Chapter 7: Paige
My head bangs into the headrest as the car pummels through the barricade. My body flies back into the seat as our car comes to a complete stop. The crackling of glass continues as my eyes struggle to focus on the shards hanging from the frame of the windshield.
Both Kevin’s and Ryan’s heads rest against deflating airbags. Neither of them moves.
“Ryan?” I manage to say. My head pounds with pain. “Kevin?”
I reach up to my head with the back of my hand. When it returns to my vision, the back glistens with blood. I force my head to the left and see Darrel and Tori. Darrel looks around slowly and aimlessly. Tori is slumped forward. Her body heaves up slowly and falls back down; she’s still breathing. I turn to look out the cracked window. The SUV passes alongside and leaves my sight.
I guess his plan worked. They have their path. I sit for a few more moments and try to gather my thoughts. I shut my eyes and lean forward, pressing my head against the headrest. Come on Paige, focus. We need to get out of here. Who knows who those men are that tried to stop us? They’ll be here any moment.
After releasing my seatbelt, my right hand reaches for the door handle. Just as my fingertips feel the plastic, the handle moves away. The door opens and daylight pours in. A dark figure stands in front of me. He’s large and his hands go forward.
Carter?
The hands grab me by the throat and pull me violently from the car. It’s not Carter. I reach to claw at the face, but before I can tear his skin, I am thrown to the asphalt.
“You almost killed us back there,” his voice barks. I can finally see him. He wears a thick padded coat, and goggles hang loosely around his neck. His hair is a matted against his head and hard lines wrap around his eyes. Rope
is tethered around his torso and a small plank seems holstered at his hip. I don’t see a gun.
My hands go to my weapon in my holster. It is empty. I turn to the open car door, and the gun lies on the floor. Another man is pulling a resisting Darrel from the car.
A slam to my gut returns my attention to the man above me. His boot is now resting on my stomach.
“You’re all gonna get it. Then we're gonna go find your friends that drove off.”
They left us? Carter left me?
I honestly didn't think David would listen to Ryan; I can’t believe he did. I thought Carter at least would...
Pain vibrates through my body as the man brings his boot down again. And again.
What little air I have escapes my body as I buckle in pain. He stops kicking my stomach and straddles me. He kneels down, and places both his hands around my neck. He squeezes.
I struggle to bring my hands up to claw and hit whatever part of him I can reach. He doesn’t stop. I choke and feel my face burn as he strangles me. My arms fail to put up any more of a fight. Hot tears runs down my cheeks as I stare into the man’s cold eyes. He has a slight grin. His face fades as my vision blurs.
He smirks wider as he watches me die.
His smirk suddenly disappears. He sharply turns to the right. His grip loosens, and I manage a gulp of air.
The man’s head rises suddenly as if to stand, but a bar of metal slams across the side of his face. A few drops of blood land on my forehead, and I wince. His body slumps next to me. Another figure comes into focus.
Carter.
“Are you okay?” he drops the pipe and kneels beside me. His arms pull me up into his chest.
“I’m okay,” I struggle out through some coughs. “You came back?”
“We would never leave you all. I would never leave you. I don't give a damn what Ryan says.”
I turn my head to our vehicle. Kevin moves slowly from the car; he still seems in shock. David kneels above one of the attackers, and continues to drill him across the face with his good arm. Caitlyn has her gun out and keeps watch as Darrel helps Tori from the back seat. Ryan stumbles out with his gun at the ready.
David wipes his bloody knuckles on the fallen attacker’s shirt and steps towards Ryan.
“You were supposed to go,” Ryan nearly yells, approaching David in an angry stride.
“Like I was going to listen to you? Look we are-”
A voice cuts him off.
“Hands up.
All of you.”
I rise to my feet, and look towards the voice. It is a New American soldier with a rifle raised. No, this can’t be happening. Around him are dozens of soldiers; each is pointing a rifle directly at us. Some of them have red lasers that shine little dots directly onto David and Carter. There are
way too many of them to fight. I have no idea where they came from.
“I
said, hands up!’” He yells and shoots once above our heads. My arms instantly rise into the air. The rest of us do the same. Within a moment, they are upon us. I hear the protests of David, but they don’t amount to much. My head is again against the pavement, and my hands are quickly bound behind my back. Carter is on his chest right beside me. Our eyes meet. He mouths, “I love you.”
In fear, sadness, and love, I do the same.
