Since The Sirens Box Set | Books 1-7

by Isherwood, E. E.

  “But the door was locked, wasn't it?” They tried the door before they opened it. It could only be opened with a key card.

  “Locked, yeah. Either Casey came back and only took the food, or some administrator came through here and pilfered students' supplies. Probably assumed I was never coming back.” She smiled, for real. “They were almost correct.”

  He scooted his chair close to her.

  “I'm sorry for what I said yesterday. I do want you to make it home. I want to go with you. You helped me get Grandma to safety. That was supposed to be step one in our plan to find the cure, restore the world, then get you home after it's all over. I think I freaked out when you said your dorm was here—like you were going to take a shortcut and go home without me.”

  “That's why I said you were a dummy, you big dummy.” She smiled, though a trace of a tear etched its way down the edge of her nose.

  “So what do we do next?”

  “Obviously, we start by eating all these cookies.” She handed him the full sleeve, while she patted the partially eaten one.

  “Um, aren't you the medical student. Won't it make us sick to eat all these?”

  She expressed mock shock. “Liam! Are you afraid you'll get a tummy ache?” Then she reached over and punched his shoulder. “Man up!”

  Finally he could laugh with her.

  They ate in near-silence for a couple minutes. Various “Mmm's” and “Ahh's” of their cookie-eating slipped out from time to time. It was as close to Heaven as Liam had been since the sirens.

  While he worked on the last few, Victoria got up and moved to a pile of clothes she'd tossed on her bed and began rooting around. He couldn't guess what she was going to pull out, though he felt his heart race at the implications of being there with her. In a dorm room. A private. Dorm. Room.

  The combination of the injection of sugar, ample sleep, and smells of perfume in the room made his head start to spin. He wanted to say something classy, to show that he understood everything she'd been going through and that he was there for her, and everything was going to be all right. Heroes always said that to the cute damsels. However, he had come to appreciate one important fact about girls in the around-the-clock overtime training session he'd had with Victoria since the day they'd met. This was as much her story as it was his. In fact, in many ways, she'd kept him going through all their challenges, not the other way around. Much of his fear of her leaving was based around that simple truth.

  He couldn't take his eyes off her. The conservative plaid pajamas were what you'd expect for living in proximity to other students, but the shorts showed off her powerful runners' legs. Except for the early days when she wore her dress, she chose to wear full-length jeans which were unquestionably practical, though they kept her legs hidden.

  Victoria caught him looking, though he wasn't trying to hide it. “Gosh, Liam. I haven't shaved my legs in weeks. Please eat your cookies.”

  What happened next he decided he'd leave out of his books.

  3

  The walk back to the reality of Forest Park was pleasant. The dorms were unguarded, and underpopulated, like a ghost town. Her building was located on the campus of Washington University, even though the medical center was located on the far end of the park. She explained her internship got her book training at the school, and practical learning at the nearby hospital.

  “Do you think your mom will be mad we didn't come home last night?”

  He giggled, then began to fret. What if she was mad? He hadn't told her where he was going or who he'd been with. He'd, in fact, broken every rule laid down by his parents for how to conduct himself back in the Old World. If this was then, he imagined, he would probably get grounded for spending the night—unsupervised—with a girl.

  As it was, they found his mom on the front lawn of Hans Grubmeyer's mansion. They were heading that way because they had no idea where his mom would be, for certain. It seemed the best first place to look. His arrangement with Hans allowed them to use his supplies, but said nothing about staying there.

  “Heya, kids.” His mom appeared cheery.

  When Liam got closer, his first question derived from his confusion about his mixed bag of roles. He was a son. A boyfriend. A neophyte Polar Bear. A hero. But he was also sixteen…

  “You aren't mad?” He knew she knew what he meant.

  Lana laughed. “Liam, you survived on your own while supporting an elderly woman, with Victoria's assistance. If you're afraid I would yell at you for missing curfew you can rest easy.” She smiled.

