Humanity Gone: Facade of Order (11 page)

Chapter 15: Carter

              First Jocelyn and now Caitlyn. I will keep my promise to Jon, even if it is barely kept.

             
It's been nearly a minute since I left Caitlyn with that guard. What is taking so long? I know what I would want to do to him. I almost pulled the trigger for her. I push the door open a bit to check, but Caitlyn is already opening it and pushes past me. She immediately shuts the door behind her. The towel is now gone and blood continues to leak to the floor from her hand that hangs to the side. She doesn't even seem to notice it.

             
“Caitlyn, come on.” I take her bow and pull it over my shoulder. I take sterile gauze from my pack and clamp it over the missing fingers on her left hand. I grab her right hand and hold it onto the gauze.

             
“I will take care of shooting if it gets dicey. If you lose much more blood you are going to pass out. Hold it tight around your hand. Keep quiet too; there's still a few of them around and they don't know we are here yet.”

             
We make our way down the once sterile hallway of the former care clinic. So far, the guards have no idea we managed to get inside. I turn my head back a few times and make sure Caitlyn is right behind me. Her cheeks look paler than usual - from what I remember anyway. We need to get her to the truck immediately. She needs rest and proper treatment. We round the corner and step over one of the dead bodies from earlier. The pool of blood has grown around his corpse on the hard carpeting.

             
“Carter, let's go,” Ryan whispers from behind the filing cabinet in one of the offices; Jocelyn is crouched down beside him. She looks at me and then sees Caitlyn. I am quickly pushed to the side from behind by a blur. Jocelyn drops the rifle and wraps her arms around Caitlyn who nearly collapses into the embrace. Caitlyn's eyes are watering, and Jocelyn's eyes do the same. They are nearly the same height now.

             
“I'm so glad we found you,” Jocelyn whispers.

             
“I've missed you all.” Caitlyn turns back and looks at me. For a minute, I wonder if this is Sara and not Caitlyn. Caitlyn was never this emotional.

             
“Guys,” Ryan adds, “I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have to go now. There will be time for this later.”

             
The girls break their embrace and Jocelyn grabs the rifle from the floor. Slowly, we make our way towards the back door that we managed to quietly pry open earlier. It seems too easy. The few pools of blood we passed outside showed that Caitlin helped to thin the numbers, but I worry that our luck will soon run out. We get to the rear door and peak out. We left David crouched in the back to keep an eye out and our exit clear.

             
“David...” Ryan whispers. He pauses as we both look around in the darkness outside the door. “David, where the hell are you?”

             
A group of guards walks around the side of the building, and we quickly retreat back inside and keep the door open a fraction of an inch. The guards are talking, and I barely make out their words as they get closer.

             
“...will be here tonight. Higher ups don't want any more screw ups like at the Mill. So, they sent us to reinforce. I want your men all over this building as the buses roll in. Who knows how many others were with that girl. The buses should be here in a half hour. Again, thanks for showing up here so fast.”

             
Ryan swears.

             
“Ryan, what are we going to do? It looks like they are bringing in more workers to be examined, and they are on high alert. These guys must have just showed up to provide reinforcements. There's a lot more out there. If they wander back here, we are dead,” I inquire.

             
“I dunno. Where the hell do you think David is?”

             
“We have to help those workers,” Caitlyn whispers. Ryan looks at her and glances back and forth on the floor for a moment. He always wants to do the right thing. I already know what his answer will be, but it is still not an easy decision for him.

             
“We would if we could. We are in no position to save anyone else.” Ryan answers. He grabs the radio on his belt and goes to call David, he looks at it briefly then angrily slams it back in his belt, cursing again.

             
“The battery is already dead. We may have to fight out.”

             
Ryan shakes his head. I reach down and check the chambered round in my pistol. Ryan does the same to his shotgun. Jocelyn shoulders the butt of the rifle. Caitlyn forcefully grabs back her bow and she struggles out an arrow and holds it with the pointer finger of her bow hand. The other hand is a bloody fist clenching the gauze. She releases the gauze and struggles to get a grip with her shaking hand of the bow's string and the arrow's fletching. Caitlyn is never going to be able to shoot. After looking at me hopelessly, she releases the arrow and retrieves the gauze to her bleeding hand.

             
“It's okay,” I whisper, “Just stay with me.”

             
This reunion may be short.

             
A few more minutes go by as we wait for some sort of opening. Ryan seems to be working out a plan, but he keeps shaking his head. Outside the door, several guards have made a perimeter. It is much more secure than when we sneaked in.

             
“Do you think they got David?” I ask.

             
“No. There would have been a commotion out here,” Ryan responds. “We may just have to shoot our way out and hope that wherever David is, he can do the same.”

             
I knew I should have come alone. If we all die, it's on me.

             
I push the back door open a little bit more after the guards walk by and peer straight ahead. I can see into the forest. A few meters in and the darkness would hide us. If we run, maybe we can make it... we probably won't, but it may be our only plan. They will have trouble seeing us in the night among the trees and shadows.

             
All of a sudden, in the darkness of the forest, two red lights illuminate through the trees. The lights move around tree trunks and seem to get closer and closer to the medical center. Several of the guards yell.

