Lenny stumbled into the wall and tried to regain his footing. Robert and Benjamin ran out of the door onto the landing. Lenny followed after them just as the house shook again.
A faint humming sound filled their ears. It grew louder and louder as the house shook violently. It was a piercing drone that was almost immobilizing.
“Get the kids!” Lenny screamed to Robert. “Grab everything and get to the garage now!”
Robert didn’t move. He grabbed the handrail to steady himself as the giant mansion shifted from side to side.
“Robert!” Lenny yelled.
“Yes…yes, I’m going,” Robert said and stumbled down the hallway.
“We need to get all of the supplies and get the hell out of here,” Lenny shouted as he turned to Benjamin.
“What about him?” Benjamin nodded towards Mark’s room.
“No time.”
They both ran off in different directions gathering supplies and screaming to the others. When Lenny made it back to his room Rebecca had already changed her clothes and grabbed her gun and bag. Her hands were still stained in blood, but she’d washed her face and did her best to get most of the blood off.
“We gotta get the hell out of here.” Lenny yelled over the roaring noise.
Rebecca seemed un-phased, but nodded and tossed him his rifle.
“You found your gun?” he asked.
“Mark had it,” she replied grimly.
Lenny shook his head and rushed out of the door. Within minutes they were both tearing down the stairs into the living room with the others.
“What the fuck is going on?” Benjamin asked, trying to hide the hysteric tone in his voice.
“It’s them. It’s fucking them. I told you they’d come. I told you they were real,” Maddox stammered, his voice breaking with insanity. “We’re all dead. They’re gonna kill us all.”
“Maddox calm down!” Lenny roared and grabbed him by the shoulders.
Suddenly all of the windows in the house exploded and they were showered in a hail of shattered glass. The wall cracked with a loud snap as the house shifted and buckled. The stone floor rose and rippled like a wave and knocked them to the ground.
“Get to the car!” Lenny screamed as he started to scamper out of the living room on all fours.
Like a stampede they all charged for the door that led into the garage. Dragging Javier and Drew, Robert and Gloria dove into the Escalade with Benjamin right behind them. Maddox squeezed into the back as Lenny and Rebecca rushed into the front seat.
“Where are the fucking keys?” Lenny asked desperately.
With another loud boom the house moved again. This time if felt like someone had picked it up and thrown it. Chunks of plaster and rock fell from the ceiling, smashing into the hood of the truck. Lenny frantically looked around the car almost ripping off the sun visors in his search for the keys.
“Mark!” Rebecca shouted. “Mark had them, you gave them to Mark.”
“Fuck!” Lenny cried. “I’ll be back.”
He opened the door and ran back into the house. It looked like they were in the middle of an earthquake. The entire staircase had shifted by three feet and now there was a narrow gap in between the top of the stairs and the landing.
Lenny ran up the steps two at a time and dove onto the hardwood platform. Rolling to his feet, he dashed into Mark’s room. He was still lying in a pool of his own blood at the foot of the bed. The jostling of the house had rolled him over onto his stomach, which Lenny appreciated.
He patted Mark’s legs and started to rummage through the ten or so pockets on his cargo pants. He shivered as he could only imagine what was happening downstairs as the sound of explosions drifted into the room. A feeling of relief rushed over him as he closed his hands around the key ring.
Wasting no time, he stood up and sprinted out of the room. As he reached the stairs the gap that he’d just cleared had grown to nearly twelve feet. The staircase was crumbling and sliding further away with every passing second.
Lenny backed up as far as he could and took a deep breath. Then he took off like a missile, running at full speed. As he neared the end of the landing he dove into the air and at the same time something hit him hard. It pushed him sideways and knocked the air out of him. He barely caught a glimpse of the enormous scout that had emerged from the darkness, just as they both toppled over the end of the landing.
Lenny reached his hand out and caught hold of the staircase. The scout rolled over the landing behind him and as it fell, it latched its tusk-like teeth into Lenny’s leg. The weight of the creature ripped his hands from the stairs and they both fell twenty feet to the ground.
