dragons breath 01 - stalked by flames (15 page)

They didn’t follow me inside, but I could hear them whispering near the doorway. From the corner of my eye I caught a handful of guys come out of the stairwell. I got their attention, pointed at the library entrance, then held up three fingers.

Justin nodded. He and Conrad moved behind the information desk while the rest of his group headed to the other end of the library. There weren’t any more shots coming from that direction. I had to hope they’d fended off their attackers.

A sizzling sound came from outside and then something went sliding across the floor on the other side of the checkout desk. It wasn’t until loud popping sounds went off that I realized they’d lit up a bunch of firecrackers. I ignored them and aimed at the three people rushing through the door, firing a couple of times at them before ducking down.

More shots rang out—coming from their direction and Justin and Conrad’s position. I heard someone on the other side of the counter grunt and another cry out. At least one of them had to be down.

I crawled along the floor until I reached a spot where I could pop up out of their range of vision. Taking a deep breath, I stood. Only one was left and he was shooting at Justin and Conrad’s position. They’d had to duck down and couldn’t return fire. I aimed my gun at the guy’s back and pulled the trigger. He went limp and fell to the floor.

No one else moved. For a moment, I stood there, hearing only the ringing in my ears from so many gunshots being fired. Was it over? Just one of the attackers showed any signs of life. A guy Justin or Conrad must have shot was groaning and clutching a wound on his leg. Justin came from behind the desk, holding his pistol at the ready, and walked toward the man.

He glared at the guy on the floor. “It’s over. Let the gun go.”

“Jackass, you killed my girlfriend,” the man on the floor said.

He raised the pistol, aiming it toward Justin. He didn’t get it halfway up before a shot rang out. His arm fell back to the floor and the weapon fell from his hand. Even in the dim light of pre-dawn, I could see there was a bullet hole in his head.

I ran my gaze up to Justin and saw a cold look in his eyes. He’d shut off all his emotions until there was nothing left but the trained soldier. His foot swept out and kicked the guns away from the bodies. They all looked rather dead, but better safe than sorry.

As he kneeled down to check their pulses more people came racing out of the stairwell. Conrad—who was closest to them—directed a few to head to the other end of the library and sent the rest toward us. I doubted we’d have any more trouble tonight, but our job wasn’t over yet.

Justin stood and directed his attention at the new arrivals. “You three. Load these bodies onto library carts and haul them to the pit. Make sure you cover them up.”

The group consisted of two guys and a woman. Only one middle-aged man didn’t turn green at the prospect of hauling dead people away. I didn’t feel that sorry for the other two, considering all they had to do was clean up the mess. That was easier than having to do the actual killing. The fact I’d shot people and taken lives hadn’t quite set in yet—my rush of adrenaline was still up. I hoped my emotions stayed clamped down for a while.

“There should be a dead man and woman outside, too,” I added. “You’ll see them on the sidewalk on your way to the pit.”

We’d been dumping all our trash and refuse in the area where the tornado had struck some of the campus buildings. The close proximity made it convenient.

Justin picked up one of the attacker’s guns and checked the magazine before reloading it. “Take this,” he said to the middle-aged man. “If they aren’t entirely dead you might want to make them that way.”

The guy gave Justin a curt nod and walked off, the other two in his group following behind him.

“Bailey,” Justin addressed me. “You did a good job tonight. Your shift is over if you want to head downstairs and get some rest, but I suggest you talk to Trish first. This isn’t something you get over easily.”

Our gazes dropped to the dead bodies. I blinked and looked away first.

“Who’s going to guard the door?” I asked.

“I’ll stay until the next shift comes. They should be here shortly.”

“Yeah, okay.”

I hopped over the counter, not feeling like going around to the door. Conrad followed me downstairs, holding a flashlight to light our way. He didn’t say anything and looked about as numb as I felt. I wasn’t sure if he’d killed anyone or not—everything had happened so fast—but at the very least he’d taken part in it. We’d both have to come to terms with what we’d done.

