said.”

  “Electrocution—what a terrible way to die,” Dorian adds. I feel like he is grinding it into my skin—only the laugh is on him.

  “Yeah,” I play along, looking to Finch again. “It was awful.” Can I trust Finch?

  Dorian ushers me inside and over to the table where Fran is waiting. I look around to see if Ben, Masaru and Edgar are in the central command area. He must have them locked up on the 13th floor still because I don’t see them anywhere.

  “Claudia! Look at all of this!” Fran is overjoyed, pulling items out of the first laundry bag. She places a few bottles of antibiotics on the table.

  I pick one of them up and lay out my demand, “I want some of this to go to the sick baby. It’s the whole reason I went…and because of it, I’ve lost Elsie.” I might as well play it up.

  “Okay, fair enough,” she agrees with a quick glance to Dorian. He nods his head to approve.

  I still hate him—really hate him. The kind of hate that has you asking your best friends if they’ll bring shovels when you need to bury the body. I would love for Kane to bust in here and give him a good ass kicking.

  After a quick snicker to myself, I refocus. “Where are my friends?”

  He’s snide in his response, “They’re in the same place you left them.”

  “I’d like to join them,” I say. After all, we have plans to make.

  Dorian smiles wide. “Very well. Finch, take her down.”

  On the way to the 13th, I walk along with Finch in silence. I’m dying to ask if he will help us but decide I better talk to the rest of the group first. For all I know, Dorian may have told him to warm up to us so he’d have a spy. I definitely wouldn’t put it past him.

  I figure I can at least thank him. “Finch?”

  “Yeah,” he replies but keeps walking.

  “Thanks for what you did back there.”

  Finch doesn’t say anything, but sort of grunts his acknowledgement. When we get to the cell, he unlocks the door, opening it so I can step inside. He closes it behind me and walks away.

  “Claudia!” Ben says, rushing over.

  Edgar gets up from the table and Masaru stops in the middle of his meditation.

  Suddenly, Finch returns to lock the cell door and then gives me a wink. I’m intrigued.

  First things first, I give Ben a hug, followed by Edgar and then Masaru.

  “Where’s Elsie,” Edgar asks right away.

  Huddling together, I whisper, “She’s safe. She stayed with the other survivors we found in Denver.” Even though I already told Finch, we could never be too safe and someone else could be lurking.

  “Good for her,” Edgar says. His smile is wide and I know he’s happy she managed to escape.

  “What were the others like?” Ben’s curiosity is killing him.

  A huge grin streaks across my face and I start to laugh. “There’s only about twenty of them. I told Finch there were two hundred!”

  Everyone chuckles.

  “You told Finch?” Masaru sounds concerned.

  “I thought it would be better—you know give people hope, if they know there is more out there than just this airport. Finch disagreed—told me not to tell Dorian. He told Dorian that Elsie died.”

  Ben jumps in quick, “He did?”

  “Yeah. I thought that was strange, too. Do you think we can trust him?”

  “No!” Edgar says. It’s pretty much always just one word with him. I laugh.

  “We may need him,” I say, pulling out the map. I unfold it on the table and slide my hand across it.

  “These people are wonderful and nice! Nothing like Dorian and his thugs.” I miss Kane so much. “They offered to let us come with them. If we can escape, we’re supposed to meet them on Wednesday afternoon,” I let them in on the plan. “If we can’t make it out on time, we’re supposed to make our way to here.” I point to the circle Kane drew on the map.

  “Where did you find them?” Masaru asks.

  “Staying at the Ritz—well not the Ritz, but the Brown Palace Hotel. The whole downtown is still flooded—several floors on most buildings. They were staying in the suites at the top. I actually got to sleep in a clean, warm bed.” I decide not to tell them the rest about Kane—at least not yet.

  Everyone remains silent, but their eyes are dreamy. They are probably fantasizing about the warm bed.

  “I even had hot coffee, Ben.” I push him lightly on his shoulder.

  His eyes do that thing they do when he’s in deep thought. “They had electricity?”

