Whimper (20 page)

We left Elliott in the basement, silently fuming as he messed around with something on his lab table. I lingered on the stairs, debating on whether or not I should go back and talk to him. Part of me understood why he wanted to keep us locked away, but he had to accept that I had the right to decide for myself what risks I should take. He wouldn’t listen if I demanded that he stay behind in hiding while I went out to face potential danger. Why was there a double standard for me simply because I was the girl in the relationship?

Relationship. I shook my head. Was this a relationship really? At this point it almost felt more like a case of Stockholm Syndrome. But which one of us was the kidnapper and who was the poor deluded victim? Brianna and Zack were already upstairs. Zack was headed to his hidey hole to pull out equipment and supplies we might need. I needed to get my computer stuff ready. My hand hovered over the doorknob as I debated. Below me, I heard Elliott sigh. It was a rough, ragged sigh that spoke of an exhaustion so profound that I couldn’t ignore it.

“Is it okay if I stay for a few minutes?” I asked tentatively from the top of the stairs. It was very possible he didn’t want to talk to me.

Elliott took a deep breath and stepped towards the bottom of the stairs. “You know the issue isn’t that you’re a girl, right? It’s that you’re
the
girl. I know that you think I’m throwing in the towel. I’m not. I’m fighting, more than I ever have before. I’m close to a breakthrough. I want to be here when this crisis is over. There’s something between us, something important. It isn’t love, not yet. We haven’t had time for that. I want to have the time to know all the little things about you that turn into love. I want to know what you sound like, what you feel like, when we make love. I want to take care of you when you catch a cold, to clean the house, fight and make up. I want a chance at a life with you in it. I’m not going to throw away that chance. I won’t.

“What I want is to know that you and Brianna are safe here waiting on me. I need to know that future is possible, so I can go on fighting…” He broke off, laughed nervously. “No pressure or anything.”

I had been slowly making my way down the stairs as he spoke, afraid to break the spell or interrupt him, but pulled towards him like a moth to a flame. Every word was exactly what I wanted to hear. It wasn’t love, but it felt like it. It could so easily turn into love, if only we had the time. But would anyone have the time if we didn’t act?

I stopped on the bottom step, my face almost level with his. “I want that too. I want us to have the time to find out what we could be. I want that chance. I do. But what about all the kids out there right now? What about the girlfriends who are trapped in a barricaded dorm room, praying for more time? Our future is important, but so is theirs. We have to do both. Let me help you help them,” I pleaded. I was going regardless, but I wanted him to agree.

He swallowed hard. “I hate this. I hate it. You know we could be rushing to the end of everything. They might open fire and not bother to ask any questions.” I started to protest as he brushed a hand along my jawline. “Zoe, it could happen. It’s chaos, martial law. They can do whatever they want.”

“Exactly!” I sighed, exasperated. It was like talking to a brick wall.

He pressed a gentle kiss to my cheek. “Okay. Let’s do this, you stubborn, bull-headed, brave girl. Get with your brother, we only have a few hours to plan. I only hope it doesn’t all end in disaster.”

I beamed. No matter how ominous a victory, I’d won. We were leaving our sanctuary to fight the good fight. I planted a kiss on his lips and threw my arms around his neck. “We can do this. We’re going to expose them and you’re going to come up with a way to stop this virus. We can do it.”

He smiled, kissing me back with a spark of hope in his eyes. “We can do it.”

I left him in the basement while I ran to get Zack. It would be easier working as a team. Right. This might actually work.

Zack and I gathered supplies and discussed possible options for getting back to the maintenance garage. We both agreed that the tunnels were our best option for crossing campus, but we didn’t really want to run the open spaces between buildings. Plus, how would we know if the tunnels were still safe? They connected to most of the buildings on this side of campus and a lot of those buildings were likely infected. It was risky, but we thought it might be our best chance of getting there undetected.

After two hours of plotting and packing, we gathered in the kitchen to leave. Brianna forced us all to eat something, even though my stomach felt far too fluttery to be hungry. From the way the guys pushed the food around on their plates, I gathered they felt the same. There wasn’t much dinner table chatter either. My mind was running in circles. I was worried for us, worried for my employees who were out there somewhere, worried for my friends. If we were successful, maybe some of them would be spared. But, if we weren’t…

“I can’t eat any more. It’s dark outside. I think we should just go,” I finally blurted, unable to take the growing tension any longer. The boys jumped up like their butts were spring loaded.