Lenny landed on top of the scout and rolled onto the floor in pain. The scout, taking the brunt of the fall, took longer to rouse. Lenny struggled to his feet and started to hobble towards the garage. He glanced back at the bear-like creature as a primal fear gripped at his heart.
The mansion was falling to pieces around him. He did his best to duck and dodge the boulder-sized chunks of plaster that were falling like asteroids. With a high-pitched boom the enormous chandelier in the foyer crashed to the ground and Lenny narrowly escaped the shrapnel.
A bone-chilling growl sent a jolt down Lenny’s spine, letting him know the scout had finally gotten to its feet. He tried to run, but his shredded leg faltered with each step. He cursed himself for having left his gun in the truck.
Huffing in pain, Lenny turned around. The scout was crouched low to the ground, snarling with globs of drool falling from its mouth. Lenny clenched his jaw and balled up his fists.
“Come on then!” he yelled.
A loud snap crackled over Lenny’s head and he jittered and ducked to the ground. The scout let out a gasping wail and then collapsed.
“Let’s go!” Benjamin yelled from behind him.
Lenny looked back and Benjamin was standing near the garage door, holding a shotgun. He took a deep breath and slightly relaxed his shoulders. His adrenaline had spiked, giving him the necessary power to not only survive the fall, but prepare to fend off a scout with his bare hands. Now that the animal lay dead before him, he felt a sudden rush of fatigue and the searing pain from his leg.
“Lenny!” Benjamin yelled again.
His voice and the shuddering of the house snapped Lenny out of his trance. He hobbled towards the door and Benjamin helped him into the garage.
The house continued to rattle apart. It sounded like explosions were going off from the sound of the walls crumbling.
“I’ll drive,” Lenny muttered as Benjamin tried to usher him into the backseat.
“Your leg,” Benjamin responded.
“It’s fine. It just hurts to walk.”
Benjamin didn’t want to argue, time wasn’t something they couldn’t waste. Without another word, he helped Lenny into the driver’s seat and then jumped into the back. Lenny jabbed the key into the ignition and cranked up the SUV.
“Hold on!” he yelled as he slung the gear into reverse and mashed the gas.
The Escalade bashed through the garage door and spun around in the driveway. The engine revved like a hungry demon as it ran over the sheet of thick aluminum. Shifting into drive, Lenny sped off ripping across the field of grass.
The sky around them was exploding into bursts of radiant colors, lighting up the dark night. The air seemed to spring to life, rolling and spinning with electric intensity. The humming sound they’d heard inside was now a whirl of distorted noises.
A thundering vibration shook the car violently as the house began to implode on itself. It was like a vortex was sucking the house into nothing.
“What the hell is that?” Benjamin asked, staring out of the back window at the crumbling structure.
“It’s them. I know it’s them,” Maddox mumbled.
Lenny was silent as the SUV sped off into the night. The last he saw of the mansion was it crumbling to rubble as he turned onto the main road. With the pedal pressed to the floor the Esc
alade dashed away, the roaring noises growing fainter and fainter until there was nothing.
There was a collective sigh and sense of relief as the calm of night returned. There was also a sense of numbing, as if no matter what happened they could just accept it and move on. Mark’s death had been overshadowed by the next event, which would almost certainly be overshadowed by something else. No one lingered anymore, things happened and they reacted.
Slowly, stress and exhaustion gave way to sleep. Everyone in the SUV except Lenny and Rebecca started to doze off. The whoosh of the wind against the SUV’s massive frame was like a lullaby.
As Lenny stared out of the window it occurred to him how empty the roads had become. Unlike in Nashville or Atlanta, there were no cars littering the roadway, no signs that people had been there at all. The highway was completely empty.
“What are you thinking about?” Rebecca asked as she studied Lenny’s face.
“Nothing,” he mumbled.
