The Gates of Byzantium (Purge of Babylon, Book 2)

by Sam Sisavath

  “They went into the garage about ten minutes ago,” Gaby said. “I haven’t seen them come out yet.”

  “Is Blaine with them?”

  “I can’t be sure, but I saw five dots moving around out there at one point.”

  “Anything from the house?”

  “I saw a couple of them walking around the front yard. Do we know who they are yet?”

  “Not yet.”

  Lara turned the binoculars back to the house, picking up a lone figure moving around the yard. Or at least, it looked like a figure. It could have been a balloon blowing in the breeze for all she knew.

  “They finished with the door down there?” Gaby asked.

  “Pretty much.”

  “Heavy?”

  “Like a stone.”

  “I guess that’s good. Hard to break down stone.”

  “That’s the idea.” Lara looked back at the marina and focused on the garage, but she couldn’t see anything inside, outside, or around the building. “They’re taking their time,” she said softly.

  “Maybe you can contact Will on the radio.”

  Lara unclipped the radio from her hip and pressed the transmit lever. “Will, can you hear me?”

  She didn’t get a response right away.

  Five seconds went by, then ten.

  She was about to press the transmit lever again when the radio squawked and she heard Will’s voice, whispering, “Yes.”

  Why is he whispering?

  “Is everything all right over there?” she asked.

  “Everything’s fine,” he said, still whispering. “We’re about to head back now.”

  “Be careful.”

  “Will do.”

  Gaby glanced over. “I guess he’s okay.”

  “I guess so.”

  She fought the urge to call him back.

  No. He said he was fine. Why would he lie?

  But why was he whispering?

  *

  She was halfway back to the hotel when she heard the gunshot. It came from the hotel lobby, and she knew instantly it was a handgun.

  Glock. That’s a Glock.

  Lara dashed across the grounds, aiming for the side door. She had become more acquainted with the hotel’s layout since this morning, while coming and going with arms full of ghoul bones.

  As she ran, Lara unsnapped the radio from her hip and shouted into it: “Danny!”

  “I heard,” Danny said calmly.

  “Hurry!”

  She was halfway to the side door when she heard another shot.

  Lara threw open the door and darted inside. Her sneakers slipped on the freshly bleached tiles, but she regained her footing and raced through the short hallway until she reached Hallway A that led into the lobby.

  As she made the turn, she heard two more gunshots, very close together.

  “Danny!” she shouted into the radio again.

  “I’m coming,” Danny said calmly.

  She heard voices as soon as she neared the lobby. Female voices, almost conversational, which seemed impossible. She saw a pair of bullet casings scattered on the floor in front of her and almost slipped on one as she burst into the large sun-drenched room, drawing her sidearm at the same time.

  The smell of frying fish from the kitchen overwhelmed her senses, but they were quickly overcome by the sight in front of her.

  Lara was prepared for the worst, but she was still shocked to see Carly sitting on the floor with her back against one of the lobby walls, bleeding badly from the left side of her neck. Blood trickled out between the fingers of Carly’s left hand, which she had pressed over the wound to stem the flow. There was a Glock on the floor nearby, just out of Carly’s reach, and her eyes were focused on the woman standing in front of her, about five feet away.

  Sienna.

  She was holding a Glock aimed at Carly’s head and her back was to Lara, but as soon as she heard Lara’s footsteps, Sienna looked over her shoulder. Lara didn’t recognize the young woman from last night. The same one who had screamed when Jake was swallowed up by the flood of ghouls in the hallway, who had cried into her shoulder all night as they sat on the third floor of the Tower and waited out the horror.

  This woman looked different. She looked angry, and Lara heard all that fury come out in a scream that paralyzed her: “Stay back!”

  Lara slid to a stop ten yards away, and her gun snapped up and she took aim at Sienna’s head, and in a split-second she wondered if she could do it, if she could pull the trigger.

  Jack Sunday. That man in the church. I’ve killed before. I can do it again.

