Dark Inside (6 page)

Aries strained to see who the hand belonged to, but she couldn’t tell in the mass of clothing and bodies. Her hopes were dashed when the stranger moved aside someone’s backpack and revealed the face of a middle-aged woman.

“Should we carry her outside?” She’d taken first aid years ago in school but couldn’t remember the proper steps. You weren’t supposed to move people in case they had neck injuries, but wasn’t staying there worse? It was dangerous leaving them in the middle of the road where another car might hit them. What if a gas leak happened and the bus exploded? Aren’t you supposed to get them out of harm’s way?

“No,” he said. “We’ll leave her here.”

“When do you think the ambulance will come?”

The stranger climbed to his feet and brushed his hands against his jeans, leaving behind a smear of blood. Continuing forward, he avoided looking at her. “There won’t be an ambulance.”

Aries froze. “What do you mean?”

“The entire city was just destroyed. The roads are torn apart. Thousands of people are dead or dying. Do you really believe help will come?”

“But they’ve got to come.”

“
They
don’t have to do anything.”

“These people will die.”

The stranger glanced back at her over his shoulder. “And so will millions of others. What’s a few more?”

“What do you mean millions?”

“This went farther than just Vancouver. Seattle, Los Angeles, Mexico. Even Alaska if we look in the other direction. A lot of people live on the West Coast. But it’s not just North America. An earthquake of this magnitude probably reached Asia.”

“Oh.”

The stranger continued on, shuffling bodies aside, checking the occasional pulse. He was several feet away, almost to the back of the bus.

Aries knelt at the feet of the middle-aged woman, who
was barely alive. She placed her hand against the lady’s forehead, trying to think about what she could do to save her life. The small amount of training she’d received years ago was not enough to help her in such a situation. She knew how to do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and that was it. She picked up the woman’s limp hand and squeezed it gently, seeking something comforting to say. Even in her unconscious state, the lady still might be able to hear.

“I think I found your friend.”

He was standing at the back of the bus and she couldn’t see where he was looking. Getting to her feet, she loosened her fingers, allowing the hand of the dying woman to drop to the ground, and went for Sara instead.

“Is she dead?”

The stranger looked away too quickly. That was all the answer she needed. Her bottom lip began to quiver and she breathed in deeply to try and hold back the sobs. Holding tightly to the mangled seat, she focused on maintaining balance and blinked several times to keep the tears from blurring her vision. She was determined to remain calm. She would not fall apart on the bus in front of this stranger. There would be plenty of time later once she was alone. She would be brave.

“You don’t have to look,” he said, seeing through her facade. His eyes softened. “If you’ve got a picture, I can identify her for you.”

She almost accepted, but she knew if she didn’t look she’d regret it. “No, I’m fine.” She took another deep breath, closed her eyes, and counted to three inside her head. Opening her eyes, she focused on the image before her.

The person lying on the ground, her neck shoved awkwardly against the mangled seats, was Sara. Her eyes were
open, staring at the ads for résumé building and continuing education. One hand rested gently on her chest, the other disappeared beneath her body. Legs splayed in different directions. Blood dribbled from her mouth, already starting to cake and dry. Her neck twisted and unnatural, bits of blond hair stuck against her bloodied face.

Why did her eyes have to be open?

“That’s her,” she whispered.

“I’m sorry,” the stranger said.

How long would it be before someone could take Sara away? She would have to call Sara’s parents. Maybe they could find a way to come and get her if they were okay. They didn’t live that far away. She took her cell phone from her pocket, but there was no service. That didn’t really surprise her; the earthquake would have temporarily destroyed all means of communication.

She’d have to walk, then. If she left now she could get there in a few hours. But was it safe to leave Sara alone? What if someone did something to her body? She caught the dead glaze of her friend’s eyes, accusing her, begging her not to leave.

“Can you close her eyes?”

She was thankful that he didn’t smirk or give her a look. Instead he reached over and ran the tips of his fingers against Sara’s skin, closing those beautiful gray eyes forever.

“Thank you.”

“We should go. It’s not safe to stay here.”