Trish was standing near the coffee shop when we made it to the lower level. She rushed toward us as soon as she saw us. Her eyes were round and panic-stricken.

“Are you okay? Is Justin?” she asked, grabbing hold of me. Her fingernails dug into my arms so deeply she almost broke the skin.

“I’m fine and so is he. I don’t know about the people who covered the south entrance,” I answered, my voice coming out lifeless.

She drew me into a hug. “The gunshots woke us up. They went on for so long I didn’t know what to think.”

When she pulled back, I noticed the people gathering around us, most of them still half dressed from getting out of bed so suddenly. I wished they’d go away. They were making me feel claustrophobic.

A set of sluggish footsteps came from behind me. Turning, I saw one of the men who’d gone to reinforce the south entrance come out of the stairwell. His eyes were red and his face drawn with grief.

“The other two guards from the nightshift are…dead,” he said, choking on his last words.

My vision started to blacken. The walls I’d put up to protect myself collapsed so quickly I could barely draw in a breath. Emotions bombarded me, ranging from horror to sadness. My knees felt weak and bile threatened to rise up my throat.

I grabbed hold of Trish. “Can we go to your room?”

“Of course.” She helped guide me through the throng that had surrounded us.

I’d been sleeping in my own room after that first night we’d stayed in the library. She and Justin had taken one of the back offices where employees used to work. I stopped in the doorway and took it all in as she lit several candles.

We usually visited in my room or the common areas so I hadn’t seen it in a while. There were piles of books lining one wall and a bookcase filled with more. A couple couches had been pushed together into a make-shift bed and there was a desk in the corner. It was…cozy.

I ignored the furniture and sat on the floor, leaning my back against the wall. It felt cool through my t-shirt. Something about that comforted me. I desperately needed to feel grounded.

Trish kneeled in front of me. “I’m here if you want to talk.”

“I’m not sure what to say,” I replied.

She rubbed my arm. “Anything you want.”

“I miss my family.”

“Yeah.” She settled down cross-legged. “I’d miss mine, too, if they were like yours.”

Trish had been down to my parents’ ranch a few times between semesters. She was originally from Muskogee, Oklahoma, but her mother had moved to Florida a couple years back. With Trish’s father dead, there wasn’t much reason for her to return to her hometown. She hadn’t been close to any of her other relatives. Not even with her mother, since they didn’t get along well.

“Do you miss your old home at all?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I have some friends there I’d like to see again, but that’s about it.”

“I feel like I’ve let my family down by staying here.”

It was a feeling I’d been pushing aside for weeks, but with what had happened tonight I couldn’t hide from any of my emotions. It was like I’d been torn apart and laid bare.

“I’m sure they know it’s not your fault.”

“Maybe, but something is wrong with my mother.” I took a shuddering breath. “Before all this happened, I tried asking about it, but she swore she was fine. I know she was lying. Now I can’t even go home to find out.” Tears misted my eyes.

Trish leaned close and wrapped her arms around me. “Let it all go, Bailey. Better to get it out now so you can be strong enough to face whatever tomorrow brings.”

She was right. Things wouldn’t be getting better anytime soon—and she didn’t know half of what I faced. I was glad to have her with me right then rather than anyone else. She still saw me as plain old Bailey and not the dragon slayer. I needed that.

Chapter 15

Bailey

Two tense days passed in the library without any more attacks. We buried our fallen guards next to a flower bed on the south oval. Justin sent out a scout team for supplies. They came back with enough to set us up for a week, if we included what we’d already had in stock. Our population had dwindled to about thirty after some people chose to try life elsewhere.

I wandered into the learning center and found about a dozen people gathered at one end, some of them holding Bibles. An older woman led them in prayer. I’d never been much for organized religion and preferred to keep my talks with God between me and Him. It seemed to help others by joining together, though.

An excited shout echoed down the corridor. I followed the noise past the coffee shop and up the stairs toward the stacks. A group of four men, including Conrad, and two women sat around a table. They each held a set of cards in their hands.

“I’ll raise you five chocolate chip cookies,” Conrad said, sliding them forward.