  Please, please, let me be able to do it again, for Carly’s sake…

  But maybe she didn’t have to. Maybe she could talk her way out of this. Maybe…

  “Sienna, what are you doing?”

  Lara’s eyes moved briefly back to Carly. She looked awful, all the color drained from her face. There was a thin trail of blood stretching from the kitchen to the wall where Carly sat. Carly looked back at her, and her friend blinked, as if she didn’t quite have the strength to keep her eyes open, and was fighting, fighting just to do that much.

  She’s losing too much blood…

  “This is the natural order of things,” Sienna was saying. She sounded rational, calm again. “Jake’s dead. Everyone’s dead.”

  “Not everyone,” Lara said.

  “Everyone that matters to me!” Sienna shouted.

  “Don’t, please…”

  She wasn’t sure if she was actually pleading. Maybe she was. All she could focus on was Carly, bleeding on the floor, and how heavy the Glock felt in her hands, how strong the trigger was against her forefinger, and the smell of fish, not just frying, but burning now…

  “You can’t stop me,” Sienna said, smiling. “I—”

  She never finished. There was a loud gunshot from across the lobby and Sienna’s forehead exploded and blood (brain) splattered the floor. Sienna’s body crumpled like used skin and bones, the Glock that was gripped so tightly, so insistently in her hand mere seconds ago fell and clattered against the floor even before what was left of Sienna’s head did.

  Lara looked over at Danny, entering the hotel lobby through the front doors, holstering his Glock. He ran the rest of the way, reaching Carly about the same time Lara did.

  “Dammit, babe, I told you not to get shot,” he said, crouching next to her.

  Carly looked at him and somehow managed to smile. “My hero,” she said, her voice soft, barely a whisper.

  “What happened?” Lara asked. “Why did she shoot you?”

  “I don’t know.” Carly shook her head. She looked even paler up close. How was that possible? “I was in the kitchen, doing woman’s work—”

  Danny grinned.

  “—and I saw her come in. She looked at me and then shot me without saying anything. God, she shot me. I’ve never been shot before. It hurts.”

  “I wouldn’t know, I’ve never been shot,” Danny said.

  “I hate you,” Carly said, then closed her eyes.

  Danny glanced at Lara and she saw all the boyish charm disappear, replaced by worry and love and, for the very first time, very real fear.

  “She’s lost a lot of blood, but it’s not a fatal wound,” Lara said. “She’ll be fine.”

  Please let me be right. Just this one time, God, let me be right. You owe me that much, don’t you?

  “Help me get her to the table,” Lara said. “And keep her upright.”

  Danny lifted Carly in his arms as if she weighed nothing, with her head resting against his chest instead of dangling off his arms, and carried her to a big table in the middle of the lobby. Lara walked alongside him, her hand pressed against Carly’s neck, the blood squirting through her fingers. She pressed harder and Carly moaned but didn’t open her eyes. They had to step over Sienna’s still body, twisted awkwardly on the floor.

  “She’s really bleeding,” Danny said.

  “She’ll be fine…”


  Sarah arrived in the lobby when they were halfway to the table. She saw Sienna, then Carly, and ran over. “My God, what happened?”

  “Sienna shot Carly, then I shot Sienna,” Danny said, like he was discussing the weather.

  “Oh my God…” Sarah said, putting one hand over her mouth.

  “Where are the girls?” Lara asked Sarah.

  She didn’t want Vera to see this. Didn’t want Elise or Sarah’s daughter, Jenny, to see it, either. But especially not Vera. The girl had already been through too much; Lara didn’t think she could—or should—see this, too.

  “They’re at the Tower,” Sarah said. “I sent them to stay with Gaby when I heard the gunshots.”

  “Good, good,” Lara said, grateful for that, at least. “Clear the table, Sarah.”

  Sarah ran over to the table ahead of them and with two hands brushed the surface clean except for the linen sheet on top. Danny sat Carly down gently, with all the care and love in the world, but kept her head leaning against his chest, upright.