“Can we cover her up with something?” She felt stupid the moment the words left her lips. “I mean, it just seems wrong leaving her like that.”

The stranger unzipped his jacket. Carefully he placed the clothing over her deceased friend. It covered only her face
and shoulders, but it made Aries feel better. At the same time she worried about the guy. He had on only a shirt now, and although it was still September it was starting to get chilly. She could see his muscles against the tight fabric. His arms were pale and bare; she wanted to feel them around her again. Comforting. The thought warmed her cheeks and she looked away in embarrassment.

“You don’t have to do that,” she said.

“I know.”

“You’ll be cold.”

“I’ll be fine.”

There were a few more bodies to check, but in the end, Aries and the stranger got off the bus by themselves. Everyone there was dead, dying, or unable to move. There was nothing they could do to help, so they left. It seemed wrong, but there weren’t any right answers to hand in.

The first thing she noticed when they got back outside was how different the air smelled. There was no brisk night air smelling faintly like leaves and car exhaust. There was a sickening acrid flavor that stuck to the insides of her nostrils, threatening to make her gag. In the distance, the skyline was orange and red from where a fire raged. Monstrous black clouds of smoke rapidly spread through the night, pushed by the wind. Bits of ash fell from above and stuck to their hair. Gray snowflakes.

“Can you hear it?” the stranger asked. He stood, arms at his side, eyes closed, face pointed up toward the sky.

“Hear what?” She strained her ears but there was no unusual noise.

“The nothingness. No fire trucks, ambulances, police cars. No people, cars, stereos, televisions, computers. All the things we use to replace the silence of loneliness. All the distractions
we buy that fill up the empty voids inside our souls. It’s all gone.”

“Are you saying our souls are empty?”

“No, I’m saying they’ve been filled.”

“With what?”

The stranger smiled at her. “Humanity has found a cure to a disease they never knew existed.”

“You sound just like the crazy man on the bus.”

The smile faltered. “Sorry. I was just thinking out loud.”

She gave him a long look but couldn’t really see anything wrong with him. He didn’t look like he was crazy, not in the way the guy on the bus was. He was clean and dressed nicely. His black hair was freshly washed and shiny. There was a seriousness about him and he moved gracefully. He reminded her of some of the others she knew from drama class. He probably read a lot of literary fiction, maybe wrote stories while reciting Dylan Thomas poetry from heart.

“I don’t know your name,” she finally said. It was lame, but she couldn’t think of anything else to ask.

“Daniel.”

She wasn’t surprised. He looked just like she’d expect a Daniel to look.

“I’m Aries. You know, like the horoscope. But I’m actually a Gemini.” It was the standard speech she gave people when introducing herself. Normally she thought it was rather witty, but tonight it sounded stupid. It wasn’t the right time to try and make little jokes.

“How ironic.”

She couldn’t tell if he was mocking her or being clever himself. It was hard to read his expression. His face was unmoving; he didn’t seem to have any emotions at all.

A thought occurred to her. There was no one else around. Alive at least. Who knew where Colin ran off to? Probably
cowering somewhere, he’d be useless if she needed him anyway. Suddenly she was aware of just how unsafe the situation was. Though she wasn’t scared. For some reason her body remained strangely calm. Somehow Daniel made her feel safe even though she knew he could be a threat himself. Maybe it was because he’d already pulled her out from the mountain of bodies. He’d been there for her when she needed it. He seemed truly concerned for her.

The thought made her realize there were others probably worrying about her. Her parents. She reached inside her jacket and clenched her fingers around her useless phone. Were they frantically trying to call her right now? Were they hurt? What if the house hadn’t survived the earthquake?

“I should get home and check on my parents,” she said. “I need to contact Sara’s mom too.”

“Do you live far from here?”

“About five miles. But I can walk.”

“You’ll never make it.”

She involuntarily took a step backward.

Daniel was fast. He reached out and grabbed her before she could defend herself. She didn’t even get a chance to scream.

