by Megan Berry
“I don’t trust her,” I tell them, and no one seems to think I’m overreacting this time.
“Did you notice anything weird about those zombies?” Dad asks, and I stop and think. Nothing is standing out to me though, so I shake my head.
“They were both really fresh and didn’t really have any wounds.” His words bring the details to my mind.
“They were wearing nice clothes too,” I tell them, and my dad nods. “Except for the fresh blood from that poor woman, their clothes were just as good as any of ours.”
Ryan furrows his brow as he tries to wrap his head around what we’re saying. “This doesn’t make any sense,” he mutters.
“It also doesn’t make sense that they would show up in the middle of town,” Silas points out. “If they came in at one of the fences around the city, they never would’ve gotten that far.” His words make my entire body go cold when I realize he’s right and what the implication of that is.
“They were turned inside the city,” Dad says, and we all nod. It seems to be the only reasonable explanation, but it also opens up a whole can of worms about how exactly they were turned, and why. Either there are more zombies running around the city undiscovered, which doesn’t seem likely, and the whole place will soon turn, or there has to be another explanation.
“I think the doctor had something to do with it,” I say, and everyone stares at me.
“I know you hate her, Jane, but come on…” Ryan starts to say, but I shake my head.
“It’s more than that. You should have seen her. She has no respect for human life,” I say dramatically, but in my defense, I truly believe it. “If she treated me that badly just taking a blood sample, what do you think she’s doing to Jack?” We all fall silent as we worry about Jack.
“I think we need to go find Jack,” Silas agrees, and I give him a nod of thanks for supporting me.
“I really hope I’m wrong,” I tell them, but I have a bad feeling that I’m not.
Chapter Fourteen
“Maybe we should go to Daphne about this first?” I suggest later that night as we all gather by the back door, preparing to sneak out into the darkness, but Silas veto’s my idea right out of the gate.
“We can’t be sure who knows what around here. For all we know, Daphne could be working with Dr. Ruppert, or even telling her to behave this way,” he tells me.
My initial reaction is to protest that Daphne is really nice, but I shut my mouth because people really do suck these days. I don’t want to be responsible for risking Jack’s life on a hunch that doesn’t pan out.
“Okay,” I agree so he knows he doesn’t have to worry about me. I support him one hundred percent.
“We find Jack and if everything is a-ok, we come back like nothing happened,” Silas says, going over the plan one more time.
“If it isn’t, we bust him out and make a run for it,” Ryan finishes for him, and we all nod. I almost suggest that we put our arms into the middle and yell break, like we used to do in cheerleading, but I know Silas will never go for it.
“Do you have everything?” Silas asks, and I do a mental check of my supplies. I have everything I came here with strapped onto my back. We all nod, and then Silas is opening the backdoor and peeking outside. “All clear,” he whispers, and we silently move as one out to the back deck and down onto the grass.
It feels so weird to be out after dark, but zombies aren’t really our concern right this second. It’s people, specifically the patrols that seem to wander around at random. Silas spent the afternoon watching out the window, trying to learn their schedule, but there simply wasn’t enough time to establish a pattern.
We cut across the lawn. Even though there isn’t any snow here, it’s chilly. Silas gave me one of his large hoodies to wear over my wrecked coat, and it’s better than nothing, but it definitely isn’t as good as a coat with both of its arms would have been! Thinking about what Dr. Ruppert did makes me grit my teeth in anger. She didn’t have to wreck my coat, she could have uncuffed me, or even just rolled up the sleeve.
We cross the crunchy frozen grass of the back lawn and make it to the gate in the back fence that Silas scouted out earlier. Silas opens it. Thanks to the WD-40 that he sprayed on the hinges, it doesn’t squeak.
