Runner Series (Book 1): Runner 3 (14 page)

The creature paused for a split second while it looked for the next thing to anger it further.

Audrey made eye contact with Lincoln. He shook his head at her, but she took that moment of hesitation from the Behemoth and swung the blade of her machete behind her back, ignoring the burning ache throbbing in her side. She ran and jumped at the front of the enormous body.

She panicked for a moment when she felt thick fingers grabbing at her and quickly swung her sword down at the back of its neck and cut through the sinewy muscle, taking its head clean off.

She landed on its shoulder and tumbled down its back to the ground, hitting her head on debris.

Her ears were ringing as she watched the monster’s body lurch forward and fall to the ground. It laid in a heap of flesh in the middle of the street. People gathered around it curiously and Audrey closed her eyes.

She rested her cheek against the ground and pictured her family surrounded by a bright light as her vision blurred and faded,
I’m coming.

When Audrey opened her eyes it took her a moment to focus on her surroundings and realize she didn’t die. She peered at the people around her through narrowed eyes and saw two specific types of people in the Commons: people who were frantically trying to leave the area the Behemoth had destroyed and the people who were pushing their way toward it so they could get a better look.

In the short time Audrey had been unconscious the Runners had all converged in the middle of the Commons and were trying to direct people away from the sight.

Audrey looked at the holes from the patches of ripped up pavement. A small group of onlookers who had been injured when the Behemoth flung its arms wildly at the people around were talking to Gemma and Marcella.

Audrey rolled over onto her back and took a deep breath that made her sides burn, “Why did I do that?”

Greg seemed to materialize over her and started checking her with gentle touches on her ribs, “Holy freaking crap, Audrey. What were you thinking taking that thing on? Are you okay?”

“We need to clear people out of here and move this thing out of the open,” she muttered and tried to sit up. “I saw more people headed this way. We need to stop them and get them out of here.”

“
We
have nurses helping us check people who were hurt and
we
will move people away from the area,” Greg pushed her gently back down. “
You
need to lie back down before you hurt yourself.”

“Don’t be an idiot, Greg. I need to go get one of the nurses to help Dean,” Audrey whimpered and clutched her ribs with her forearm. “He’s outside the wall. Help me up.”

“Come on. Audrey, you can’t go out there like this,” Greg put his hand on her shoulder and stopped her from getting up. “Gemma is going to bring a nurse over here. I’ll get Felix and Max and we’ll get Dean while you’re checked out.”

Audrey nodded and watched him walk away from her, “He’s across the street from the hole in the wall.”

She rested her head on the ground and moved around to look at the Behemoth’s lifeless body. The grey skin that covered its back gave off a sulfuric smell that reminded Audrey of rotten eggs. She breathed through her mouth and turned her back to it.

Lincoln limped toward her, but he was stopped multiple times by citizens who wanted who were shaking his hands and patting him on the back. He shook his head when he saw her watching and started ignoring the people around him.

“Are you okay?” he asked when he finally reached her.

She shook her head and held her hand out. He helped her stand up and gingerly placed his arm around her back to help support her weight.

She inhaled sharply when she took her first step, “I feel like I just got hit by a truck. How are you?”

“I shouldn’t really complain. I feel fine except for my ankle,” he answered.

She looked down at his foot and saw swollen purple skin over the top of his sock, “Don’t strain yourself too much. We can sit down if you need to.”

He laughed, “Don’t strain myself? This is coming from a girl who was just knocked out by a street sign wielding monster.”

“I just want to make sure you’re okay,” she grimaced as they walked over rubble.

He led her to the nurses, who were helping Gemma and Marcella with a man who insisted he was in the middle of the fight. Audrey didn’t recognize the women and decided they were nurses who worked at the big clinic by the south gate.

“So, what exactly happened to you?” the nurse asked the man in front with a puzzled look.

“I was trying to kill that thing so it wouldn’t keep hurting people and destroying stuff,” he pointed to the enormous lifeless body. “It ripped up the old stop sign and smacked it right into the group I was in.”

