Killshot (Icarus Series Book 1) (46 page)

              “I’m sure she’s fine,” Eli said, nervously peering into the shadows below as he stood at my side. “She’s probably just—.”

              “Don’t! I swear to you if anything happened to her,” I growled, shoving him hard. “Riley Baxter!”

              “Oh, God!” Riley’s voice echoed from somewhere beyond view.

              “What happened? Are you okay?” I shouted, frantic with worry. “Riley, talk to me!”

              “Oh, sweet baby Jesus,” her voice rang back, “I think I landed in a pile of adult diapers. This is by far the most disgusting—.”

              “Oh my God,” I laughed, pressing my forehead to the edge of the chute as my heart hurtled back into my chest. “She’s okay.”

              “See, um, nothing to worry about,” Eli stammered, gesturing to the chute. “Shall we?”

              “After you,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “I am not ready to turn my back on you, just yet.”

              “Still don’t trust me?” he asked, rolling his eyes. “Really?”

              “Yeah, not so much,” I said, pushing him toward the chute. “Trust is earned, not given.”

              “You heard the lady,” Zander said, cupping his hands as Eli had, to help him into the chute. “Up you go.”

              “Fine, whatever,” Eli said, waving away Zander’s help. He grunted and groaned, muttering under his breath as he flung himself up into the opening of the trash chute. “Ungrateful little…ouch, damn it. Would you hand me my—?”

              Another explosion blasted, this one originating somewhere outside the building. It shook the ground, and the walls around us, further weakening the building’s foundation. Zander and I slammed our backs against the wall by the gaping hole, shielding our heads as debris rained down on us. The sudden impact had sent Eli barreling down the slide. He landed, seconds later, with a loud, “Oof!”

              “I think that’s our cue,” I said, shaking plaster from my head.

              “Definitely,” Zander said, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the chute. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

              “Slide my bag down,” Eli shouted up the chute. “And be careful!”

              “Alright, alright,” I yelled back, rolling my eyes.

              I spotted Eli’s forgotten bundle lying on the floor below the chute. I wadded his jacket into a ball and chucked it into the opening. Then, I grabbed the bag, hefted it into the mouth of the chute and tossed it down after. Just as the bag disappeared into the shadows, I caught a glimpse of the bright red letters on the front—
E. G.

Chapter 40

Burning Questions

               The inch-thick metal walls of the dumpster had absorbed so much heat it had essentially converted itself into an oven, turning the contents into a treacherous stew of vile and questionable refuse. The odor was so overpowering that it proved inescapable. Even if you held your breath, you could taste it at the back of your throat. Despite the crippling stench and the scrapes and burns I had accumulated sliding down the rust-covered trench, in the end it was the landing that had me scrambling like a princess in a scullery.

              “Oh, my God,” I gagged, wiping the sludge from my hands as I floundered my way to my feet.

              I silently praised my trusty combat boots as I sloshed my way to the edge of the container. I ripped what I
hoped
was spaghetti noodles from my hair and shuddered as I reached the end of the bin and my foot sank into a thick puddle of goo. Eli had left his jacket hanging over the lip of the bin, but the rough metal surface was still extremely hot to the touch—like the hood of a car on a hot summer day.

              The opening of the giant refuse bin was just above shoulder level. I grabbed hold of it and struggled to pull myself up and out. My boots slipped and slid against the slime that lined the walls of the dumpster, and I fell back with a splash into the muck. I let out a long string of unfiltered swears, struggled to my feet and tried again. I dangled from the top edge of the bin, cursing my girly build and undeniable lack of upper body strength as I flung my left leg up and over. My feet had only just found purchase on solid ground, when Zander landed gracefully at my side.

              “Show off,” I muttered, tugging him behind the long wall of the garbage bin.

              Riley dove at me half crouched and wrapped her spindly arms around me in a quick embrace. The combined stench of our mutually disgusting hair and clothes was too much to bear and we separated quickly, gasping desperately for the tiniest wisp of clean air. I was quite sure we would all have to burn our clothes— assuming we got out of this mess alive, that is.

              “Now what?” Riley asked. Her cocoa brown eyes glittered like melted bronze under the glow of the surrounding blaze. “We need to get back to the truck but this whole place is on fire and there are soldiers everywhere.”

              “Not everywhere,” Eli yelled, ducking lower as fire licked in our direction from a nearby window. “The east side of the building. There is no outpost there, only a patrol, and I think it’s a safe bet they are a bit preoccupied at the moment.”

              “Let’s go, people,” I said, grabbing Riley’s hand. “You know the drill. Low, slow, and close.”