We are out in a back alley now, and it’s pitch black. There is a little bit of moonlight, but it’s a cloudy night. It helps with the purpose of our mission but also makes it nearly impossible to see. I stumble over something in the dark, and Ryan reaches out and grabs my hand to steady me. I give him a squeeze of appreciation and then gently pull my hand away when he doesn’t make any move to do it. Being in this alley in the dark reminds me of that first night when I took the shortcut back to my house after cheer practice. I shiver at the memory and pray that I don’t bump into any more bodies in the dark. That’s a memory I don’t think I’ll ever forget as long as I live. It was my very last moment of normalcy before I knew what the world was becoming.
We walk towards the university, only crossing roadways when we must, but otherwise sticking to the back alleys and trying to avoid being seen. “Shh,” Silas hisses more than once when he thinks he sees something up ahead. Even though none of us are talking, we all freeze so the crunch of our feet on the gravel won’t give us away.
One of the yards has a dog, and it sounds like a big one as it barks and growls and throws itself up against the fence separating us. “Run,” Silas tells us, and we take off as fast as we can to put some distance between us and the disturbance. I glance back over my shoulder and see a flashlight bobbing around in the yard—the owner must be investigating.
I trip because I’m an idiot and not paying attention while looking behind me, and I land in the gravel with a loud woof as the breath is pushed out of my body. Everybody else stops running and turns back to me, and I feel several pairs of hands grab me and pull me to my feet. “Are you okay, Jane?” Dad whispers, clearly worried, and I nod my head, but then remember that it’s probably too dark for him to see me.
“Yeah,” I say, barely managing to get the words out around the stinging on my knees and hands.
“You okay, Blondie?” Silas asks, and I manage to answer again.
“Mmhm,” I tell him, and that’s good enough for Silas.
“We have to keep moving,” he whispers. “Try to be careful,” he tells me, patting me somewhat gently on the shoulder. For Silas, that’s caring. Dad stays glued to my side this time, and I feel bad that he has to worry extra about me now because I’m a klutz.
We leave the residential area behind. It’s a bittersweet victory. We are closer to our goal and there are less people to see us, but there isn’t as much cover. Headlights shine up ahead. Silas forgets the need for stealth and yells for us to get down.
I drop down in the ditch that slopes on either side of the road and try to press myself into the soggy grass as closely as I can. My backpack, hoodie, and hat are all black, so I pray this works. The vehicle doesn’t even slow down as it passes by us, and I lay there for a couple minutes afterwards, trying to calm my thundering heart.
“That was close,” I finally manage, and we slowly get to our feet. I cringe as I stare ahead at the stretch of road that leads to the University. There isn’t much to offer cover.
“We need to hurry before someone else comes along,” Silas says as he springs into a jog that I have to work twice as hard to keep up with.
My lungs are burning by the time we make it to the campus parking lot. “This is going to be the tricky part,” my dad murmurs, and we all agree.
Silas has never been here, but we still let him take the lead. He decides that marching up to the front door is a terrible idea, so we keep to the shadows and slowly work our way around to the back. There is a door, but we aren’t sure if we should use it. So we creep along and peer into dark windows until Silas finds one that he likes.
He pulls a screwdriver out of his bag and quietly jimmies the window lock. I glance over and see my dad staring a
t him with a slightly suspicious look, and I can’t resist. “He can also hotwire a car,” I whisper to my dad, making him frown even deeper.
“I’m a jack of all trades,” Silas mutters as he carefully slides the window up and then pauses to listen inside. It sounds empty. “I’ll go first,” he says, swinging himself up and into the window. He has his gun drawn before he even lands on the floor. He disappears for a moment and then pokes his head out the window again. “All clear,” he tells us, and I let out a breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding.
Silas reaches out through the window towards me. My dad gives me a boost and Silas pretty much pulls me through the window. Ryan is next and then my dad. We find ourselves standing inside a dark classroom. It reminds me of what happened upstairs with Dr. Ruppert, and I shiver despite myself. That woman is a stone cold bitch.
Silas creeps over to the door, which is partially ajar, and we all follow him, keeping a tight formation. Silas peeks out the door and gives a grunt of frustration.
