Strangelets (15 page)

Then they disappeared, melting off into the night
.

Ryan ran onto the porch a minute later—I nearly tumbled down the stairs in my haste to let him in. He was pale, wheezing. He slammed the door behind himself and screamed that we needed to block the windows
.

We did our best, but honestly, there are so many ways in. We sat up until dawn, side by side on the couch, not speaking. I was gripping the gun so tightly I still have marks on my hands
.

Before Megan woke up, we decided on a plan. Ryan is right. We must leave. His idea, which I think is a good one,
is to drive out to the coast and get a boat. The truck should be able to push almost anything out of the way. Ryan says there’s a gun store in Middle Island, we can get more weapons there. We should be able to find a boat in Mt. Sinai, then take it across to New London
.

I’m so tired I can barely keep my eyes open, but I need to leave a record of where we went, both for Nancy and Dan and for Megan’s parents. I haven’t allowed myself to think about my children, and what might have happened to them. I pray that they’re okay
.

It feels like we’re the only three people left in the world, but that can’t possibly be true, can it? What could have happened? Where is everyone???

Declan paused. His mouth had gone dry, and not just from reading aloud.
Monsters
, she’d written. Was she describing the same creatures that had tried to get into the house earlier?

Weirdly, the windows weren’t barricaded anymore. In fact, there wasn’t any sign that someone had ever tried to block them.

“I wonder what her name was?” Sophie said in a small voice.

“Is,” Anat retorted. “We don’t know that she’s dead. She might be in New London, with the little girl and Ryan. They might all be fine.”

Declan liked the way she said
New London
, it sounded oddly musical. But deep down, he had a bad feeling that this particular story hadn’t ended well.

“What does it say next?” Sophie asked.

Declan skimmed through the final page. “It’s all about where they were planning on going, some naval base there. She figured the military would be able to help. And she hoped
they’d be able to contact their relatives from there. She also went back to Megan’s car, took the registration information, left a note, and … oh.”

“Oh, what?” Sophie said.

“Her mother’s purse was still on the front seat. Her name was Lisa Brown.”

“She left her purse?” Sophie said. “That’s not a good sign.”

Anat shook her head. “That’s not important.”

“Really?” Sophie sounded offended. “Because it seems pretty damn important to me, and it definitely was to
them
.”

“What happened to them doesn’t matter,” Anat said forcefully, looking around the table. “We need to adjust our goals.”

“Our goals?” Declan asked. Damned if she didn’t sound like she’d just stepped out of a war movie.

“Yes,” Anat said. “Clearly we should not try to go into town.”

“But—” Yosh protested.

“These … creatures,” Anat interrupted. “They might still be there.”

“So we’re believing this?” Nico demanded, half standing. “This fairy tale about monsters?”

Anat met his gaze. “There is something bad out there. Maybe not monsters, but something.”

“Maybe they’re friendly,” Yosh said in a small voice.

Declan stared at her, stupefied. “I don’t think that whatever was trying to get in earlier wanted tea and a chat.”

“We don’t know that,” Yosh mumbled, looking away.

She looked tiny sitting in the chair beside him, her feet barely grazed the linoleum. Declan felt for her, he really did. It was tempting to think that all they had to do was stroll into the nearest town and find Nico’s dad. But based
on what he’d just read, Anat was right. If they went out there unprepared, they might as well just carve themselves up for dinner. The terror the woman had felt coursed through her words; he’d practically been able to hear Ryan screaming and picture the dark shapes hunched around his truck.

Was that considered friendly behavior in Japan?

There was no truck outside now, though, which was probably good. Maybe they had gotten away. If Ryan had succeeded, the roads should be clear in that direction. Between the five of them, Declan figured they could handle a boat. And meeting up with the military sounded like a smart option.

Before he could voice his thoughts aloud, Sophie said, “It’s getting late.”

Looking out the window, he saw she was right. The shadows had lengthened across the overgrown lawn. But it should be light for awhile yet, since it was still early fall … wasn’t it?

“We don’t even know what day it is,” Sophie said in a low voice, as if reading his thoughts.

“She left quickly,” Declan noted. “The dishes weren’t put away. You’d think … I mean, she seems like the type of person who would have straightened up, yeah?”

“But the windows aren’t blocked anymore,” Sophie mused. “I wonder why not?”

“Again, it does not matter,” Anat said impatiently. “We need to focus. She probably took the gun with her, but this store she mentioned, in Middle Island—we can go there in the morning. We will take the first two working cars that we come across.”