Rebecca sucked her teeth and glared at him.
“Where are all the people, the cars?” Lenny asked.
“Trying to get the hell out of here like we are.”
“And they all made it?”
Rebecca didn’t respond. She turned and stared back out of the window. Lenny kept his eyes on the road, his mind drifting away. For the next couple of hours they rode in silence, only broken by Maddox’s snoring.
Lenny tried to make sense of everything that had gone on. He couldn’t deny any longer that something beyond this world was responsible. He just prayed that Robert and Benjamin really had the answer.
He glanced over to Rebecca. She was awake gazing into the blackness outside. He smiled to himself and reached over and grabbed her hand.
“What happened back there?” Lenny asked. “With Mark?”
Rebecca took a deep breath. She knew sooner or later she’d have to talk about it. Although she hadn’t had much time to process everything.
“He tried to rape me,” she said plainly.
“I got that much, but what happened? We were in bed asleep, next thing I know you’re covered in blood holding a knife.”
“I got thirsty. I went downstairs and Mark was in the kitchen. Said he’d found my gun and then he started hitting on me. You know, his normal thing,” Rebecca took a breath.
There was something odd about the way she was retelling the story. Her words were right, but her tone was monotonous. Even in the dark Lenny could see her stark, emotionless face.
“I went up the stairs and he followed,” she continued. “I told him to keep the gun. He asked if I could help him…help him with, with…” Rebecca paused.
Lenny squinted at her and something in her face worried him. “Help him with what?” he asked, a bit sharper than he meant to.
“Help him find a spring he’d lost when he was stripping his rifle. I told him yes and figured I might as well get my gun at the same time.” Rebecca covered her face and took a deep breath. “But as soon as we got in the room he slung me onto the bed. I tried to push him off, but he was too strong. And then I saw that knife on the nightstand. I grabbed it and I don’t know…something just snapped. I stabbed him in the neck and I did it again and again.”
Rebecca stopped and looked at Lenny with tears in her eyes. She quickly wiped her face and tried to straighten up.
“I’m sorry,” Lenny said. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”
Rebecca smiled and rubbed his hand. “You don’t always have to be there to protect me.”
Lenny nodded. After that there was a long string of silence. Rebecca turned back to the window and the hours continued to slip away.
Rebecca had just closed her eyes when the sun started to creep above the trees spreading a warm glow across the SUV. Lenny took a deep breath and smiled. He tapped Rebecca’s hand and pointed up ahead.
“Wake up guys, we’re in D.C.”
CHAPTER 19
THE CAPITAL
“Don’t turn there,” Robert said.
“Why not?” Lenny asked with a confused look on his face.
“Because, the president isn’t at the White House.”
Up until that point it hadn’t occurred to any of them that during a global attack the president would be moved to a secure location. They’d been so preoccupied with making it to D.C. that they hadn’t considered what they’d do when they finally made it.
“So where do I go?” Lenny asked in frustration.
“Just a little ways up,” Robert pointed.
Ever since they’d entered the city it was like being in a different world. A world before the world they knew ended. Cars were driving down the road, people walking the sidewalk; it looked like any other normal day.
“It…it wasn’t like this when we left,” Benjamin mumbled. “Everything was falling apart. We declared Marshall Law. It wasn’t anything like this.”
The look of concern on his face made everyone in the car shiver. It was a surreal feeling to see so much of a normal society, but feel so detached from it all. It was as though the invasion had never occurred.
“Right there,” Robert yelped as Lenny almost passed the narrow side street.
“What the hell is this?”
“Just park around the back,” Robert pointed.
There was a small convenience store at the end of the street. It was rundown and dingy and metal bars were fixed to the windows. It looked like the type of place you could buy tiger-skinned purses as well as movies that hadn’t even premiered yet.
“You sure this is the right place?” Lenny asked with a shaky voice.
Benjamin laughed. “Have a little faith,” he said and grabbed his gun.