  “Good morning, Victoria.”

  “Hi, Mrs. Peters.”

  “Girl, if you call me Mrs. Peters again, I'm going to put you on a curfew.”

  With a laugh, Victoria repeated, “Hi Lana. Good morning.”

  “We were, uh...we were...” He fumbled the words, the implications building uncomfortably. It suddenly seemed important to build a fiction around a whole night.

  Victoria jumped right in. “Lana, you'll be happy to know Liam was a perfect gentleman. We slept in separate beds in my dorm room. We fell asleep and didn't wake up until this morning.”

  “We had cookies!” he blurted.

  “I'm sure you did,” Lana said cryptically.

  I'm sure I'm the butt of a joke here…

  “No, I actually ate cookies.”

  As an answer, Lana and Victoria laughed together.

  “Come on guys, you're going to want to see what Hans has inside. He's ready to make his call.”

  “You didn't let him call last night?”

  “Nope. We wanted you two here. Plus, your phone is one of the few still with a charge.”

  Liam felt his face explode in embarrassment.

  Everyone knows.

  He waited for the assault of questions, but neither Jason nor any of his fellow patriots made any mention of his youthful problems. They were all business.

  Doctor Yu was there as well. They met her on the stairs to the second floor. When she saw them, she turned around to walk back up with them.

  “Good morning,” the doctor said. “Thank you for inviting me here. I was waiting to draw some of his blood. If what you said was true—and I have no doubt about that—his blood should hold some clues that we've been overlooking. If there is any link to the Spanish Flu, we'll find it.”

  She held the handle of a small toolbox-shaped container. It has the familiar symbol of “bio-hazard” emblazoned on the sides.

  “I'll draw the blood and be on my way. Thank you, Liam.”

  He adjusted the terms of letting Hans make his call to include allowing Doctor Yu to take a sample of his blood. It dawned on him that if she was waiting here today, it probably meant she had come by last night and waited with everyone else for him to come back from Victoria's.

  Does the whole world know?

  He felt his face blushing, despite his best effort to be an adult about it.

  “Liam, relax. You're acting like a robot.” Victoria held his arm with both of hers as they walked into the confined space of one of the upstairs rooms of the mansion. While the downstairs was crammed with boxes, the upstairs was mostly clothing, tents, and other lightweight things.

  They found Hans sitting in a large recliner in front of a huge flat panel television that was currently off.

  “Finally! There's the young lovers. We're on your time, it would seem.”

  Oh God. Even the old man.

  Victoria was more measured. “Thank you for waiting. We fell asleep last night by accident.”

  Hans grumbled, but re-focused when Miki began working with his arm.

  “You people need my blood for what, exactly?”

  “Field trials. We are testing blood for a possible cure.”

  He seemed to chew on something in his mouth, though he wasn't eating.

  “That's good, I suppose.”

  After a small yelp, he allowed his blood to be drawn in peace. As soon as she pulled out the needle, he asked for Liam's phone. He pulled
it from his sealed plastic bag, careful to avoid dropping the folded image given to him by Colonel McMurphy. He'd taped the data chip back under the mailing label where it came from. He swiped open his phone and handed it to him with the phone keypad ready to accept Hans' input.

  “Turn around, please.”

  “Are you serious?” Liam asked. He shared a look with Victoria.

  “I'll see you,” Doctor Yu waved to Liam and the others in the room as she left.

  Victoria directed him so he faced away from Hans. Lana and Jason did the same. Everyone had a bemused look on their face.

  As a condition of letting him use his phone, Liam insisted the man had to use the speaker function. Hans offered no protest. But that only made the fact Liam had to turn around that much sillier.

  The phone took an abnormally long time to begin ringing once he'd keyed in the numbers. He was on the verge of turning around to see if his phone had a signal when it began to ring noisily.

  When the phone clicked, a man's voice answered.

  “Switchboard.”

