The Last Orphans (16 page)

The armored vehicle limped along for a few more blocks
before a loud thunk came from the engine compartment, followed by grinding. The Stryker jerked to a stop, and silence fell over the interior, seeming thick enough to drown them after all the noise of battle.

“Damn,”
Tracy hissed. The ignition system whined a couple of times. She tried to get the diesel restarted.

“It’s seized,” Shane
told her. “The only way this beast is going anywhere is with a new engine.”

“
Why the hell did we turn around?” Steve asked, sounding frustrated.

“If we hadn’t, we’d be
stuck down there with all those thugs trying to peel this thing open and get at us,” Aaron answered before Shane had a chance. “Or worse, they might have lit the Stryker on fire and cooked us in it if we refused to come out.”

“Too bad,” Kelly said, leaning her head back and looking at the ceiling. “We had to be so close.”

“Yeah,” Tracy agreed, climbing out of the driver’s seat and back into the passenger compartment. “We only had about two miles to go.”

“What now?
” Aaron asked, looking at Shane.

“Now we get the heck out of this coffin before they come to see if we left town,” Shane said, trying to sound like he had a plan.

The truth was, he didn’t have a clue what to do next. But his four friends looked at him like they’d fall apart if he didn’t have the answers. As soon as he gave an order, a subtle look of relief came over their faces, and they grabbed their weapons and gear, climbing toward the rear hatch of the Stryker. His football coach told him once that he had the makings of a great leader, that he just needed the right circumstances to bring it out.

Too bad this
hell was what it took.

The last one out of
the Stryker, Shane raised his M-16 to his shoulder and took up position on the left side of the smoking vehicle, pointing down the street from which they’d just come. The others had done the same, all acting like he guessed seasoned soldiers would in the same situation. Again, he sensed they awaited his orders.  

He glanced around
, trying to think of the best move. The sound of motorcycles approaching from the south jolted him into action.

“
Let’s take cover in there,” he waved his gun barrel at a ten-story building with a granite façade. “Quickly.”

Shane jogged behind the others, keeping his gun trained down the street. They made it into the building befor
e he saw the motorcycles. He led the way up to the third floor, and they positioned themselves by the windows, aiming their guns down into the street.

“Stay
in the shadows,” Tracy whispered, “so they won’t see us if they look up.”

The motorcycles’ drone grew louder,
and then they appeared on the street below. Shane counted fifteen, but more could have been close to the building or down the block. They came to a stop around the Stryker and killed their engines. With guns aiming at the armored vehicle, they surrounded it and peered in the back door.

“It’s empty,” a boy shouted.

“They must’ve taken off on foot,” another said.

“Should we go after them?
”

“Naw—
this is Maurice’s territory. He’ll deal with them.”

“
Yeah. Let’s get out of here before Maurice’s lackeys try to deal with us.”

“
I ain’t scared. You scared?”

“Shut
up, numb nuts, or I’ll show you scared.”

“Both of
y’all shut up before I bust a cap in ya,” a deeper voice said. “Get on your bikes and ride.”

“I know you didn’t just say
bust a cap
,” a boy spouted, the others cackling with him.

A few seconds later, the motorcycles roared to life, and the thugs headed back the way they’d come.

Exhaling slowly, Shane realized he’d been holding his breath the whole time the gangsters were on the street below.

“That was a bit to
o close,” Kelly whispered.

Shane stepped nearer
to the window and peered out. “Looks clear now.”

“What happened to your neck?” Kelly asked, her voice filled with concern.

“I guess a bullet grazed me.” He reached up and felt the sticky blood, his wound stinging now that she mentioned it.

“Let me clean it up,” Kelly said, pulling a small first aid kit out of her pocket.

“How do we get to the capitol building now?” Steve asked, discouraged.

“We walk,” Shane replied
, cringing as Kelly wiped his wound with alcohol swabs. “If we can go from building to building and keep quiet, I bet we can get past Shamus’ gang without them noticing.” He wasn’t convinced, but they didn’t have a choice. To give up meant waiting for the animals to attack and kill them.

“It woul
d be better if we can get down there undetected and don’t have to fight them off while we’re trying to focus on shutting down the weapon,” Aaron said, optimistic in spite of how dire things had gotten.