  “Sarah, I need your hand,” Lara said. Sarah rushed over to her side and Lara showed her where to put her hand against Carly’s neck. “Here. Push hard. Don’t worry, you’re not going to hurt her. Whatever you do, don’t let her lay her head down on the table.”

  Sarah gave her a reluctant look but pushed on the wound the way Lara showed her. Lara stepped back. She looked down at her hands, covered in blood up to the wrists.

  She’s lost so much blood…

  She looked back at Sarah. “Keep it pressed as hard as you can, understand?”

  Sarah nodded, but she looked queasy, especially every time blood squirted through her fingers and peppered the thick tabletop.

  “I’ll be back,” Lara said, and jogged off quickly.

  She ran back to her room, trying to wipe the blood off on her pant legs, but only succeeded in bloodying them up, too.

  The black bag was in the corner of her room, on the armchair where she had put it this morning. She snatched it up and hurried back out, rushing down the hallway. For some reason, it seemed to take her much longer to get back to the lobby.

  Somewhere between her room and the lobby, she heard the soft, echoing reports of gunfire.

  For an instant, her mind conjured up images of Sienna, risen from the dead, engaging in a gun battle with Danny. But no, the gunfire wasn’t from the lobby. It was distant, reaching them from across the lake.

  She hurried into the lobby, where Sarah and Danny were still standing over Carly. Lara was afraid Carly wasn’t breathing, but as she drew near, she saw Carly’s chest rising and falling slightly, if labored.

  “Will,” Lara said, catching Danny’s eyes.

  “He can take care of himself,” Danny said. “I need you to focus on Carly right now, okay?”

  She nodded, and willed herself to ignore the soft, echoing pop-pop-pop of assault rifles firing in the background.

  Instead, she pried back Sarah’s hand to reveal the bullet wound in Carly’s neck.

  The bullet had gone clean through, taking a big chunk of muscle with it. It was an ugly sight, made impossibly uglier by the sheer amount of blood loss. But it wasn’t fatal, and the carotid artery was intact. All she had to do was stop the bleeding, and Carly would live.

  Let me be right. Please, let me be right.

  She became aware of Danny’s voice, as if from a distance: “Lara? How is it? How does it look? Tell me she’s going to live. Please, tell me she’s going to live.”

  “She’s going to live,” Lara said.

  Please, God, I beg you, don’t make a liar out of me.

  In the background, far away, the pop-pop-pop of assault rifles continued unabated…

  CHAPTER 33

  JOSH

  Pros and cons: What were they?

  Pros: He was with Will. That was a hell of a pro right there. When there were men with guns around, he preferred to have the guy next to him be an ex-Army Ranger. Then Blaine had showed up. Josh hadn’t really gotten to know Blaine except for that brief time in Lancing, but he seemed like a good enough guy. And he was huge. As someone who had spent his fair share of time learning to escape bullies, Josh appreciated size in his friends. Blaine probably didn’t consider him a friend yet, but they were on the same side, so it was all good.

  Cons: They were on enemy soil. Or close to it, anyway. Behind enemy lines would probably be the better description. Either way, there were people across the inlet with guns who probably wouldn’t like it if they discovered Josh and the others were in the marina. Never mind that they were only taking what was theirs. The men in the house had tried to attack the island and gotten repelled. They were probably not very happy about that, either.

  Conclusion: As long as they stayed invisible, got what they came for, and left with no one the wiser, Josh had nothing to complain about. But that was the trick, wasn’t it?

  Josh was hiding on the right side of the garage at the end of the marina, next to a side door. He watched Will and the others jog over to him, keeping low and sticking to the four-foot-tall grass. He wouldn’t have spotted them if he didn’t already know they were there.

  Just to be sure, Josh leaned out from behind the garage and looked toward the house. There was no one on the roof or looking out from any of the second-floor windows, but he was alarmed at the sight of two men walking around the front yard of the house. By the time Will, Blaine, and the other two reached him, the two men had walked from one end of the yard to the other and were now moving up the driveway toward the road.

