Taken Over (The Ravening #2)(28)
Author: Erica Stevens

“I’ll be fine.”

His eyes were bloodshot, there were shadows under them, but he was far more alert than his bedraggled countenance suggested. “This is not the time to fall apart.”

I shot him a hard look, angered by his words, but angrier at myself for allowing them to catch even a brief glimpse of my weakness. “I’m fine.”

I slipped out of the doorway, wanting to escape more than anything at the moment. I kept my gun by my side as I moved. “Slow down,” Lloyd hissed behind me.

I didn’t want to slow down, I wanted to run, wanted to bolt down the halls in search of something, anything other than this unending quiet and lingering agony. I slipped around a corner, freezing instantly as a strange noise reached my ears. It wasn’t buzzing this time, not flies, but a soft ding that rang out every ten seconds or so.

“What is that?” Jenna asked quietly.

“The elevator.” Lloyd pushed past me, keeping low as he swept down the hall before poking his head around the corner. He tried to shove me back again, but it was too late I had already seen what was causing the elevator to repeatedly open and close. My hand flew to my mouth; vomit surged up my throat as I took a stumbling step back. I could feel the blood draining from my face, for a moment I thought I was going to pass out.

“Just a boy,” I breathed trying to shake the image of the mangled body from my mind. He was so broken, so twisted and mauled. Hardly recognizable as a human except for his small Nike sneakers, his close cropped flaxen hair and the bloodied stuffed bear by his side. “Why would they do that?”

Lloyd grasped hold of my shoulders as he pushed me back. “Monsters.”

“He wasn’t one of the frozen ones,” I realized.

“No.”

I shuddered in revulsion; I was trying hard not to throw up. Jenna had retreated, her eyes were haunted, lost, and she hadn’t even seen the broken body of the child. “We need to get out of here.”

Lloyd’s eyes were hard. “Yes.” He pushed me back further, nudging me toward another long hallway. “Find some stairs.”

CHAPTER 9

I tucked the bulky microscope under my arm. It was heavier than I would have liked and would soon become tiresome, but I had finally found my prize and I wasn’t ready to relinquish it. Not yet anyway. We had come so far, struggled so much, all for this, and a few other supplies. It seemed so insignificant as I adjusted it under my arm, but it could be mankind’s salvation. Bret and Jenna were busy scooping up vials, petri dishes, and microscope slides. Lloyd’s hand was resting on the hematology analyzer.

“This thing’s going to be a pain in the ass to carry,” he mumbled as he studied it from all angles.

“We need it,” Bret responded.

I glanced at all of the equipment, there was so much of it, and so few of us. Bishop had explicitly requested the microscope, analyzer, and other supplies but I wanted to take everything. I was afraid that if we left even one thing behind, it would turn out to be the one thing we needed most. And there was no way in hell that I was ever coming back to this place again.

I considered getting rid of the cereal in my bag to make more room for supplies, but quickly discarded the notion. There was no telling when we would find food again. We would have to make due with what room we had. Lloyd awkwardly lifted the smallest analyzer in the room; he looked completely annoyed by the bulky piece of equipment as he pushed it into his large pack. It didn’t fit well, and he wasn’t able to completely zip it closed, but it was still better than having his hands occupied with carrying the thing.

We spent another ten minutes grabbing and packing away as much as we could. I knew we were leaving something behind, but there was only so much we could take, and only so long we could stay within these haunted walls. I hated this place.

We made our way slowly back out of the building, far more subdued than we had been upon entering. Far less optimistic, even though we had nearly succeeded in our mission. Lloyd radioed Darnell; they arranged a meeting place in four days. I thought I should feel more joy over being reunited with my brother and sister, I found none. In my mind I could still hear the distant ding of the elevator opening and closing on the ruined body of the small boy.

The rancid smell of that place clung to me. The blessed sting of a hot shower would feel wonderful right now, but that was a pipe dream, and one that I didn’t expect to have come true anytime soon. I settled against a small maple, drawing my knees up to my chest as I rested my chin on top of them. I had volunteered to take the first watch; I’d spent most of the day unconscious after all.

It wasn’t long before Bret’s soft snores started to fill the air. I sat for awhile, trying not to think, yet unable to shut my mind off. My mind wouldn’t stop running, tripping, screaming along at full speed. Unable to sit still any longer I bolted to my feet. Barney opened one eye to watch me for a moment before yawning and drifting off to sleep again.

I paced anxiously through the woods, moving in a small circle through the trees. I felt like a caged tiger, antsy, trapped, cornered in a place that I didn’t want to be. I was beaten, battle weary, every part of my body ached. I wanted it all to end, but there seemed to be no end in sight.

I fought against the depression and hopelessness threatening to bury me within their rolling grasps, but for a moment the futility of the whole situation overwhelmed me. Even if Bishop could find some miracle cure within my blood, how did we defeat them? They knew all of our weaknesses and we knew none of theirs. Their creatures could be killed with bullets, but it took a lot to take one of them down, and it was nearly impossible to take down two or three of them at a time without losing people in the process.

I supposed bombs or dynamite would be better, and one of the soldiers might know how to use them, but how did we get a hold of explosives? And even if we did get them, they would help with the creatures, but the aliens wouldn’t leave their ships. Or at least I didn’t think they had left them since this whole debacle had started. They probably wouldn’t until they felt it was safer for them to come down here. They were human in appearance, though they didn’t have human compassion or even an ounce of sympathy, it would be easier for our bullets to take them down and they were aware of that fact.

No, they would not come down here. They would leave their dirty work to the damn things stalking and destroying us and taking from us. Was this it then? Was this all that we would ever have until they discovered us? Until they killed us?