  “No, I think electricity is a thing of the past,” I reply. “But they had food, and they cook over a fire.”

  “Steam,” Ben utters.

  “Steam?”

  “Interesting isn’t it? It’s like we are regressing since the disaster. We’ll have to go back to steam power.”

  He must be the smartest thirteen-year old on the planet. He may be the only thirteen-year old on the planet.

  Ben doesn’t waste any time. “So, what’s the plan?”

  After discussing things for an hour or so, we figure our best bet is to try to lean on the surplus of supplies I brought back from the journey and our history of being the best searchers in the compound. We’ll all be good little soldiers the next couple of days, and on Tuesday, we’ll hit Dorian up to go out searching for more food—all of us. He might just let us go and if he doesn’t, we’ll persuade him to send Finch along to supervise.

  Chapter 6

  Loud footsteps the next morning wake us all. I don’t know what time it is, but it feels a little early for them to be bringing our breakfast ration.

  I’m hardly awake when Tobias reaches the cell door. “Claudia, Edgar and Masaru, come with me,” he says.

  My protection instinct kicks in even though I’m half asleep. “What about Ben?”

  “He stays,” Tobias says coldly.

  There’s no reason for Dorian to be angry after I just brought him all that stuff so I relax. “You’ll be okay here, Ben?”

  He’s a little nervous but tries hard not to let it show. “Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

  As I lace up my shoes, Masaru pulls on his fur and leather boots. Edgar glances in the corner at his thigh-high waders but decides to leave them behind.

  Tobias speaks up, “You might want those,” he points to the boots.

  This makes me extremely curious. “Where are we going?”

  “Dorian will brief everyone when we get there.” Of course—didn’t really expect an answer.

  When we get to central command, the old and sick are lined up. Damn it, Dorian! I scan the line for the mother and baby. Thank God—they aren’t in the line because I might have to kill him with my bare hands. I look over at one of the groups and see the mother smiling. It feels good because it’s the first time I’ve seen her do that since we’
ve been here. Her baby is laughing.

  Tobias leads us to the back of the line just before a handful of the young and brawn join us. Dorian passes by—he avoids any eye contact with me.

  When he gets to the front of the line, he leads us outside the shelter. I’m sure he doesn’t want everyone inside knowing what’s going on outside.

  “Okay, folks. It’s time to take that trip south,” he begins.

  I interrupt him, “Dorian?”

  He was expecting it. “Claudia?”

  “Must we go now since I brought back all the supplies? That medicine would do some of these people good.” I can’t go south. I’ll never make it back in time to meet Kane. My heart pounds out of my chest.

  Dorian dresses his face with a sympathetic look for everyone and speaks in a soft voice, “There wasn’t much food, Claudia. We’ll be out in another couple of weeks.” Nice ploy to gain the support of the people he plans to leave along a deserted highway to starve.

  “Shouldn’t we be taking all the strong people—the ones that can help the most and get back the fastest?” I argue, hopefully making the walking dead question him again.

  Dorian is done playing nice guy. “If we don’t find any, some of you aren’t coming back. There. Is that clear enough for you—for everyone? We have to survive as a race, people,” he shouts as he shuffles off toward the front of the line.

  I remember the darts Elsie gave me. As much as I would like to use one on Dorian, this isn’t the right time. All of his thugs are here. I’m going to need to thin them out first. He won’t put all of his eggs in one basket.

  It’s a miracle I still have the darts. I was able to hide them inside the lining of my backpack—I knew that the hole would come in useful. Fran didn’t have a clue, and she was so excited about the other stuff, she didn’t give it a second look after I showed her it was empty.

  It’s too bad Ben isn’t here. This would be a perfect opportunity to escape. Dorian obviously did that on purpose since I’ve proven I’ll come back for my friends. Now, he’s going to use them against me.

  ***

  We’ve been walking south for two days and the journey has been uneventful. There’s no possible way for me to make it to Kane on time, but I knew that was going to be the situation the moment we left the airport.