Like two school children being walked to the principal’s office, Emma and Tom made their way back to suite three-twenty-six in silence. Escorted by Cedric, they only stared straight ahead and quickly moved inside, taking a seat at the table in the center of the room. The awkwardness of the moment hung in the air as their host paced in front of the window.
Staring at one another, they waited as Cedric slowly turned back and offered a half smile.
“Okay, so… just let me get this out of the way first. Anytime you go anywhere in this building—at least for now—you go with either myself or Veronica. No exceptions, is that fair?”
Emma spoke first. “I’m really sorry, Cedric. This is my fault. I ran out and Tom was just trying to get me to come back.”
“Either way,” Cedric said, “I need you both to make sure that one of us is with you at all times. It’s not that we don’t trust you, it’s just that—”
Folding her arms and resting them on the table, Emma interrupted, “It’s those people you went to meet with. This has something to do with them.”
“Well, now that you mention it, I figure that I may as well fill you in on exactly what’s happening in this city. But first I have some questions.”
Tom gave a thumbs-up. “Fine by me, I’m an open book.”
Cedric turned as his wife and son came through the door and then quickly locked it behind them. Back to the table, he leaned to his left and placed his hand on Tom’s shoulder. “The questions aren’t for you buddy. I believe you gave us enough of your background last night that I could write your biography purely from memory.”
Emma’s eye’s widened. Although she hadn’t been guarded before, the new direction this conversation was taking had her doubting her new friends.
“What exactly are you asking?”
Veronica joined them at the table as Patrick moved to the fold-away sofa. She reached for Emma’s arm and gave it a squeeze. “Sweetheart, it’s no big deal. What my less than tactful husband is trying to get at is that we’d just like to get to know you better. Find out more about our new friend.”
“Okay?” Emma wasn’t fully convinced.
“Emma, we wouldn’t have brought you here and let you spend the night in the same room as us, if we had any doubts. We really do just want to get to know you better, I promise.”
Unfolding her arms, Emma nodded. “I’m sorry, you all have been very gracious. I think my brain may still be adjusting to all the new information from last night… what do you want to know?”
Veronica looked to Cedric and smiled. She waited a moment and then turned back to Emma. “Do you remember everything?”
“I think so…”
Before his wife could respond, Cedric interjected, “Emma, I apologize.” Stepping away from the table, he moved back to the window. “You’ve been through hell out there and the last thing we want to do is make you feel uncomfortable or unwelcome. You have every right to tell us to go to hell.”
“No,” Emma said, “it’s fine. I shouldn’t have snapped like that. I know you and your family are good people. You’re just looking out for your own safety.”
Cedric turned to his wife. She nodded and then looked away. “It’s not for us,” he said. “It’s the others, they have a thing about new people coming into the city, and they want details.”
“Who?”
“There are a group of men who live in an abandoned building near the old police station. We told you about them last night, but not quite everything. They have weapons… a lot of weapons, and they said they’d leave us alone in this building as long as we kept to ourselves and didn’t fill the building with a ton of outsiders. They want control of who comes and goes.”
Emma looked at Tom, but was still addressing Cedric. “They want to make sure that we aren’t here to cause any trouble?”
Veronica suppressed a laugh. “Yeah, basically.”
“Well,” Tom said, “they’re in for quite a surprise then.”
Cedric began to laugh, but then stopped himself. He again peered out the window at the streets below. “You both are welcome to stay as long as you please. Blake and his men just want to be sure we aren’t setting up a sanctuary for just anyone who walks in off the street. He wants to make sure he’s in control of who stays and who goes. I’ll just tell him what he wants to hear.”
“And what’s that?” Emma asked.
“You’ve already guessed… they just want to be sure you aren’t here to cause them any trouble.”
“I’m five-foot-two and like a hundred pounds soaking wet, somehow I don’t think I’m going to cause trouble for too many people. But hey, I understand.”