“Damn.” The guy across from him folded his cards. “Too rich for my blood.”

Conrad grinned and gathered all his winnings to him—he had quite a pile of food. They were betting with their rations. It was a game that had started up not long after we’d taken refuge in the library.

“Alright, ante up,” a woman said. “Two pretzels each.”

Everyone slid their offerings forward. The sight of all that food made me hungry and I figured I might as well get breakfast. I headed downstairs to lower level two. There was an armed guard outside the room where we kept our food stored.

Justin only trusted a few people with the job. This particular guy was one of his veteran friends who had dark skin, a shaved head, and a black mustache. He looked to be in his early thirties. He nodded at me and pounded on the door.

“Bailey’s here for her morning rations.”

The door unlocked from the inside and Miles opened it. “Come on in.”

He moved out of the way so I could enter. There was another woman already there munching on a honey bun. I knew her as Danae—a former combat medic who’d gotten out of the military a year ago. We’d acquired her after the university clinic was hit by the tornado. She had shoulder-length blond hair she usually wore down and an incredibly toned body like she spent a lot of time in the gym. I always felt short and small whenever I stood near her.

“Are there more of those?” I asked.

She stuck her hand into a box on the table and tossed one to me. “Eat them while you can. These things are gonna go fast.”

I caught the wrapped honey bun and grabbed a bottle of apple juice from a stack against the wall. She waved at me to take a seat next to her. I shifted on my feet. Normally, I preferred to take my food back to my room, but she was always so friendly I hated to blow off her invitation.

“Come on, Bailey,” she urged. “You can sit with another human being for a little bit.”

I almost flinched at her wording.

“Sign this first,” Miles said, handing me a clipboard.

I scrawled my signature on the line he indicated, providing proof I’d gotten my share of food. It was a daily occurrence that barely registered with me anymore.

“Oh, yeah,” Danae said. “You don’t want to miss signing one of his stupid check sheets. He’ll tackle you to the floor if you try to escape without doing it.”

I couldn’t help but snicker as I went to take a seat next to her.

“That’s not funny,” Miles growled out.

“I’m not saying anything that isn’t the truth.” Danae finished off the last bite of her food and took a swig of water.

I ate in silence while she and Miles traded barbs at each other. It was the most amusement I’d had in a while. I’d never seen anyone get under the former Marine’s skin the way Danae could.

“Well, I’m off to join the poker game,” she announced a few minutes later. “You want to come, Bailey?”

“No, I’m good. I’ve got something else to do,” I said, having already decided how to spend the rest of my morning.

“Suit yourself.”

We parted ways at the stairs and I continued up to the first floor. There were still a few hours left before the dragons would be out and I needed to visit Earl. I was way overdue to check in with him.

The guards questioned me at the west library entrance. I told them I was going to my truck for something and they let me out. Not that they had orders to stop me or anything, but they were supposed to ask.

Along the way to Earl’s, I didn’t see anyone on the streets. So much of the neighborhood west of campus had been ravaged by the tornado that there weren’t many people left. I suspected some were still around, but none of them showed their faces to me.

A man and woman hopped off their porch with rifles in hand and stopped me when I reached Earl’s street. Other than being a little grungy and carrying weaponry, they looked like normal middle-aged people. Maybe they’d even been professors at the university.

I put my hands up. “I’m Bailey. I’m just here to visit Earl.”

“At nine in the morning?” The woman frowned at me.

“It’s the best time.” I gave her a friendly smile. “No dragons are out yet.”

She glanced at the man. “She’s right. I hadn’t noticed that before.”

He muttered something I couldn’t make out.

“So can I go visit Earl?”

“Yeah, he told us you might be coming,” the man answered. “Go on.”

I dropped my hands. “Thanks.”

“Oh, just one thing,” the woman said.

“Yeah?”

“There’s a church a few blocks from here. They asked us to spread the word that they’re taking bodies if you got any that need burying. All they ask for in return is a little food or useful supplies.” She shrugged at my astonished look. “It’s their way of providing a bit of community service under the circumstances.”