I walked into the cold, damp room. My core seemed to adjust instantly and I began shivering.
“There aren’t any drinking glasses, Zoe. Do you just want to drink from the tap?”
I nodded. “Ya, that’s fine.”
I walked to the row of white sinks and stopped at the nearest. Gus had followed me and opened the faucet while I held my hands under, forming a makeshift bowl.
“Zoe, do you want me to wake someone? Nadine mentioned a clinic. We could get you checked out.”
I shook my head no, and continued to drink the cold water for several seconds before speaking. “I don’t want to go there.”
“I can come with.”
“Something feels wrong, Gus. I don’t like it here.”
Gus sighed deeply. “I know, darlin’, either do I. But it’s all we have right now.”
I nodded and continued drinking. My head was already clearing.
“Feeling any better?” Gus asked me. I could tell he was really worried.
“Actually, I am,” I said in honesty. “Maybe it was just all the upset from earlier in the night,” I suggested. “Sometimes I get kind of funny feeling after they’ve been in my head.”
“You might be dehydrated, too,” he said. “I wish you’d let me try to get you into the clinic. We wouldn’t have to mention the baby.”
“I’ll think about it,” I said.
“Fair enough.”
“Gus, do you smell that?” I asked.
“Smell what?”
“Rust?”
“Nope. But your sense of smell might be a lot more acute than mine. It’s common in pregnancy.”
I stood. I’m not sure why I decided to walk to the showers. My mind was clear of intrusive thoughts and images of other beings. But the smell, and an unknown force, drove me to walk.
“Zoe? Where ya going, darlin’?”
I ignored Gus and instead continued to the dark corner that held the circular showers.
“Gus?” I moaned as I looked down at the tiles. Blood covered a large area and pooled around the drain. “Gus…”
“I’m here Zoe. I see it,” he said softly from right behind me.
I felt his hands on my shoulders and reached up to touch them. We stood there together, looking at multiple arms and legs and pieces of flesh that were piled into a heap. I wanted to vomit, but sadness overwhelmed me and instead I started to cry. Gus stepped forward to the edge of the pile, avoiding stepping in the blood.
“Shit,” he whispered. “Fucking shit.”
“Who are they, Gus?” I managed to choke out.
“It’s hard to say, Zoe. I doubt we were meant to see this, though. I think we should leave, and keep quiet about it.”
I wiped my face with my sleeve. “That’s the smell,” was all I could manage to say.
“Ya I smell it now too, Zoe. Blood. Let’s get out of here.”
He took my hand.
“We need to hide,” I whispered suddenly and with urgency. I pulled Gus toward the back section of the locker room that housed a cubicle with a tattered curtain.
Gus joined me without questioning what I had said. We settled on an old bench seat together, and drew our feet up as we heard the doors open. Gus held a finger to his lips and I nodded. My head filled with the familiar buzz of the dead. I clenched my eyes closed and held my breath as I smelled rotten flesh mix with the scent of fresh blood. The clinking of chains rattling chilled me to the core. I felt Gus’ arms encircle me tightly as he pulled me onto his lap. I didn’t dare open my eyes but could already see the pile of limbs and flesh through the creature’s eyes. I knew from my mind that there were at least three or four of them, but I only saw through the eyes of whichever was dominant. As it whipped around, I saw the men who accompanied it. I could hear them laughing, but now I could see them laughing. It infuriated me. The creature looked down at the chain that bound it. The man holding onto the metal tether poked it with a stick. Fear filled my head. Loathing. Hunger. The smell of fresh flesh, not alive but fresh. The creature looked back to the bloody pile and staggered toward it. The other zombies were already upon the pile, feasting sloppily. They had no hands, like the one I had seen earlier in the night, but these ones still had intact faces. They tore at the flesh and bone with their teeth. I wanted to vomit.
“Shhhh, Zoe, Shhhh,” whispered Gus next to my ear as quietly as he dared. “Easy, darlin’.”
I hadn’t been aware that I was struggling in his arms. I tried to slow my breathing as he caressed my hair to soothe me. I cringed as I heard bone crunching and the monsters growling at each other, snorting, and grunting like wild animals. I gripped hard at the arm Gus had wrapped around me.
