Rage Within (8 page)

Michael nodded, lowering his bat. “Yeah, you’re cool.” He glanced over at Clementine and she gave him a half smile.

“Thanks.” The guy relaxed but still kept a good distance between them. “Anyway, I’m just looking for keys. See that body there.” He pointed to an older Asian gentleman who was lying facedown in a pool of blood. “That’s Professor Harvey Yuen. Brilliant man. I guess not anymore. He’s the head of chemistry and I was hoping I’d be able to find something. Two days ago, back when he was alive, he had the keys in his trousers. Wouldn’t let us go near the lab, though. Said it was too dangerous. The lady beside him, the pretty girl, Carol, she is, I mean
was,
his assistant. We were all holed up together until yesterday.”

“What happened?” Clementine asked.

“I don’t know. I woke up and they were gone. No note. Nothing. I’m assuming they went to try and find some food. We were running low. Why they didn’t wake me or anyone
else is beyond me. I would have come. I should be lying there too, with them.”

“I’m sorry,” Clementine said.

“Yeah, well, that doesn’t bring them back,” he said. “And I wasn’t stealing from them. I’d never do such a thing. Never.”

A loud bang came from across the room. Michael immediately grabbed the kerosene lamp. The light flickered and then disappeared, pitching them straight into blackness.

Clementine’s heart jumped into her throat. She reached around blindly in the dark until she found her baseball bat. Michael’s hand found her shoulder and grabbed hold.

Something crashed and glass shattered. Someone had just broken the window of one of the study rooms. A voice shrieked and another voice matched it.

A quick burst of laughter.

“Is it them?” she whispered.

“We’ve got to get out of here, and fast,” Michael said.

“Follow me,” the chem student said. “I know a way out.”

Clementine found Michael’s hand in the darkness and wrapped her fingers around his warmth. He squeezed back. They were in agreement.

“Let’s do it,” Michael said.

ARIES

They arrived back at the house just before dusk. Mason didn’t say much. He removed his helmet and dropped it on the ground. He was walking away before she even got off the bike herself. Rushing, she struggled with her own safety gear in order to catch up with him. When she finally matched his stride, they were already halfway down the street.

Because of safety reasons, they didn’t actually park the motorcycle close by the hideout; instead they stopped several blocks away, hid it behind a bush, and then took a complicated route through backyards and a high school football field before arriving at their actual destination.

Better safe than sorry.

The hideout—she’d never be able to think of it any other way—was a big suburban house off King Edward Avenue. Whoever had lived there before must have been doing pretty darn good in the money department. Aries had always dreamed of living in a million-dollar mansion, she just never thought it would happen this particular way. The house was comprised of several bedrooms and just as many bathrooms. The kitchen was massive, with big copper pots and giant bay
windows that let in the morning light. The fridge was big enough for someone to actually live in. There was a walk-in pantry that was now crammed full of as many canned goods as they were able to snag from the nearest Safeway, and the blinds were always pulled down so no one could look inside. There was no electricity or running water, but they were all used to that by now.

It was a pretty decent hideout as far as these things went. It was big enough that they could have some of their own space and comfortable enough that no one actually wanted to move on. It’s not like they’d ever be able to find absolute safety anyway. Compared to the last building, with its caved-in roof and smelly blankets, this place was apocalyptic heaven.

That worried Aries. She knew it still wasn’t safe and that one of these days they’d have to leave without warning. It was hard to walk away from this sort of luxury, especially when they’d had so little. Staying in one place for too long was never safe either. Everyone had pretty much agreed to that. But the house had already made them a little reckless. They were sacrificing caution for comfort. Even Aries caught herself doing it.

And she didn’t want to be trapped again. The last time was too terrifying. Sometimes she’d sit in the living room, staring blankly at the sixty-inch flat screen that didn’t work and wondering when the flaming Molotov cocktail might fly from a Bagger’s hand and crash through the front room window.

When they came to the corner, Mason and Aries crouched between a front porch and some overgrown bushes desperately in need of a trim. They would spend at least five minutes studying the street before moving on. That was one of their top rules—standard operating procedure. She didn’t want to
be the one who might accidentally lead the Baggers into their safety blanket.

