Condemn (BUNKER 12 Book 2) (8 page)

They had installed electrical wires
along the wall as an extra precaution after moving in. There were
additional measures for security, which Adrian promised to tell
them about later.

To Finn, the place sounded like an
impenetrable fortress, and once more the specter of worry raised
its uninvited head. He hated that he was being so
paranoid.

"With that kind of protection, why
leave?" he asked. He was curious what they were doing so far
away.

"Tryin to figure out why there are
more ferals lately," Father Adrian reminded them.

"And we have to gather food and
supplies, of course," Jennifer said. "But then there's also our
work."

"Work?"

"Figurin out how to rid the world of
the sickness," she explained. "What else? That sometimes means
leavin the safety of home behind."

"A scientist and a minister? How does
that work?"

She smiled. "First, I ain't no
scientist, though I do take a more logical approach." She shrugged.
"Adrian's way is more . . . ."

"Spiritual," he said.

"He believes the ferals can be
saved."

"Y'all make the best of what yer
given," Adrian said. "I am the good Lord's instrument."

Finn turned to Jennifer. "Have you had
any luck?"

"Some," they replied
together.

"We were trying to figure it out,
too," Bix said. "Inside the dam—"

"Cabin," Finn quickly interjected.
"The dam cabin we were in. In the woods. But we're not scientists
either, and we never got very far. Do you have any idea how the
Flense, you know, how it works?"

He hoped Bix picked up on his caution.
The last thing he wanted to share was what Seth Abramson had told
them a few days before.

"Well, like I said, I ain't got no
formal scientific schooling," Jennifer said. "I know about
medicines, bein as I worked in a pharmacy. But there's school
learnin and there's life learnin, and I've lived a lot of life
these past three years. We know, for example, that these stun guns
can do more than just slow them down. The shock seems to block
their ability to infect."

"Really?" Finn asked,
surprised.

Both Adrian and Jennifer nodded. "That
tells us something, right? Once we figure out how to completely
stop them from spreadin the disease," she went on, "then maybe we
can cure the poor souls."

"Physically
and
spiritually," Adrian
added.

"That'd be truly awesome," Bix
remarked, sounding more and more like he was possessed with the
spirit of Scarlett O'Hara. The fake accent had initially amused
Finn, but by the time they reached the footbridge, it was really
starting to grate on him.

The sun was fully up, though a chill
still lingered in the air. The cloudless day promised to be a hot
one.

"We're sticking together," Finn said,
putting the subject to rest. "No splitting up."

He stepped out onto the narrow metal
grate that formed the base of the bridge and bounced on it. It felt
as solid as the ground.

"Either we both cross here, or all
four of us go all the way around. I don't know about you, Bix, but
I'm tired of sleeping on the ground." He stretched, and his back
gave an audible pop.

"I slept just fine," Bix countered,
though Finn could tell his resolve was weakening.

"Course y'all did," Jennifer said,
winking at Finn. "Nothin like fresh air and sleepin out neath the
stars. But I bet a real bed sounds real nice, don't it?"

Bix gave the gorge a wary
look.

"We get back early enough, I might
even have time to cook us up a decent meal."

"Fried chicken?"

"Maybe tomorrow. How does fresh bacon
and eggs sound?"

"Oh my god. Bacon? Seriously? You guys
promise to meet us on the other side? You won't ditch
us?"

Finn rolled his eyes.

"Truth be told," Adrian said, "we're
actually real fortunate runnin into y'all. We're in the middle of a
project at the ranch and could use some strong hands fer a day or
two. That sound like we're gone ditch y'all?"

"What kind of help?" Finn asked,
suspiciously. "And what do you mean by a couple days?"

"Two days at the most," Mister Bowman
assured him. "We're in the middle of raisin a new barn."

"His church," Jennifer said, drawing
air quotes with her fingers.

"The last one collapsed. We really
could use some strapping boys in gettin the sides up."

"And the fence needs repairin,"
Jennifer reminded him.

"Fence always needs repairin. But I
cain't ask fer yer help on that. Not unless y'all decide to stay a
bit longer."

"I don't know . . ."
Finn began. They hadn't discussed spending more than a single
night.

"Y'all are eager to be movin on. We
get that. But give us a couple days, three at the most, and we'd be
much obliged to return the favor."

He turned and addressed Finn directly.
"Y'all must see how ill prepared you are for the challenges
ahead."

Finn hesitated before nodding. Seeing
the precautions the couple took to protect themselves told him that
he and Bix had been lucky that their first encounter had been with
nice people instead of Wraiths.

"Then it's agreed? We meet up again on
the other side. Tonight we dine in style!"

They told the boys which roads to
follow after crossing, and provided them each with a stun gun and a
rifle to share between them. "Doubt you'll be needin either. We
done cleared out the other side of the river a while back, but
those things do move about. And with the activity lately, it's
better to be safe than sorry."

Finn watched them go, then turned
toward the cable bridge. He expected to have to pull Bix onto the
structure by force, but his friend was already twenty feet out and
moving steadily toward the other side.

