Shocked (12 page)

“Hi,” I step forward as the least intimidating of the group. “I’m Kat. We’re here to bring you to our new home; to rescue you.”

“You, you stopped them all?” He asks with a dry voice.

“Yep, they’re all gone. We have to hurry before more come.”

He jumps out of bed like a rocket and rips out an I.V. tube out of his arm. He’s barefoot with holey pants and a rag-like T-shirt with brown stains. The seven of us move down the hall.

“What’s your name?” Ryan asks the boy, staying close.

“Robbie.” He answers. “Are there others, or am I it?” He looks at Lucas nervously.

“There’re others. You’ll see them once we get back to our camp.” Lucas tells him.

Robbie nods as we reach the main room. It’s empty and quiet now. When we reach the top of the stairway the doors are open and I’m finally able to drop the energy sphere. I toss it down the center of the stairs over the railing. We all watch it hit the ground below and explode into a mini-firework of sparks.

“Um, that’s not, like, normal for people now, is it?” Ryan asks, still looking down.

“Nope,” I answer. Both Ryan and Robbie looked relieved. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you both sometime.”

They just stare at me as I walk through the door onto the main floor.
Some of the enemy men wake back up. Others (from that last room) never lost consciousness at all. One of our other team members stops me and Lucas.

“There’s no way we can transport everyone and these prisoners.” He tells us.

“Is it really a good idea to bring them back?” I ask.

Lucas and the other guys stare at the prisoners for a minute until finally Lucas grins. “Maybe we should show them the same hospitality that they showed their guests.”

We all smile together.

It’s hard to feel bad when we lock our new prisoners in the basement. We leave them with far more food and water to last them than they had their own prisoners. It can’t hurt to give them a taste of their own medicine until they get rescued by Carch. It’s more likely if the area remains clear that we’ll send another team to retrieve them once an alternate location is ready. No way are we going to bring them home.

The helicopter is just a little faster as we return. When we land the relief on everyone’s face is visible. We do the un-doable. The ground is welcome under my feet.

My mood deteriorates when Mason approaches in the crowd and waves at me. After staring at him blankly for a few seconds I pointedly turn away and take off in the opposite direction. The camp’s congested with the intake of all of our new members. All of which require attention: shelter, food, clothing…and maybe a good scrubbing…just saying. It’s easy to lose myself in the throng and escape.

Halfway to the building I recall that my room
isn’t
my room anymore. All of my stuff’s up in Lucas’ room. I stop short and it takes me by surprise to find Lucas right behind me.

“Oh, um, good,” I stumble over the words. Exhaustion takes over now that the adrenaline is leaving. “I need to grab my stuff and talk to the Captain about some new digs…if there’s even any left now.” I frown.

“If that happens you can have my room. I can find somewhere to bunk more easily than you can.” Lucas offers.

“Maybe,”
Not even! No way am I stealing his room.

We grab my things and head to the Captain’s office…
even though it’s late the door is open and lights are on. Just like I suspect, he’s there.

I rap softly on the door and the Captain lifts his head.

“Kat, Lucas, come in. Good job out there today.” He stands and motions for us to sit.

“Thanks, Captain.” Lucas says before he sits down.

“Thanks,” I take the other chair. “I’m not sure how much space’s available here, but I kind of need a room if one’s available.”

The Captain nods in understanding. “I figured as much. Don’t worry, we have plenty of space.” He hands me a key and a small piece of paper with a new room number assignment on it.

Another knock on the door makes me look over. Brie’s there and B’s already on the floor beside me, nudging at my arm. I plop down onto the floor next to him and throw my arms around him. I hold him close for a few moments before releasing him and move up to Brie.

“Go ahead, Kat. We’ll talk tomorrow.” Captain Jennings says warmly.

“Thanks, Captain. Goodnight.” I say.

“Night, Captain.” Lucas says and follows Brie, B and I down the hall.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Brie says as she huffs along. “I just had to see with my own two eyes that you got home okay.”

“You didn’t interrupt anything,” I assure her. “I just had to get a new room assignment, see.” I hold up the key and piece of paper. “Want to help me find it?”