“Gus,” I whispered. “There’s four of them. They’re eating the pile.”
He continued to smooth my hair. “I know, darlin’, I know. Stay quiet.”
I nodded my head in reply. The satisfaction over the meal emanating from the monsters disgusted me. Not because they were experiencing joy over the human scraps, but because I felt their joy. Because I wanted to feel their joy. The men watching them feast were laughing quietly and whispering. I found myself suddenly wanting to rip at the flesh with my own teeth. I knew it was wrong. I knew it wasn’t truly my own desire. The pile of arms and legs was shrinking as they consumed it. The horrible sounds of the sloppy eating were beginning to ebb. I fought to stay quiet. Part of me wanted to run from the room, the other part wanted to join in the banquet. I clenched my teeth together hard, not wanting to bite Gus’ arm as I had done to Boggs’ neck. Bits of hushed conversation burned my ears.
Kids heal quickly. The men will work best as fighters. Kelly said the short one’s knocked up. No, Doc Abrams will let her go to term and tell her it died. (laughing) The fuckers will love a LIVE meal even if it’s small! (laughing) If I have any say the gorgeous brunette will keep her legs. I can screw her without arms but mmmm gotta love holding legs up and fucking a bitch hard. No, they have no clue what we’re doing here. Most of them will be dead soon anyway.
Before long I realized that Gus had turned me to face him, and was holding me firmly against his chest. His arms were strong and holding me down, uncomfortably so, as if I were being squeezed by a vice. He smelled of wood and soap. Breathing was becoming difficult. As if sensing this, he loosened his grip enough for me to look up into his eyes. He kept his gaze focused on me, as if offering some sort of silent warning. I was sitting on his lap, trembling. His eyes were the only thing keeping me from cracking. I was sure of that, and so continued to focus as much of my being as I could into his eyes. I found myself suddenly unable to hear the sloppy feast, or the laughing of the men, or the crunching of bone, or the beating of my own heart. Everything in my peripheral vision went dark, and all I could see was Gus’ face. I wanted to scream.
Slowly, my mind began to clear. Slowly, Gus’ grip on me relaxed. Slowly, I realized it was again just me and Gus in the shower room. We continued to look at each other for a long moment. As the realization came to me that we had just survived an event that could have led to certain disaster, I began to hear the words he was whispering.
“Zoe, they’re gone.”
I blinked a few times, hearing but not comprehending.
“Zoe…”
Gus shook my shoulders gently.
“Zoe, they’re gone darlin’. But we need to get you cleaned up.”
I looked at him, not understanding. “What do you mean?”
“Zoe, hun, you wet your pants.”
I looked at him in horror, and then looked down at his lap.
I could feel myself turning seven shades of red.
“Don’t worry, Zoe. Just be glad it’s all over, darlin.’ Stand up and let’s get your pants off.”
I stood, shakily, while he pulled my sweat pants down. I was too exhausted to worry about modesty.
“Gus, we can’t use the showers,” I whispered. I was still afraid that using a normal volume of voice would draw attention.
�
�Let’s not worry about washing, Zoe,” he said. Gus looked as exhausted as I felt. He stood and slipped his own jeans off. I turned my eyes away, catching only a glimpse of his privates. I was sure I was still blushing. “Here,” he said, holding a towel out for me.
I took it thankfully and wrapped myself from the waist down. He did the same with his own towel and scooped up our dirty clothes.
“Let’s get back to the room and figure out what to do.”
I nodded and wiped my eyes. “’Kay.”
We walked together, hand-in-hand, down the dark corridor back to the room which we had been assigned.
I found a spare pair of underpants in the dresser drawer I had claimed, and Gus did the same.
“Where were you guys?” mumbled Emilie.
“We’ll talk about it soon,” said Gus.
“Gus?” What’s going on man?” asked Boggs, waking up.
“Nate, wake up,” I heard Susan grumble.
“Stay quiet everyone,” said Gus in his authoritative voice. “It’s not good and I don’t want to discuss it in front of the kids.”