“Then it’s agreed,”
Tracy said. “Let’s get moving before the weapon makes us turn on each other.”

Shane eyed the M-16 in each of his friends
’ hands, realizing how quickly it all would end if the limbic manipulator scrambled their brains. Kelly finished cleaning his wound, putting some antibiotic ointment and bandages on it, and he flashed a smile at her to say thanks, remembering she was the oldest and the first person to be affected by the weapon if it did shift its settings.

“
Tracy’s right,” he said, rising to his feet. “Let’s move.”

They followed Shane
down the steps through the building, and then slipped outside behind him. He was surprised at how comfortable he felt about marching into the street and becoming the target for hundreds of angry and heavily armed teenage gangsters. The numbness he’d experienced in varying degrees since his aunt died had something to do with his tranquil state. But he had also accepted that getting to the capitol building was their only chance to survive. The other two courses their destiny could take would be death by being shot by gangsters, or death from the limbic manipulator weapon. His entire focus was on their one chance to stay alive. Knowing what needed to be done—even if their odds of success were one in a million—had an oddly calming effect on Shane.  

“Should
n’t we go down another street?” Aaron asked after they darted into the next building.

“No,”
Tracy replied, glancing at Shane as if to see if he agreed. “I think we’re better off going back down this one. They won’t expect us to be stupid enough to do that, and it’s a straight route to the capitol. We might get lost if we try to change our course.”

Trac
y looked as calm as Shane felt. He wondered if this is how she was all the time, even before the world got turned upside down. They’d only had a couple of classes together, and when he’d seen her at school, she always wore the same expression of seriousness and focus she displayed now. What had happened to her to make her so numb and emotionless? Regardless, he felt lucky she was here—a member of his team in this life-or-death game in which they found themselves.

Shane’s foot caught on a
body, and he almost tripped and fell on his face. All the buildings and the streets had corpses scattered everywhere—yet he’d become so jaded from seeing the dead he hardly noticed anymore. The bodies had begun to swell, and flies buzzed around them. Decay was setting in, and soon they’d start stinking.

“
She’s right. Let’s keep moving,” Shane said, trying not to think of how horrible it would be to be surrounded by a million rotting corpses.

Back out in
the dim daylight, his small team pointed their guns in every direction and ran down the sidewalk. In the middle of the pack, Shane covered the opposite side of the street with Kelly at his back. They entered the next building, a fancy shopping mall with handbag stores bearing French names Shane couldn’t pronounce. It was the kind of place where he guessed his aunt would’ve gone shopping. The thought sent a bolt of pain through his chest.

Leading the way out a door at the other end of the mall, Shane saw a pack of dogs trotting down the street. A large Rottweiler led at least thirty others of all breeds. Holding his hand up, he stopped Kelly just before she stepped out.
A pit-bull with a thick chain adorning its neck veered from the pack and paused, studying Shane. Bloodstains on the white fur around the dog’s thick jaws told the story of how its owners must’ve died. It raised its head, its ribs pumping in and out as it smelled him. Shifting its attention to the right, the dog’s brownish-gold eyes locked onto Kelly. The pit-bull let out a deep, rumbling growl, lowering its head and baring its teeth.

“Back
off, dog,” Shane threatened, raising the barrel of his gun and lining the sights up with the animal’s big skull.

The dog crept toward Kelly, the
white hair from its neck to its tail rising up into a long mohawk. From the corner of his eye, Shane saw Kelly stepping back. The dog barked, startling Shane such that he pulled the trigger. The gun’s report echoed between the buildings, the pit-bull dropping dead with a gaping hole in its forehead.

“The weapon
must be starting to make them target younger people,” Tracy said worriedly, stepping beside Shane with her gun aimed at the pack of dogs.

Most of them tucked their tail
s between their hind legs and ran down the street, afraid of the gun. But a few stopped and gave curious looks toward the mall. Shane held his breath, his weapon pointed at the dogs. Seeming uninterested, they turned and continued trotting down the street, their heads held high like they owned the world. And Shane knew they did. If they all attacked at once, he expected he and his four friends couldn’t hold them off for very long.

“At least the rest of them didn’t come after us,” Steve said
, eyeing the dogs. “Maybe that one was just mean.”

“Yeah,
maybe,” Shane replied, doubtful.