He opened the back door and climbed out. Yawning, he stretched his arms and rolled his shoulders. His eyes scanned the area like a hawk before signaling for Robert to join him.
Lenny hobbled around the front of the car and stopped next to Ben. “Well,” he said. “Let’s get this over with.”
Following behind Benjamin and Robert, everyone crammed into the tiny store and headed towards the back. To Lenny’s amazement it was stocked full and had running electricity. Water, snacks and soda’s lined the shelves erasing any thoughts of a crisis.
“I don’t understand how any of this is possible,” Lenny said under his breath. “How the hell is everything so…normal here?”
Up until now they’d barely survived off of scraps. Their diets had consisted of military rations and freeze-dried meals. The fact that bags of Doritos or boxes of Twinkies were at his fingertips made Lenny feel like he was in a dream.
Ignoring him, Robert walked to the back of the store and stopped in front of a meat locker. He opened a silver panel that was embedded in the wall revealing a hidden keypad. He looked back at Benjamin and smiled then dialed a five digit code.
With a hiss the meat locker opened revealing a wide, cargo elevator. Robert stepped onto it and everyone else followed. Lenny stared around nodding his head with an impressed look on his face.
“Nicely done,” he said.
The elevator doors shut and the cart started to descend. It was hard for Lenny to judge the speed, but by the time the elevator stopped he was positive they were several stories underground.
“I’m not a fan of all this cloak and dagger shit,” Rebecca started to complain.
Suddenly, a red light blared over their heads and sirens exploded. The door slid open and they were greeted by a blinding light and more than a dozen barrels pointing at them. Several men dressed in tactical gear were surrounding the door like they’d been preparing to breach.
“Don’t move! Drop the fucking guns!” a sea of voices yelled.
Lenny and the others quickly complied and raised their hands in an act of surrender. Confusion was etched across all of their faces, except Robert’s. He stepped forward smiling, but kept his hands raised.
“Gentlemen, gentlemen I’m deputy defense secretary Grimwold, access code seven three seven nine thirteen alpha, lima, zulu. These
people are with me and we need to see the president immediately.”
The men lowered their weapons slightly, but still looked alert. One of them stepped forward and saluted.
”Defense Secretary Grimwold, sir, I’m agent Harris, team lead. If you and your people will follow me I’ll take you to the clean room. They can leave all of their things here and someone will collect them.”
Lenny shot Rebecca a wary glance that she mirrored back. He looked down at his rifle and felt a helpless sensation like a newborn child.
“Fuck that,” Rebecca mumbled under her breath.
“You can trust them,” Benjamin whispered, noting Lenny and Rebecca’s skepticism.
Rebecca still wasn’t convinced. She stepped forward and moved in front of Robert. “What if we don’t want to leave our things?” she asked aggressively.
Agent Harris eyed her with a stern face. His black hair was messy, long for a government man. His eyes were dark and stormy and a hairline scar ran horizontally across his neck.
Clearing his throat he took another step forward. “Then you can stay here. If the rest of you will follow me…” Harris turned and started to walk away.
Robert followed close behind him and the others did the same. Reluctantly, Rebecca left her guns and followed after them.
The place was an underground maze. They were walking down a long hallway that had other hallways and rooms spiraling off in every direction. At the end of the hall there was a thick, steel door that looked like it had been shipped from Alcatraz.
The slick walls and tile floor were drenched in white. Fluorescent lights hovered overhead intensifying the brightness. Everything looked sterile and untouched, like a laboratory or hospital.
Their footsteps echoed like a ticking clock as they moved swiftly down the long corridor. They were the only people in the hall and aside from the agents they hadn’t seen another human being.
“Robert what is this?” Gloria whispered, hugging close to his side.
“It’s okay, we’ll see the president soon and everything will be fine. You’ll see,” Robert said. He had such an air of confidence in his tone that it put Gloria at ease.
Escape: The Wasteland Chronicles Book Two Page 16