The Mesmerized (8 page)

“He’s not going to, Arthur! Leave him the
fuck alone!” Minji blinked back tears of frustration.

“Even the people in gas masks
are...are...are...” Arthur floundered, searching for the correct
words.

“Mesmerized,” Minji finished.

Arthur released the police officer, nodding.
“Yes. Mesmerized.”

As one, the transfixed people rotated to
face north.

With a sinking heart, Minji knew what would
happen next. “They’re going to start walking now.” A disconcerting
numbness settled like a mantle over her mind and body. Now that it
was evident they were not going to be rescued, or even hauled off
to be tested, Minji recognized that she was on her own. The
rescuers were now victims of the event. She’d have to find a way to
save her husband on her own and doubted Arthur would be any
help.

“But where are they going?”

The sound of the first synchronized footstep
sounded like a thunderclap. Both Minji and Arthur jumped. Unlike
the first attacks, once the mesmerized began to walk, they did not
stop. The rumble of footsteps vibrated in the air. Gripping Ava’s
hand, Minji watched the people who had occupied the makeshift
rescue center start their trek northward. It gradually dawned on
her that many of the survivors still wore their hazmat suits and
gas masks. A quick study of the area revealed only a few people had
died instantly at the beginning of the attack. Why did some die,
but not others?

“I need to get out of here to the airport
and onto a flight home,” Arthur mumbled, fishing his phone out of
his pocket.

“Do you really think the planes are flying?
Helicopters just fell out of the sky!” Minji winced at the thought
of Jake’s parents flying home. How far did the event reach?

The violent quake of his fingers made it
difficult for Arthur to work his phone and frustration turned his
face a fiery red. “I can’t be here anymore!”

“Where are you going to go?” Minji averted
her eyes from the mesmerized mass. She didn’t want to watch anymore
people die, but death would occur as the horde funneled through the
burning wreckage of the helicopters and cars.

Arthur flailed his hands, then let out a
short bark of frustration.

The acrid reek of smoke was intensifying.
Minji finally dared to venture from beneath the table to peer out
of the tent. Dragging Ava with her, she laid gentle kisses on
Bailey’s sweaty forehead and surveyed her surroundings. She ignored
the people that she couldn’t save, and focused on the abandoned
ambulances nearby. The paramedics were gone, but their equipment
remained. Dragging her eldest daughter with her, Minji rushed to
the nearest one. The back doors were open and a speedy examination
revealed that the stretcher was still tucked inside.

Sweat trickling between her shoulder blades
and the sun burning against her skin, Minji studied how the
stretcher was attached to the floor of the ambulance.

“What are you doing?” Arthur yelled after
her.

“I’m going to save my husband,” Minji
answered. The muscles in her arm were screaming for her to put down
the baby, but she didn’t dare. Ava was at her side, but still
staring after the mesmerized.

“How?” Arthur asked, flinging out his arms.
“Don’t you see what’s happening? Vegas is on fire! People are
zombies! How are you going to save him?”

“I don’t know,” Minji snapped. “But I’m
going to.”

Arthur came around the door and stared at
the stretcher. Tugging on the end, he gave her a contemptuous smile
when it didn’t budge. “You don’t even know how to get this out of
the ambulance.”

Spotting directions on a sticker attached to
a long metal bar holding the stretcher in place, the tension in
Minji’s chest relented just a bit. Giving Arthur a triumphant look,
she pushed on the silver bar and the claw holding the stretcher
released.

“Okay, so you did that, but now what? How
are you going to get him out of there?”

“You’re going to help me,” Minji answered
simply.

“Look, lady—”

“Minji,” she corrected.

“Mindy—”

“Minji. It’s Korean.” Though Lily had
changed the spelling, she’d made certain to name her only daughter
a popular name in her family’s homeland.

“Whatever.” Arthur exhaled explosively,
shaking his head. “I’ve got my own family to worry about. You go
deal with yours. I have to find a way home.”

“Where’s home?”

“Atlanta.”

“How are you going to get there?” Minji
looked meaningfully toward the burning visage of Treasure Island.
“As you pointed out, Vegas is on fire.”

“I’ll get a car and drive back...” Arthur
started toward the congested road.

“Please, help me. If we work together we
have a better shot of getting out of here and finding help.”