The nurse raised her eyebrows while she looked him over for any bruising and checked to make sure he didn’t have a concussion, “You look like you’re fine to me. Go home and make an appointment with Dr. Searle.”

“He probably didn’t even see what happened,” the nurse shook her head when the man left and shifted her attention to Audrey. “Oh my gosh!”

“I know, nothing wrong with me, right?” Audrey wheezed and winced instead of smiling.

The nurse looked over by the feet of the Behemoth and then back at Audrey, “How are you walking? You were laying there so… Crooked.”

“Well, here I am,” Audrey reached her hand out to the ground and let go of Lincoln so she could sit down.

“We need to get you to the clinic right away,” the nurse insisted. “Hailey, come over here.”

The other nurse rushed over and looked at Audrey, “Let’s get some people to help you down to the Doctor’s office.”

“We’re going to need a bigger place,” the first nurse suggested. “There are quite a few people here who were hurt.”

“We can send a few people to the clinic house,” Hailey said. “I’m seeing more people who just think they’ve been hurt than actually were.”

“How are we going to get everyone down to the clinic?” the first nurse asked.

“There’s a small car by the gate up here,” Audrey interrupted. “The Council leaves it here in case of an emergency.”

“I think this qualifies,” Lincoln said.

“Great, let’s go get it,” Hailey looked at the gate. “Where is it?”

“Behind the guard building by the wall,” Audrey said. “I’ll take you there.

“I think you should stay here,” Gemma’s eyebrows were knit together with worry. “I’ll take them.”

After they left Audrey spotted Felix, Max, and Greg carrying Dean through the now open gate.

“Greg!” she shouted to get his attention. “Bring him here!”

She waved at him so he could see her and waited as they slowly made their way through the remaining crowds.

“Well, here he is,” Felix announced. “We thought he was dead when we first got to him.”

“Yeah, Max said to call it, but I found his pulse and he’s still breathing a little,” Greg told her.

“Gemma is getting the Council’s car,” Audrey told them. “He needs to be put in it so he can be taken to the doctor immediately.”

They slowly lowered Dean to the ground in front of Audrey and headed straight to the area the car was always parked in.

Audrey stared at Dean’s lifeless body. She couldn’t believe he was still alive. She leaned down and touched his face. She was disappointed when he didn’t move, but she knew she shouldn’t just expect him to wake up.

When the small white car drove around the corner there was a layer of dust on it from the recent rain and dust storms.

Lincoln helped Audrey get into the back seat while Greg and Felix carefully helped put Dean in through the door on the other side. Audrey cradled his head in her hands and held it up until he was in all the way. She placed it on her lap and used her shirt to wipe away the blood that was coming from a cut on his forehead.

Lincoln climbed into the passenger seat. The nurse who was driving gave the Runners instructions on how to recognize serious injuries so they would know who to take to the clinic first.

“Hailey will be here to help you, but please don’t send anyone that doesn’t need to be there,” she said firmly.

“Can do boss,” Max thumped the side of the car and walked away.

The nurse sped to the healthcare center where she quickly exited the car to get a wheelchair for Dean.

Dr. Searle at the center where many of the town’s geriatric residents lived, doing his daily rounds to make sure they were still doing well.

“I heard there was an incident,” he said to Lincoln while Dean was pulled from the bench.

“You could say that,” Lincoln transferred Dean into the waiting wheelchair.

“I put some of the elderly patients in rooms together for the day so we can make sure everyone who was injured can be seen,” Dr. Searle led them to an empty room a helped them lift Dean onto the bed, “Oh my, what happened to this boy?”

“A mutated dreg came out of the hospital during the sweep we were doing today,” Audrey recounted what had happened as Lincoln lowered her into the now empty wheelchair. “Dean distracted it and led it away from the workers who were going to place the fence and was injured when it threw him at the wall.”

“It
threw
him?” Dr. Searle questioned, his eyes were full of wonder.

She nodded, “Well, the thing was huge.”