“Listen to me, Aries. Something bad is about to happen. Worse than this.” He waved his arm around at all the destruction. “It’ll make this look like a walk in the park. Don’t ask me how I know, I just do. If you don’t take cover now, you won’t live to see morning. Hell, you probably won’t live to see midnight.”

“How do you know—”

“Didn’t I just tell you not to ask?” He shook his head slightly. “A lot of people are going to die, and it’s only the beginning.”

Somewhere off in the distance there were screams. Daniel
stiffened and Aries turned around to try and see where the sound was coming from. The sun had almost completely disappeared into the west. The roads were dark; there were no streetlights. Through the twilight she could make out the shapes of people running. They were several blocks away. There were more screams, the sounds of people in agony. One of the shadows stumbled and hit the cement. Others descended on it in a frenzy.

“They’re attacking that person.”

“They’ll come after you, too.”

“What? Can’t we do something? Call the police?”

“The police can’t stop it. No one can. It’s too late for that.”

“But—”

“Enough. I need you to trust me. I know that’s asking for a lot, but you’ll have to take a leap of faith. Let me help you.”

“Why?”

“Why not?”

“That’s not enough of a reason.”

“We’re beyond reasoning.”

“That’s not an answer.”

Daniel frowned at her. Turning on his heels, he walked a few feet away and then promptly came back. “You’re infuriating. Did you know that? Can’t you just stop thinking for one second and let me help?”

“Why are you telling me all this?”

“Because I have to tell someone. I can’t keep it inside of me. I may not get a second chance.”

She almost made a sharp retort but paused. He was scared. Why didn’t she see that before? The wideness of his eyes frightened her too, at least enough to stop talking. Behind her, another scream rang out, loud and angry, almost a weird victory shriek. The group of attackers was getting closer. How
long before they reached her? She nodded at him, dumbly. She would go along with him for now, while it was still dark and unsafe. She could give him the slip later if she needed to. It might take a few extra hours to get home, but it wasn’t like anyone was going anywhere. Hopefully her parents were at home and waiting for her. Mom had told her they had nothing planned. When she didn’t show up, surely they’d assume she’d contact them as soon as she could, and at least wait for a while before going out to search for her. If only she could call them. Maybe the landlines were still working. She’d have to find a phone and try.

“Okay.” He reached out and took her hand. “Let’s find you someplace to hide.”

They checked the grocery store first but quickly agreed that it wasn’t viable. The front doors were caved in, leaving splinters of glass and rubble. Anyone inside was probably dead or trapped. Even if she did manage to crawl in, she might not be able to get back out. The thought was enough to drive her into a panic.

“There’s not much else here,” he said. “You need someplace with shelter and food. You might be there for a while.”

“We could try the school,” she offered.

“Where?”

“A block away,” she said. “We were headed there. We had rehearsal.
Alice in Wonderland
. Sara was the Queen of Hearts. She was so excited about it.”

A loud bang made her yelp. Gunshots. The group of attackers had reached the accident. They had circled the bus, outnumbering those too injured to run. Through the dimming light, Aries could see the remaining victims trying to get free. One of the men—the bus driver, she thought but wasn’t too sure—had a gun. He waved it blindly, sending shots into the
air. Two men came at him from behind, bringing him to the ground. Even at a distance she could hear the sound as his head smashed into the pavement. Beyond that, the pregnant woman tried to crawl away until she was dragged back by her hair.

“They’re killing them.”

Daniel ignored her. “It’s time to go.” He grabbed her arm. “Show me where the school is.”

“It’s a block over. That way.” She pointed toward the alley behind the grocery store. “But those people need help.”

“If you try to help them, you’ll die too.”

The path before them was pitch-black. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out the miniature flashlight Dad gave her to put on her key chain.

“Here.” She removed it and handed it over. “Maybe this will help.”

He accepted the tiny metal object, turning it over in his hands before testing the light on the ground between them. “Thanks, but we’d still better stick to the shadows.”

Easy enough directions.

The school was dark. She’d never seen it without any lights before. The building rose before them, three stories of eerie silence. She could smell the freshly cut grass; earlier that day she’d seen the gardener riding the mower.