Arthur set his hands on his narrow hips and
stared at the stretcher. “How? Are we just going to wheel him down
the road?”

“Yes. Whatever it takes.”

Clearly distraught, Arthur took out his
cellphone and stared at the screen. “I need to get home. I’ve got
my own family to take care of...”

Minji speared him with a sharp look. “I’ve
got two little girls and a wounded husband right here, right now.
Your family is far away from all this, and hopefully, they’re safe.
How is not helping me going to make things right with your
family?”

“Fine,” Arthur said, his shoulders slumping
in surrender. “What do you want me to do?”

“Help me pull this out, okay?”

It took several tries to get the stretcher
out of the ambulance. There was a trick to releasing the wheels
that mystified them until Arthur realized they had to let go of a
red bar that extended the wheels to make them snap into position.
When they finally rolled it onto the asphalt, Minji exhaled with
relief.

“Now what?”

“We go get my husband.” Holding out the
colorful child leash to Arthur, she continued, “Please hold onto
this so my daughter doesn’t follow the others.”

“What if she starts to try to eat me?”

“Really?” Minji widened her eyes in
disbelief. “
Really
?”

“They look like zombies,” Arthur said
defensively, but took the end of the leash.

Ava remained unmoving.

Giving Arthur a disapproving look, Minji
wondered if she’d be able to put up with the man, but she needed
help with Jake. Bailey was dozing on her shoulder, so Minji shifted
the baby so her other arm could take the brunt of the weight. It
was sweet relief to her exhausted muscles. “Okay. I’ll pull the
stretcher and you push it. Don’t let go of the leash, okay?”

“I’ve got it,” Arthur snapped. “But if she
tries to bite me...”

Minji rolled her eyes.

Taking hold of the handle at the end of the
stretcher, Minji started the trek back to The Venetian, the diaper
bag beating a steady staccato against her hip. There were a few
dead bodies sprawled on the driveway, but they were easy to scoot
around. Behind them, Treasure Island burned and the loud booms of
explosions rent the air. Plumes of black smoke marred the skyline
and the bitter reek made Minji’s eyes smart. Rushing through the
front doors into the casino, the smell changed from metallic to
organic.

“It smells worse,” Arthur complained.

“It’s all the dead.”

“Are you sure your husband is alive?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Minji said, finding it
increasingly difficult not to scream at the man.

The march to where Jake lay beside the
waterfall was generally silent. Arthur grumbled whenever they had
to maneuver around bodies, but mostly he was mute. Minji tried to
muster sympathy for the man in spite of his surliness. It had to be
difficult for him to be so far away from loved ones. She was
worried sick for Jake’s parents and her own, but she had to
concentrate on the task at hand. If they could work together, maybe
they could find a way out of this disaster and find help.

Jake was where she’d left him. Still
unconscious, her husband had not stirred, much to her relief.
Several of the severely wounded mesmerized crawled along the floor
in an attempt to join the others on their silent trek. A few
blocked the way to the base of the fountain. Minji was very
unnerved by the crawlers and waited warily for them to drag
themselves out of her path. She hated to admit it, but she could
now see the zombie-like aspect to them that unnerved Arthur.
Glancing at Ava, she realized her love for her daughter colored her
vision. Ava’s unexpressive appearance was very perturbing, but
Minji couldn’t allow doubts to enter her mind. She would save her
family.

“Now what?” Arthur queried irritably.

Minji picked up the baby backpack she’d
discarded earlier and handed it to Arthur. “Help me get into
this.”

It took a few minutes to fasten the backpack
securely to Minji’s back. Bailey was so exhausted she didn’t even
stir when Arthur strapped her into the apparatus while Minji rubbed
the cramped muscles in her arms. Having Bailey secure on her back
made it easier for her to weave through the bodies to Jake’s side.
His long blond hair and clothing were soaked through, and he
appeared disturbingly pale in the light pouring through the
skylight. Resting her hand against his neck, Minji anxiously
searched for his pulse and was relieved when her fingertips found
the familiar, steady beat.

“I knew you were too tough to die.”

“So how do we get him on the stretcher?
There’s like a dozen...bodies.” Arthur stared at the corpses with a
combination of fear and disgust.