Aar
on stepped onto the sidewalk. “We’d better hurry just the same.”

G
lancing at Kelly, Shane saw her face had lost all of its color.

“Don’t worry,” he said, p
utting his hand on her shoulder. “I won’t let them get to you.”

She gave a weak smile
, whispering, “Thanks.”

He
slid his hand down her arm and laced his fingers through hers. Instead of pulling away, Kelly squeezed like she trusted he could keep her safe. He had to. If he could keep her alive, he believed things would work out—life at least stood a slim chance of being good again. Jogging along behind Tracy, he remembered how hopeless his best efforts were when his aunt was attacked. It reminded him he could do little if the insects and animals came after Kelly, but he still resolved to die before he let them hurt her.

They
ducked into the next store, a ransacked coffee shop. A patron lay on the floor with a portion of the long, metal needle of the thermometer used to check to see if the drinks were the right temperature sticking out of his eye, piercing deep into his brain.

“Looks like he bitched about his latte one too many times,” Steve mumbled, stepping over the body and grabbing a brownie off the shelf below the register.

“You think that’s bad,” Aaron said, chuckling behind the counter. “Looks like the barista got beaten to death with a coffee carafe.” He picked up a dented, stainless-steel container and waved it like he was threatening Steve. “I said half soy, no whip!” he shouted with mock anger.

“Come on, guys,” Shane said, feeling like a jerk because he’d almost started laughing. “Don’t be so disrespectful.”

“
Hey, man,” Steve replied guiltily. “Just trying not to lose it.”

“Something
moved in the building across the street,” Tracy said over her shoulder. Shane rushed to the front door where she had taken up guard. “Fourth window to the left of the corner, up on the third floor. The one with the planter box hanging off it.” Tracy pointed her gun at the high-rise apartment building.

Shane didn’t see anything besides a curtain billowing out of an open window.
Aaron stepped on Tracy’s other side.

“You
r mind might be playing tricks on you,” Aaron said.

“I know what I saw,” Tracy
retorted.

The volatility amongst
the exhausted members of Shane’s little team seemed to be increasing. And he knew it would only get worse, because they weren’t going to get quality rest anytime soon.

“We’ll keep our eyes pee
led,” Shane said, clapping Tracy on the shoulder. “Let’s move, people.”

The next block had a large parking structure on it that didn’t offer much of a place to hide. They trotted in the open, guns held ready, with Shane leading the way. Halfwa
y down the block, they crossed the structure’s wide driveway.

“Yo,” a male voice yelled from inside the parking structure.
“Where y’all going in such a hurry?”

S
pinning toward the sound, Shane raised his gun to his shoulder, pointing it into the dark interior of the garage.

“Who’s there?” Shane asked
, trying to sound intimidating.

“Let’s move toward cover,”
Tracy whispered.  

Giving a slight nod, Shane sidestepped to the right
, and the other four did the same, all with their guns trained on the parking structure.

“No use in trying to get away,” the
deep voice shouted. “We got a whole grip of guns pointed at you.”

“Show yourself,” Shane replied
, continuing to move toward the concrete wall alongside the entrance to the parking structure. He didn’t see anybody with guns pointing at him and his friends, so he suspected the deep voice’s owner might be bluffing.

“Gladly,” the voice said. “Lower the business ends of your boom
-sticks first. We ain’t interested in acquiring any lead poisoning on this beautiful summer’s afternoon.”

Shane shot a look at the
heavy, green clouds hanging low overhead. Not exactly what he’d call a nice day. He decided it couldn’t be Shamus’ people in the garage, or they would’ve already attacked. Hoping maybe they’d gain the ally they needed to help them get downtown, he lowered the barrel of his gun and motioned for the others to do the same. Tracy pointed hers at the ground last, giving Shane a look that said she wasn’t convinced it was the right thing to do. A loud whistle came from inside the parking structure, and then the unsmiling faces of at least fifty kids rose up along the concrete barrier wall of the second floor.

Glancing over his shoul
der, Shane saw a similar number of teenagers slipping out from behind cars and out of the office buildings across the street. They held guns, baseball bats, and a few even had machetes. A cold sense of dread settled over him. The voice wasn’t bluffing, Shane and his friends were surrounded, and this time without the Stryker for protection.