by Anson Barber
“He’s allowed to call family members for free. Do you want me to put you down as his next of kin?” Tina asked me with a smile.
The sudden sense of responsibility nearly choked the breath out of me. I wasn’t ready for that.
“It’s okay. Dillon’s busy,” Corey was letting me off the hook. He didn’t want to be a problem even though he was completely alone. That forced me to get it together.
“Put me down as his next of kin.” I handed Tina my card so she could enter my number. “I’m not too busy for a phone call. You’d better call me.”
“It’s kind of nice to have someone at least,” he said.
“Yeah, it is.”
His brows creased. “You don’t have anyone either?”
“No one but you, so you’d better remember my birthday.”
Corey laughed as Sasha came in.
“Who do we have here?” she asked.
“No one you’d be interested in, Dr. Doom.” She glared at me playfully.
I held out Corey’s arm so she could observe the triangular scar pattern I’d left on him.
“Hmph.” She frowned. “Shame. We need more volunteers who haven’t been treated before. We have another formula ready to go.”
“Maybe next time,” I said. “But he’s a bit young anyway, don’t you think?”
“Younger is usually stronger,” she said. She stole one of my pieces of candy and winked. I’d taken Sasha out to dinner once. It didn’t go anywhere, but we still remained friendly.
“Did you want to upgrade to Hatteras?” Tina asked. The boy’s clothes alone should have told her he couldn’t afford the pass to get into the swanky part of the island.
“Nah. You’re better off up here. They have the Jurassic Putt. Do you have any openings in Kill Devil Hills, Tina? He should learn something while he’s here.”
“We’re trying to get a school going, but there have been more budget cuts,” Tina said.
“It’s bad enough I live on blood, but now I have to go to school again?” Corey groaned, and we all laughed.
“I have a suite open at the Willows,” Tina offered. Private homes were usually used for families.
“Perfect. He’ll take it,” I said. “A suite.” I elbowed Corey and he looked at me in confusion.
“It takes about two weeks for your Victim Aid payments to get set up. Did you want to put any money on credit for purchases? We discourage cash within the facility because of theft.”
Corey laughed as he patted his pockets.
“That’s not going to be a problem,” he said.
No family. No money and still smiling. I pulled out my wallet and handed her eighty dollars. The only cash I had with me.
“No way!” Corey said, shaking his head.
“We need to get you some new clothes. No relative of mine is going to be walking around in rags. You’d be a disgrace to our family,” I joked.
He nodded. “Thanks. I’ll pay you back if I ever get the chance, I swear.”
“Don’t worry about it. That’s what family’s for, right?”
Corey bit his bottom lip and looked away. I gave him a moment.
“Is it all right if I show him around?” I asked Tina.
“Sure. You’ll want to see Veronica when you get there. We have sirens that go off at ten, eleven and twelve hours after waking. We don’t want anyone to fall asleep out in the sun.” Tina handed me his new identification card.
I checked it over for accuracy and then handed it to Corey. “Keep this with you at all times.” He nodded and put it in his pocket. “Let’s go shopping. Thanks, Tina”
“Yeah, thanks!” Corey said with a wave.
“Come on. I’ll show you around your new home.” Corey followed me back to the van. “They have shuttles that take you around.” I pointed to the right where a shuttle waited. “This building here has phones. You have my number in case you need anything, or just want to chat. None of the other phones here work, and there’s no cell reception.”
He nodded as he looked around. He had nothing, cell service was the least of his worries.
We stopped at the Wal-Mart and got him a couple pairs of jeans and some T-shirts, socks and new sneakers. He told me he didn’t wear underwear—something I could have gone without knowing. They scanned his ID and gave him his bags.
I took him for a ride down to the gate at Hatteras Island so he could see how big the facility was. He seemed impressed.
“That’s where the rich people live?” He pointed while I turned around.
“They’re still infected. Money doesn’t change that. They just get a better view.”
I parked by one of the beaches I liked to visit in the daytime and got out. Corey followed beside me as I walked out and sat in the sand, far away from the water.
The sand was cool, almost like sitting on concrete.
“So what do you think so far?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “It’s not as bad as I pictured it. So, I can sit out here, and no one would care?”
“Sure. You can go wherever you want on the island as long as you can get home before you fall asleep,” I explained. I could tell he wanted to ask something else. I gave him time.
“Those people outside the gate.” He paused. “They can’t get in here?” he asked as we looked out at the moonlight glowing on the water.
By now I was used to dealing with the hate groups and the protests, but it must have bothered Corey more than I realized.
“No. The guards patrol the beaches regularly. Besides, they’re more afraid of you than you are of them.” I repeated something my mother used to say about spiders, though I always doubted it to be true. Spiders didn’t seem very afraid of me at all.
“Those people with the signs that say ‘They’re already dead, put them out of our misery’ are afraid of me?” He raised his brows.
“Maybe not you specifically, but Haunts in general.”
“Why aren’t you afraid?” He tilted his head to look up at me.
I sniffed a laugh. “I’m definitely afraid of you.”