“Yeah, let’s go,” both agreed. We took a moment to hug Brianna before stepping out into the muggy night air. Even in the dark, we could see thunderclouds gathering in the distance, their outlines displayed by the brief flashes of lightning that zipped between them. A storm was brewing, but rain or not, we had to go.

I shouldered my backpack, mentally running through the list of things I had jammed into the bag. Besides my computer supplies, I had a spare set of clothes so that I could pass myself off as a scientist if confronted. I could have put them on now, but there was no way I could run in heels and a dress. I had my hair pulled back in a severe bun, professional looking makeup painted on my face. I almost looked like I was headed to a job interview rather than about to commit a few felonies. Elliott and Zack were both wearing dark colored casual clothes they could move in.

Zack grabbed my shoulder to catch my attention. “Okay, I cleaned your Glock for you and added some extras for tonight.” He handed me the 9mm, safely tucked in the tactical harness my uncle had given me for Valentine’s Day the last year he’d been alive. Going to the shooting range had been our family “thing” as teens. “I loaded it with 147 grain sub-sonic ammo and gave you Rick’s suppressor. If we have to use them, we’re going to want to keep it as quiet as possible. Draw less attention that way.” He smiled reassuringly as he helped me strap the harness on so the handgun rested in the waistband of my pants. “Now, it’s still going to be loud, even with that on, and the extra weight is going to affect your aim a little. Make sure you’re prepared for it. If it throws you, take it off. Better to be loud than dead.”

“Thanks for that awesome thought, Zack!’ I rolled my eyes. “I don’t plan on using it unless we have no other choice anyway.”

All three of us gathered our packs and dropped over the side of the porch railing. Zack went first, then helped Elliott down and caught me. “You sure you want to do this?” he whispered to me. “You can stay here.”

I nodded, keeping my face as brave as possible. I couldn’t help thinking about Josh’s bloody face. It didn’t matter that I was afraid. We had a job to do.

We slipped around the side of the house where Zack’s little black Ford waited. We’d debated forever whether we should drive or run. Driving was faster, but the noise could draw attention we really didn’t want. In the end, we’d decided that the glass and steel bubble of protection was worth the noise.

Even so, as we settled in and buckled our belts, I cringed when Zack turned the ignition. It sounded like a jet engine in the eerie quiet. Brianna waved from the window slit as we pulled slowly out of the driveway. Zack clenched the steering wheel, leaning forward as he creeped along. The moonlight provided our only light; headlights were out of the question. He’d even pulled the fuse to kill the taillights.

“Here they come,” Elliott muttered as a short, boxy figure stepped out of the bushes ahead of us. “Keep moving, Zack. No matter what, keep moving.”

We rolled past the chunky guy, his Star Wars pajama pants a stark contrast to the bloody slash across his sweatshirt. He swung at the car, missing my window by inches. I jumped anyway.

Zack ignored the traffic signs, sliding through stop signs and over speed bumps. It only took a few moments before we made it to the tunnel access closest to us and whipped into the parking lot. Zack parked in a spot right in the middle of the lot without any cars around it. “Don’t you want to go somewhere more concealed?” I asked, worried that our car would attract attention.

“Nope. I don’t want anyone to be able to surprise us when we come back for it. If we’re hidden by the bushes, bad guys could be too.” We sprinted to the door, each watching in a different direction for any threats.

The broken handle still stuck out at an odd angle, but when Zack pushed it with his foot nothing happened. He pushed a little harder, cautiously rattling the handle and throwing his weight into it. The door only moved a fraction of an inch. Peering in the crack, he made a disgusted sound. “Someone barricaded it. I don’t think we can get in this way. What now?”

“Let’s try another building,” I suggested. If we spent a bunch of time banging around, we would likely draw the infected towards us. “There’s another access two buildings over, right?” I asked Zack. I was fairly certain I was right and started moving that way.

“What about the car?” Zack hissed.