“They just want—”
“It’s really no problem,” Emma said. “And now that I remember, I feel like I want to tell someone about who I was. Kind of makes it more real, like my old life mattered.”
Cedric turned from the window, but didn’t respond. He moved back over to the table and took a seat beside his wife.
“My name is Emma Runner. I grew up in a small town in Colorado with the craziest older brother and two of the most wonderful human beings as parents. I loved… uh, I mean I love them more than life itself and only hope that I get to see them again someday.”
Trying to avoid tearing up, Emma quickly moved on to another part of her story. “I left home to come out to California to work for a company called BXF Technologies. The man who started the company had made billions manufacturing microprocessors before turning to human technology. I was hired as his lead chemist a few years back and have been out on the West Coast ever since. On a more personal note, I also like puppies and really old movies.”
Tom smiled and covered his mouth to keep from laughing. “So, you think including items from your online dating profile will help your chances?”
Pulling the conversation back, Cedric leaned forward his chair. “You have medical training?”
“Not anything that would be of importance. I know how the elements of the human body work together as one unit, how they co-exist, each of their functions, but my knowledge is more theory based. I can tell you the how and the why, but anything more involved than dressing a laceration or handing out over-the-counter medication and I’d be moving into territory that’s way above my pay grade.”
“That’s good to know,” Cedric said. “But I have a feeling you’re being a bit humble. Either way, it’s really good to have you and Tom here.”
“Thank you,” Emma said, “I just hope one day we can find a way to repay you.”
Cedric and Veronica looked at one another and then back at Emma. “There is one other thing,” Cedric said.
“Yes?”
“The man that I met with this morning, his name is Mitchell Blake. He’s young and cocky, but he also has a small army and lots of weapons.”
“So?”
“He wants to meet you tomorrow… both of you.”
Stopped at the corner of East Main and Old Highway 6, Ethan and Ben stared out over the empty street. They made note of the fast food restaurant, six different short stay hotels, and the single grocery store all within the same long block. Quietly pointing out the odd absence of vehicles and people alike, Ethan shifted into drive and started through the center of town.
Ben ventured a half-hearted guess. “Maybe they’ve all gone into hiding.”
“Yeah,” Ethan said, “but from what? I haven’t seen a single Feeder since we left the city.”
Driving along East Main, Ethan kept their speed below five miles per hour. He scanned every empty parking lot and abandoned storefront as they made their way from one end of the small rural town to the other.
Slightly over four miles end to end, they covered the distance twice in just over thirty minutes. When they’d finished with East Main, Ethan took the left side of the SUV as Ben watched the area out through the right. They drove up and down every immaculate street and long driveway they could find. Not one single vehicle or person remained anywhere within sight.
Pulling into the parking lot of the first hotel along Main, they rolled to a stop twenty feet from the front doors. Setting the parking brake and removing his seatbelt, Ethan turned in his seat. One by one, the others began to wake.
Griffin was the first. Slowly opening his eyes, he looked at Ben and then turned to Ethan. He paused a moment, ran his hand over his face, and quickly turned back to Ben once more. Noticing the others were also beginning to stir, he didn’t attempt to throttle his emotion.
“Damn it kid, you scared the hell out us.”
Ben smiled and then winced as he moved to the side to allow Carly room to pull off her seatbelt. “Yeah, sorry about that. I’ll try not to get shot again.”
Carly rolled her neck from left to right, yawned, and then reached for Ben’s right hand. She leaned out in front of him, lifted his upper arm away from his body, and then gently placed it back. “Looks good, let me know if it feels too wet. We’ll change the dressing when we…” She stopped, looked out through the windshield, and then back at Ethan as if she hadn’t realized they were stopped.
“Where are we?”
“Green Valley, Utah.”
The others stirred, and from the third row Helen said, “This place doesn’t look right, where are all the people or whatever?”
Ethan looked around the interior as the five confused individuals stared back. “Not sure, we drove end to end and have yet to see anyone. Also, no cars… not anywhere.”