“Gus, I can take them across the hall while you fill everyone in,” I said.
“Not a chance, Zoe,” he replied. “No way are any of us splitting up.”
Nathan and Gus were both standing now.
“What’s going on Kelsey?” I heard Abbey ask sleepily.
“Shhhh, Abs, don’t wake Jane. Go back to sleep, ok Little Sister?”
“Ok,” said the girl groggily.
“Ok, Gus, Zoe, what the fuck is going on?” asked Nathan.
“We need to get out of here,” I said. “Now.”
“Gus?” asked Nathan. “Explain?”
“Long story short…they’re keeping Runners here and feeding them. Human parts.”
“It was horrible,” I said. “Arms, legs, body parts.” I closed my eyes, not wanting to recall the horror.
“Do y’all remember the teenage girls who served us yesterday at supper?” asked Gus.
“Ya, one was missing an arm,” said Emilie. Her voice trailed off when she made the connection.
“I also noticed a man in the hallway when we came in, wearing a prosthetic leg. Maddie told us there’s a population of forty-something here. I’ve seen twenty-something tops,” said Gus. “Where are the rest?”
“There was a boy in the playroom missing both his legs,” said Abbey, just above a whisper, from her top bunk. “He still had bandages on.”
“Abbey?” asked Kelsey. “Did you ask him what happened?”
“No,” she answered. “One of the other little kids said he doesn’t talk.”
I took a deep breath.
“It all adds up,” said Nathan. “We were also told to not go to the clinic or research areas without permission.”
“Fuck,” said Boggs.
“Abbey? Is Jane asleep?” asked Gus.
“Ya. Out cold.”
“Ok, good. I don’t want her knowing about any of this. We need to get to the Suburban and leave. As soon as possible,” instructed Gus. “We need to keep our cool and not let anyone here suspect what we’re up to.”
“What about our weapons?” asked Boggs.
“Looks like we’ll be leaving them behind,” answered our resident cowboy. “Dress in layers, as long as it’s not obvious. Leave your winter coats behind or they might suspect something.”
“Gus, we’re not even sure where the Suburban is,” said Emilie.
“I saw what looked like a garage next to the entry gate,” said Susan. “Maybe it’s there.”
“I noticed that too,” echoed Gus.
“No time like the present,” said Nathan. “Shall we head out?”
“I’m scared,” said Abbey.
“Me too, Abs,” said Kelsey to her little sister. “But all we can do is stay together.”
Abbey nodded.
“I hate to be a downer, but I think we should stay a few days. Plan this out better,” suggested Susan.
“Susan,” said Gus, his tone the most serious that I had ever heard it. “Don’t argue. You don’t even want to know the specific plans they said they have for you, love.”
Susan looked shocked, and declined to answer. I shivered, recalling the absurd things the man in the shower room had said about what he wanted to do to her.
“Abbey, can you go ahead and wake Jane?” asked Gus.
I was already slipping my spare pair of pants on, and Emilie was layering herself. She eyed my current attire of underpants and a shirt, saw that Gus was dressed the same, but politely didn’t question us.
“I’ll explain later, Em,” I said. She nodded in understanding.
“Zoe, can you get Jane dressed?” asked Kelsey.
Jane was climbing down the ladder, looking sleepy. Her soft red hair was a mess. I knelt down once her feet were planted on the floor and spoke softly to her.
“Jane, we need to go now. It’s super important that we stay together and stay quiet. Can you do that?”
She nodded while rubbing at her eyes. “Are we coming back?”
“No, sweetheart, I don’t think so. There’s some bad people here that might try to hurt us if we don’t leave.”
“Where will we go?” she asked.
“Far away, Jane, hopefully to an island where there’s no more bad people or things. You’ll need to stay brave. Can you do that?”
She nodded again.
“Ok, let’s get your extra clothes on. Your skirt over your pants and two shirts, ok?” I asked.
She nodded again and took the extra clothes that I handed to her.
“Shoes too, Jane,” I said while smoothing her hair.
“Everyone ready?” asked Gus.