“I can’t see anything,” he tells us as he whips the door open and ducks out to do a once over of the hallway before he quickly ducks back in. My heart thunders when he does this because I don’t feel ready for a firefight. Thankfully, it seems that I don’t have to be.
“The hall is clear,” he tells us, breathing heavily, and I have to resist the urge to slap him.
“You didn’t even tell us to get ready!” I lecture him, and he frowns.
“This is it, Jane. You need to be ready from here on out,” he tells me, and I grit my teeth at the condescension in his voice.
“You really should’ve warned us,” Ryan rushes to my defense, making Silas give us both a nasty look.
“Okay,” he says, taking a deep breath like he’s suffering idiots. “From here on out, be on your toes, okay?”
I frown at him, nervous about what we are about to do, and upset that Silas is being mean. “Okay,” I mutter. Ryan doesn’t even acknowledge Silas’s word.
“Let’s move out then,” Silas says, taking up the lead again. I pull my gun from my hip and keep it at the ready just in case. I definitely don’t want to have to shoot any living, breathing people though.
We move down the hallway without any help from the overhead lights. It’s completely dark except for the emergency lights that pop up every couple of feet, and they don’t provide as much light as you’d think. I can still barely see my own hand when I hold it up in front of my face. I can just make out the outlines of Silas and Ryan as they move ahead of me, and only because their tall figures create a shadow against the dim glow of the lights up ahead.
We reach the end of the corridor and Silas chooses a new direction at random, based on the general directions Dad and I were able to relay to him from our visit this afternoon. I still haven’t slept more than three hours, but I’m running on pure adrenaline now.
The hallway ends abruptly and up ahead we can see that we’ve finally reached the large common area located right inside the front door. I know Silas had hoped to avoid this open space, but it doesn’t look like we were able to locate an alternate staircase. We all freeze and stare out, trying to penetrate the darkness with our eyes. It’s kind of impossible.
“I don’t hear anything,” Silas says finally, releasing a deep breath. He turns to me and presses a quick kiss to my lips, startling me. “You guys stay here,” he tells us, not giving us a chance to react before he slips away from the group and steps out into the open.
I barely resist the urge to call out to him. Ryan and my dad try to hold me back, but I break away from them and jog towards Silas, being careful to stay down. This wasn’t part of the plan. We are supposed to stay together.
Ryan and Dad follow on my heels, and Silas doesn’t even acknowledge our presence. He’s too busy climbing the stairs and trying to keep the target off our backs. I know there’s going to be hell to pay if we survive this, but really, does he not know me by now?
We reach the top of the stairs without incident, but that is where our luck runs out. Two guards are walking down the corridor towards us, but there isn’t any urgency in their steps. They haven’t spotted us yet. Silas doesn’t wait for them to find us first. He takes off charging towards them with his gun up.
Despite my best efforts, I let a small squeak escape my lips. The men glance up at the sound and nearly jump out of their skin when they see a madman barreling towards them with a gun.
They go for their own guns, but Silas halts them in their tracks. “You touch those guns and I’ll shoot,” he warns them, coming to a stop a couple feet in front of them. The two men, obviously not real guards of any kind, look at one another and then slowly raise their hands in surrender.
“Please don’t kill us,” the first guy begs, “I’ve got kids!”
Silas ignores him, keeping the gun trained on the two men as he strides forward and opens a doorway marked as the janitor’s closet.
“Here’s the deal,” Silas says conversationally as he pats them down with his free hand. He motions for the rest of us to join him, and I jog over to take the weapons he removes from the guards. I pass them out to Ryan and my dad. Silas pulls a handful of zip ties out of their pockets, and I grimace as he hands them to me. My wrists are still raw from my own encounter with these things earlier. “I’m not going to kill you,” Silas says, and I watch relief wash over both of their faces, “—unless you give me a reason,” Silas finishes, making the two look less reassured.
“We won’t, man!” the talker promises, and Silas nods his approval.
