Текст книги "Ravenous"
Автор книги: Erika Stevens
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Текущая страница: 14 (всего у книги 14 страниц)
My feet hit the water; I was plunged in up to my knees. For one brief, horrifying moment, my eyes met Cade’s wide eyed gaze. For one brief, clarifying moment I knew true, and heart stopping, dismay. “Cade.” His name was just a whisper on my lips, a bare breath that even I barely heard, but I knew that he had somehow. I was jerked to my feet again as Cade cut the rope.
A scream of agony and fear swelled up my chest, choked through my throat, and tore out of me. “No!” I wailed as I fell into the ocean. I scrambled to my feet, crashing into the surf, trying to catch Cade as he disappeared from sight.
“No! Caaaaade!!!!”
I was so focused on him that I didn’t see the other tentacle coming at me until it knocked me off my feet.
CHAPTER 18
I didn’t know what happened after that, didn’t know where I was. Hands grasped at me, pulling me from the water, carrying me somewhere. I wasn’t handled roughly, but there was a hurried urgency to the hands that was disconcerting and frightening. I couldn’t quite make sense of anything; I didn’t know where I was. Time came in and out in flashing blurs that left me disoriented and confused.
At times I was certain that no time had passed, at others I felt as if an eternity had slipped by. Yet, through it all I was acutely aware of one fact and one fact alone.
Cade was gone.
He had cut the rope. He had been ripped away. He had been taken by those awful creatures. He was gone. He was probably dead.
In those moments of utter clarity the pain of his loss was so intense that it was all consuming, and debilitating. Agony would flare through me, it would sear me with its intensity and I would once again lose myself to the world of delirium and denial that enshrouded me.
And then one day, I awoke. At first I wanted to return to oblivion, wanted to lose myself to the world of delirium and denial. But I couldn’t. I had to face the facts, I had to face reality. I couldn’t simply curl into a ball and die like a part of me so badly wanted to. It hurt to breathe; my heart was a broken vessel that only served to pump blood through my veins. But it continued to pump, I continued to breathe, and apparently the world was still turning. It was time that I rejoined it.
I found myself in a small room, one that I didn’t recognize, and one that I couldn’t begin to place. I frowned as I stared at the dingy white walls, gray concrete floor, and ceiling fan spinning ever so slowly above me. I was on a metal table; a thin mattress had been placed upon it.
What the hell?
I sat up slowly, wincing as I swung my legs over the side. Pain ran up my left leg, it lanced across my hips and waist. I was wearing a shirt that I didn’t recognize and a lose pair of sweats that were most definitely not mine. I pulled the shirt gingerly up, my mouth dropping slightly as I took in the long red wound marring my skin and the stitches holding it together. Pulling the pants down, I was not surprised to see a bandage covering my hip and upper thigh.
What had happened to me?
My eyebrows drew tightly together as I tried to ponder the answer to that question, but it completely eluded me, as did my location.
Bracing myself I slipped off the table. I winced as pain shot up my left side, but I was able to support my weight. The floor was cool beneath my bare feet as I crept toward the closed door. I bit on my lip, frightened by what I might find on the other side, but I had no choice. I knew Cade was gone, but where was my family? I needed to find them, they might need my help.
Although it was obvious that I had most certainly not been much help lately.
My hand trembled slightly on the knob; I held my breath as I pulled it slowly open. I placed an eye to the crack, peering out on a long, vacant hall. I blinked in surprise, trying to place what was stretching before me, but unable to do so. I shuffled slowly forward, moving past the few closed doors before coming across one that was cracked open. I hesitated, my hand resting against the cool steel as I pushed it slowly open.
My eyes widened in surprise, horror pooled through me as my mouth dropped open. A scream of terror burned its way up my throat; I could hardly breathe through the tight constriction that encased my chest. I had seen many horrible things in my life, but this had to be one of the worst.
“You’re awake.”
I jumped in surprise, stumbling slightly as I spun toward the voice on my right. My breath exploded from me, my hand flew instinctively to my wound as the abrupt movement caused pain to flare hotly through me. It was not a monster beside me, or at least he appeared completely human, but after what I had just seen I wasn’t so sure I could trust my own eyes anymore. The aliens appeared human too, had I been captured? I swallowed heavily, finding it exceptionally difficult to breathe. “Yes.”
I don’t know why I had bothered to respond, it was obvious that I was awake, I was standing here after all. “How are you feeling?”
I studied the tall man, weary as to what the hell was going on. He appeared to be in his mid to late thirties. His wavy brown hair had hints of grey at the temples; his grey eyes were wide behind the horn rimmed glasses he wore. He appeared friendly, personable even, but with what was inside that room I couldn’t even begin to feel at ease.
“Ok,” I said softly, unable to stop my eyes from darting back toward the door.
“You were wounded pretty badly.”
“My brother and sister?”
“They just went upstairs to eat. They’ve been sitting by your side for the past week.” A weekI had been out of it for a week? “They’ll be relieved to see you up.”