“Ready,” said several of us.
“I need help tying my shoes,” said Jane with a yawn.
“How will we get out without anyone seeing?” I asked while I knelt down to tie Jane’s laces.
“The shower room, Zoe,” said Gus. “There’s a large window on the south side, which should put us near where the garage should be.”
“The side opposite the showers, right?” I asked, not wanting to go back near the blood and gore.
“That’s the one,” he answered.
“We never got the keys to the Suburban back,” said Boggs.
My heart sank. I just wanted to be far away from this place.
“No worries,” said Nathan. “I can hot wire just about anything.”
“Great,” said Gus.
I was beginning to wonder what Nathan’s story was.
“You realize we’ll be leaving without any supplies,” said Emilie, looking directly at Gus.
“I do. It’s not going to be easy, Red. The Suburban will be cramped. We won’t be able to haul much. Let’s just focus on getting there and taking things as we go.”
“If we don’t make it…” Emilie’s voice trailed off.
“Shush,” I said in reply. “We’ll make it. All of us. Jane, grab your teddy bear ok?”
The little ginger-headed girl nodded and scrambled back up into her bunk to fetch the stuffed toy. She was starting to look scared.
I looked at Boggs very seriously. I hoped he could sense the urgency in our leaving by the look I gave him.
“It’ll be light soon. We should go before the cover of dark is gone,” said Nathan in his deep voice.
“Ok,” said Gus. “I want to do this three at a time so we’re not all in the hallway at the same time. Nate, you take Kelsey and Abbey first. When you get to the shower room, first make sure no one is in there. Stay away from the shower side. Just trust me on that one. If anyone is there, make an excuse to come back here. If we don’t see you back here in three minutes, I’ll bring Susan and Emilie down with me. Boggs, same deal. Give me three minutes, and if I’m not back bring Zoe and Jane.”
Nathan tilted his head in acknowledgement and ushered Abbey and Kelsey out into the hallway. After several agonizingly slow minutes, Gus left with Emilie and Susan. Boggs
tried to pry information out of me while we waited our turn, but I refused to give details in front of little Jane.
Finally, once we felt three minutes had passed, Boggs crept into the hall and Jane and I followed. We were in front of the double doors of the shower room when we heard a cheerful male voice.
“Morning!”
My stomach dropped and I turned to see who it was, although I recognized the voice from earlier in the night. It was the one who said the horrible things about me and my baby. I was holding Boggs’ hand and squeezed it tightly. I felt him tense beside me.
“Morning,” said Boggs. I could tell his voice was off, and hoped the man greeting us was unaware of this fact.
Jane was hiding behind my legs. I prayed she wouldn’t say a word.
“What are you three up to so early?” asked the young man. He had a rolling cart with him, including a mop and bucket. I assumed it was to clean up the bloody mess.
“Just headed to the showers,” I said quickly.
“Oh, well, they’re out of order at this hour,” he said. Now closer, I recognized him as Karl from the truck ride here. “Sorry but it’s cleaning time. You can use the shower rooms at the other end, where the kids usually do their thing. They’re all still asleep.”
“Sure,” said Boggs. “Sounds great.” He had raised the volume of his voice a notch. “Here, I’ll hold the door for you.”
Before Karl could respond Boggs opened the door wide and stood off to one side. I stepped behind Boggs, sweeping Jane along with me.
Karl seemed on edge. “Thanks, man.” He pushed his cart through the door, into the locker room.
Before I understood fully what was happening, I heard a crash and saw the young man fall to the floor.
“Quick, Gus, drag him in,” whispered Boggs.
Jane was still behind my legs and crying softly as we crowded into the confusion that was happening at the entryway of the locker room.
“Jane, Shhhh,” I hushed. “He’s a bad guy, understand honey?”
She nodded quickly and wiped at her wide eyes. Gus and Nathan had each taken hold of the man’s limp arms and dragged him off to the side.
“Is he dead?” asked Susan.
“No, just knocked out cold,” answered Nathan. “Let’s get out of here.”
The Grace Series (Book 2): Tainted Grace Page 15