She grabs the piece of paper and studies it before making a face. “I would, but its two floors up and there’s no way that this belly’s going that far.”

Lucas and I laugh. “Do you want us to walk you to your room?” Lucas offers.

“No!” Brie says quickly (Mason’s room is next door to her and Jared’s) and quickly rushes on. “It’s not far. I’ll be fine, but thanks. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” She gives me a hug and says goodnight to Lucas, then hurries off. B stays glued to my leg which makes me smile.

It’s nice not to have to lug my backpack and duffle bag up the two flights of stairs alone. It’s even nicer that my new digs leave absolute minimal chances for encountering Mason. The doors here have spyholes, doorbells and knockers. They’re painted different colors, like exterior doors on houses. The spaces between them begin to grow further and further apart. We reach the last door on the left and find the number that matches the one written on the paper in my hand. I shrug and shove the key into the lock. It clicks open without resistance so it must be the right place.

It’s dark and unfamiliar: a dangerous combination for someone with balance-impairment such as mine. I step cautiously into the semi-lit entryway. It’s Lucas who finds the switch on the wall and illuminates the space before us.

My last room with Mason is functional. The bed might’ve been full-size, but that’s about the only thing. It makes me blush when thinking about how close we almost—well at least I don’t. That’s what counts, right? I force myself to focus on my surroundings instead of dwelling on it.

This is
way
more than your average room. It’s more like an apartment: small kitchen, bathroom, living room. Further into the space my jaw drops. “A loft,” I whisper. I look for the bed (the edge of the living space being a large floor to ceiling window) and it’s over the kitchen and entryway. Against the wall steps lead to a clear glass-like divider that keeps the view clear, but keeps a clumsy fool from falling off. This will surely come in handy.

I place my bag next to the stairs and motion for Lucas to do the same. Still in awe I wander to the kitchen and open the refrigerator to find glorious food. I’m almost able to hear Dr. Ford conspiring with Captain Jennings to fatten me up. It warms my heart.

I move onto the freezer and spot a frozen pizza. Lucas appears over my shoulder. “Um, you know you’re making that, right?”

I laugh and pull it out. “You might as well find something good on.”

Like a kid with a new toy he grabs the remote and grins at the big flat-screen. It makes me laugh while I warm the oven and get the pizza ready.

It’s just what I
need. Lucas only stays an hour—just long enough for us to eat and unwind. Then he says goodnight and reminds me to lock up behind him. B sits on the floor and gnaws on some leftover pizza crust. It’s nice to have his company.

Before I climb into my new clean bed I decide to take a shower. It’s been a long day full of the kind of filth and horrors that permeate deep into you. It makes me shudder despite the hot water. It’s too bad that you can’t scrub things out of your memories. There are images in my memory that I wish I can forget. They are better left forgotten or never seen at all.

I shut off all but the kitchen light (which I dim) and call B to follow me upstairs. He curls up next to me and for the first time in days I fall asleep quickly.

The sun shines bright through the window and wakes me. I stretch and notice the warm furry lump next to me. I reach over and rub B’s belly then watch him mimic my own stretch. It’d be nice to spend a few more hours cuddling in bed with B, but I want to check on the survivors we brought back with us yesterday. With an overdramatic groan I extract myself from the cocoon of blankets and stand up. B jumps down with a surprisingly dog-like shake for a bear.

I make it down one step before I change my mind and decide to make the bed. It’s far too nice to leave a mess. After I tug the blankets and sheets back into order I retrace my step and continue down the steps in search of coffee. It doesn’t take long to set up the coffee maker (another new luxury for my personal living space.) I use the bathroom and brush my teeth before I fill my first mug.

It’s tasty. I bring it over to the big window and stare out at the camp. Before long B looks at me and whines. “Okay, give me a second.” I tell him and rush to dress.

The first order of business is to let B do
his
business outside. I decide to find Brie and see if she wants to hang out in my digs and scarf some breakfast. I lead B in search. Just before her hallway Dr. Ford rushes over to me. The look on his face says it all.

“Oh boy, what’s wrong?” I ask.

Dr. Ford shakes his head. “There’s no time now. We have to go talk to the Captain.”