We sat in silence for a little while before he spoke again.
“You don’t have any parents either?” I could tell he’d wanted to ask that since we found out we were related.
I picked up a handful of sand and watched as it trickled through my fingers. “No.” I hadn’t talked about this in a while.
“What happened to them?” he asked. “Did they die in the invasion?”
“No. They died about ten years ago. Car accident.”
“What were they like?”
“They were the best parents anyone could ever have.” I sighed. “My dad was an insurance salesman who loved his job.” Corey’s brow rose. “Yeah, go figure. My dad always said, ‘Whatever you choose to do with your life make sure you love doing it, because you’ll be doing it for a very long time.’ And he tried to help me find a career that would make me happy.” I smiled, remembering.
“He bought us a clunker car to work on. We hadn’t finished it before he died, but I kept at it. I talked to my dad while I put it back together. Mostly asking him questions. Do you think this goes here? Does this look right? Of course, he never answered, but maybe he was guiding me, because eventually it was a car again. When it came to life at the turn of the key, I finally knew what I wanted to do. I still talk to my dad when I’m working on cars. It makes me feel like he’s there. I decided to join the Army so I could make a career of it.”
“What do you think he would have thought of you taking this job? As a Hunter,” Corey asked curiously.
I sighed while I thought about it. “He would have been happy as long as I was happy.”
“Are you happy?” he asked.
“I’ll be happier when I can go back to working on cars.” I looked at him and frowned. “Time to
go.”
I got up to hide my unease as he followed. I could hear his footsteps in the sand behind me so I didn’t need to make sure he was following.
The expression on Corey’s face when we pulled up at The Willows was priceless.
“I’m going to be living here?” He looked up at the luxury accommodations with a grin.
“Yes. In a suite. That means you’ll have a living room and a big TV,” I explained as we walked into the lobby. I was a bit worried I was overselling this. Life on OBX was far from idyllic, but I didn’t want to scare him. “Veronica?” I asked, though I saw her name on her badge.
“Yes.” She looked us over through solid black eyes.
“This is Corey. Tina set him up in a suite.”
“Yes. I know,” she snapped. Great. A bitter Haunt. “Do you need a tour?” She waited. I used to think Veronica was a hot chick’s name, but not anymore. This woman had snarly gray hair that frizzed out in every direction. The only thing missing from her witch look was a wart on her nose.
“Uh. No, that’s okay.” Corey shook his head and took his key card. We started down the hall. “If I wasn’t already like this, I would worry she would turn me into a toad.” He snickered as we made our way to the elevator.
I shouldn’t have encouraged him, but I couldn’t help but laugh.
Instead of getting on the elevator, I pointed down the hall. “There’s a game room down there.” There was also an indoor pool, but swimming was too tiring for most Haunts.
We rode up to the fourteenth floor in silence. The elevator was covered in mirrors. Corey’s reflection in the harsh light made him look even sicklier.
Corey forced a smile as we found his room. I assisted with the key card until he figured it out and let us in.
His room was nice enough. A living room, as I suspected, with a large flat panel TV mounted on the wall.
I set his bags of new clothes on top of the large dresser and went to the window. You couldn’t see anything. All the windows were blacked out.
“You’ll be able to sleep in this big bed instead of a box or a tarp,” I said.
Corey nodded and sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the floor.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. It’s nice.” He nodded.
“Nice? It’s better than a shed with a tarp, right?” I pointed out the positive.
He shrugged, unconvinced. “Yeah.”
“But…?” I could tell there was something.
“It’s still a prison. I mean it’s nice and all, but it’s a prison.”
“I guess so.” I frowned. I thought maybe he was too young to figure it out, but he wasn’t. He saw this luxury suite for what it really was. A large, accommodating cell.
“I’m sorry, Corey. I’m sure once you make some friends and put some posters on the wall it might feel more like a home, but you’re right. Until they find a way to reverse this, you’re safer here than out there.”
He nodded again as the siren sounded for the eleventh hour, he would be falling asleep soon. Our time had flown by.
“I should get going.” I pointed over my shoulder. “We’re family, so if you need anything call me. If you don’t need anything, call me anyway. I come and go a lot, so I’ll check whenever I’m here. Okay?” I felt like I was abandoning him. He was a kid with no one. Except for me, but I wasn’t sure I counted.
“Okay.”
I pointed my index finger at him.
“I can’t call you, so you need to call me.”
“Fine! I will! Jeez!” He rolled his eyes as if he hated the fuss I was making, but I could tell it made him feel a bit better. Pissing someone off was a sign you cared.
“Take care of yourself,”
“Hey, Dillon?” I turned back, his large dark eyes serious. “Thanks for treating me like a human,” he said.
“You are a human.”
“You sure?” He sighed. “You know what I mean.”
“See you next time.” He closed the door behind me, and I listened as he engaged the locks. “Good boy,” I said to myself.
Six people were waiting nervously in the lobby when I got on the ground floor. A regular human was standing guard by the door. After their sleep started for the day, the guard would leave.