  Where the hell are they going?

  Then Will was next to him. “Josh, you remember Blaine.”

  “Hey,” Josh said, and exchanged a nod with Blaine.

  “Hey, kid,” Blaine said. He indicated a short woman with dark hair and a guy in his twenties next to him. “This is Maddie and Bobby.”

  “Hey, Josh,” the woman named Maddie said.

  Bobby just nodded at him.

  “Bobby doesn’t speak,” Maddie said.

  “Oh,” Josh said.

  Wait, where’s Sandra?

  The last time he had seen Blaine, he was going in search of Sandra, the woman who had helped Josh and Gaby escape from Folger. He remembered Sandra—tall, beautiful, and hell on wheels when the chips were down. They would never have escaped Folger without her help. He also remembered how desperate Blaine had been to find her.

  So where was Sandra now?

  Something about Blaine’s face told him this was probably not the right time to ask. Blaine could be intimidating. No, Blaine was intimidating. Josh decided to save his questions for later. Maybe he could find out about Sandra through Will.

  Will spared him the awkwardness by tapping his shoulder. Josh moved back and Will took his place. He leaned out and scanned the house for a moment.

  Blaine moved to stand alongside Will. “Trouble?”

  “Probably not,” Will said. He looked back at the rest of them. “The priority is the equipment inside the garage. We’ll come back for your stuff the first chance we get. For now, we have enough to work with.”

  “I hate the idea of leaving all that silver and guns out there,” Blaine said.

  “Can’t be helped.”

  Will walked over to the garage door and opened it soundlessly, then slipped inside. They followed him in, Josh falling in behind Maddie, with Bobby coming up behind him.

  The garage was mostly dark, with a few spots brightened by shafts of light poking in through holes in the walls and roof. Will flicked on his flashlight, using a wide beam to illuminate where the sunlight couldn’t reach. Over the months, rainwater had seeped inside, leaving patches of wetness under their shoes as they walked across. The whole room had that aroma of abandonment and occasional flooding. It made Josh gag a bit.

  The old boat they had seen parked inside when they had first arrived was still there, parked across half of the available space. The crates of food, water, and supplies were also where they had left them, stacked along on
e corner of the warehouse.

  “There,” Will said, pointing at the crates. “We’ll take what we can in the first run and come back for the rest later.”

  The equipment Will and Danny had been using to melt down and recast bullets was stored in separate crates at the very bottom of the stack. They had to remove the others—filled with food, water, and clothes—first before they could get to the ones they were after.

  Josh had to admit, Will had the right idea. Anyone raiding the garage would definitely poach the food, water, and clothing first, and when they finally got to the bottom and saw the smelting pot, the pairs of rubber mallets, the dies and presses, the urge would be to leave them. Who wanted to drag around someone else’s heavy tools? Josh hadn’t even known what these things were when he had first seen them. But then again, he hadn’t known people even made their own bullets.

  The silverware and jewelry were all bundled up in another crate, also at the very bottom of the pile. More things that your average raider wouldn’t have bothered with, not with jewelry and gold and other precious metals waiting to be taken in almost every house and building you went into. There was a time when Josh was awestruck by the sight of gold lying around. He got over that real quick. Gold was less valuable these days than a bag of chips that hadn’t yet gone stale. Plus, bags of chips didn’t weigh a ton.

  Will pointed at the crate with the silver. “Maddie and Bobby, that’s yours. We’ll follow you with the tools. Head northwest for 200 meters and the boat should be below the ridgeline.”

  Maddie and Bobby slung their weapons and picked up the crate. Josh could tell it was heavy by the way they were straining. The crate was stuffed with so much silverware that, in the old world, it would probably have fetched a few hundred thousand. Now, though, it was only useful to people who understood its significance.

  Maddie and Bobby grunted as they moved the crate over to the door one foot at a time. Josh hurried past them and opened the side door for them.