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Foamers

Page 20

by Justin Kassab


  The first building east of Lambian was the Paine Science Center, which was a scientist’s heaven. In one of the rooms, Grace and Ashton had prepared an arsenal of microscopes and slide prep materials on the blacktopped tables, before they had made their way to the infirmary, where they had taken one of the less-damaged foamer corpses. Now, as they were lugging the body up three flights of stairs, Ashton wished they hadn’t picked the third floor. The logic had been that the third floor would allow them to retreat in either direction, but that didn’t make Ashton like the stairs.

  “Can we set her down quick?” Grace asked as they reached the third floor landing.

  Bending at the knees, Ashton lowered the body to the ground and sat against the second rail of the landing. She swung the rifle around to her front as she reminisced about the amazing days she’d had with X. A sigh slipped out of her lips as she thought of being back in the house.

  “So, you and the cowboy a thing?” Grace asked.

  “No.”

  “You are. That’s awesome. He is quite sexy in that hat of his,” Grace said, giving Ashton a shove.

  Ashton shook her head. “I wish we were. I don’t know if X will cross my brother to be with me.”

  There were certain memories Ashton had engraved in her mind. The one that stood out most was lying in bed with X. He had fallen asleep propped against the headboard, making his chest the perfect place to rest her head. The slow metronomic thump, thump, thump of his heart pumping blood through his body rocked her to sleep.

  She could hear the thump, thump, thump as clearly as if she was still lying there. Thump, thump, thump, a smile spread across her face, thump, thump, thump; the joy faded. The sound echoed through the stairwell. Argos stood at the top of the stairs, growling into the darkness below. The footfalls of foamers rose to them, but in the dim light, they couldn’t see how many there were.

  “Shit,” Ashton said as her hands curled around her rifle.

  Grace held the walkie against her mouth. “We need help. There’s a bunch of foamers.”

  “Get behind a locked door and wait,” Kade’s voice crackled out of the walkie.

  Ashton hurried toward the nearest classroom, Grace on her heels. The room had ten blacktopped lab tables along the walls, leaving the center of the room wide open. The white square flooring was covered in black scuff marks.

  Argos waited at the top of the stairs, hair on end, muscles flexed, as he growled at the nearing footsteps. Ashton clapped her hand on her quad and called the dog, who reluctantly came inside the classroom. No sooner had he entered the room than Alpha crested the last stair. As the behemoth bounded for the open door, Ashton slammed it shut and pressed the small silver lock. She braced her back against the door, knowing the effort was useless but trying anyway. Grace stood in the center of the room, clutching her double barrel.

  The door shook with the impact of a foamer. Ashton lowered her center of gravity and bent her knees against the door. She doubted that she could provide any more safety than the lock, but she needed to feel like she was doing something.

  Over in the med bay, X dug a concealed handcuff key from the underside of his belt.

  “Toss me the key,” Kade said.

  “You need to stay here, but this is your rodeo. Tell me what I need to do,” X said, collecting his weapons.

  Kade was frustrated with X, but he knew Ashton and Grace didn’t have enough time for him to argue.

  “The science center is an oval layout. Go out our east exit and head straight there. That will bring you into their stairwell. If you can kill the foamers, great, if not you’ll have to get them to chase you,” Kade said.

  “How do I do that?”

  “It’s a little complicated. First let them see you, second runaway. Once you’re sure they’re chasing you, you want to cross the first floor of the building and take the other exit. If you head dead north you’ll end up close to stream bridge. Cross the bridge and go left. You’ll circle all the way back to Lambian.”

  “Not too complicated. Left foot, right foot, repeat,” X said, donning his hat.

  “Soon as the girls are safe to leave, hit the call button on your walkie, and I’ll direct them back. Good luck,” Kade said.

  “Don’t worry.” X winked and was gone.

  “Girls,” Kade said into the walkie. “Make as much noise as you can to keep them occupied, and don’t stop. X is on his way.”

  Back in the science center, Grace rushed to the nearest table and pulled a long metal rod from a compartment. Holding it like a bō staff, Grace bashed the rod into the furniture and stabbed it against the blackboard. As Grace shattered and smashed everything in sight, Ashton continued to press her weight against the door. She was afraid to die. The idea of not being able to see where her relationship with X would go crushed her. With all the struggles they would have to overcome, namely her brother, she felt he was worth it. As she braced against the door, she filled her mind with memories of her time with X.

  Ten foamers gathered on the other side of the door, and the three largest, who looked like college football players, rammed their shoulders against the door in unison. Each hit rattled the locked door with enough force to bounce Ashton out of her braced stance. Her bad ankle throbbed as she fought each barrage. Her black knight better hurry his ass up.