  Hans paused when he heard that word.

  “Karandash 777.” He paused again. “Betona-meshalka 775.” A pause. “Machina 773.”

  “Authorized. Thank you Mr. Grubmeyer. Standby.”

  A short while later, a female voice jumped on the line.

  “Mr. Grubmeyer. We show this is an unsecured line. Did you lose your phone again?” The tone was professional, but Liam heard a trace of frustration.

  “I...did. I lost my phone...again.”

  “Voice analysis concurs. You are Mr. Grubmeyer.”

  “No shit it's me. I just told you.”

  “Please remain calm. We can't take any chances, sir. You know that.”

  With exasperation, Hans replied. “Of course I know that. Why else would I be calling?”

  “Sir, we are detecting signs of stress. Are you acting under coercion?”

  How the hell could they know that?

  “We're checking cameras. Stand by.”

  Liam looked to Jason. He was already moving.

  4

  “Sir, our drones show a young woman exiting your residence. Are there others inside?”

  Jason froze at the door out of the room. Liam held his breath. He didn't know what would happen if Hans said yes. Maybe they'd blow up his house to eliminate a perceived threat.

  “Just my doctor. I haven't been feeling well.” Then he yelled in the phone, “I'm 105 and you left me behind!”

  “Calm down, sir. We're transferring you to operations liaison. You'll be speaking with Adrienne. Thank you for being a supporter to our cause.”

  Pleasant music came on.

  “They have me on hold. You three can rest easy. I want this more than you do, trust me.”

  The rest of the call had all the drama of an insurance claim. Hans had to go through more checks of his authorization codes, but once he was through, he explained what he wanted from his “budget” as it was called, and the kindly woman on the other end gave him options for delivery. Unfortunately, he had to take delivery at a railroad siding near downtown as the track switches near the Arch had been bombed during the Battle for St. Louis. If those were still working, the train could have delivered its payload almost at the doorstep of Forest Park. A second line using a more circuitous route had a derailed engine blocking the line. They said it could be some time before that wreckage was cleared.

  Liam listened with fascination. Far from being a disorganized rabble that characterized most of the government he'd encountered, these people seemed positively energized by the situation outside.

  “We show a high concentration of biologicals between your position and the drop point. Do you have a means of safely traversing the hazard?”

  Hans was silent. Liam sneaked a peek. His arm was trembling, like the phone in his hand was getting very heavy. He was thinking.

  “Sir?”

  “Yes. I'll have to send my people to get them.”

  “Sir, that's highly irregular. Are you—”

  “Dammit, lady! I'm 105. How the hell am I going to fight through to your worthless drop point? Is it my fault the tracks are blown? I'm sending people to get it. MY people.”

  “Understood. We'll have your package delivered in approximately twelve hours.”

  Hans screamed what sounded like foul language in German, but he was cordial in a final English goodbye.

  After he hung up, he told them they could turn back around. Jason, on the far side of the room, was already facing Hans, though Hans' back was facing the door. No one really seemed to know what to say.

  “Now we wait,” he said as he handed his phone back to Liam.

  Victoria motioned for him to leave the room, then she took him down the stairs. They were out on the front lawn before she spoke.

  “Liam, I've been thinking about this since we got here. Please don't be mad, but I don't want to go with you to get those tanks. That is where you're going, isn't it?”

  He assumed he'd be part of the group going out to get it. He'd fallen in with the Polar Bears and was willing to help them with this recovery. Now that he was with them, he wanted to learn everything he could about them. Having a tank or two to support the defense of Forest Park was an advantage he couldn't overlook. But not having Victoria…

  “Yes. I suppose so. If my mom's going, I need to be there with her. I need you to be there, too,” he said hopefully.