"Guess I know what to bribe you with
from now on," Finn called over to him, and set a foot onto the
walkway. "Bacon."

"Bacon or Scooby snacks. Or
Cheetos."

Finn's stomach growled. He grabbed the
metal cable rail and began to follow. "Least you could do is wait
for me."

"I'm out of bullets!" Nami shouted, kicking the dead Wraith off the
roof of the bus and onto the hood. It hit with a sickening crunch,
bounced, then slid off onto the ground.

Another shot rang out, this time from
the rear of the bus. Nami looked back in time to see the Wraith, a
shallow, bloody notch carved out of its skull, reaching out for
Kari. It almost looked like it was pleading with her not to shoot
it again.

But then it bared it teeth and began
to pull itself higher.

Kari drew a foot back to kick it, but
the creature suddenly disappeared, pulled down by another climbing
up to get at them.

The children huddled in the middle of
the roof of the bus, near the hatch they had used to climb up top.
Eddie Mancuso stood between them and Nami, guarding the group from
any Wraiths that might scale the sides, while Harrison Blakeley and
Kari protected the back.

"You out?" Nami called.

"One more!" Kari shouted back. She
held Jonathan's pistol with both hands, waiting for another Wraith
to breach the top.

"Make it count!" Nami said, and turned
back. Susan stood with him, stomping and kicking at the skeletal
fingers as they searched for something to grab onto.

Kari had driven them five miles out of
town before stopping to see if the Wraiths would follow. They had,
appearing in the distance on the moonlit road just over twenty
minutes later.

What had happened back in the town
shocked them all, and they were still unable to process that
Allison was dead. Or that they had left Jonah and Danny behind.
They had no idea where to go or what to do.

"Go back," Susan told her. "We need to
get Jonah and Danny."

Kari started the bus up again and
shifted it into gear, but instead of turning around, she drove on,
putting more distance between them and the town.

"Did you hear me?"

"We need distance," Eddie said,
drawing Susan away. "Thirty, forty miles."

"Why the hell for?"

"Because we don't know what's happened
to the guys. We may have to search for them, and that'll take time.
Plus, we're in seriously bad shape." He pointed at the oil pressure
gauge. "Engine's heating up. We need that oil Kari and Nami found,
and that'll take time, too."

"We
think
we found," Kari clarified. She
didn't sound so sure anymore.

They arrived at another crossroads
about twenty-five miles outside of town, and there ensued another
argument. Kari preferred to avoid another encounter with the
creatures, whereas Susan was all for running them down.

In the end, they decided to take the
side road and return from a different direction rather than risk
heading back the same way.

They waited for three hours at the
intersection, keeping the engine in idle as they didn't dare to
shut it off again, before the first ones showed up or the
horizon.

"Don't those things ever give up?"
Hannah asked.

Nobody answered or challenged Eddie
when he turned onto the side road.

They had less than five miles to go
when the bus hit a deep sand drift and became mired.

Eddie, Harry, Susan and Kari got off
to dig them out, while Nami, the two teenage girls and both Rollins
boys climbed up onto the roof to keep watch.

The desert shone with an eerie silver
light beneath the nearly full moon, but eventually clouds began to
form, erasing what features they could discern.

"Hurry up guys," Nami hissed down at
them.

Three times they returned to the bus.
Three times they tried to drive out of the drift. Three times they
failed.

Nami and the others had just climbed
back topside when Bren detected movement a hundred yards away. "Oh
my god! They're here! They're coming!"

All but Jonathan managed to make it
onto the roof. He was too sick, too weak to move, despite the
others pleading for him to hurry. They held the hatch open, but
then his coughing abruptly stopped, and they knew the Wraiths had
made it inside the bus.

Their only consolation was that the
sky was beginning to lighten by then. Blessed morning was creeping
across the desert. If it hadn't been for the advantage the light
afforded them, the Wraiths would surely have taken them within
minutes.

"We can't hold them off forever!" Kari
yelled.

"How many are there?"

"I count seven," Eddie said, hurrying
over to kick another one loose. The bus rocked as the creature lost
its grip and fell off.

The shift caused Nami to lose his
footing. His legs were already weak with fatigue, weaker than the
others because of his three years hiding inside a dank cave and
perpetual near-starvation conditions. He simply had no stamina. He
fell to his knees and found that he simply had no more strength to
stand up again.

"Behind you!" Kari shouted. "Get
up!"

Something grabbed Nami's
boot and pulled. There was a
snap!
and a bolt of pain tore up his leg. "Help me!" he
screamed.

Without thinking, Susan grabbed his
arms to keep him from sliding off. There was nothing to plant her
feet onto. She leaned back but began to slip as another Wraith
climbed up, using its companion as a bridge.

"Let go of him!" Harry yelled. He
jabbed at a Wraith pulling itself up from one of the bus's windows.
It snarled at him and slapped the weapon away, sending it flying to
the ground nine feet below. "Jesus Christ, Susan, let go of him!
He's going to bring the rest of them up! Let go!"

"No!" Nami shrieked. "Oh, god. No! I'm
not infected!"