Sanctuary (22 page)

Wiping the tears from her cheeks, Jennie set Mickey down on the stool near the window. His eyes were rolling in overwhelming fear, and he couldn’t focus on her. She patted him on the cheek in an attempt to gain his attention. “Mickey. You have to listen to me. I need to go help Pastor Billy and Mr. Hugh, okay? Stay here.”

“No!” he screamed and wrapped his arms around her neck.

She peeled his arms away and held them at his sides. His face was wet with tears and snot ran over his top lip. “You have to. I can’t carry them in here and you. Don’t you want me to go help them?”

His eyes squeezed shut for a moment, and when he opened them, he nodded.

“I need you to be strong, okay? Stay here and help Mrs. Crawford. She needs your help, okay?”

“Okay.” He hopped down from the stool and leaned over the prostrate woman. With a pat on the shoulder, he repeated, “It’s okay, Mrs. Crawford. Everything is going to be all right.”

Jennie wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans and stood straight. She started for the door and pressed her palm on the cold brass handle. She didn’t feel the comfort she’d had last time, but she prayed and pulled the door open anyway.

The cold air hit her the minute she pulled the door in. The sky had grown darker and threatened another rain storm. She stepped forward and pulled the door shut behind her. Ahead of her, four aliens snuffled around in the grass and in the doorway of the mess hall. She wouldn’t be able to get to Hugh without making it past them.

She never let her eyes drop from the Shisa and felt her way to Pastor Billy. She grabbed him under his shoulders and backed to the chapel door, hoping that Mrs. Crawford might see what she was doing and open it for her. His two-hundred-pound bulk made her feet slip a few times on the stone steps, but she refused to look at him or drop her eyes from the aliens. They had ignored her so far, but she feared what they might do if she turned her back on them.

She could do better than hope. “Mrs. Crawford, I’m coming in with your husband! Please open the door for me!”

The door made the grinding creak behind her, and it gave her a second wind. She dragged Pastor Billy with his head against her chest. The moment his feet cleared the threshold, Mrs. Crawford shut the door. Breathing heavily from the exertion, Jennie finally took the chance to look down at Pastor Billy. He’d been bitten on the shoulder, and his jacket was both ripped and bloody from the attack.

Jennie swallowed hard and wondered if the wound would be fatal on its own. If Hugh’s theory was correct, then Pastor Billy could survive this if he had no fatal injury. She grabbed Mrs. Crawford by the shoulders and forced the woman to look at her. “You have to dress this wound. Do your best. He might not die from this injury. You are the only one who can save him right now. You hear?”

Her brown eyes were wide and glistened with tears that spilled over her eyelids. She nodded hesitantly and said, “But isn’t it too late. If he’s infected, won’t he die?”

“Hugh—” Jennie started, but a sob came up the moment she said his name. She swallowed it back and continued, “Hugh said that if we can keep him from a fatal injury and from being bitten again, he might have a chance to survive the infection.”

Mrs. Crawford’s eyes sparkled with understanding, and she shot to her feet. “I’ve got some blankets with the clothes in the back. I’ll get them.”

“Make sure you have enough for Hugh, too. I’m going to get him.”

Mrs. Crawford stopped midstride. “Jennie. You can do it. Don’t doubt like…like Billy did.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Mickey patted on Pastor Billy’s uninjured shoulder and repeated, “It’s okay, Pastor Billy. Everything is going to be okay.” At least this time, his tears seemed to have dried up. Mickey stayed focused on his self-appointed task.

“Good job, Mickey. You’re doing great. Keep it up. Keep encouraging the Crawfords. I’ll be right back.”

He smiled at her and nodded.

She stood again. Before opening the door, she started to psyche herself up. She needed to remind herself to keep relying on God. Even though this was the third time she’d face the lions, it was by no talent of her own that she could do it. If she lost her focus on God, they would attack her, and of that she was certain. Focus. Faith. And she opened the door again.

Hugh

Hugh woke and felt th
e
searing pain between his shoulder blades. He attempted to pull himself up, but his left leg screamed. Ignoring the pain, he heaved himself up by leaning on the stainless steel countertop. Panting, he could barely catch his breath, and sweat dripped from his chin. The cold countertop helped alleviate his hot skin, but nothing could help his headache. Where were Jennie and her brother? The pain seared his head, and his gaze swung around the room. He had to find them.

The kitchen door swung in and banged against the cooler he had set in front of the door. He grabbed the knife on the counter and pointed it at the door.

“Hugh?” Jennie’s voice had never been so welcome.

“I’m here.” His voice sounded dry, hoarse.

Her head appeared around the door. Her brown hair was a complete mess, and her eyes were rimmed with red from crying. Hugh had never seen anything more beautiful. She sucked in her breath and covered her mouth when she saw him but quickly composed herself. “I’ve got to get you out of here. We need to tend to your wounds and get you someplace safe before…”

“Right. Before I turn.”

Her lips drew into a tight line, and she walked up to him and put herself under his left shoulder. He’d expected her to show some sort of squirreliness about the blood, but she didn’t think twice about pressing her arm against the wet, sticky mess on his back. The smell of her lilac shampoo overcame the copper smell of his blood.

“How did you…where is your brother?”

“I took him to the chapel where he’d be safe. I’m going to take you there now, too.”

“So the Shisa are gone then?”

“No.”

“But, how?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. But if I just place my trust in God and walk through the crowd of aliens, they ignore me. I also know that if you just trust me, they won’t attack you, either. But you have to trust me and keep going. If you give in to fear, they’ll assail us both.”

“You mean that if I don’t trust you, you’ll be attacked, too?”

“Yes.”

“How could you possibly know that?”

