Aftermath (14 page)

Paige crept out the back entrance of the enormous pyramid she was housed in. The gentle breeze through her wet tunic actually felt pretty good.

She eased along the wall to the building’s corner, taking a peek around it. This direction faced the front, the same as Paige’s apartment window. The Shamblers, as Paige was now calling the tranced-out people, were headed off in that direction.

Six guards stood outside the front entrance, monitoring the Shamblers as they shuffled past. As before, none of the guards seemed to be affected by the sound.

She waited there, for what felt like hours, before the guards went inside.

Taking a deep breath, she dashed across the mall, ducking into the shadows of a building on the far side.

About fifteen yards from her was a path, running between the buildings. The Shamblers were shuffling down the path, seemingly oblivious to Paige’s presence nearby.

Paige followed along, keeping close enough to the building to be masked by its shadows. Then the noise of someone approaching came from behind.

“Paige,” came Drew’s whisper.

Paige spun around, to find Drew racing up to her.

“You’re all wet,” he added, crouching down beside her.

“Tell me something I don’t know,” she smirked.

“Okay,” he smiled. “Did you know you look cute when you’re wet.”

She was too tired for this. “Do you wanna feel how hard I can punch,” she replied.

“Not really,” he smiled, slipping out of his shirt. “Here, put this on, so you don’t catch a cold” he said, handing her his shirt.

This chivalry actually caught her off guard. It was thoughtful, and kind, and made her instantly regret snapping at him. Maybe all guys weren’t creeps after all.

“No, you don’t have to do that,” she responded, softening up a lot. “But thanks.”

“Humor me,” he said, holding out the shirt.

“Okay,” she finally agreed, taking his shirt, and slipping it on over her tunic. It fit like a tent. She gave him a smile, to let him know her thanks.

“So what’re you doing out here?” she whispered.

“Your roommate told me to keep an eye on you.”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Paige protested.

“Trish thinks you do,” Drew smiled.

Paige just shook her head. “Look. I appreciate the offer. And you scored major points for the shirt. But you really should go back.”

“And face Trish’s wrath?” Drew replied. “I think it’s safer out here.”

Paige couldn’t help but smile at the thought. She had no doubt that little girl wasn’t afraid to stand up to anybody.

“She’s your sister,” Paige chuckled, making sure to keep it at a whisper level.

“She tells everyone that,” Drew responded. “And we did grow up in the same foster home, so I guess she is like a sister.”

“You take care of her like a big brother,” she replied.

“I just don’t want to see her get hurt,” Drew said.

Paige nodded along, recalling how Brad had always been there to protect her. Even when she didn’t deserve it.

“My brother was like that,” Paige reflected, “always looking out for me.” She paused for a moment before adding, “and I was the biggest bitch to him.”

She paused again, glanced at Drew, then turned away. “I just miss him so much.” There, she said it. Finally. The bitch sister from hell, actually admitting that she loved her brother. Only it was too late for him to hear it.

She took a deep breath, trying to recompose herself. There was no way she was going to uncork all of that grief. Drew seemed to sense this.

“He knew it,” Drew said, giving her shoulder a soft squeeze.

“No, he didn’t. How could he?”

“Because he was your brother,” Drew replied. “You learn to read between the lines.”

Paige couldn’t help herself. She threw her arms around Drew in a tight hug. She had needed to hear that. “Thank you,” she whispered in his ear.

“Anytime,” he whispered back.

She finally released him, but gave him a warm smile. “You really should go back,” she said.

“Assuming that’s not an option,” he replied, “what’s the plan?”

“I’ll let you know as soon as I think of one.”

***

Paige and Drew kept to the shadows of buildings, as they followed the Shamblers in their trance-like daze. No moans, or talk, or any indication of consciousness or awareness came from them. Just the single purpose focus of continuing on in that direction.

They reached the northern most outskirts of the alien city, and continued on. The terrain was rocky, which served as concealment for Paige and Drew now that the buildings were disappearing behind them in the distance.

Then up ahead they noticed something, as the flow of Shamblers seemed to be disappearing. As they approached, they discovered the reason. The Shamblers were descending down into what appeared to be a crater.

Paige and Drew sprinted the last hundred yards to the edge of the crater, ducking behind some boulders for cover. They slowly peeked over the rocks to see what was happening.

The crater was massive, maybe a mile wide, and several hundred yards deep. In the center of the crater stood an enormous compound, looming in the darkness like a giant Mayan temple.

The Shamblers, looking like ants from this distance, were crossing the crater floor and entering the temple. Paige also noticed that there were dozens of guards positioned along the route.

Then something like a loud gong toned, and the Shamblers remaining on the crater floor turned around and headed back in the direction of the city.

“That’s gotta be it,” Paige whispered. “That’s gotta be where they took Chad.”

Drew thought about it a moment. It made sense. He turned to her. “Then let’s figure out how to get inside there, and get him out.”

The Best Laid Plans

It was a muggy morning in the cornfields. It was probably around ten, Paige guessed, but that was based entirely on the sun’s position in the sky. Their “hosts” had taken their watches, along with their iphones, ipads, and everything else that made a teenage girl’s life fun.

The humidity was horrible, and her tunic clung to her like a damp washcloth. And if this wasn’t bad enough, every muscle in her body was sore. Arms, hands, butt, legs, back… all she wanted to do was jump in a nice cool swimming pool, and lay there all afternoon.

