Winter's Awakening: The Metahumans Emerge (Winter's Saga #1) (19 page)

He was afraid to look at the saint in his arms. So torn up with pain was Alik, that he feared he’d break down before he got her to the ambulance.

Finally, the doors opened and Alik quickly stepped into the main corridor. He knew the fastest way out would to be to go west. There should be a set of doors that opened to the main courtyard. The closer he got to the glass doors, the better he could see the lights of emergency vehicles shiny against the dark night. Just a few more steps and his mom would be safe.

BOOM!

Alik was nearly knocked off his already unsteady feet by a huge explosion that came from one of the buildings closest to them. Instinctively, Alik covered his mother’s body with his own, shielding her from flying debris.

This was not part of the plan, Alik thought with fury.

Chapter 54 The Seventh Floor

Evan was just stepping off the elevator onto the seventh floor of the main building when a series of earsplitting explosions rocked the floor beneath him. He intuitively covered his head with his hands.

What in the heck was that? Evan felt panic rising in his throat as he recounted the explosions he had personally detonated no less than fifteen minutes ago. Where did these come from? What was happening!

Unless…

There must have been combustible materials in one or more of the buildings. The heat from his homemade explosives could have created an environment in which flammables would ignite, causing a chain reaction.

Terror crawled up his spine as he saw smoke climbing the elevator shaft behind him. The dark cloud of noxious fumes poured into the hallway.

This building was on fire.

He had to find Meg, and fast.

According to Alik, this entire floor was Dr. Williams’ personal executive office. Logic would dictate that Meg was on this floor.

He had to find her, now.

Chapter 55 I Love You, Now Go Away!

I passed out from the pain and blood loss, but began to come-to when a huge, slobbery tongue kept smothering my face with licks.

“Maze, get off me. Ugh!” I managed a gentle wave of my hand to push the coyote’s muzzle away from my still dazed face.

And then I remembered where I was, and why my leg hurt like heck, and why I felt incredibly weak. And I remembered Maze bursting in the room and saving my life from that meta-monster. I turned to where I last saw Gavil and noted that he wasn’t moving. Thank goodness!

“Oh, Maze…you crazy, fool! You wonderful amazing coyote! Thank you for saving me. ‘Course it would have been nice if you had arrived a few minutes sooner, but …” and I laughed, despite my pain, at his facial expression.

His head tilted to one side, ears perked straight up and his floppy ol’ tongue lolled out. “You completely disobeyed me. I told you to stay in the motel room and out of harm’s way. You could have been badly hurt by that guy if you hadn’t surprised him the way you did.

“You ran miles and miles to find me, didn’t you? You clever boy! I don’t know if I should be scolding you or hugging you!” And with that, I wrapped my weak arms around my knight in furry armor. “You’re the best friend a girl could ever have, Maze. I love you.”

And then my whole world went BOOM!

What in the heck was THAT? More explosions!

We had to get out of the building, and quick. I felt the floor under me shake and the walls seemed to vibrate in their spots as if trying to uproot themselves and fly away.

“Come on Maze, we gotta get out of here.” I tried to stand and then caught myself on the edge of the table before collapsing from the shooting pain. Warm wetness trickled down my leg and I knew I was losing even more blood. Darn it! I couldn’t walk at all.

Maze started whining as if completely understanding the gravity of this moment. Here he had come all this way to save me for an extra five minutes before a building collapsed on both of us. Ugh!

I sat on the floor and tried to drag myself with my arms. That only got me a yard closer to the door. My body hurt so badly, I just wanted to curl up in a fetal position and wish it all away.

Maze watched me with his warm yellow eyes. “Go on, Maze! Get out of here. Go downstairs and get help.” I said to the coyote logically. Only he wasn’t listening to me anymore. He looked at me with an expression that read, are you kidding me? After you leave me back at the motel, and put yourself in danger. I escape and rescue you. Now you want me to leave you again? No way, kid. We’re doing this my way.

Then he sat his butt right next to me and let loose one heck of a howl.

I rolled my eyes out of frustration at my stubborn coyote. No more cute little whimpers coming from my furry friend. No, Maze howled loud enough for our goats back at the ranch to hear. It was deafening! And as if that weren’t annoying enough, he started barking between howls.

Oh, good grief. If I’m going to die, at least let me do it in peace, you silly, stubborn, noise-maker! I thought to myself, only half kidding.

But even through the ear piercing show of loyalty my Maze was putting on for me, I felt a voice calling from out in the hall.

Chapter 56 Evan, Meg and Maze

“I tripped and fell on a toothpick, what the heck do you think? I was fighting that guy over there,” I motioned over toward the meta-monster, “and he decided to go excavating in my thigh.” I was so relieved to see my brother that the pain was more manageable … at least, as long as I didn’t move.

Evan was ripping off a piece of cloth from the elegant black curtains and making a tourniquet for my leg. He positioned it right above the wound and tied a good and tight knot trying to reduce the blood loss. I kept talking as he worked, trying to be brave through his pinching and tugging.

“Tell me something I don’t already know.” I grimaced as he easily lifted me off the floor. It’s a good thing Evan is as strong as at least three adult men.

The room spun. I hope that was just me, because if the room were really spinning, we’d both be screwed. Maze whined to tell me he was right beside us.

“Keep talking Meg. I need you to stay awake for me. So keep talking.”

