The Survivor Chronicles: Book 1, The Upheaval (34 page)

“They must be placing all older people on this floor,” Mary Ellen muttered.

“It would make sense,” he agreed.

“I can’t stay in here.”

“You can stay for now, and if someone has a problem with it than we can leave the building. I think we should really consider finding somewhere else to go anyway. I’m not sure how safe this place is going to stay.”

She sank down beside him and folded her hands before her as she leaned forward. “You’re right,” she relented. “I don’t like it here anymore than you do. I can leave Rochelle a note to follow us but I don’t know where to go or where to send her.”

“I’ve been thinking we should head into the mountains.”

“The mountains, why?”

“There will be less people, more animals. I used to go hunting and there was a cabin that we used in upstate New York, and I spent more than a few school vacations in the area. There was plenty of wildlife, a lake, and it was secluded. I know it seems pretty drastic but I think it’s going to be awhile before things get back to normal, if they ever get back to normal. It’s essential we’re somewhere safe, and with a food supply, until then.”

“You think the cabin is still standing?”

“The mountains would have absorbed the force of the tremors better than the low areas around here, and even if it’s not still standing there were a lot of those cabins around. I’m sure we could find something else. It will take us awhile to get there and we’ll have to leave notes for Rochelle along the way, but I think it could work out.”

“Why not go to New Hampshire?”

“I don’t really know that state as well and it’s about the same distance from here. South would be another option, but again I’m not sure what we’d be getting into. I’m not sure with New York either, but at least it’s a starting point and I know that state better.”

She nodded as she tugged anxiously at her hair. “Yeah, okay. Yeah,” she agreed. “Just give me a minute.”

He squeezed her arm again. “Take the time you need. We don’t have to rush out of here right now, but we should go as soon as you’re ready.”

She was still sitting mutely when he disappeared into the bathroom. He didn’t think he’d be seeing bathrooms on a regular basis for awhile so he meant to take advantage of it while he still could. He doubted there would be any hot water but even so he turned the shower on and was pleasantly surprised by the heat that shot out of it.

It was the little things he realized as he stepped under the spray. It had always been the little things in life he’d taken for granted, and that he’d missed the most when they were gone. Like his wife’s Sunday breakfasts and his mother’s gentle singing or the security of his earth. He vowed he’d never take advantage of them again as the heat of the shower eased some of the aches in his body. He’d enjoy them from now on because he doubted there were many little things left to take for granted.

CHAPTER 24

Xander

Foxboro, Mass.

“Absolutely not. Nuh-uh. No way am I going in there.” Riley dug in her heels, pulling Xander abruptly up as she jerked to a halt. It seemed she had realized where the crowd was going before the rest of them had.

Xander tiredly surveyed the sea of heads disappearing into the open doors a hundred feet away from them. He didn’t understand what had caused Riley’s abrupt halt and protest until he tilted his head back to peer up at the building.

He understood her hesitance to enter the hotel, but it had beds. It had to be safe if there were people going inside, it had to be. He felt the same as she did about staying here for long, but to continue to fight and run and hide when they were clearly exhausted may end up being the very thing that got them all killed.

“Ri…” he began. She shook her head vehemently, causing her recently fixed ponytail to become loose again. “There will be beds.”

She continued to shake her head as she took another step back.

“And there will probably be showers…” Lee sounded like he was tempting her with a biscuit.

Xander held his breath, he felt bad pushing her on this but they had to rest and she had to realize that fact. He could feel the longing that rolled off of her as she stared at the tall building. Her gaze drifted over her dirty clothes and skin as she held her arms out before her.

Her shoulders sagged. “Fine. But only for a little bit,” she amended quickly.

Xander thought he would feel relieved, but he didn’t. He felt awful and more than a little distrustful of entering the building himself. They’d take a quick and most likely cold shower, get some rest and get out of there while the getting was good. He just required a couple hours to feel almost human again.

He enfolded her arm in the crook of his elbow as he pulled her toward the door. They were handed pillows and water and given rooms on two different floors. Riley opened her mouth to protest this arrangement but Xander cut her swiftly off by thrusting his pillow at her. He didn’t think she would get another chance if they threatened to kick her out again.

His shoulders slumped as he stared up the stairs. His feet ached far more than he would have thought possible. He’d been on the football, basketball and baseball teams in high school and the baseball team in college. He’d run more laps than he cared to remember, and was even training for the Boston Marathon next spring. Despite all this, he felt like he’d just run twenty miles up dreaded Heartbreak Hill, been kicked back down, rolled through garbage and dirt, and been told to do it all over again. This is what Sisyphus felt like, he realized.

The song, ‘who you gonna call,’ from Ghostbusters ran briefly through his head and he decided he’d wait till level five before deciding if he was going to puke or not. The meager meal was not sitting well in his stomach, not in this heat.

He was grateful when they made it to Riley’s assignment on the seventh floor. Lee threw the door open on complete chaos. “Not even a shower is worth that,” Riley declared.