“There’s no one on watch,” Mason said with a frown. “Who the hell isn’t doing their job?” From their hiding spot they could see the black monster SUV, the secret place from where someone was constantly supposed to be watching the street. They had a schedule. The area was meant to be under twenty-four-hour surveillance.

But the vehicle was empty.

“Who else,” she said with a sigh. “I believe it’s Colin’s turn.”

“That idiot’s going to get us killed.”

She nodded. “I’ll talk with him.”

Mason shrugged. “Don’t even bother. I’m up for the next shift in a bit. Let me grab something to eat, and then I’ll get out there.”

“About earlier,” she began. Her eyes were still a little sore from crying and she wished she had a mirror to see if her cheeks were splotchy.

“Nothing happened,” Mason said without looking at her. “We went in, we went out. A good time was had by all.”

She smiled. “Thanks.”

“Anytime. Shall we go?”

She brushed off some leaves and an ant that was making steady progress up her arm. “Yep. Let’s cruise before I get spiders in my hair or something equally disgusting.”

“Can’t have that.”

It didn’t take long to cut across a few lawns and head around to the back to jump a couple of fences, skirt past a leaf- and bug-infested pool, and trample a rose bed. A few minutes later they were safe and at the back door. Aries knocked three times, paused, and then knocked three more times. Their secret code. Someone peeked through the blinds and Aries
smiled and waved at Joy Woo, her high school friend from their former lives.

“You’re back,” Joy said as she opened the door. She was holding a spatula and wearing an apron that made some silly sexual reference to how golf and cooking really heated things up. Aries didn’t quite get it, but she wasn’t a golfer or a chef. Must be an inside joke.

Mason nodded and mumbled a hello. He put his hand briefly on Aries’s shoulder before pushing past Joy and into the kitchen. He tossed the motorcycle keys down on the table and headed through to the living room. Aries heard his feet on the stairs as he went straight for his bedroom. He was the only one besides Colin who preferred to sleep alone and away from the group.

“Anything good?” Joy’s eyes searched her carefully.

“Nada,” Aries said. “But it was expected.”

Joy nodded. Earlier that morning Aries had asked her if she wanted to take the trip back to her home too. Joy had declined the offer even though she had three brothers and a sister she hadn’t seen since the night of the earthquakes. Her reasoning was simple, although Aries had thought it was a bit cowardly. If they were dead, Joy didn’t want to see their bodies.

“My sanity is better off not knowing. At least this way I can picture them still healthy and alive and not the other way around.”

There was a certain amount of intelligence in Joy’s reasoning now that Aries had her answer. Would she have been better off not knowing?

No, if it gave her nightmares and the inability to sleep at night, she’d survive. She’d had her breakdown back in her bedroom. Although it had been hard, she still felt less heavy
than she had this morning. She could move on now.

“So you found nothing?” Joy closed the door and locked the dead bolt.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Aries said. Her eyes burned and the tears threatened to come back. Blinking hard, she fought to keep them away. “There was some blood, though, so I’m going to say it’s probably best to assume my parents are dead.”

“Oh, hon, I’m so sorry,” Joy said as she threw her arms around Aries.

“Don’t be,” Aries said. “It was to be expected. I just needed closure. Now I have it.” She forced a yawn. “I’m beat. Gonna go lay down for a bit if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” Joy said, waving her spatula. “I’ll call you when it’s time to eat. Kinda doing a potluck surprise thingie. We’ll have to do a grocery trek soon. We’ve run out of everything decent. There are only so many things I can do with stewed tomatoes and macaroni noodles. And I’m running low on propane for the camping stove. If we don’t find any soon, it’ll be cold canned tomatoes and uncooked noodles. Bleh.”

“I hear ya, sister.”

She left Joy in the kitchen to finish preparing their canned meal of the evening and decided to stick her head in the living room before going upstairs.

Nathan and his sister, Eve, were sitting on the couch. Colin sat in one of the big chairs, playing a video game on one of those ancient Game Boy Advances that ran on batteries. The theme music for Super Mario filled the room. Someone had found the Game Boy a few days ago and everyone had gotten excited over it. In a new world where iPods, PlayStations, and Xboxes no longer worked, finding something that ran on regular batteries was a godsend.