“I’m going to tie you up and leave you in this closet,” Silas tells them, motioning to the cramped room filled with cleaners. “I’m also going to post a guard outside this door with instructions to shoot you if you call out for help before an hour is up,” he says, and we all blink in surprise, including the two hostages.
“We won’t make a peep!” the talker promises. Silas nods again as he grabs a few of the zip ties and secures the first guy’s wrists. Then he does the same to the second guy. He finally joins them together back to back, and I wince at how that must feel.
“Do you know where we can find the doctor?” Silas asks, and the two men look at each other. “Don’t be a hero,” Silas warns them, bringing his gun up to their faces and waving it in front of them.
“She’s just down the hall in room 20E,” the guy that hasn’t said a word pipes up.
The talker glares at his buddy. “Bryce!” But Bryce doesn’t pay any attention to him.
“Whatever they’re gonna do to her, she deserves it,” he defends, and his words make my blood run cold. What has this woman been up to?”
“Do their feet,” Silas says, obviously having heard enough, as he nods to Ryan and me. My mouth opens in surprise. “Now!” Silas barks to hurry me along, and I drop to my knees and begin securing the first zip tie while Ryan does the same to the other guy. I’m not one hundred percent sure what to do next, so I peek over at Ryan and see that he’s secured one zip tie to each ankle and then used a third tie to hold the other two together. I quickly do the same, only dropping the zip tie twice because my hands are shaking so badly.
I finally get to my feet, and Silas shoves the two men into the closet and holds his hands up to his lips. “Remember. Don’t make any noise for at least an hour,” he instructs them, and they both nod.
“You can trust us,” the talker promises, and Silas frowns.
“The problem is, I don’t trust anyone,” he tells them before bringing the butt of his gun down on the top of each of their heads with a sickening crunch.
“Why did you do that?” I demand, and Silas shrugs.
“You can’t trust the enemy, Jane,” he tells me as he shuts the door, leaving the two unconscious men alone in the dark.
“They were cooperating,” I point out, and Silas shrugs again.
“Until they weren’t,” he says vaguely and then gives a look that’s intended to shush me. “We need to get going and find Jack. That isn’t g
oing to hold them forever,” he points out, and I grimly shut my mouth. What’s done is done; there isn’t any point rehashing it now.
“Room 20E, right?” Dad says, speaking for the first time in a while, and we all nod as we move carefully down the hallway. I see the room I was taken to earlier and the one across the hall where Dad was kept. I have to resist the urge to turn around and run as far away from this place as I can.
The next door over is 20E, beside the door where I was detained. I stare at it with wide eyes frozen until Silas brushes past me, pushes the door open, and barges in.
“What the hell!” I hear him exclaim. Even though I don’t want to know what’s on the other side, curiosity gets the better of me, and my worry for Jack, and I follow the guys inside.
The air rushes out of my lungs as I try to take in the Frankenstein lab. The familiar hiss of the zombies has me spinning, my eyes focusing in on a steel cage set up in the corner. It’s really only big enough for one person, but there are at least three of them crammed inside. My eyes dip lower and my stomach clenches—make that four zombies.
The child zombie seems more aggressive than its adult counterparts and smashes its head against the bars, growling and spitting in an effort to get to us. The larger zombies seem more content just to moan in our direction. It makes me sad and gives me the creeps all at the same time. The poor kid doesn’t look any older than six or seven. It’s a little boy, but it reminds me of Sunny all the same, and I have to turn away.
I catch Silas staring at the little boy with a punch-gut expression, and I reach out and touch his arm. He jerks it away, and I would be offended if I hadn’t seen the little bit of moisture in the corner of his eye. I decide to leave him alone and let him deal with his stuff in his own way.
We span out to examine the lab and try to find some trace of Jack. I sidestep a steel gurney in the center of the room and wince at the metal chains that have obviously been added for some horrible purpose.
“This is not good,” I can’t help but say, which is pointless because I’m stating the obvious and everyone else can see how horrible this looks for themselves. I can’t help it—sometimes I need to vocalize stuff.