But there was a bit more spring in her step. Discovering the temple, and what she hoped was Chad’s location, felt like a giant step forward. But she was going to need Valerie’s help, and probably help from her new Outlaw buddies. She still grinned every time she thought of that name.

Valerie gave her an excited wave when she showed up at the cornfield that morning, happy to see that Paige had survived her decoy chase with the guards last night. Paige couldn’t wait to tell her the details of the chase, and about the temple they’d found, and plan they came up with.

She and Drew had spent the walk back to the city, and several hours after that in her apartment, going over the pros and cons of different ways to infiltrate the temple, and hopefully rescue Chad.

The approach that seemed the most viable was to disguise themselves as guards, and use that to sneak in. It would be her and Drew going in, it was finally decided. Paige had resisted, not wanting to expose him to the danger, but in typical Drew fashion he insisted. And of course Trish did too. God bless him, she thought. And those beautiful blue eyes, and broad shoulders. He barely knew her, and didn’t know Chad at all, but he was still willing to risk his life to help her.

She wasn’t blind. She’d felt the flirting, and was pretty sure he had a crush on her, at least maybe a small one, but you don’t risk your life just to hook up with some girl. No, there was definitely more to this guy. It was this dedication and loyalty he kept showing that convinced her he wasn’t just trying to hook up. She honestly felt he cared about her. And despite a lifetime of building walls around herself, this guy was actually finding the openings in her walls. And that scared her. It was uncharted territory for her, all this vulnerability stuff.

“O’Connor,” the task master hollered, snapping Paige from her musings. Seig Heil she thought, as she returned to the corn.

By noon, the temperature was just ridiculous. The task master disappeared momentarily to refill his canteen - how about sharing some with us, asshole, she thought - so Paige looked around for Valerie. She spotted her several dozen yards away. Paige made a small wave of her hand to get her attention, then ducked in between the corn stalks.

Minutes later, Valerie squeezed through the stalks, and grabbed Paige in an excited hug. Finally pulling away, she had the biggest smile. “What you did last night, that was just so crazy!” Valerie exclaimed, but kept it to a whisper. “I think you made fans for life of me and the boys.”

Paige smiled. She had really taken a liking to Valerie. “It was scary,” she admitted. “And I actually met your friend, Tony.”

“Oh really,” Valerie asked, “What happened?”

“I’ll give you the whole scoop later,” Paige replied. “But I really need your help with something.”

“Sure,” Valerie nodded. “What is it?”

“I think I found where they took Chad.”

Valerie’s eyes lit up with a smile. “Where?”

“I followed all those people last night, and they went to this crater about a mile north of the city. There’s this huge temple looking building in the middle of it that the people were going inside.”

“You mean all the spooky, zombie people?” Valerie asked.

“Yeah. I’m calling them the Shamblers.”

Valerie grinned. “Gotcha. Go on…”

“That’s it,” Paige replied. “They let maybe a couple dozen people in, then they shut the doors and sent the other people packing.”

“And you think that’s where they’re doing the experiments on people?” Valerie asked.

“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” Paige replied.

“Either that, or they’re eating them,” Valerie said, apparently in a total Paige move of engaging mouth before engaging brain. “Did I just say that,” Valerie grinned.

“You did,” Paige nodded.

Valerie chuckled. “So how do we get in there, and get your friend out?”

“I think Drew and I could sneak in if we were dressed as guards,” Paige replied.

“Do they have female guards?” Valerie asked.

“Hope so,” Paige shrugged.

“Okay, then,” Valerie nodded along, thinking. “So we need two guard uniforms. How tall is Drew?”

“I dunno,” Paige shrugged. “Five ten, five eleven. I’m five two. I wore a size two, back when they had stores.”

Valerie thought about it for a moment. She looked up at Paige. “I don’t know if they’ll have them that small.”

Paige nodded. “Yeah. I thought that might be a problem.”

“Guess it’s worth checking,” Valerie added.

“So how do we do this?” Paige asked.

“Pretty much the same way our ancestors did,” Valerie grinned.

She reached up, and tugged off an ear of corn. She ripped off a leaf, and pressing it against the ground, began using her fingernail to carve words into the leaf.

Paige watched, completely blown away. This girl was impressive. “Damn, Val,” she exclaimed. “McGyver ain’t got shit on you.”

Valerie laughed, finishing up the last of her note. “Tony and I came up with this idea so we could communicate back and forth,” Valerie said, folding up the “note.” “There’s a rock we hide them under at the edge of the field.”

“O’Connor, Turner, get out here!” the task master hollered.

Oh, crap, Paige thought, as she and Valerie exchanged worried looks.

The girls stepped out from behind the corn stalks, trying their best not to look suspicious.

“What was going on back there?” he demanded.

“Uhm, nothing really,” Valerie responded, looking nervous.

“I had to pee,” Paige shot out.

“Yeah, me too,” Valerie jumped in.

“You both had to pee together?” he asked.

“Sure. Why not,” Paige shrugged. “Don’t tell me you didn’t have any sisters.”

The task master shook his head. “Just get back to work,” he barked. “And from now on you’re to ask permission before you go pee.”

“Got it,” Paige responded, flipping him “the finger” from the hand she held behind her back. The girls turned, and headed back to their spots.

***

The rest of the afternoon was just more of the same old, same old. Paige felt it seemed to drag on even more than usual. Maybe it was just her nerves, going over all the possible things that could wrong with their crazy rescue operation.

The task master finally blew his whistle, signaling that it was time to call it quits for the day.

Valerie caught up to Paige, as the two headed down the row toward the dirt road that fronted the field.