Foamers (10 page)

John’s shirt pulsed with each rapid heartbeat. The man leaned back on the chair with
a tyrannosaurus yawn. Digging at a stubborn sleeper in his eye, the man yawned again.

“I’m Kade,” he said, patting the dog.

The man called Kade rolled his hand over and over. What did he want from him? His
name? Never.

“And you are?” Kade stared him down.

“John.”

Kade covered another yawn. “John, we’re not going to hurt you—unless you do something
stupid. However, we’re all really friggin tired right now. So if you stop screaming,
we’ll free you in the morning and sort this all out.”

He patted John’s leg and stood up with a stretch. “Good talk.”

The dog followed Kade to the door, where he motioned for the animal to stop. Letting
out a whine, the dog took a seat.

That’s when it hit John: he was still a prisoner. Regardless of the smooth-talking
cool guy with the dog, he was still a captive. He wouldn’t stand for that.

“Help!”

Kade’s head snapped toward John, his sleepy eyes suddenly menacing. John clamped
his lips shut and closed his eyes. He could hear Kade’s heavy footsteps pounding
against the carpet as he closed the distance to the bed. This was it. He was going
to die. At least he had put up a good fight.

He heard something rubber bounce off the floor. His eyes were squeezed as tight as
they could be, his lips were rolled over on themselves, but he wondered why he couldn’t
close his ears in a time like this. John tried not to hear the rattle of the metal
cuffs as his body shook.

“Call for help again,” Kade ordered.

John shook his head.

“Call for help again,” Kade commanded.

John had resisted once; that meant he was fighting well. Twice, though—that was a
risk. Sometimes you had to ally with your enemies.

“Hel—” Something rammed into his mouth. Fuzzy and salty. He couldn’t believe he was
being violated. He wanted to puke as it filled his mouth. He wasn’t crying; he was
playing weak, he told himself, as tears streamed down his cheeks.

“I’ve been wearing that sock for three days,” Kade said. “Enjoy.”

John opened his eyes to see Kade leaving the room with an uneven hobble from his
removed shoe. A sock? John wanted to laugh if it wouldn’t have choked him. Just
a sock. They thought they could break him with just a sock? Never.

His nostrils flared. He felt like he was breathing through a straw, sucking in his
first lungful of air. That’s when the smell of rotten eggs and the taste of the ocean
met, churning his stomach.

He was broken.

He tried to yell that he surrendered, but all that came out was a muffled set of
vowels. The dog stalked over and lay beside his bed. He never did ask what the dog’s
name was. His thought was erased by the need for his next breath.

* * *

Kade made his way down the corridor, contemplating if there could be something mentally
wrong with John. He pulled open the door to their sleeping room. The lids of his
eyes slammed shut as he leapt into bed. A numb feeling immediately spread through
his body. Finally, he could sleep.

Mick’s voice came through the walkie. “
Kade, we need you again.”

Kade muffled a curse into his pillow, pushing himself back to his feet. The only
light coming into the hallway was the moonlight shining through the open doors to
the dorm rooms. He bounced off the walls in the corridor and slammed his shoulder
into the doorframe as he fought his way to the stairs, which he stealthily crawled.
The cold air smacked him in the face as he stumbled to Mick and Victoria, who were
on their knees, peering out the southwest corner.

“What?”

Mick held a finger to his lips, and Kade joined them. He curled his fingers over
the stone balustrade and watched the road.

He heard the rumble before he saw the box-shaped camo Humvee. The headlights were
off, and someone was scanning with a spotting light through the hole in the roof.
The light snapped around, focusing on a clump of trees where there was a flurry of
movement.

A second person opened fire with the large machine gun, each shot sounding like rolling
thunder in the night. Kade, Mick, and Victoria dropped down below the wall.

“That’s a fifty cal,” Mick said, plugging his fingers into his ears.

“Military,” Victoria said, a smile overtaking her face. Kade didn’t share her joy
that these new arrivals appeared to be military. With the logical extent of a country-wide
collapse, he doubted these were still upstanding American soldiers; his gut told
him this was bad news. They were survivors, like his own group, but he had no way
to know if they belonged to a larger group.