  She'd changed her clothes. The jeans were fresh and bright with little flowers embroidered onto the front pockets. Ironically the jeans were faded to look aged. In a nod to the heat they'd been suffering under, she wore a black tank top with spaghetti straps, but she also had an airy long-sleeved overshirt wrapped around her waist. She'd fixed her hair, more like reconstructed it, by putting it into a ponytail. In short, she was once again stunning to him, as she might have looked prior to the Zombie Apocalypse. For that reason alone he wanted her by his side.

  “My place, for now, is here.” She pointed back toward the University campus. “I want to help Doctor Yu in whatever capacity I can. I want to get some experience doing what she's doing—what researchers are doing—and maybe one day I'll be able to help us more directly in finding that cure.”

  “But you do help me. Every second we're together.” It came out with a little more whine than he wanted.

  “I know. I do. But we aren't breaking up or anything like that. I need some time to process my feelings from being in my dorm room. I need some time…to say goodbye to that life. I think this is how I need to do that.”

  He watched her for many seconds, waiting for her to change her mind or even suggest the decision was difficult. All he saw was eagerness in her eyes.

  Don't be a needy kid. Be a man. That's an order!

  “OK. I can't pretend I like the idea, but I do understand it. If I had come home to my parents after three weeks of being on the road and you told me to go right back out again, I might want some time, too.” Her smile grew as he spoke. “You have to promise me you WILL NOT leave this city without me. For any reason. I'd never find you out there.”

  Neither of them spoke of the very real possibility the park would fall of its own accord, and she would fall with it. Her staying was still a better bet than what he was going out to do. If she wasn't going to complain about that, he wasn't going to complain about her choices.

  I can up the odds by bringing home a tank.

  It seemed like a good trade.

  5

  Getting through the gate out of the park was easy. All manner of debris lined the outer border of the lands controlled by the group managing Forest Park. As best Liam could gather without finding the actual leader of the place, everyone worked together to wedge cars, trucks, and especially long-haul trailers to block the roads and open spaces around the refuge. On the east side of the park, where the hospitals were located, the main “gate” turned out to be a small access door into a tight alleyway between two of the tall buildings. Two men
dressed like soldiers—they weren't military—manned a balcony checkpoint. They had rifles, but only popped up to give Liam's small group a thumbs up sign. Looking down the canyon toward the street beyond, there were no zombies on patrol. There were several bodies on the ground, though. Trouble had found this little nook…

  At the corner of the alley and the main road beyond, they paused to survey their route.

  “I don't see anything,” whispered Jason. Lana stood next to and behind him a little. She was hunched over so she could see around the corner, too. Also by Jason was a young red-headed woman in military drab clothes. He'd seen her during the desperate run up the waterway, but he'd never met her. Her hair was long, but was in a pony tail that stood up on the back of her head. He studied it with great curiosity and guessed it helped lift her hair off her neck—keeping her cool. The bears had been playing soldier in the woods when they'd met, and their woodland camo clothing was now out of place in the urban setting. Two other middle-aged men stood behind Liam. They'd been on the run as well and seemed to have survived unharmed.

  Liam was impressed. St. Louis had been crawling with zombies just a few days ago. No. Not a few days ago. It had almost been a week since he was last downtown. They were currently about five miles from the tall buildings near the Gateway Arch. He could see them if he looked down the avenue. But no zombies.

  Maybe they're busy chewing the fat with friends?

  Between Forest Park and downtown it was a mixture of multi-family brick flats, older single family brick homes, and a smattering of small businesses along the four-lane street. It would be a pleasant walk down a parade route if they used the street, but that was suicide. There were zombies out there. Had to be. They simply couldn't see them yet.

  “All right. We might as well all stick together when we cross this street. We'll aim for that alley, then we'll follow that until we can weave around to the railroad tracks.”

  Their plan was to avoid the dense part of the city completely, and instead walk along the tracks of Metrolink—the St. Louis above-ground equivalent of a subway system. It would take them through the manufacturing sector south of downtown, and would deposit them close to the rail siding where their delivery would be waiting.