“We move them aside.”

“What if they’re contaminated?”

“Then we’re already contaminated, huh?”
Minji set her hands on her hips and gave him a stern look.

Arthur folded his arms over his chest, the
end of the child leash still clutched in one hand. “That’s not very
comforting.”

“Whatever’s happening, we’re obviously
immune to it. Take comfort in that, okay?” Minji twisted her dreads
into a tight rope, then coiled it into a bun on top of her head,
tucking the ends under to hold it in place.

“I’m not touching them,” Arthur retorted. “I
can’t risk it.”

Minji was not in the mood to argue with him.
“Fine.”

Mindful of Bailey in the backpack, she set
about dragging the bodies to make a passage for the stretcher. She
didn’t have to move them too far to clear the way, but it wasn’t an
easy task. She was fit from her kickboxing classes, but she was
also small in stature. Arthur obstinately didn’t help her move the
first bodies, but eventually trudged to her side and helped with
the last few.

“Thanks for helping,” Minji said
reluctantly, peeved at his overall behavior.

“We can get out of here faster this way,” he
answered tersely. “Besides, maybe we are immune, like you say. Now,
how do we get your giant husband onto the stretcher?”

“Can you get his shoulders? I’ll lift at his
knees.”

“What if we hurt him more?”

Arthur tied the child leash to the wheel
frame. Ava just stared.

The thought had occurred to Minji, but there
wasn’t really any other choice. She couldn’t wait for someone to
come and rescue them. How far had the event spread? How long would
it take to get help into the area? And the more dreaded question,
how many were affected?

“We have to take the risk,” she decided.

Arthur positioned himself at Jake’s head and
squatted to tuck his hands under the other man’s broad shoulders.
Minji crouched, mindful of Bailey, and prepared to lift her
husband’s long legs.

“You couldn’t marry a short Asian, huh?”

“Fuck you,” Minji retorted. “Lift.”

The muscles in her arms, legs, and torso
screamed in pain they hoisted Jake’s long frame upward. Arthur
grunted and swore under his breath, but managed to get Jake off the
ground and halfway onto the stretcher. It took both of them to get
him all the way onto the mattress and positioned correctly. Arthur
began strapping Jake down and Minji started to protest, then
thought better of it when she regarded the mesmerized crawlers. She
helped fasten her husband, tied the child leash to her belt, then
clasped the handhold near Jake’s head.

“Same as before, okay? I pull, you
push.”

“Where are we going?”

Minji hadn’t really thought that far. She
just wanted Jake safe with her.

“I thought so...women. Never thinking
ahead.”

Minji frowned at his words. “Oh? This from
the guy running off to the airport without considering all the
helicopters falling out of the sky? Some of those explosions we
heard could have been planes.” As the words left her mouth, again
she felt a stab of stark fear for the fate of her in-laws.

“Let’s just get out of here. Once we get
outside, we head in the direction that doesn’t have all the smoke
and fire...” Arthur gestured toward Ava, “...or those.”

“Her name is Ava.” Feeling protective and
defensive, she took Ava’s hand tenderly.

“She’s one of them.”

“If we weren’t immune, we would be, too,”
Minji reminded him before pulling on the stretcher and putting her
back to him.

Arthur was silent as they wheeled Jake
through the resort, which was fine with Minji. Stragglers of the
mesmerized wandered through the empty hall, most tottering on
injured legs. Some were bleeding profusely and guilt ate at Minji
as she ignored their condition. Being unable to help was a
substantial weight on her shoulders, but what could she do?

They were almost through the casino when
Minji noticed a tall, slim black woman with short, sleek hair
staring at them from around a colorful slot machine. Prickles
flowed down Minji’s spine when she remembered the man from the bar
earlier. She was definitely being scrutinized this time around.

“Hello?” Minji said cautiously.

“You’re okay,” the woman answered, relief
flooding her face. “Oh, my God, you’re not one of them.” The
stranger stepped out from behind a bank of slot machines. She
carried a tire iron in one hand and her royal blue blouse was
covered in dirt, blood, and black grime. Her charcoal trousers and
matching blazer were also in bad condition and sporting scorch
marks. “I saw all the emergency vehicles outside. I was hoping that
there was help in here...but you’re not paramedics.”