“If we’re lucky, they’ll just keep going,” Kade replied.

The door swung open, and Tiny and Grace emerged, dressed in coats and carrying rifles.
Light poured out of the door with them.

Tiny crouched as she hurried to Kade.

“What’s going on?” she asked, flicking her safety off.

The spotlight flooded the corner of the building. Kade closed his eyes as his heart
dropped. The rest of the group sat with their backs to the wall.

“What should we do?” Victoria asked.

“I don’t know,” Kade said, and then felt Tiny’s piercing, brown-eyed stare. “Yet.
I don’t know yet. Let’s see what they do. Maybe they’ll keep moving.”

Mick wrung has hands as he peeked over the wall. Tiny pulled a hair tie from her
wrist and gathered her hair into a ponytail. Grace held her cuffed hands out to Mick,
who reluctantly released her. Victoria sat, calm as Buddha, with a smile from ear
to ear.

Kade couldn’t tell what unnerved him more: the surprise visitors or Victoria’s calm.
He tapped his fingers off his thumb as he sorted through different game plans based
on what could happen next. He hoped that they would just keep moving.

“
We know you’re there
,” a megaphone blared.

Shit.

“
We’re here to help. Send down someone unarmed. If you don’t, we’ll be forced to
treat you as hostile
,” the voice continued.

They had defenses. The first two floors were sealed off. This armed group couldn’t
assault them. A Humvee like that held seven, eight guys, tops. Kade’s cohort had
the high ground. They might even have the element of surprise.

But what if they
were
there to help? Kade had already cost Lucas his life because
of a wrong choice. He could go out there unarmed. Even if it went poorly, his cohort
would have time to take position and be ready to strike. He’d be the only one at
risk.

“We can take them,” Tiny said.

“Just because you can’t handle whatever it is you went through with your leg, that
doesn’t mean you have to get the rest of us killed,” Victoria snapped.

“Are you a shrink now?” Tiny barked back.

“Cool it. We might fight them, but not yet. Mick, you stay here on the roof. Grace,
sixth floor. Tiny, fifth. Sights on that Humvee the whole time. I don’t want to start
a fight, but we sure will end one. Victoria, you’ll pull the ladder up behind me,”
Kade said.

Tiny gave him a reassuring smile. “Diplomacy first, war second. Not the approach
I’d like, but you’re the boss. Let’s not keep our visitors waiting.”

Tiny, Victoria, Grace, and Kade made their way into the stairwell. Grace froze at
the top.

“Guys, I’m not ready for this,” Grace said.

Tiny and Kade shared a look.

“Relax. Let your instincts guide you. You already saved my life once,” Tiny said,
grabbing Grace by the wrist and leading her down the stairs.

“Besides, if this goes well, there won’t be a shot fired,” Kade assured her as they
proceeded to the sixth floor door.

Grace nodded. “I won’t let you down.”

Kade nodded solemnly and opened the door. At the next floor, they paused again.

“Don’t go getting shot again,” Tiny said, giving him her tight-lipped smile.

He forced a smile and continued with Victoria. He hoped he wouldn’t get shot, but
what did it matter if he did?

“How come you’re nice to Grace and not to me?” Victoria asked as they opened the
door walked the dim corridor.

“Can we have this conversation when I get back?” Kade responded as they entered the
room with the coiled escape ladder. He crouched and grabbed the chain ladder with
round metal bars for grips.

“I’d rather we have it now.”

Straining, Kade lifted the coil and dropped it out the window. The links clanked
against the brick wall until the coil whipped to a stop six feet from the ground.
The ladder scraped against the side of the building. The spotlight lit the building
where the metal dangled, reminding Kade of a jailbreak scene from an old movie.

“Later. Let’s get through this first,” he said, pulling a walkie from his belt.

“Fine.”

He flicked a switch on the walkie, keeping his receiver on, and hooked it to the
back of his pants, concealing the device under his sweatshirt. “Check in.”

“
Mick
.”