“You move it. We’ll go on foot. We should get there first and work on getting in before the noise of the car can attract attention,” Elliott answered. He caught up with me, catching my hand to slow me down. “Stay close and keep your eyes open, okay?”

I nodded, feeling slightly distracted by the cool pressure of his hand in mine. We moved through the darkened landscaping as a team, dodging ornamental grasses and broken decorative lights. I heard the car start up and my breath hitched. Zack was safely in the car at least.

Most of the windows in the building we crept past were dark, a few cracked or broken. As we rounded the corner, chunks of safety glass crunched under foot and sparkled in the moonlight. I took another step before the realization hit me. “If the glass is out here…”

“Someone was trying to get out, not in. Keep moving,” Elliott urged, pulling me closer and hustling me past the window as the metal blinds rattled in the breeze. I could see the building we needed to get to straight ahead of us. It was one of the liberal arts buildings and from a distance, it actually looked normal. A few lights were still on. The main doors were closed but completely intact. Even the lighted name plaque stood unmolested. I sped up even more, eager to be inside somewhere more secure.

“Lights will draw infected. It’s either guarded or there isn’t anyone there to turn out the lights. Either way, it’s not a good sign,” Elliott breathed against my neck. Zack was coming around the curve, headed towards the parking lot at a crawl. He was trying to be as quiet as possible.

“I don’t like being separated. We need to get to him,” I urged. It wasn’t fair to leave Zack waiting for us all alone. We were supposed to be there ahead of him, not cowering in the bushes. I stepped out, following the darkest line of lawn I could find. I had always loved how lush and green our campus was and enjoyed all the different types of trees scattered throughout the grounds. Now the same trees pissed me off. All they did was obscure my destination and give shelter to creepy things that went bump in the night. My trees were traitors.

The engine cut off and once I could no longer hear its purr, the night seemed even quieter. There were no crickets, no locusts, not even the occasional owl. I crunched through the dying grass, finally spotting the door we wanted. It was illuminated by a boxy orange security light, but the path appeared to be clear. “Come on,” I urged Elliott as I hurried along.

We were almost to the door when I heard rustling in the bushes alongside the path and a menacing growl made the hairs on my neck prickle. Elliott grabbed me from behind, pulling me away from the danger and shielding me with his own body. The branches trembled then suddenly stilled. We stood frozen, breath caught in our throats as we braced for an attack.

“What are you guys doing?” Zack stage whispered from behind me. My heart performed a summersault inside my chest and then tried to beat its way through my ribcage. “You were supposed to be opening the door.”

Elliott and I both fixed him with threatening glares then continued our way to the entrance. All three of us scanned the area on high alert. We probably looked like we were auditioning for a Lifetime movie about Seal Team Six from a distance.

Once we reached the entrance, I felt extraordinarily exposed. The orange glow felt like a spotlight overhead. Elliott rattled the door handle. “It’s locked,” he muttered. I bit my tongue to keep myself from spouting something juvenile like, “Duh. Thanks, Captain Obvious.” Ooops. It came out anyway. He quirked an eyebrow, but said nothing in response. “Sorry, I get bitchy sometimes when I’m keyed up,” I apologized with a shrug. He might as well have an accurate picture of what he was getting involved with.

“Step out the way, slackers!” Zack puffed, a large rock held aloft over his head. He lunged forward, slamming the stone against the metal handle. Either from sheer dumb luck or amazing skill, he hit the thing perfectly. The lever bent and snapped at a ninety degree angle, exposing the inner pins.

“How often do you break into buildings on campus, Zack?” I gasped.

“I plead the Fifth on the grounds that I might incriminate myself,” he quipped as he dug through his bag. He pulled out a screwdriver, which he used to poke into the hole and force the handle on the other side loose. The interior lever fell to the floor with a loud clang, making us all twitch.

“We need to get inside right away. We’re going to have company very soon,” Elliott warned.

Zack threw his shoulder against the door, bracing himself as he forced the lock mechanism open with his screwdriver. In the distance, we heard an angry scream and the sound of people running. “Inside!” Zack commanded, pulling us in after him. I drug my feet a bit, unwilling to dive into the darkness behind that door. Who knew what we were going to find down in these tunnels?