I got in my van and drove down to the Cape. I missed the sunrise by just a few minutes. The sun was already shining bright pink across the water.
It was probably going to be a nice day. Of course, I wouldn’t see much of it. I was going to go find a hotel and crash before heading home.
I parked and walked down to the sand. As I made my way to the water, I saw a pile of black slime laid out like a chalk outline.
It could have been an accident, but with the sirens I doubted someone would forget to take cover before they fell asleep where they would be exposed to the sun. This person, who disintegrated on the beach, had most likely had enough of their confinement, either at this facility or in their own body.
I got back in the van. This was an all-too common occurrence here. One no one liked to talk about.
I stopped at the visitor’s center on the way out.
“All set?” Tina asked.
I smiled. “He’s safely in his bed and I’m going to go do the same thing.”
She pushed the clipboard toward me so I could sign out.
“Someone’s remains are down on the beach.” I added.
She sighed sadly as if she knew the person. “They’re in a better place, I guess.”
I nodded in agreement. “Maybe.”
“See you next time, Dillon.”
I waved and left.
I wondered how long there would continue to be a next time. Would they all be captured eventually or would they find a cure first? I dreamed that someday I would be able to buy a garage and go back to my normal life. I was sure I wasn’t the only person on the island wishing for something similar.
I stopped at the gate and held out my left hand automatically while holding out my papers with my right.
“Ready?”
“Yep.” I put my finger in what could have passed as a diabetic’s blood testing machine. I winced a little as it pricked my finger. The box’s green light blinked.
“You’re all clear, Dillon,” the guard informed me.
“See you next time,” I called as I pulled away.
Once I got out, I turned my cell phone back on and called my dispatcher.
I offered my usual greeting. “Hey, Ray. Whata’ya say?”
There was a chuckle on the other end. “You got him?”
“Safe and sound. The papers should be faxed to you this morning.”
Ray would get confirmation of my capture from the facility, and I would have eight hundred dollars deposited into my account. Plus, I got to turn in my mileage.
I was normally bringing someone in every week, sometimes two. Knowing eventually this job would end kept me going back out as much as possible. I wanted to save as much as I could while I had the chance. But this last job with Corey was sticking with me. I needed a break.
“You ready for another one?” Ray asked.
“Not right away. I’ve been out for a while. I’m going to go home for a few days. I’ll call you when I’m ready, unless you have an emergency or something.”
“No. Go home. I’ll talk to you later.”
“’Night.”
“Good morning.” He chuckled again.
I stopped at the first hotel I came across and went to bed. I didn’t request a wakeup call.
As tired as I was it took a while for me to fall asleep. I kept thinking it was wrong to leave Corey alone in that place.
The Outer Banks originally seemed like a great place to hang out until they worked on a cure, but each time I went there it seemed like things were getting wo
rse.
The trash, the broken windows, the cutbacks, the desolate expressions on people’s faces made me worry about my newfound cousin.
Eventually sleep over took the anxiety.
Chapter Four
I arrived home in Corbin, Kentucky late the next morning. Very late. I had been on the road since five the night before. I was beat, but didn’t want to stop when I was only a few hours from home.
It would be nice to sleep in my own bed for a change.
When I pulled in the short lane that led to my tiny house, I noticed a limo sitting out in front. I wondered how long this person had been waiting.
Only Ray knew I would be home today. I frowned, not wanting company. Especially not the kind of company that came in a limo.
I parked and grabbed my bag, mostly full of dirty clothes.
The door on the limo opened and a tall, gray-haired man emerged from the black depths and walked toward me.
“Can I help you?” I asked while appraising the well-dressed man. Not a Fed at any rate. The suit said money not secrets.
He smiled. “I sure hope so. Are you Dillon McAllister?”
“I am. You would be…?” I was in no mood for being patient or polite. I just wanted to drag my ass to bed.
“Adam Mitchell, CEO and owner of Mitchell Laboratories. Do you have a moment to speak with me?”
Given my profession, I had an uneasy feeling about where this conversation might be headed. “A short moment.”
He nodded and followed me inside.
“Can I get you something to drink?” I offered while holding the refrigerator door open. It was pretty much water or beer. The milk had long since become sour cream.
“No, thank you.”
I pulled out a can of beer and popped it open, gesturing toward the table in the middle of the small kitchen.
Mr. Mitchell sat down and I sat across from him.
“What can I do for you, Mr. Mitchell?” I asked to get the ball rolling. I wanted to get some sleep in the worst way.
“I understand you are a Hunter?” he verified. God I hated that name. Hunter. Ridiculous.
The name had you picture someone with a gun, covered from head to toe in camouflage. Or a biker with a shotgun looking for bail jumpers. Instead, I wore clothes from Target and was armed with a UV flashlight and a fancy vest with lots of useless pockets. I decided against carrying a gun after my time with Bobby, but kept one under the seat in my van. Truth be told that was more for protecting the Haunts against other people. Whatever it was I did, it didn’t feel like hunting.