  Down on the first floor, X quietly stepped through the propped-open door. Every nerve in his body told him to rush up the stairs, guns blazing, and blast his way through the foamers to save Ashton, but Kade’s orders prevailed. He counted ten steps from the first to the second floor, totaling twenty steps to go without being detected. At this point, he had no idea how many foamers he was up against, so he needed the element of surprise in case there were more foamers than he had bullets.

  He gently placed his toes on each step, keeping his back to the wall as he climbed the stairs. The dim stairwell limited his vision, but he could hear every impact of the foamers against the door. He stopped on the second floor, letting his ears count a number, but all he knew was there was more than one. Drawing his pistol, he ascended the last flight. The pounding stopped, and he froze in place, holding his breathe. He scanned for shadows and movement, but wasn’t high enough to see the next floor yet.

  A large foamer crashed into him, knocking him off his feet and cascading them down to the second floor. The impact sent his gun skidding across the landing. The foamer landed on top of him, rendering him breathless. X focused as the foamer lunged for him with a set of gleaming teeth. In a split second, X hooked his fingers inside the foamer’s cheek, twisted its head to the side, and punched the carotid artery.

  The blow stunned the beast long enough for X to roll free and take off running. Kade’s plan sounded so much easier before he was performing the task. He hoped his altercation with the foamer would be enough to draw the pack after him.

  His feet slammed off every other step, while the troop bounded after him. He still had his knife, but he knew standing and fighting against what sounded like a dozen foamers was suicide. His first priority was drawing them away from Ashton. He hit the first floor and found the exit blocked off by Beta and Pepper. Skidding to a stop that cost him his footing, he caught himself on his hands and launched himself away from the
foamers. He slammed open the metal door that led into the classroom section of the first floor. Finding his way across the floor by the glimmers of pale light, he could hear the slaps of the bare palms of his pursuers.

  Finally finding another set of double doors, X threw his weight into the handles, rocketing the doors against the cinder block walls. In one stride, he crossed the threshold and sprinted into the stark white. The wind and snow bit into his exposed arms. The swirling snow limited his vision to only a few feet as he gained distance from the foamers. It only took a dozen strides before he could no longer see the building. In his haste to save Ashton he regretted not grabbing a coat. She was all that mattered, though. He could endure a little cold to let her get away. Following Kade’s instructions he pressed the call button on his walkie. His main concern now was keeping the pack chasing him, so the girls could return safely. As long as he kept running he’d be—

  His feet went out from under him as he cartwheeled down a steep bank, splashing into freezing water that instantaneously sucked the heat from his body. Of all the obstacles he could have faced freezing water wasn’t something he wanted to face once, let alone twice. Just when he thought he had found solid footing in the shallow creek, Pepper tumbled down the bank and landed on top of him. Out of instinct, X caught her in his arms and was surprised when she didn’t struggle against his embrace. Her mess of red hair reminded him of Ashton’s as his feet clawed at the creek bottom, wading to the edge. Nearing the bank, he could see the silhouettes of the other foamers waiting at the top.

  He knew he couldn’t get out of the water in that direction, but he didn’t want to abandon the redheaded foamer to the water. She may have been a foamer, but letting a woman drown didn’t settle well with him. It crossed his mind that the other foamers would likely remain at the top of the drop-off since they didn’t seem to have the hang of swimming, but that didn’t help settle his nerves much.

  So he shoved Pepper onto the bank and then swam with the current across the narrow creek to the opposite bank. He pulled his dripping body free and glanced over his shoulder to see what had happened to Pepper. Dimly, he could make out her form on the far bank, causing a sigh he hadn’t expected. Whether she was a monster, X wasn’t sure, but he did know that if he had let her drown, he would be one.

  Standing still allowed the cold to pierce his muscles, and it was only a matter of time before the chase would resume. He ran into the white wall of snow, keeping the creek beside him for reference, but far enough away that he would not accidently slip back into the icy water.

  X glanced back and saw the foamers form a pile, with the wet one in the middle, to share their warmth. X continued along the creek, trying to remember the distance to the next bridge. With each step, he slowed, as his wet clothes turned to planks of ice. He focused his thoughts on Ashton, and how happy he’d be to see her again, instead of his odds of making it back to the dorm. His primary concern was whether the diversion had saved Grace and Ashton. He kept words like frozen, cold, hypothermia, and death from exposure out of his mind.

  The diversion had been effective. When the walkies rang from the call, Kade commanded the girls to leave the science center and return to the east entrance, where they’d find a ladder and harness. Upon their return they were instructed to grab the road flares and mark the roof so X had a waypoint to guide him home.