I’d be relieved to see them and find out just what the hell was going on around here. “Where am I?” I asked softly.
He gave me a sad, understanding smile. “A fish warehouse in Wareham.”
“The aliens?” My eyes darted involuntarily back toward the door next to me.
“They haven’t found us.”
I heard the unspoken yet at the end of his sentence. Finally, I was unable to take it any longer. “What is going on in there?” I demanded.
He quirked an eyebrow, then his gaze darted toward the door. “Oh. Well we’re trying to see what has caused The Freezing.” I frowned at him, my eyebrows drew sharply together. “Come.”
I winced as he opened the door, revealing the horror within again. He moved swiftly into the room, apparently immune to the dreadfulness of what lay within. I stared into the room, fighting back the rising nausea sweeping through me. There were rows of people within the room, at least twenty of them from what I could see. They were all frozen in various positions, all of them trapped within their bodies. Though I knew it wasn’t true, I felt as if their eyes followed me when I moved hesitantly into the room.
“Are they still alive?” I managed to croak out.
He glanced back at me as he stopped by a child. A child. Of course I knew that children had been affected by this, I had seen them before, but not this close. The young girl, with her brown hair in a ponytail, her head tilted back, and her small hand reaching out toward something that was not there tore at my heart.
Tears burned my eyes, but even more than that I could feel a swelling surge of fury growing within my chest. I walked slowly toward the little girl, taking in her innocent features, and the small smile that curved her mouth. A smile that was completely out of place given the circumstances. She could almost be a perfect, life sized doll, a part of me wanted to believe that she was, another part wanted to destroy the things that had done this to her.
“We haven’t figured that out yet.”
I glanced back toward the man, for a moment I had forgotten he was even there. “Have you figured out anything?”
“We think we know how the people were chosen.”
My eyes widened in surprise, my mouth parted slightly. “How?” I breathed.
“The people that are still moving all have one thing in common.”
“And that is?”
“We all have type O blood.”
I blinked in surprise, my eyes narrowed for a brief moment, my hands fisted at my sides. My mind flashed back to biology class three years ago when we had typed our own blood. I’d already known my blood type by then, as I’d received plenty of it when I’d been in the hospital after the car accident. My father had been O, my mother was A, and apparently everyone unmoving within this room was some other type too.
Everyone, except for me.
Swallowing heavily, I focused my attention back on the man. “How do you know this?” I asked softly.
He shrugged, looking slightly frazzled as he ran a hand through his disheveled hair. “I’ve tested everyone within this building; they all have type O blood. The people trapped in this state do not.”
His gaze was piercing as he studied me, his arms folded over his chest. “Are you a doctor or something?” I asked softly.
“I am, though until this happened most of my work was focused upon research.”
“What kind of research?”
We both knew I was stalling but I was hesitant to meet his penetrating gaze. Hesitant to confirm what we both already knew. He was a doctor, he had probably saved my life, and yet I felt trapped. I felt pinned beneath the weight of his stare. “I was studying cystic fibrosis, but when the aliens arrived I began to research them. I wanted to learn more about them.”
“ Didyou learn anything about them?”
“Not much more than we already knew.” I shifted slightly, my gaze turning slowly back toward the young child. “I have discovered that they do not immediately kill everyone they take.”
My eyes snapped back to him, I took an involuntary step forward as excitement spurted through me. If he was right, if what he said was true then there was still a chance, no matter how small, that Cade was alive. I was tingling, alive with excitement, terrified to put too much hope into his words, terrified of what he would say next, but I could not contain the desire that tore through me. “How do you know that?” I demanded.
“They drain some of them on sight.” I shuddered, nodding as I recalled the man on the street. “And some of the others they take with them. I believe they store them for later.”
I was repulsed by the notion; my stomach heaved and flipped with nausea. But I was also tingling with excitement; hope was pulsing through my whole body. “Are you saying Cade could still be alive?”
His eyes became sympathetic, but there was a steeliness in his gaze that left me slightly numb. “I believe that is highly unlikely.”
“But it could be possible,” I pressed, unwilling to let the hope go.
“It could, but you would do better to let that thought go. It would be better if you moved on.”
I couldn’t look at him anymore. How could I simply move on? The thought caused a lancing slash of agony to tear through my heart. The action of doing so may very well destroy me. “If there’s a chance…”
“How would you get to him? What would you do? You don’t even know where he is, where to begin looking for him. There is no chance that you will be able to find him.”
I gaped at the man before me, hating his words, hating him for saying them, resentful of the fact that they may be true. And yet…
I knew I wasn’t going to just give up. I neverwould. If there was even a small chance that Cade was still alive, then I was going to continue to look for him. He had sacrificed himself for me, and I was going to do everything I could to get him back. He would do the same for me.
I focused on the little girl again, my mind churning as I tried to sort through the tangled thoughts and emotions jumbling it. If he was alive, what the hell were they doing to him? I was horrified by the thought, my head bowed beneath the weight of my emotions and fear. I could have saved Cade, if he hadn’t cut that line I could have saved him if he’d given me the chance. He had sacrificed himself for me; I had to save him now. There hadto be a way to find him.