“Please let us go!” Ryan yells. “Unless you wanna die from the plague, let us pass.”
“Shut up,” one of the soldiers barks.
“It's true,” I yell. I feel a knee get heavier on my back.
“Silence,” the soldier yells.
They continue to press us along the ground. Another soldier helps the man who Carter subdued and assists him into a Humvee. Luckily, he isn’t dead or else this may have ended much worse. A few more boots move around us, and a few more exchanges take place.
“Hey, sergeant,” a voice shouts from a distance, “you may want to come and take a look at this.”
The man standing in front of me turns then walks away. One of the soldiers has a brief coughing fit.
“What is it?”
“Check out what’s in the back of this SUV.”
A few more moments of silence pass by. The grunts have stopped. Apparently, everyone else stopped resisting.
“It’s a bunch of medical equipment. I hate to say it boss, but they may be telling the truth.”
“What is all this?” the sergeant inquires.
“As I said,” Ryan speaks up, “we are trying to find a cure. Let us go.”
“Yea, you and everyone else is trying.”
“Well, we’re pretty damn close.”
“That’s accurate,”
Nate says, I can’t see him, but I suppose they captured him as well. “We need an instrument from within the city. If you want to look over my notes…”
“This sounds like bull, sir,” a soldier says.
“Sounds like a lot of it,” the sergeant answers
“Well then I guess it’s your funeral.” Ryan adds, “Judging by the looks of a few of your men you’re already getting sick. Guess we all just sit back and wait to die.”
“Shut up.”
A weaker voice begins, “Sir, if there’s even a slight chance we have to take it. We should at least let Washington know.” He coughs. They are already sick. It won’t be long before the rest of us follow suit, now.
There are a few more tense moments as the soldiers bicker in much quieter tones.
“Take them to headquarters,” the sergeant’s voice rises above the rest. “I’ll radio Washington about this.”
Chapter 8: Nathan
Their sedan collides with the two cars in the blockade and comes to a screeching halt. The collision provides just enough space for our SUV to squeeze through. I figure that this was Ryan’s plan all along. He saw Laura and me as the essential components to this plan and now our vehicle is to proceed directly to the hospital to finalize the vaccine and save the world – or America rather. Of course, the probability of David merely leaving that car is next to nothing.
So it doesn’t at all surprise me when our SUV comes to a stop around the corner at a nearby building and David, Carter, and Caitlyn throw open the doors. I cannot believe Ryan actually expected us simply to leave them for dead. Perhaps it would make more sense for us to go on, but those three still have too much humanity to let their friends die. I still have too much humanity to let them die.
“You three wait here,” David says while running around the building. “Watch the car.”
Perhaps they may need a fast getaway. Or perhaps he figures that at the very least Laura and I will make it out. I hope it doesn’t come down to the latter possible outcome.
I don’t want any of them to die. I get out of the car and step to the brick corner. Jocelyn and Laura come up behind me. A few of the attackers already pull at those within the car. I sense Jocelyn’s desire to run into the mayhem as well, but she follows orders. Besides, within a few moments, Carter and David incapacitate the few bandits. Looks like we will be-
“Hand’s up,” a voice commands. It’s deep, and frankly intimidating. Jocelyn and I share a nervous glance. I consider going for the pipe bomb in my cargo pocket. Laura doesn’t immediately throw down her gun.
“Weapons down. Hands up!” another voice says. It isn’t quite as deep, but just as intimidating.
So there’s more than one. The three of us listen. Just as our hands go to the air, a few more figures emerge ahead and hold the others at gunpoint. I turn my head and look around carefully. There are nearly two-dozen soldiers. Each is in a New American uniform, complete with gas mask.
They yell at us for some time, but once they question us, they haul all of us towards their base of operations. We told them we are working on a cure; maybe that will keep us safe. The three of us are in the front of the line as we walk through desolate streets and the tattered remains of a once thriving city. I glance behind me. The others are not
too far behind us. Each one of us has our hands bound in either handcuffs or plastic ties.
“Face forward!” a voice booms. I listen and relax my straining neck.
Some dying greenery has slowly eaten its way between the cracks and alongside the buildings, but everything just feels lonely in the cold snow. Our pathway seems plowed and small crystals of salt crunch beneath my feet. At least they are still maintaining some sort of utility work. Our white SUV, driven by a masked soldier, passes us and disappears into the distance. They probably want the equipment that they saw inside it.