“I don’t know. I just do.” She turned her head, so that she could look into his eyes. “Will you trust me?”

He swallowed hard and nodded, trying to give her a smile. “With my life. Apparently.”

She returned his smile, and they started the slow progress through the mess hall. Each step was painful, and he hated that he needed to lean on her so hard. She never complained, and she never stopped to rest. Her resolute nature endeared her to him all the more.

When they reached the doorway, the sky had grown dark. The wind had picked up and blew through the evergreens’ treetops, causing a roar that could barely be heard over the buzz created by the Shisa. Three of them rushed toward the mess hall door. Two passed them and continued down the road, but one slowed. It had caught sight of them.

“Don’t stop. We need to keep going.” Jennie said, pushing on Hugh’s back a little with her palm.

Although his feet wanted to stick to the step, he let her help him forward. His eyes never left the Shisa. It regarded them for a moment and took one step in their direction. Thunder struck nearby, and the alien shook its head, making a high pitched whine momentarily before bounding after the other two it had been with. Wind blew a dancing plastic bag past— a modern tumbleweed. The street was empty, and the sky was about to open up and pour on them. “Wait,” he said, his voice growing hoarser. “I think they are gone.”

“We still need to hurry. Rain is coming.”

“Right, but take me to the quarantine building. It’s this way.” He twisted his body a bit to the left rather than right. It was only a few buildings down. He could make it there.

“Okay.” Beads of sweat beaded on her forehead, even though the temperature had dropped ten degrees. His blood had smeared her cheek, but she didn’t rub it. Her eyes were focused on the building ahead of them. Determination was written all over her face.

Before they reached the step of the yellow quarantine building, the clouds opened up, and the rain started to fall. Hugh’s hot skin welcomed the cooling water, but he worried that Jennie might get chilled. She hopped forward on the concrete steps and pulled the door open. They entered in, and the man at the counter panicked the minute he saw Hugh’s blood. “You can’t bring him in here!”

Hugh ignored him and raised his voice in a commanding tone. “Soldier! My name is Hugh Harris. I need to place a call to Colonel Wesley.” He held out his hand.

“I…I don’t have clearance to contact him.” The soldier gripped the communicator in his fist.

“I do.”

With furrowed brows, the soldier placed the communicator in his outstretched hand. Hugh turned the knob on the top to the right frequency and pressed the button. “Colonel, this is Hugh Harris. I’ve been infected. Can I get a quarantine room on the experimentation floor?”

“Where are you, Harris?”

“In the lobby.”

“I’ll send a team down there to collect you.”

“Yes, sir.” Hugh handed the communicator back to the soldier and looked at the girl who held him up like a crutch. He leaned against the wall and pulled his arm from Jennie. She took a step back. Her eyes were filled with worry. The blood—was it his or had she been... “Are you injured at all?”

Jennie shook her head, flinging droplets of water from her wet hair. She bit her lip and held her hands out in the way you would for a toddler taking his first steps. He smiled. She would try to catch him even if he was almost twice her weight.

The elevator dinged and three orderlies dressed in green scrubs exited with an armed soldier. They approached Hugh and Jennie with a gurney. Her eyes were wide and full of worry. “Can I stay with him?”

The nearest orderly, a gruff gorilla of a man pulled down his mask and smiled at her. His white teeth shone. “No, I’m afraid not. Mr. Harris will be in quarantine for five days. After that time, if he is healthy, you can visit him.”

“Five days?” Her brow wrinkled.

“Yes, ma’am.” He nodded, and the three of them grasped Hugh and lifted him onto the gurney. They moved his leg, and he clenched his jaw to keep from screaming in pain.

“It will be okay, Jennie. I’ll have them send for you as soon as I’m clear.”

She took his hand for a moment, and her soft fingers gripped his. Hugh looked up into her round face and saw the tears running down to her lips. What it would feel like to kiss them? She was so young. Too young for him. Why did he feel this way about her?

They began to move the gurney toward the elevator, and she walked with them for a few steps, refusing to let go of his hand. “I’ll be waiting.”

Her fingers grew limp and released his. Hugh looked into the eyes of the large orderly with the wide smile. “Her name is Jennie Ransom. She’ll be at the chapel. Don’t forget to inform her.”

After leaning to press a button on the elevator, the man winked at Jennie and said, “Don’t worry. We will.”

Brad

Rain beat on the glas
s
, and Brad was stuck in front of the window. The story that unfolded outside had been unbelievable. Darkness descended on the military base so quickly  he could just make out Jennie’s light blue jacket during a lightning flash as she darted from the quarantine compound back to the chapel. With the rain barreling down on her as it did, he wondered why she needed to make it back to the church so badly.

“It looks like the coast is clear.” Sarah said in her husky voice, softly taking hold of his shoulder. “Want to get back to what we were doing?”

He clenched and unclenched his jaw, looking at her sideways. Her black hair fell in soft waves to her bare shoulders. Suddenly her red lipstick was less interesting than it had been a few days ago. It was getting time to move on again. But where would he go? Her bed was soft, and he never needed to worry about where things were or how to get them. She took care of it and him. It was nice to be taken care of.

Maybe he’d stick it out a little longer.

Jennie

Jennie was chilled to th
e
bone when she finally opened the door to the chapel and let herself in. Her teeth chattered, and a steady drip fell to the floor from her jacket. With stiff fingers, she unzipped it and peeled it from her like a second skin.

“Jennie, honey, let me get you a towel.” Mrs. Crawford looked back to some semblance of normal. Her eye make-up had run down her cheeks, and her hair was out of place, but her expression took on its more usual calm. Having duties to fulfill had definitely helped Jennie find solid ground on which to stand, and it seemed to be helping Mrs. Crawford, too.