“
Tiny
.”

“
Grace
.”

“No chatter,” Kade said as he stretched his legs out the window. Clinging to the
windowsill, he lowered his body down until he was secure.

“Soon as I’m down, pull it up.”

He descended, rung by rung, watching his shadow follow every motion. As his hands
gripped each metal rod, he wished he had worn a pair of gloves. He made the mistake
of looking down and choked the rung, frozen between the second and third floor.
He convinced himself to keep rappelling. The last thing he wanted to do was let the
military know he was afraid. Reaching the bottom of the ladder, he dropped the remaining
distance to the ground.

He moved into the blinding light with his hands on his head, controlling each of
his steps to hide the fear in his heart. The light was so strong he had to close
his eyes, but even against his lids it still felt like he was looking into the sun.

“That’s far enough,” a voice said, and the light on his eyelids disappeared. Kade
blinked his eyes open, but he was night-blind. The flashing black dots made it difficult
for him to find the Humvee in the dark. The red embers of a lit cigar gave him a
focal point. “Identify yourself.”

“My apologies, but the last person I trusted shot me. You go first,” Kade said. He
closed his eyes and listened to the turret on top of the Humvee ahead of him. A
lighter case flicked open off to his right. He strained to hear more, but he knew
there were at least three people.

“I am Sarge, leader of the second squad from the fifth unit of the Niagara Tribe,”
the man with the cigar said.

“I was under the impression you were military.”

“We were. You survived; you saw how fast the world went to hell. When the shit hit
the fan, we found a new Pledge of Allegiance. We are on long-range recon, searching
for survivors and exterminating the vermin.”

“Well, you found us.”

“Take the edge off your voice. We aren’t hostile. You are formally invited to come
with us and join the Tribe.”

“And if we don’t?”

“Best of luck to you. We have supplies, numbers, protection, all the comforts of
home. You’d be stupid to turn down the offer.”

Kade wondered if they were good to their word, or if they even had the power to make
such an offer, or if there even was a larger force. He knew he didn’t want a fight,
but could he trust them with the lives of his friends? Maybe they would be better
off with military protection, but all his good faith had been used. This was where
Damian and Ashton knew to find him, and he couldn’t leave before he was positive
neither of them would ever show up. If he could pull it off, he’d avoid giving Sarge
any critical information.

“I appreciate the offer, but we’re going to take a pass. If you need any food or
supplies for your return trip, I’d be happy to accommodate.”

“We have everything we need. Good luck.”

“Good luck to you as well.”

Kade turned toward Lambian Hall and fought to walk back toward the ladder. He didn’t
want to give them a free shot on his back, but he didn’t want to show his fear. He
could sense the Primal state of Sarge and felt that if he showed weakness, it would
cause the man to pounce.

“Sarge, motion,” the man from the turret hollered.

The spotlight trained hot on Kade’s back, and he assumed it was the end. The fifty
cal was going to tear him to pieces. At least he wouldn’t feel it.

Then he saw Victoria barreling toward him at a dead sprint.

“Wait! Wait!” She hollered.

“Hold fire!” Sarge commanded.

Kade snagged Victoria by the waist. Her feet dug into the earth, and she pressed
against him as he held her back. She relaxed and stood straight, looking into his
eyes.

“I was listening to everything they said. I’m a scientist. I examine facts. They
are offering food, shelter, and safety. I get that you are here with your band of
misfits, but I am not one of them.” Victoria’s eyes stayed trained on Kade’s.

“What about the talk we’re going to have?” he asked, grasping at anything that might
change her mind.

“We should have had it earlier, Kade. I’ve measured the options. They’re offering
a better deal. Take care of yourself, I mean it. Goodbye.”

Kade lowered his arm and stood in stunned silence. He ignored Mick’s protests coming
through the walkie and the approvals of Sarge’s squad. He felt helpless as he trudged
back. There was no obligation for Victoria to stay; he had no right to keep her if
she wanted to go.

He felt defeated at the loss of another member of his cohort, especially since he
could have prevented her departure by simply being respectful.