“Yeah, it was probably as big as six people put together,” Lincoln said.

“That’s fascinating,” Dr. Searle said quietly. “You know, I’d love to know the reason why some of the dregs have mutated while others remained mainly useless nuisances.”

“I guess we’ll never know,” Audrey snapped and glared at him. “It’s not like knowing is going to do anything helpful now.”

Dr. Searle raised his eyebrows, “Well, in any case… I’ll have my nurses go up and check anyone else who may have been wounded. I’ll take care of this boy.”

“Jenny,” he turned to the nurse who had driven them to the clinic. “There’s a portable x-ray machine down this hall. I need to make sure he has no broken bones and such. Will you go get it for me while I start a nasal cannula to get his oxygen levels up?”

The woman nodded and exited the room quickly.

“If one of you know who his family is, please inform them of what has happened,” Dr. Searle said stiffly. “And make sure you close the door on your way out.”

“I’ll let them know,” Audrey frowned at Dean.

“I’m going to need to check you out before you go anywhere,” the doctor told her. “Just go to the waiting area and tell the woman at the reception desk that you need to be checked in.”

“Are you doing okay?” Lincoln asked her while he pushed the wheelchair down the hallway to the waiting room.

She nodded, “Just having a bit of a hard time breathing. It kind of hurts.”

“Since they can do x-rays here I know they’ll probably check, but I’d bet you have at least one broken rib,” Lincoln stopped the wheelchair next to a row of padded chairs. “Are you in a lot of pain?”

She shook her head, “How about you? Your foot looks terrible.”

“It’s not too bad. It just hurts to walk a little,” Lincoln looked out the window when a car screeched to a stop in the parking lot.

The driver’s door to vehicle in the parking lot flew open and Mr. Davies exited the car, running into the facility.

“Greg told me Dean was hurt,” he said when he spotted Audrey.

She nodded her head, “The doctor is taking care of him now. He’s in the fourth room on the left down the hall.”

“Was anyone else hurt?” Mr. Davies asked.

“There are nurses at the Commons checking people out right now, there might be a few who will need to be brought to the care center later, but—”

“I’m going to go check on Dean. We can talk more later,” he interrupted Audrey and hurried down the hall without another word.

Audrey sucked in a shallow breath and rested her head on the back of her chair, “Dean has to be alright.”

“Why did he try to distract it?” Lincoln wondered aloud. “He shouldn’t have brought it to the wall either.”

“It was headed towards the community even without Dean’s help,” Audrey pointed out.

“I guess you’re right,” Lincoln sighed and stood up, “I have to head back up to the Commons so they have the car to use for anyone else who might be hurt.”

“Oh, okay,” Audrey’s frowned, disappointed that he wasn’t going to stay with her.

“When I get back with more people I’ll have one of the other Runners take it back up for anyone else while I stay with you,” Lincoln offered.

“Okay, I’ll see you when you get back,” she looked out the window to the empty parking lot.

He walked quickly out the front door to the healthcare center and sped away in the small white sedan.

Audrey took in a deep breath and cringed at the smell of hospital grade antiseptics. It reminded her of her house after her mother found out her dad had been working with a group on a second treatment for the virus.

“We need to keep our home as sterile as possible,” her mother told Audrey while she scrubbed the bathroom with a toothbrush and spray bottle full of cleaning solution.

“We can probably just wipe things down with antibacterial wipes,” Audrey rolled her eyes. “It’s not like Dad is going to bring the virus home with him.”

“Better safe than sorry,” her mom countered.

Just over half a year later the smell still made Audrey feel sick. It was a constant reminder that she was alone. That’s why she avoided working in the clinics as much as she possibly could when she did her daily tasks.

She looked around the waiting room. There were plastic plants that stood in pots by tables that held magazines that were no longer printed. She pulled herself up out of the wheelchair and wheezed while she walked across the room to retrieve one of the outdated glossy paged volumes of
Cosmopolitan
.

She moaned in relief when she dropped into the chair next to the side table and picked up the purple magazine.