Our procession approaches a massive professional baseball park. A chain-link fence surrounds the structure. The fence
has been fortified with barbed wire at the top and along the bottom are cement barricades. Huge pieces of welded steel, reminiscent of the obstacles illustrated in photographs of D-Day, cover the road in front of the fence, preventing anyone with a car from merely ramming into the chain links. On the other side lie rows of military vehicles.
This must be their headquarters.
They lead us to a ticket counter that serves as the only opening in the fence that I can observe. They slowly line all eleven of us against the counter. We share frantic glances as the soldiers keep us at gunpoint against the brick wall. Laura stands beside me. She looks scared. I can't look much better. The sergeant steps in front of us.
“Who’s in charge here?”
We answer with silence. Generally, bad things happen to the idiot who is the first to speak up.
“I’m in charge,” David lies.
Like I was saying...
“No, he isn’t. I am.” Ryan corrects. The sergeant looks furious. He gestures to both of them. “Take them both to the interrogation room.”
A guard grabs them both by the hair, and they head off. Ryan and David let out some yells in vain, but several soldiers with rifles keep them contained. They fade into the distance within the stadium.
“Now, I’ll assume it isn’t either of them. Who here are the ones who think they can make a cure? Obviously, not all of you are scientists.”
The same silence goes through us all. Carter and I give one another a nervous glance. He shakes his head. I agree. They can't hurt any of us until they know who's who.
“We are.” Laura steps
out, and gesturing with her head towards me.
“What are you doing?” I whisper.
“They aren’t going to hurt us,” she says confidently back to me.
“Yea, but now what about them?”
I retort. Her face drops. She didn’t think that far ahead.
“I didn’t think…”
“Well then, come on you two,” the sergeant demands. “Follow me.”
I share apologizing looks with the rest of them, as we make our way through the front gate. Several more soldiers push us along with the ends of their guns. A statue of a baseball player stands at the entrance. However, it’s missing an arm and wields a swinging bat with a single fist. Three guards escort us from the rear, and the sergeant leads the way. Crossing the front gate, we walk slowly up broken escalators, and they lead us to a box seat along the third base line. They stay outside when we enter what was once an expensive box. He has us sit in the front seats of the open room and walks in front of us.
“So,” the man says. “What’s the truth to this? Are you really close to a vaccine to the plague?”
I nod slightly. I considered lying, but I have more use as a potential savior to the New American people than a liar does.
“We came to the city for the proper equipment. If we find it, the cure may be synthesized within forty-eight hours.”
His bloodshot eyes go wide. I assume he’s infected.
And if that’s the case, my safety is the least of my concerns. If they are all infected, it probably means we are all now sick. It's only a matter of time before we start to show symptoms.
“What exactly do you need?” he asks, turning his face quickly between us.
“It’s in one of the city's medical facilities,” I say.
“We’ll get you there immediately,” he replies.
“My friends go free first.”
“They will be released after you create the cure.”
“I won’t do a thing until they are released.” I answer, tilting my head forward and staring straight into his swollen eyes. Perhaps I can look intimidating behind my thick glasses.
“Then we’ll all die. I doubt they are worth the life of yourself, and her,” the sergeant says with confidence. He thinks they have me in a fix. I continue my glare.
I look to Laura. Her eyes show a pride in me that I haven’t witnessed in a long time. I've never been a coward, but I've never been in the position to show what I am made of. Apparently, it's at least more than she imagined.
“I doubt holding my friends is worth your life and the lives of your men,” I reply with a coy grin.
He stares at me with rage as his hand twitches. It's in his eyes, he wants more than anything to reach down and begin choking me.
I’m too important, though. The soldier regains his composure and steps out into the hall with a few of his men. I anticipate when he returns he will see it my way.
Laura turns in her chair towards me. Her handcuffed hands sitting neatly on her lap.
“I’ve never seen you like this.”
“I’ve never had so much to lose.” I give her a small smirk. She beams back at me. At least tonight, she won’t be running off to David’s quarters.
Yes, I know about that.
After a few more minutes, the soldier comes back in. I feel a grin of confidence on my face. He has one, too. My heart races. This is my first time playing a dangerous game like this. I am certain it is not the first time he has played this game.
“I just ordered my men to execute two of the women downstairs.
And if you do not start doing what I ask, they will execute another two of your friends every fifteen minutes. Now have you reconsidered your stance?”
My God.