  Grace and Ashton followed the orders exactly as they were given. The two old friends stood side-by-side on the roof of Lambian, searching for X in the billowing snow. Even though they couldn’t see the ground, it didn’t stop Ashton from hunting with binoculars.

  “You love him, don’t you?” Grace said, opening an emergency travel kit.

  “Kade. Yes. He’s my brother,” Ashton replied.

  Grace removed a road flare out of the box. “You told me you had something to tell me when you first got back. No reason to lie to me now.”

  Ashton lowered the binoculars. “Yes, but please don’t tell Kade. I don’t know how he’ll take it, and I’m not even sure if X wants me that way.”

  “The man just ran a pack of foamers away from you. I think he might care just a little.” Grace struck the flare and held the glowing end above her head. Even with the poor visibility, a road flare would be bright enough to be seen from a half mile away.

  Luckily, X was far closer than that, and the red flare turned the falling snow around the roof of the dorm into what looked like a giant candle. He calculated that the foamers had stopped pursuing. The wet clothes froze his skin, and he was having trouble keeping his thoughts from going cloudy. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, and the shortest distance for him to get back to the dorm involved crossing the creek again. As much as he didn’t want to get wet a second time, he had no idea how far away he was from the next bridge. He climbed down the bank and plunged back into the water. His mind was in such a fog, he didn’t remember making it back to Lambian, changing out of his clothes, or getting to the med bay, where he took a seat on the bed across from Kade.

  Kade was completely taxed from having to remain chained to the bed while barking orders that put everyone else in harm’s way. The job of assigning risk without taking any was far harder than anything he had ever done before.

  Throughout the entire journey into the Primal Age, Kade felt as if he’d only been able to make bad decisions that got people killed. The entire time X was out there acting out his orders, Kade was terrified X wouldn’t make it back. Now, as much as X looked like he was frozen, Kade felt some semblance of confidence that everything had worked out. Ashton rushed into the room and threw her arms around X.

  Grace, who was leaning against the wall by the door, looked from Ashton to Kade. Kade recognized she was reading his reaction, which led him to piece together what was happening. Ashton wasn’t just thanking X; she was in love. He had trusted X to take care of her, not to corrupt her. He felt his blood boil as his hand tugged against the handcuff.

  “X,” he said, and X retracted his arms from Ashton as if he’d been burned by a hot stove. Kade could tell from the look on his face he was afraid. “Will you undo my handcuff, please.”

  “Sure thing, Kade.” X’s black eyes settled on Kade’s with a simple understanding.

  Ashton stood and placed her hands on her hips. “Tiny’s going to be pissed at you.”

  “I’m more afraid of Kade right now,” X replied.

  Ashton’s face went white as X slid his key into the lock.

  “Kade, I made all the moves,” she spouted out.

  Grace wrapped her arms around Ashton and pulled her toward the door. “You’re not helping yourself.”

  “Don’t let him out of there. He’s going to kill you!” Ashton shouted.

  “Do you care about her?” Kade asked.

  X nodded as he freed Kade’s hand.

  “Do you love her?” Kade asked, standing up. X backed one step away from him, his eyes never breaking contact with Kade’s.

  “Kade, it was my fault!” Ashton yelled.

  Kade pointed a finger at her without looking. His blood boiled within his veins as he processed, hurt, worry, and rage all at once. He had trusted X, and he needed answers. Ashton was no weaker than Tiny, and he had known her to go after the things she wanted with a
ferocious tenacity. X wouldn’t have crossed their friendship for something as simple as a lay, but Kade still needed to know how deep X’s feelings were for his little sister.

  “Do you love her?” Kade repeated.

  X’s black eyes met Ashton’s watery gaze. That’s when Kade realized X hadn’t told Ashton. Recognizing that, he almost felt bad—almost. X faced Kade, then stared at his own feet.

  “Yes.”

  Before the word was completely out of his mouth, Kade sucker punched X. The impact spun X like a carousel and he caught himself on the bed.

  “Kade!” Ashton shouted as Kade shook out his knuckles.

  Grace held tight as Ashton struggled to escape “They’re boys; let them talk it out.”

  Kade felt all of his anger dissipate as X pushed himself off of the bed while holding one hand over his eye.

  “Square?”

  Kade nodded and they moved toward each other, embracing in a quick hug that was finalized by one slap on the back.

  “Hurt her and that’s just a taste of what I’ll do to you.”

  “I promised you I’d keep her safe, didn’t I?”

  Kade smiled back. “Congrats.”

  Grace released Ash, who darted across the room and slapped her brother across the face, ringing his ears. X locked her in his arms.

  “That wasn’t necessary,” X said, holding her away from her brother. “We talked it out.”

  “Don’t get me started, lover boy. I’ll whomp you next. Hell of a way to tell me you love me,” Ashton said.

 

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