“Awake?” I yawned. “Now that you mention it, I am really sleepy.”

“Your body is close to going into shock from the loss of blood.” Evan said this sentence in the same tone one might use when reading off the weather forecast for the day: Today’s skies will be partly cloudy with a slight chance for rain in the afternoon.

I started giggling at him. Evan frowned at me, probably thinking I’d completely lost it. He was speaking, so I told myself to pay attention.

“…have to take the stairs. The elevators are not safe.”

The further we went, the more smoke there was. Apparently, whatever exploded had done so on the bottom floor. Too bad, because that’s exactly where we needed to go. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I closed my eyes with a blissful sigh. I was so tired. Just a little nap, that’s all I needed.

“Meg…come on Megglet. Stay with me.” Evan pleaded.

At hearing Evan call me “Megglet,” I forced my eyes open just a bit. That was mom’s pet name for me. I missed mom so much, and I must have been mumbling that because I heard Evan say, “I know Meg, I miss her too. Alik must have found her by now and has gotten her to safety. Just stay awake, okay. Mom will want to talk to us when we get outside. You have to stay awake to talk with Mom, Meg….MEG!” But it was too late. My body hung limp in my little brother’s strong arms. I had gone into shock and blacked out.

Chapter 57 Alik and Mom

Once the explosions stopped, Alik sat up and tried to see what was hit through the clouds of dust around him. He felt a cold breeze drift across his face. There, not twenty yards away, was a large gaping hole in the side of the building. He could see the lights of the emergency vehicles outside. He could feel the cold night air pouring in pushing the dust around and causing him to shiver. Though he didn’t know if he was shivering from cold, shock or joy. Maybe all three.

He looked down at his mother. She looked so pale, so peaceful, and that scared the heck out of him. He picked her up as gently as possible and started running toward the opening.

“HELP! HELP! MY MOM NEEDS A DOCTOR!” Alik yelled. From the ambulance, three paramedics ran toward them with a stretcher. Alik kept moving away from the buildings fearing another round of explosions. They helped Alik put his mother on the stretcher and even as one of them rolled her further away from the burning buildings, the other two were working on her.

“Is she gonna be okay?” Alik’s voice cracked with emotion.

He saw the two who were taking her vitals exchange a look before one of them spoke. “We’re going to do everything we can to save your Mom, son. She’s badly hurt but we’re not giving up, okay?”

Tears were spilling down Alik’s cheeks as he watched them load her into the ambulance and begin their stabilizing techniques. A warming blanket was put on her body and an IV was started.

Another paramedic came up to Alik trying to get him to lie down on a stretcher, too. He would have to be treated for a gaping head wound with possible concussion and smoke inhalation. Not a good mix.

Alik didn’t care what they did to him as long as he could stay next to his mom as they did it. If he could look over at her, reach out and touch her, they could do whatever they wanted to him. He just wanted to be with his mom.

He was put on a stretcher next to his mother. Just before he passed out from his raging headache, he saw them put a bag to her face and start to breathe for her.

Oh, please God, was his last conscious thought.

Chapter 58 Find a Way Out

Evan reached the bottom of the seven-story building and frantically looked around for an exit. The front entrance was completely blocked by huge debris from the explosions.

He remembered there were connecting corridors to each of the four smaller buildings, but it was dark and smoky and he was worried about tripping on something and dropping Meg.

“Maze, buddy, we need your help,” Evan pleaded. “Find a way out, Maze. I need you to find a way for me to get Meg out of here.” Evan looked into the coyote’s soft yellow eyes.

And with a quick bark, Maze bolted. Evan looked down at his sister in his arms. “I just sent Maze to find us a way out. I hope he understood me because without him, we’re in trouble.”

As he continued making his way through the darkness looking for a lighted “exit” sign, Evan wondered why there were no fire sprinklers going off. Why would you have all of this important research here and not have multiple fire extinguishing mechanisms? Something wasn’t right.

Not two minutes had passed before Evan’s thoughts were interrupted by Maze howling. He carefully followed the sound of Maze’s voice. He was so turned around after walking in the dark; he honestly didn’t know which direction he was heading. He had to completely trust Maze to lead them to safety.

Evan was mumbling to himself, “Maze if you found a way out for us, I’m getting you the biggest steak you’ve ever seen.” And just as he finished his sentence, Evan felt cold air blow in toward him. Maze barked happily at an opening in the wall. “You did it, Maze! You’re awesome!”

Evan was so thankful to see emergency vehicles that he nearly cried. Nearly.

Exiting the building with Maze at his heels, Evan started to yell, “HELP, Help! My sister’s hurt! Help!”

Two paramedics came running pushing a stretcher. Evan laid his sister down gently on it and watched as the professionals tended to her. He felt so much relief to have gotten his big sister to safety, but in his mind he was calculating how much blood she possibly lost.

Even as he was thinking it, one of the paramedics said, “She’s lost a lot of blood. We need to get her some O-Neg stat!”

Evan’s mind raced. If he and his siblings had been treated with a mind altering formula that hyper developed their bodies and intellect, then maybe they had different blood than regular people. Maybe regular blood would hurt Meg, not help her.

“She can have mine. She’s my sister and we have the same rare blood type. Take my blood and give it to her.” Evan said all this with a calmness in his voice that made the adults around him stop and stare.