Nothing moved. It was as if whatever was out there had heard me move and was waiting for me to strike first. I relaxed my breathing. Where was it? I narrowed my eyes at the woods. Snowflakes danced in the wind, but nothing else moved.
Had the Raspers tracked me? Had they surrounded us? What if Megan had been right and it was something else? I tightened my grip on the Glock. I considered waking the others, but there wasn’t time.
A shadow crossed by the large tree to my right. I tracked the movement, cursing my super vision for not being super enough. What was it? A Rasper? A bear? What?
More leaves crunched. The shadow darted closer.
I double-gripped the gun. My nerves tingled, making me aware of every muscle twitch and blink of my eyes.
The shadow engulfed me from behind. And something touched my shoulder.
12
My heart ripped out of my chest. I yelped, dove off the ATV and hit the frozen ground. I pointed the gun, searching for a target.
And locked Adam in my gun sight.
“Sorry. Jeez. You’ll wake up the girls.”
“Adam, you dumb ass. I could have shot you again. Damn it.” I picked myself off the ground and waved the Glock toward the woods. “There’s something out there.”
He pulled out his gun. “What—”
“I don’t know.”
“Raspers?” Adam’s eyes glowed in the dying embers of the fire.
“Hopefully just a deer. Now shut up and listen.” We waited. And waited. But nothing happened.
“I don’t hear it anymore. It must have been an animal. It probably got scared and bolted.”
“Probably, considering how much noise you made.” I slapped him on the upper arm. “Don’t sneak up on me again. Got it?”
A grimace of pain crossed his face. Crap. I hit his injured arm.
“Got it,” he said through clenched teeth.
Great. Now I felt like dog crap. Again. “You want the jacket?” I made a move to unzip it, but hoped he’d say no.
“No. You keep it. I’m good.” He pulled the gloves out of his back pocket. “Get some sleep before you collapse.”
I rolled my neck with a series of pops and nodded.
I hadn’t realized how tired I was until I shuffled toward the tent. I wanted—needed—to sleep, but wasn’t crazy about crashing next to strangers. I still didn’t trust Megan, yet I didn’t have a choice. I wasn’t sleeping in the snow. I ducked into the tent and zipped it closed behind me.
Bethany lay squeezed into the side of the tent and Megan curled in a ball, her hat pulled over her eyes. The blanket Adam had pulled from the car rested over her legs. They looked innocent and fragile. Megan wasn’t my enemy in the way the Raspers were, but there was something about her. I just didn’t know what.
I put my head on an extra sweatshirt and placed the Glock inches from my fingers. The blanket called to me. I pulled a corner across my chest, careful to keep Megan covered.
In what seemed like just minutes, I opened my eyes, shocked to see sunlight streaming through the walls of the tent. I turned to Megan and Bethany, but they weren’t there. I checked my watch. It was just after seven. Not good. I grabbed my gun and scrambled out of the tent.
Outside, the morning was crisp and a fine blanket of snow covered the ground. Megan crouched next to the fire’s ashes, poking them with a stick. Bethany sat on one of the ATVs. Adam wasn’t anywhere in sight.
“Where’s Adam?” I walked up next to Megan.
She stood and brushed her hands on her jeans. Her face was swollen and her eyes red-rimmed.
“Hey, are you okay?” I tucked my hair behind my ears.
She sniffed. “They didn’t deserve to die.” She snapped the stick she held and threw it in the ashes. “It’s not fair.”
“I’m so—” A stomping of feet sounded behind me. I pivoted, gun at the ready.
“Damn girl, you’re trigger happy aren’t you?” Adam grinned. “I didn’t sneak up on you this time.”
I settled for scowling at him, slipped the gun back in the holster, and adjusted my hat. I turned back to Megan.
She faked a smile. “What’s the plan?”
“I think we should head to the seminary and if it’s a bust, continue on to Pennsylvania and Site R.”
Megan sniffed and nodded. “I’ll start on the tent.” She walked away and began tearing down our camp.
“What if there’s nothing but destruction at both places?” I rubbed the words on my right arm, reminding myself of my rules.