In the middle of the room stood Brandi, an older woman
who was hiding out in another home a few streets down. Since their arrival a few weeks ago, they’d discovered others taking refuge from the Baggers. Brandi ran a safe house with a bunch of people, mostly adults in their thirties and forties. Another group of survivors a few blocks down had Graham, a father in his forties who was lucky enough to have his entire family intact. He was taking care of his wife, his kid, and his elderly mother and father along with a few other people who had found him along the way.

Aries, Graham, and Brandi went out of their way to visit each other every other day or so. It helped being in contact. And if one of them got some information, they were able to pass it on.

“Good to see you, sweetie,” Brandi said when Aries entered the room. “Just popped my head in to say hello.”

“Any news?” Aries asked.

“Got something, maybe,” Brandi said. “I was telling it to Nathan and Eve here. Ran into another guy this morning. Bit flaky and didn’t smell very good, but that didn’t seem to bother him. He’s in a safe house over by the London Drugs on Forty-first. Said they’ve got a doctor. Can you believe it? A doctor! I’m dreaming. I’m going to try and head out there tomorrow. If I can find them, do you want me to see if he’ll come and check out your friend Jack?”

“That would be wonderful,” Aries said.

“You’ve got it,” Brandi said. “But I’m not going to hold my breath, and I wouldn’t either if I were you. Like I said, the guy was kinda odd. Smoked away too many brain cells if you ask me. Graham tends to believe most of the doctors have been rounded up already. I kinda agree with him.”

“Why do you think they’re rounding up people like the doctors specifically?” Nathan asked as he unzipped his jacket
halfway. Inside was just as cold as outside these days and winter coats had become the lounging norm for the living room.

“I don’t know,” Brandi said. “But they’re not asking people to go downtown for the good of their health, regardless of what that damn message says. I think they’re looking for people of certain skills. If you’ve got it, you’re good enough to live. Or not.”

“Clementine said something about that,” Aries agreed. “When she was in Seattle she ran into a guy at the university. He said that the Baggers came and rounded up a bunch of people. The rest they killed.”

“But what makes someone good enough to live?” Eve asked. “I mean, what are the qualifications? I can’t do anything. I’m pretty useless.”

“Don’t say that, sweetie,” Brandi said. “Everyone has their good points. I’ll bet yours are better than most.”

Eve nodded, but Aries could tell she wasn’t convinced.

“My guess is the younger you are, the better your chances,” Brandi continued. “Youth is easier to mold. Aside from Graham’s kid, I haven’t come across any young ones since this all started. That means something in my book.”

“Of course doctors would be useful,” Nathan said. “And people with certain skills, like electricians, welders, carpenters, stuff like that. If they’re planning on fixing things. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before the Baggers decide to turn the power back on.”

“And get the phones and Internet working,” Aries said, thinking of Clementine’s brother, Heath, who was studying computer programming. “Don’t forget the hot water. I’m sure I’m not the only one who would kill to have a shower.”

“My father wanted me to be a plumber,” Brandi said. “When he was drunk he used to make cracks about how
everyone would want to hire a gal named Brandi to fix their pipes.” She laughed when Colin looked up from his video game, a look of shock on his face. “Yeah, he was a bit of a sexist pig.”

“Either way,” Aries said as she stifled a yawn. “We can’t make it easy for them. We can’t let the Baggers find us.”

“Amen, sister,” Brandi said. “And on that note, I should head home. Don’t want to turn into a pumpkin. The gals will get mad if I’m not back exactly when I said I would be. Say hello to the others. And you, my dear, should take a nap. You look exhausted.”

“Will do,” Aries said. She got up to follow Brandi to the door, but the older woman shook her off.

“Don’t need guest status,” she said. “I can find my own way out.”

Aries hung out in the living room for a few more minutes, but no one had anything new to report. Clementine and Michael were still at the university, but they probably wouldn’t be back for a few more hours. No need to worry just yet.