              Flames licked hungrily at our backs, shooting higher into the night sky as the fire on the lower floors of the hospital raged out of control. Broken glass and debris showered over us as the windows on the upper floors finally burst from the heat and pressure. Heavy, black smoke hung on the breeze like a spider web, strangling our breath and making each step more cumbersome and laborious than the last.

              We trudged and wrestled through it as the dark vapor snuffed nearly all light from our path. The poison was unrelenting and left us groping blindly ahead as it ripped the air from our lungs. We clung tightly to each other, none willing to break the chain. I had grown accustomed to being in the lead whenever darkness set in but, as it turned out, my night vision was not fireproof. I fought through the burn and the murky tears that clouded my vision, determined to lead my friends to safety. Our way out was waiting for us just beyond the flames, the gunfire, and the heavy soup of toxic air.

              Now that the so-called “refugees” had freed themselves, the chaos outside the hospital walls had multiplied. People were rushing in all directions, tripping and stumbling over one another. Small groups huddled together, emerging from clouds of smoke, only to disappear just as quickly. Adults and children crouched low to the ground, dodging stray bullets and confused soldiers at every turn. They zigzagged and scattered like a handful of bouncy balls tossed onto the sidewalk.

              I caught movement from the corner of my eye and stopped short. I threw my arms wide to catch Riley and we narrowly avoided colliding with the young woman that had cut across our path. The woman was barefoot and wore only a hospital gown. The severed tubing from a hastily disconnected I.V. dangled from her forearm and nearly every inch of her was covered in blood and soot.

              In her arms, she held a young boy, not much older than my little brother. The child’s blond hair was matted against his head and caked with blood and grime. His body was limp and pale, his face slack and unresponsive. The woman stared up at me. For a brief second, our eyes met. Behind their sage green depths I saw nothing but emptiness, like her soul had been ripped from her body.

              “Ma’am, are you okay?” Riley asked.

              “Gerald?” The woman’s eyes widened, looking over Riley’s shoulder.

              “No ma’am,” Zander said, stepping out from behind her. “I’m sorry, but there is no one in our group by that name.”

              “Have you seen my husband?” She screeched at us, the boy’s head lolling from side to side as she struggled under his weight. “This just won’t do. We are going to miss our flight. I have to find my husband.”

              “There’s no time,” Riley said. “Please, come with us. We can get you somewhere safe.”

              “We need to move,” I yelled. I pointed toward where I hoped the maintenance shed awaited. “Come on, lady, this way.”

              “We can’t leave without Gerald,” the woman said, backing away. “When Jeremy wakes up, he will want to see his father. I have to find him.”

              “Ma’am, please?” Riley said, stepping toward the woman with tears in her eyes.

              “Have you seen my husband?” the woman asked again, tears slicing a line through the blood on her face as she frantically looked about. “I had to find our son. Gerald…he said he would wait for me. Have you seen him?”

              “Ry, we have to go,” I said, pulling her away from the desperate woman. “We can’t help her.”

              “Gerald? Gerald, honey,” the woman yelled into the distance. “Gerald, I found him! I found Jeremy.”

              She shifted the boys limp body in her arms again and took off running, disappearing back into the thick veil of smoke. As much as my heart ached for their suffering, my mind was focused on survival. There would be time, later, to grieve and processes the horrors around us. We had done all that we could to help those people. We had given them a fighting chance and for the time being, that would have to be enough.

              My footsteps against the ground echoed in my ears as I ran forward. Guns discharged on all sides of us, as we raced across the parking lot. A large group of civilians had just dodged past us when I felt a bullet whizz over my head. A swarm of soldiers ran past us, firing into the smoke. I leaned forward, dragging Riley behind me and ran until my legs and lungs burned.

              I didn’t stop until my hands slammed into the rough surface at the corner of the maintenance building. When we reached the shed, we shuffled across the cracked pavement, hacking and coughing as I led them to the rear side of the building.

              “Everyone okay?” I gasped. I finally released Riley’s hand and was relieved to see all three sets of eyes staring back at me.

              Riley gave a breathless thumbs-up, then lowered herself to a squatting position on the ground and went into a violent coughing fit. After the worst of it had subsided, she wiped the tears from her eyes. “Just needed to…catch my breath.”

              “Zan, Eli?” I said, rubbing slow circles at Riley’s back while she struggled to control her breathing. “Slow and easy, Ry.”

              “Fine,” Zander grunted, wiping soot from his face with his sweat-soaked t-shirt.