“I wish I had the answers, but I don’t. What’s our other choice? Sit around shooting Raspers for the rest of our lives?” Adam shook his head, his hair slipping over his eyes. “I hope there’s more to it than that. I want to stay optimistic that there is a safe place, free of Raspers. Maybe even a place where they know how to get rid of them for good. There has to be a way.” Sadness leaked into his hopeful words. With a shrug of his shoulders, he grabbed the tent from Megan.
My view of the world didn’t match Adam’s optimism. The world was shit and we were swirling inside, not improving.
I slipped on my sunglasses and turned to Bethany. “How are you holding up?”
“Great.” She jumped up and gave me her back.
What was she so pissed about? She was the one who had barely spoken.
Adam brought the tent over and shoved it into the compartment.
“Do you know why Bethany’s mad and Megan’s crying?”
Adam shrugged. “They lost their family yesterday. I’m sure they’re just upset.”
“I guess. Do you want to drive?” I ran my tongue over my cracked to hell and back lips. I so needed to get more lip balm.
“I’m okay riding. It’s probably better for my arm.”
“Okay.” My stomach dropped. Once for him riding behind me again. Twice for his subtle reminder of my gunshot. But with how fast he healed, my heart leapt at the thought he was making an excuse.
“Ready?” Megan joined us.
“Yeah.”
The four of us climbed on the machines and drove off down the logging trail. The light coating of snow made control tricky. The path wasn’t as bumpy as yesterday and the wind had died down to barely a whisper. But my insides felt like they were in a popcorn popper when I hit the ruts in the dirt road.
I couldn’t stop worrying about what we might find at the seminary. The feeling of impending doom wrapped its talon-grip around my chest. I searched for any excuse besides the truth to convince Adam not to go.
I just couldn’t tell him it scared me. I was tough. I shouldn’t be scared.
And I sure as hell wasn’t admitting my fear.
We stopped once to refill the gas tanks and eat more granola bars. We had left the snow and cold back in the mountains, but woods still surrounded us. It struck me that if a person looked at the world from inside the forest, they would never know everything humans created had gone to hell, while nature prevailed and remained strong.
Megan came to a halt on the crest of a hill. I braked next to her and shut down the engine. We were perched on an over-look. Below us, red brick buildings dotted the overgrown landscape.
My skin prickled from something more than the wind.
“Is this the place?” Adam and I climbed off the four-wheeler.
“I think so.”
“This is the seminary? The safe community? Doesn’t look too welcoming.” I pulled off the gloves and stuffed them in the jacket pockets. “It feels wrong.”
Bethany swallowed a long drink from her water bottle. “Seems kinda creepy.”
“Maybe this isn’t the place. It looks empty.” Megan faced Adam.
“Your house looked empty, too.” Adam’s voice went lower and deeper than normal.
“Good point.” She gazed back at the seminary.
“What are we going to do? Waltz up there and knock on the door of the biggest building?” I still couldn’t shake my sense of dread, but chalked it up to being scared.
Bethany pointed. “What’s that on the top of some of the buildings?”
I focused on the tower of what looked like a cathedral. It was crumbling. Part of the structure still stood, but bricks littered the shingles below it. Some sort of blackish dome covered parts of the roof, and extended to cover a few other structures, too. “I’m not liking this. Let’s keep going.”
“Maybe it’s a tarp. Maybe they put them up after the earthquakes as a makeshift hospital or something.” Adam turned to Megan. “Your uncle didn’t happen to pack a pair of binoculars in the ATV by chance?”
“No. I wish he had though. I’m getting a little weirded out.”
“Let’s check the place. If it’s abandoned, we move on. There might be supplies we can use.” Adam adjusted the straps of his backpack.
Damn him. He was right. We needed supplies. I swallowed my doubt and choked on the bitter taste. “I think we should leave the ATVs here. If Raspers are there, they’ll hear us coming. We need to sneak in.” I checked my ammo.
“I guess we’ll need weapons.” Megan said it matter-of-factly.