             
Rear car lights.

             
David's gray truck rushes out of the forest and heads straight at us. The back tires ride off the curb and find traction on the parking lot. The guards fire upon the truck. Dave still has at least forty more feet to go.

             
Before I can say a word, Ryan kicks the back door completely open and fires at the guards who are now distracted by the truck. His gunshots are hidden by their own. Immediately, the rest of us are behind him and firing. Caitlyn stays close behind me, slightly hunched over. In just a few brief seconds, we drop several guards, but more come from around the side of the building. Amidst the chaos they still don't see us. They concentrate on the truck rushing towards the building. The back window of the truck shatters apart.

             
David, don't get yourself killed.

             
I reload the clip in my pistol and abandon the empty one on the ground. The truck bed comes closer and skids to a stop right in front of us. Ryan reaches the handle on the trunk latch and throws it down and quickly dives in. He holds his pistol over the side and fires blindly out as he lifts himself to his knees to take better aim. Jocelyn leaps in and lies on her back with her pistol facing over the side and fires blindly, too. I nearly throw Caitlyn on and dive into the back. The gunfire continues, and we hear the ricochets off the sides.

             
The truck instantly takes off back into the forest as soon as I leap into the back. Jocelyn begins to stand up and aims her rifle, but I pull her back down into the safety of the bed. Ryan pulls the tailgate back up to cover us as we drive. A few more shots follow us, but soon it is quiet as the truck bounces over roots through the small path amongst the trees.

             
Ryan kneels up slowly and looks back. He goes up to the back of the cabin and rustles David's hair through the shattered rear window.

             
“David, how the hell did you think to do this?” Ryan yells.

             
“While I was at the door I saw a convoy of trucks move up with reinforcements. I figured our exit would be hairy so I made a break for the truck. I hoped you all would either be waiting, or I'd meet you halfway. Luckily the water was shallow under the bridge and I followed a path into the forest.”

             
“Nice driving.” Jocelyn smiles. She reaches to Caitlyn's hand and hold's the bandages down.

             
David looks up into the rear-view mirror and smiles. “It wasn't a...”

             
BAM!

             
David shoulder explodes. Blood sprays onto Ryan's face. The truck swerves hard to the right as David slumps to the side. Ryan leaps through the shattered window and straightens out the wheel. David's head jerks back up and he yells.

             
He's still alive. I finally breathe out.

             
“I'm okay,” David cries out. His other hand takes the wheel and the car straightens out. Ryan stays beside him, with a hand on the wheel. “Just... take care of that...”

             
I turn behind us and see a Jeep rolling fifty yards behind us. Three men inside hang rifles out the window and shoot them in our direction. Most shots miss, but I hear a few ricochets off the truck's body. While kneeling, I push Jocelyn and Caitlyn against the truck bed to keep them out of danger. My hand finds my pistol and I try to line up a shot by balancing it on the tailgate. One of their bullets ricochets off the back of the truck. I duck back down.

             
“They are too far for that.” Jocelyn says while looking at my gun. She pulls her rifle up. No it's too dangerous for her.

             
“Give it to me.” I yell over their gunfire and the roar of the truck as it shakes back onto the asphalt road. The ride becomes smoother. “It's too dangerous.”

             
She ignores me and rolls onto her knees. Caitlyn remains silent but looks up at Jocelyn. Jocelyn places the gun on the top of the tailgate.

             
“Come on Carter, you can't make this shot.” Jocelyn yells as she peers into the scope.

             
“Are you sure you still can?” I retort. She glares back at me, and then returns to the scope.

             
She fires. Miss.

             
She fires again. Miss.

             
Another bullet ricochets off the tailgate. I react, but Jocelyn doesn't move a muscle.

             
She fires. I peek back over the tailgate. The Jeep is still coming strong and getting closer. I could nearly make out their faces at this point. She doesn't have it any more.

             
She fires again. The Jeep's windshield fills with blood and the vehicle rolls off the road and into a telephone pole. A body flies through the shattering windshield and drags along the cement and through the broken safety glass.             

             
She did it. I feel my face light up.

             
“I can't believe you got that.” I rise to my knees beside her. She pulls the rifle into the truck bed and drops it. I can't believe... I feel a tug at my hair and it catches me off guard. Jocelyn's hands pull my head... into hers. Our lips meet. For a second, I am five years ago. I realize how much I have missed her, but this wasn't what I missed. I pull myself together and delicately push Jo away.

             
“No... Not now...”

             
“When you two are done with whatever the hell you two are doing back there. Dave's kinda shot up here.” Ryan yells.

             
“No,” David struggles out some words with a wry smile on his face. “Don't worry about me. It's not the first time I've been shot in that arm this month.”

             
We come to a stop a few miles down the road into an open garage - some sort of old oil change place. The inside is dark, and covered with random tools as well as the remains of a few cars. Some vending machines along the wall are shattered open and stripped of all their contents. An odor of gasoline fills the air. Ryan pulls the garage doors down as I help pull David down from the cab. Jo begins to help Caitlyn out of the back of the truck. She takes her to a seat and holds onto the bleeding hand. Jo's eyes meet mine. I really have no clue what to say to Jo at the moment.