              “I’m—I’m fine, we are all fine,” Eli Scowled as he tossed his jacket over his shoulder. “We need to move, guys. You said you have a truck?”

              “She’s about a quarter click southeast of the hospital,” Zander said, his voice as rough as sandpaper, “but we will have to circle around.”

              “Fine, great,” Eli said, peeking nervously around the corner of the building. “Ready when you are.”

              My heart thudded anxiously against my chest. We had not seen Falisha or Jake since they had been corralled into the hospital. The entire building was engulfed in flames now. Given the riotous scene, I feared the worst.

              “They got out, Liv,” Riley croaked.

              “They will find us,” Zander said, sensing my trepidation. He slid his hand around my waist and squeezed me gently. “Thanks to you, we could all tell you the rendezvous point in our sleep.”

              Another explosion, this one dangerously close to us, blasted a path through the smoke filled sky. The fulmination rattled the ground, knocking me off my feet and sending Zander and I hurtling into the rough surface of the maintenance building. Riley shrieked and dropped to the ground, covering her head against the flaming debris. Ash rained down on us like a warning shot from an erupting volcano. The blast sent Eli spinning away from the corner, where he lost his footing and slid across the ground on his chest. He came skidding to a halt in the dirt at our feet.

              “Ugh,” Eli groaned, his faced tight as he rolled slowly to his side.

              His T-shirt, which had already seen better days, was now dotted with small holes and caked in dirt and gravel dust. His jacket had flown off as he dove to the ground. In addition to the smattering of blood that dotted the fabric from chest to chin, Eli had a large wound on his shoulder and his sleeve was completely saturated. Zander shot me a look and then reached out a hand to help him up, careful to avoid his injury. Even with Zander’s assistance, Eli’s legs shook as he rose to his feet.

              “So, like I said,” Eli’s eyes locked on mine. “Ready when you are, but
now
would be as a good time as any.”

              “Eli, you’re hurt,” I said, reaching toward him.

              “Better hurt than dead, kid,” he ground out, as he backed away from me. “By my count, that was only detonation number five. Those bastards set at least fifteen charges, that I know of, and I’d rather not stick around for the next ten.”

              “Let’s get the hell out of here, then, shall we?” I shouted as I helped Riley to her feet.

              “Lead the way, Liv,” Riley said, absently fingering the welt on her head as she struggled to her feet.

              I pointed to the copse of trees behind the big shed and took off at a clip. Riley’s hand kept slipping from mine, so I directed it to my belt loop. She latched on easily as we wound through small outcropping. I held my free arm up in front of my face, deflecting the whip-like branches that slapped and scraped at my face and neck. Riley, being the shortest of the group, had dodged the majority of the blows, but even she had suffered at the hands of the stripped pine boughs.

              By the time we emerged on the other side of the sticks, we were bloody, battered and weary, but very much alive. We huddled together behind a small brick house for a moment, choking and gasping against the smoke that clung to our throats and lungs. My ribs felt like they were locked in place, refusing to let more than a small trickle of air in to quench the fire in my chest.

              My lungs burned as though I were drowning in boiling water. My vision grew fuzzy at the edges and I teetered on my feet, resisting the urge to faint as I struggled to breathe. The fear that my next breath would not come fast enough was ever present; the pain excruciating. I leaned back against the rough brick wall and toppled to the ground, no longer able to bear my own weight.

              My oxygen deprived brain wandered among the delirious thoughts of fire and leeches, and then to my little brother. I saw the look on his face when he had an attack; fierce and focused. The way his chest rose and fell in rapid bursts while he waited for the medicine to relieve the pressure in his lungs. Beans had suffered countless asthma attacks over the years and he handled each one calmly and with incomprehensible bravery, as if that were the only option. It was the most helpless feeling in the world seeing him struggle like that, knowing there was nothing I could do. I had seen it happen so many times that the imagery was seared into my memory, a video on constant playback.

              A tiny hand clenched around a bright yellow inhaler.

              The rattling sound in his chest as air slowly scraped past his lips.

              The pulsing blue of his wire-thin veins as they bulged beneath his pale skin. His mussed, blond locks glued to his face by sweat and the tears. Quivering lips and chubby little cheeks that puffed with each shaky breath.

             
Find the beat, Lucas
, Dad would whisper as he patted out a slow rhythm on my little brother’s chest. Worry lines dug trenches at my father’s eyes, but he never betrayed the steady calm of his voice as he whispered against that little cheek.
Focus only on your breath, on the air around you. Let it in, son and then set it free…Again. Will yourself to be calm. Decide to be brave.