“There’s nowhere to get any now.” Adam rubbed his hand across the barrel of the gun I gave him.
“There should be Sig Sauers on the ATVs.”
Adam shot me an is-she-kidding look. I shrugged. Megan reached underneath the vehicle by the left wheel and brought out a pistol. I bent down and felt by the tire of my four-wheeler. My hand brushed against cold metal strapped into a type of harness. I unclipped the weapon and held up a black Sig Sauer.
The little voice in my head spoke before I could sensor myself. “Is there anything else you haven’t mentioned?”
Megan narrowed her eyes as she checked how many bullets were in the gun. “No.”
Adam glanced from each of us, his face betraying his worry we might shoot each other. “Bethany, can you shoot?”
“I don’t like guns.” Her voice cracked. “Don’t want one.”
I glanced at her. The big jacket swallowed up her tiny body. She didn’t look seventeen. More like fourteen. A tiny part of my heart wanted to cuddle her. I held the Sig out to Adam. “Here, take a backup. I still have another one.”
Adam took it and tucked it in his bag.
Megan slammed the bullet clip home. “Should we move the vehicles back into the woods so they’re not visible?”
“Good idea.” Adam and I maneuvered the quads into the trees.
“Now we need to get to the seminary from up here. Any ideas?” Megan shoved her Sig into her waist pack and bunched her jacket over the top.
I prayed her life didn’t depend on her reaching the gun quickly. Out of the four of us, only two could shoot at a moment’s notice. Cripes. Not good odds.
If we were going to do this, I wanted to do it my way. “I say we try over there.” I pointed to my left. “It looks like an easier way down the hill.”
Everyone nodded and we began our descent. Adam leading, the girls in the middle and me in the rear. The hill was steeper than it looked, leaving me no choice but to holster the Glock or risk losing it. Damn. With both hands free, I grabbed onto the trees to keep from falling butt first.
Megan’s foot slipped in a tangle of weeds. She slid about five feet before she caught a tree limb and regained control.
“You okay?” I whispered. No need for loud voices.
“Fine.” She said it with much more emotion than necessary.
What was her problem?
It took us about twenty minutes to slip and stumble down the hill, but we made it. To our left, an army of trees lined up behind a murky green pond, and on the right, a weed forest grew all the way up to the seminary campus. It showed no resemblance to the once-manicured lawn it probably had been.
“This didn’t get us any closer. We still need to march up to the front to find out anything.” Megan’s voice held a whiney pitch.
“Not so loud. We don’t want anyone to hear us.” Adam tapped her arm. “What do you think, Val?”
“I don’t know.” My head screamed for me to run away, but my heart and the hope of a better place pushed me forward. “We could sneak around the edge of the buildings.”
Adam’s gaze shifted to the left. “I have a crazy idea.”
“What?”
“Look over by the pond. There’s a drain there.” Adam pointed toward the water.
Crazy? Yes. Doable? Probably. My pulse jumped into overdrive. “That might work.”
Megan tore off her hat. “Are you two nuts? I’m so not climbing into a sewer drain.” Her blonde hair stuck up at all angles and she smacked at the wayward hairs.
“It’s not a sewer drain.”
My excitement was mirrored in Adam’s green eyes.
“I’m going. If you don’t want to come you can stay here, or use the front door.” It came across as harsh, and I didn’t understand why I was pumped to go through a drainpipe. I should have been scared like I was before, but I wasn’t. Energy surged through my veins, and my nerves were hypersensitive.
“I’ll go,” Bethany said in a faint voice.
Adam and Bethany walked toward the drain and I caught up with them. Without looking back, I heard Megan’s footsteps fall in behind us. I wrinkled my nose at the stale water and mildew stench.
“How do you know it’s not a sewer drain? Smells like one.” Megan came up by my side.
Adam turned. His wide grin surprised me with its intensity. “Let’s just say, I wasn’t the most well behaved kid on my block. And they make great hiding places from angry parents.”
To get to the pipe, we had to go through the pond first. The algae-tainted pond.