“Okay,” B and I follow Dr. Ford’s frantic pace down the hall.

We reach Captain Jennings’ open door just as he puts the phone down. “Good, you’re here. I just requested someone wake Lucas. Should I, er, wake Mason, too?” The captain looks embarrassed.

I shake my head no. “Maybe Jared so he can keep Brie in the loop.”

The Captain nods and grabs the phone again. He speaks swiftly and quietly before replacing the receiver. He looks really,
really
worrisome. A bad feeling forms in the pit of my stomach. Whatever it is: it’s worse than I thought.

Within a short time first Jared and then Lucas appear. We crowd into the office and shut the door. The Captain stands and Dr. Ford joins him behind his desk. They share a look and Captain Jennings clears his throat.

“We have a major problem that’s escalating. We’d thought it was under control, but the conditions have deteriorated. We’re concerned with the possible ramifications of what can happen if we don’t act now.” We all wait quietly for him to continue. “Right after the infection got bad we were able to weaponize the energy needed to stop it,” he pauses and shoots me a quick grin. “We continue to send teams to control this situation. It’s a possible threat to everyone.”

“What is it?” Jared asks with intense focus.

The Captain looks at me sadly and answers. “It’s the nuclear power plants on the East coast. If we don’t get them shut down properly soon—or at the very least maintain them they’re going to meltdown.”

“A chain-reaction of this magnitude can be catastrophic.” Dr. Ford points out. “The radiation alone…”

Nanobots, Carch, and now a nuclear holocaust
. My endeavor to save the world (and return to some form of normalcy) just got a little harder to hope for. I reach down and rub B’s head more to comfort myself than anything else. There’s still a whole lot worth fighting for: Brie, my new niece or nephew and Jared. Lucas, Dr. Ford, Captain Jennings and the others here at the camp. Those who we’ve yet to save across the rest of the country. Even Mason (no matter how upset I am) I don’t want to lose him. I have lost enough since the beginning of this.

“What do you need?” Jared asks. He glances from the Captain to me and breaks me from my thoughts. Everyone here knows what they need. We just need the specifics.

The Captain looks at me. “I’m sorry, Kat. I know you were out all day yesterday. I wish there was a chance for you to rest up. This mission will be significantly longer than yesterday’s.”

I nod my understanding. The Captain pulls a map up on his computer screen and turns it to face all of us. All of our mouths drop simultaneously. Out of the close to one hundred dots covering the map of the U.S. in front of us six (
SIX
) are on the west coast. The other ninety-whatever spatter across the east. When the Captain said significantly longer he wasn’t kidding.

“Some of these just need to be checked on.
Others may require some light maintenance. You’ll have two techs on your team for that. The problem we’ve had is getting them through the infected area safely. That’s why the last mission had to be aborted.”

“So I get them there and they stop the nuclear meltdown?” At least it’s not all on me. “I can do that. How long until we leave?”

“The sooner the better,” Dr. Ford answers.

I look at Jared. “You’ll let Brie know what’s going on? Take B with you?”

“Yeah,” He stands and gives me a hug. “Take care, Kat. Be safe, okay?” I nod. “C’mon B, let’s go find Brie.”

B follows him out the door and I look at the Captain. “I just need to throw some stuff in a bag.”

“We’ll say one hour.” The Captain picks up the phone.

Dr. Ford’s relief is visible. “You’ll be back in no time, Kat. If there was any other way…” His voice trails off.

“I know. It’s alright. It’s for the greater good. There’re important things here to keep safe.” Like Brie and my new niece or nephew. B and Jared. Somewhere, Becky, Nate, Jack and Mariette roam around the camp. There’s far too much at risk to do nothing.

“We better get moving,” Lucas says. It’s the first I hear him talk all morning.

“See you soon, doc.” I say and rush back to my room to pack.

It doesn’t take long to pack my backpack. Most of it is still there from never unpacking so I swap some dirty clothes for some clean ones. An afterthought has me stopping in the kitchen before I run out the door. I pull out a few premade dry high protein snacks and toss them in my bag for an emergency. I really hope that I don’t need them.