“Do you know what your blood type is Bethany?”
I had to force myself to look at the doctor again. His watery grey eyes were focused, hard; there was an intense speculative gleam in them that made me feel like I was pinned under a microscope. “You could be wrong about the blood type. O is the most common…”
“But everyone here, that is still moving, has it including your siblings. I could be wrong, but the possibilities of this not being our uniting factor are very slim. Even if it is the most common blood type, there would be others here with a different type. There might be more than just the blood component involved, but it is the most significant tie that I have found. Doyou know your blood type?”
I was well aware of my blood type, I had been for years. “Yes.”
“You were hurt badly enough that you required a blood transfusion when you arrived here. I wasn’t going to type you because everyone else has been O. Even though you were still able to take your siblings blood, your brother informed me that you were not.”
I leaned slightly back, rocking lightly on my heels. I refused to look away from him, I forced myself to meet and hold his steady gaze. “No, I’m not.”
He continued to study me, his eyes narrowed. “I would like to run some other tests on you, if you would let me.”
“What kind of tests?”
“Some genetic tests. There may be something in your blood that’s different, something in your genetic makeup that is not the same as the others, something that made you immune when others weren’t.”
“You’re immune too.”
“But you’re different.” There was a glow in his eyes, a light that slightly unnerved me. He seemed a little too eager to start poking and prodding me. “You’re different than the rest of us here. Don’t you want to help if you can?”
“Of course I do!” I protested hotly, realizing only too late that I had just given him the reaction he had been angling for.
“Good, good. There may be something…”
His words drifted off as the door creaked open. Relief and joy filled me when Aiden popped his head around the corner. A small cry of delight escaped me. I hurried past the doctor toward my brother. He grinned at me, holding his arms wide as he easily caught me and lifted me off the ground. “Finally,” he breathed happily. I clung to Aiden, needing his solid reassurance right now. “You ok Bethany?”
“Yes.” It was a lie, we both knew that, but it was a lie we clung to for now. Abby stepped into the doorway with Bret close behind her. They embraced me gingerly, wearier of my wounds than Aiden had been, though Bret clung to me for a moment longer than I would have liked. “Are you guys ok?”
“Perfectly fine,” Abby assured me.
“What happened?” I asked softly.
“You don’t remember?”
I didn’t want to remember, everything in me shied away from those last moments on the beach. “No.”
“One of those things got a hold of you, but thankfully the rebellion had been in the woods when we reached land. They were able to fight it off. You were hurt pretty bad, but the doc took care of you so you’ll be ok.”
I managed a small smile for Abby, but I was certain that I was never going to be ok again. “The rebellion?” I asked quietly.
“There are about sixty people upstairs, eight are soldiers, and the rest are survivors. They have a fair amount of weapons, and it’s relatively safe.”
“For now,” I muttered. Abby’s eyes were soft as she squeezed my arm.
I had the crushing feeling that too much time had passed, felt as if it was all slipping rapidly through my fingers, but I didn’t know how to stop it. But it had to be stopped; it had to be changed, somehow.
“You have to be hungry,” Abby said softly drawing my attention back to her. “We’ve only been able to give you juice while you were out.”
I nodded, surprised to realize that I was in fact very hungry even though there was a hollow pit in my stomach. Abby continued to prattle on as they led the way down the hallway, up a set of stairs, and into the large warehouse. Her talk was nervous, on edge, and it took me a moment to realize she was trying to fill my head with her words instead of thoughts of Cade. I loved her even more because of it, but it wasn’t working.
I studied the people gathered within the building; some of them were sleeping on blankets and thin mattresses. Others were huddled in small groups, though none of them seemed to really be speaking. Lobster pots had been stacked against the back wall; they reached almost to the top of the cavernous ceiling.
“This way.”
I followed Aiden through a back door, surprised to realize that it was a small kitchen. There were a few people inside of it, talking softly as they put dishes away. The smell of food hit me, my stomach rumbled eagerly. I was given a plate that consisted of canned beans and a peanut butter sandwich. I picked slowly at the food. I was starving but I found I didn’t have much of an appetite.
Curtains had been drawn over the windows, but I pulled them slightly back to stare out at the quiet day. As I ate, I planned. There were soldiers amongst the people, trained soldiers that would know how to hunt, how to attack, how to shoot with confidence and accuracy. Soldiers that could teach us how to hunt, how to kill.
Soldiers that could help me either find Cade again, or help me exact my revenge. Because if I didn’t find him, or if he was dead, I was going to take out as much revenge as I could until I was stopped. I left the kitchen; my attention was focused on the two men and one woman standing by the front door in army fatigues. I didn’t know how I would go about trying to find Cade again, but I did know that I was tired of running, tired of hiding. It was time to stand and fight. It was time to make an attempt at taking our world back from the monsters ravaging it.
And these soldiers were the ones that were going to help me do that.