“Grab a stick so we can see how deep it is.” I told Adam.
He broke off a branch from the closest tree and dropped it in the murky water. It measured about a foot deep.
“We’ll get wet to our knees or so.” I hoped the water wasn’t cold, but knew it would be. I shivered in advance.
“It could be crawling with bacteria, even if it’s not sewage,” Megan said.
“Look, Megan, we need to find some more supplies and I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. I’m going in.” Adam stepped into the water and gave a low growl when the green liquid soaked into his clothes.
“Come on, Meg. It’ll be okay.” Bethany held out her hand.
“This really sucks.” Megan stomped to the edge of the water, shoved her hat back on, then stepped in. “Aaah. It’s freezing.” She clutched Bethany’s hand.
My turn. I took a deep breath, rolled my lip under my teeth, and joined them in the pond. The cold sliced through my jeans and chilled me to the core. Maybe this wasn’t such a good plan after all.
“Let’s go,” Adam said through chattering teeth. “Val, maybe you should go first. You’re the best shot.”
True. I was. But that would mean Megan would most likely cling to Adam through the whole pipe. Screw it. I wanted to find out what was inside and if I didn’t move, I’d become a popsicle. “Okay.” I pulled out a flashlight and my gun. Slogging through the water, I walked in front of Adam and stood at the pipe’s mouth.
Behind me, three more beams lit up the oversized tube. “Ready?”
“Yeah. Let’s stay together.” He put a hand on my waist.
Heat shot through my veins, making me forget about the freezing water for a moment. The putrid scent of mold snapped me back to attention. It was so strong I almost gagged. I hunched over and led our single-file procession into the dank drain. The water lapped my ankles, sucking every bit of heat from my lower extremities.
A few minutes into our slow wade through the cylindrical trail to hell, a buzzing sound echoed through the concrete drain. I stopped, leaned back, and whispered to Adam, “What’s that?”
“I don’t know. Flies?”
Flies wouldn’t be awful. That meant food might be nearby. It was better than rats. A shiver, not from the cold, snaked all the way down my body. I pictured huge beady-eyed suckers like the ones I saw in a TV show abou
t the tunnels under New York City.
“What’s wrong?” Adam’s soft words hit the back of my neck and his breath wrapped around my ear.
A whole new type of shiver consumed me, temporarily ending my rat obsession.
“Nothing.” I continued walking.
We trudged deeper and deeper into the drain. The buzzing grew louder and louder.
Adam tugged on my waist and I stopped again. “Man, that noise is driving me crazy.” He dropped his head to one side then the other as if he was trying to shake water out of his ears.
“What noise?” Megan said, her words full of uncertainty.
“The damn buzzing. What is it?” Adam asked.
“I don’t hear anything.” Megan’s whisper rose. “Why don’t I hear it?”
“I don’t hear it either.” Bethany said.
“I don’t know. Count yourself lucky. It’s annoying as hell.”
It was driving me crazy, too. Why couldn’t the girls hear it? Were Adam and I only hearing it because of the Rasper’s sting?
I concentrated on finding an end to the cement tunnel. My back ached and my legs and feet were numb. My heart rate spiked. The overwhelming rot of mold filled my nose, and the buzzing sound lacerated my eardrums. Maybe this wasn’t such a good plan, but at least we were still alive. For now.
“Look up there.” Adam directed his beam of light to the top of the pipe.
A manhole-type cover filled the space above my head.
“Hold this.” Adam handed me his light.
I tucked it under my arm and pointed my light at the circle. He pushed up with both hands and a moan of pain escaped his lips. I cursed my trigger finger.
“It won’t budge.”
I handed him the flashlight and our eyes met in the beam of white. My pulse quickened.
“Can we please hurry before I freeze to death?” Megan said breaking the moment. “Let’s keep going. We’ll find another one.”
I turned around and continued forward.
The longer we walked, the louder the buzzing became. It seemed as if an unseen force was fighting to hold time in place. A minute felt like five. Five felt like an hour. Finally, we came upon another circular hatch in the ceiling.
The Colony Page 12