Shannon looked out through the window over her shoulder. “Maybe everyone just left. Once everything went to hell, maybe this place wasn’t safe and they all just packed their things and drove away.”
Just coming around, Frank put his hands over his head and stretched the sleep away. He motioned through the windshield and toward the hotel. “Looks safe enough. Why don’t we check it out? I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m getting a little claustrophobic.”
Carly agreed. “Yeah, it would do Ben some good to get out and walk a bit.”
Turning to Griffin, Ethan motioned toward the front doors. “You up for this?”
“Yep.”
“We can take a quick walk around the place, make sure there isn’t anything we’re missing, and then we’ll come back for the others. Does that work?”
Griffin opened the glove box, retrieved the weapons he’d stored there, and handed one to Ethan. “Sure, let’s go.”
Addressing the group, Ethan handed the keys to Carly. “We’ll make this quick. No one gets out, no matter what. If we get into trouble, just drive away. You good with that?”
Carly nodded. “Just get back here.”
They’d moved along the west and then the north side of the hotel, checking the windows and scanning the patio and outdoor pool areas. Still not a soul anywhere to be found. They moved to the east side and then finally back to the front of the building, where they made their way to the entrance.
Twin glass, steel reinforced panels, as clean as the day they were installed. Griffin leaned in and placed his nose against the spotless glass. He cupped his hands around his eyes, scanning the lobby and the hall leading to the rooms.
“It’s all clear,” he said. “Too clear. What the hell is going on here? It’s like we’re stuck in some weird creepy alternate reality.”
“Or,” Ethan said, “maybe we’re just finally getting a break. Could be like Shannon said, they all just up and left.”
“You believe that? You really think every single resident just hopped in their car and drove away?”
“Doesn’t really make sense does it?”
“I don’t know, Ethan, I just don’t know.”
Stepping away from the door, Griffin noticed a slight give as he pushed back. Turning to Ethan, he raised his brow, gripped the handle, and pulled the door open.
“Uh, Ethan… whatta ya want to do here?”
“I have a feeling it’s going to be more of the same in there. Might as well check it out.”
Turning back to the SUV, Ethan held up his index finger and waited for Carly to acknowledge. As she gave him a thumbs-up, he and Griffin stepped into the lobby, weapons drawn.
His voice low and his head on a swivel, Ethan moved quickly to the reception desk. Leaning over the faux marble counter, he checked the area behind the desk and gave Griffin the okay to move around and check the offices.
Within ten minutes, they had the entire first floor cleared and had moved back to the entrance. Griffin stayed at the door as Ethan helped Carly pull the massive vehicle to within a few feet of the entrance.
Exiting the SUV, the group brought what little supplies they had into the lobby and moved to the sitting area alongside the stone fireplace, twenty feet from the entrance.
Two red leather couches, a love seat, and a pair of decorative accent chairs became their new resting place. Shannon and Helen sat together. Frank slid in beside Carly as she continued to watch over Ben. And Griffin stood beside the tan accent chair, opposite Ethan.
As the lobby went quiet, Ben looked around as if just now coming out of a bad dream. He looked to Griffin and his eyes began to tear up even before he asked the question.
“Uh… where’s Cora?”
Griffin fought his own set of emotions as he shook his head. “She’s gone.”
Ben looked around at the others; however, no one met his gaze. “Was it my fault? Was it because of something I did?”
Ethan stood. “No, this had nothing to do with you. Nothing at all. It was that woman from the university.”
Ben dropped his head, leaned into the side of the sofa, and just stared at the floor. “I’m so sorry.”
A hush fell over the room and eye contact was non-existent. The weight of their current situation was finally coming full circle. The group had been through more in eight days than they’d had time to process, and now it was the only thing they could think about.
Slowly, Ethan crossed the room, moved to his mother, and took her hand.
“You want to go talk?”