Riley spun away from the open door and strode over to the steps. She folded her arms over her chest as she leaned against the wall to watch them. Xander glanced back at the packed and frenzied hall and had to agree with her. He turned to find a woman behind him, her mouth agape, and her eyes bulging as the door closed on the commotion. She turned and fled back down the stairs.

“She’s got the right idea,” Riley muttered.

“We’ll try the next floor,” Xander suggested though he doubted it would be any better.

He dreaded another flight but he retained hope that there would be some relief above, that it might be a little better. Grabbing hold of Riley’s hand he propelled her upward despite her rigid and awkward movements. He braced himself before he thrust the next door open.

He hadn’t been expecting it but he was greeted with relative tranquility. A few guys turned to look at them as a man stepped forward to block their entrance. Unlike the man on the first floor, this one didn’t have a gun but it was clear he thought he was the boss. “She doesn’t belong here.”

“We’re not staying long,” Xander informed him.

The man opened his mouth but Riley jumped quickly in. “Please. I just want a shower, please. It’s awful down there and I'd really appreciate it if you'd let me stay for a bit.”

Even filthy, her puppy dog eyes and gentle plea swayed the man as his shoulders slumped. He glanced around the hall and stepped closer to them. “One hour. But you can’t stay longer than that, miss. This is the men’s floor.”

“I promise I won’t,” Riley replied with a flirtatious smile as she squeezed his arm and batted her lashes. “Thank you so much.”

Xander rolled his eyes as he tried to keep his patience with her and the infatuated young guard. Apparently he wasn't the only one that she could wrap around her delicate little finger. He kept his hand on her elbow as he hurried her down the hall to the open door of the room they’d been assigned. He closed the door after Lee and Bobby and slid the locks into place. He doubted they would be alone for long but the relative peace and quiet of the room was a piece of heaven.

“
What is this, nineteen fifteen?” Riley immediately demanded. “‘This is the men’s floor.’ Puh-lease! What absolute crap. What, do they think men and women can’t be on the same floor, or coincide together?”

“Things are different now, Riley,” Xander told her as he threw his pillow on the bed.

“What’s that supposed to mean? I get stuck with the lunatic kids because I’m a woman while the manly men live in relative peace on the floor above? I call bullshit.”

Bobby and Lee laughed as they dropped onto one of the beds. “No,” Xander replied. “It means that things are no longer the same, the old laws no longer apply, and it’s only a matter of time before everyone begins to figure that out. I hate tell you this Ri, but tomboy or not, you are a girl.”

The look she shot him was not only reminiscent of the death stare laser beams she had tossed him many times before, but it made all the others pale in comparison. He expected some nasty comment, some clever retort; not the brief look of hurt that crossed her face before she stalked past him to the bathroom.

“Nice one, Romeo,” Lee informed him as the shower turned on.

“She doesn’t get it.” Xander slumped down onto the blissful bed. “The sooner she gets it the safer she’ll be.”

“She gets it, Xander. I think that guy in the hall can attest to that. That doesn’t mean she has to like it. Two steps forward for you, my friend, and one gigantic leap back.”

Xander flipped him the finger as he fell back on the bed. He stared at the ceiling, picking out the patterns upon it. It was a habit he’d had since he was a child, trying to find faces and patterns within the different swirls of paint. It felt strangely comforting as he discovered a brontosaurus and a human face.

“Where should we go from here?” Lee inquired.

Xander shook his head. “I don’t know. I think one of the first things we have to do is find a vehicle. I can only imagine the amount of destruction that Boston has sustained and I don’t think being around more people is a wise choice.”

“I don’t think it is, either.”

“You plan on leaving?” Bobby asked anxiously.

Xander forced himself into a sitting position in order to face his friend. “You want to stay here?” Lee asked incredulously.

“This is where my family will come.”

Lee was staring at Bobby like he was some strange specimen under a microscope. “Bobby, look around you. This place is going to be anarchy in a few days, if it even takes that long.”

“They’ll keep control,” Bobby retorted defensively. “We can’t leave here, our families…”

“My family is dead.”

It was the bluntness of Lee’s words, the cold acceptance behind them that startled Xander more than the actual words themselves. “Lee…”

“It’s okay, Xander. There are a lot of people that are dead out there. I’m not an exception to the rule. I’ll leave them a note when we have a destination in mind, but I’m not holding out hope that I’ll see them again. I think you two would be better off if you realized that kind of hope may be the worst kind right now.”

Xander opened his mouth to protest and then closed it. Lee was right. That kind of hope could very well get them killed. It could keep them here, it could keep them in this town, and it could keep them in peril when they should be moving on. He focused on the closed bathroom door. How was he going to get her to agree that the best thing for them may be to leave their families behind when they might still be alive?

That was the worst part of it. That hope, that draining awful hope that was dragging them down and had brought them into this stadium in the first place. A place where he didn’t think they belonged at all. But to leave their loved ones behind would be to leave pieces of themselves behind, and he was concerned that the small pieces would eventually add up to large chunks of their humanity.