“I thought we were going to find my father,” Nico said. The way he said
father
sounded German, and plaintive: how a little kid would say it.

“Where does your dad live?” Declan asked.

Nico said, “In Yaphank.”

“Is that on the way?” Sophie asked.

Nico shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve only been here once before.”

“We need a map,” Anat said firmly.

They dispersed throughout the house. Ten minutes into the search, Sophie yelped in triumph—she’d found an old map on one of the shelves lining the fireplace. The paper was brittle and crumbling. On the outside, it read
AAA LONG ISLAND/NEW YORK
.

Carefully, she brought it into the kitchen and spread it across the table. Nico and Anat leaned over it.

“We’re somewhere around here now,” Nico said, pointing to the area just northeast of Yaphank. “There’s the lab, right here.”

Declan followed his finger.
Brookhaven National Laboratory
was marked in black, with a small ring of streets surrounding it.

“There’s Middle Island,” Anat said pointing at a town west of the facility. “The guns are there.”

“We should try to find a phone book,” Sophie suggested. “See if we can get an exact address.”

“I’m going to find my father,” Nico said obstinately.

Anat straightened and shook her head. “It’s the wrong way. We need to head north.”

“We can go to Yaphank first,” Nico argued, jabbing the map with his index finger. “Then take County Road 21. It goes directly to Middle Island.”

“But that’s not the way they went,” Anat argued. “The roads won’t be clear. And Yaphank is where Ryan came from. He said it was not safe there.”

All excellent points
, Declan thought. There was no
guarantee that any roads would be clear past Yaphank, and this “county road” sounded ominous. He recalled a scary American movie where a school bus filled with kids broke down next to a corn field, and they were terrorized by a giant bat creature that swooped in and ate them one by one. Did they grow corn around here? Because a county road sounded like the perfect place for it.

“I’m going to my father’s house first,” Nico repeated obstinately, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Well, I am not going to risk taking a road that might be blocked,” Anat countered.

Declan sighed. This was precisely why he never went out for group sports. “We’ll have to split up, then.”

They turned and stared at him.

“I thought you said that was a bad idea.” Sophie’s face was drawn and she looked drained, as if just sitting there was taking a toll on her. When he got a chance he should check the medicine cabinets, see if the old lady had left behind something for pain.

“I don’t see any other option, do you?”

“Agreed,” Anat said. “I will go to Middle Island. Whoever wants to can come with me.”

“But we don’t have any way of finding each other again,” Sophie protested. “What if something goes wrong?”

“She’s right,” Declan said. “No guarantee that the mobiles will ever start working, and mine’s almost dead anyway. We’ve no other way to contact each other.”

Anat chewed her lip, clearly thinking it over. Declan was torn—in his gut, he hated the thought of splitting up. And Nico was the only one keen to head toward town. But much as he harbored a knee-jerk dislike of the kid, he couldn’t let him go alone.

“We meet here,” Anat finally proposed, pointing to a road that led north toward the water. “Mt. Sinai Coram Road. It leads straight to the nearest port.”

“Yeah, but where and when?” Declan asked. “Probably not the best idea to just hang about a crossroads. And we don’t know how long it’ll take us, yeah?”

“We leave tomorrow morning at dawn.” Anat ran a finger over the map to illustrate. “Twelve kilometers for us to get to Middle Island from here. We’ll find the closest secure building to the crossroads and wait there. I’ll mark an X on the door so you’ll know we’re inside if we get there first. You do the same if you arrive first.”

Declan could punch a half dozen holes in that plan without straining himself, but he didn’t have any better suggestions. “So who goes with whom?” he mumbled.

Anat’s eyes flicked over them each in turn. “You go with Nico,” she said decisively. “He’ll need the help. And take Sophie, too.”

Declan knew she had a thing about Sophie, although it was hard to tell whether that was due to her being weak from illness, or just because she was American. “So Yosh is with you, then.”

“Yes.”

“All right with you all?” he asked.

“Fine,” Nico mumbled, although he clearly wasn’t delighted about the fact that Anat was leaving him. Poor sod had it bad for her, that was clear. Yosh had apparently been struck mute again. She merely nodded, keeping her eyes downcast.

Declan was already regretting the decision to split up. Maybe if he’d pushed harder, they would’ve been able to convince Nico to try contacting his dad later. He’d much prefer to be heading north, on a road that would likely have been
cleared in advance. Instead, he’d be saddled with a sick girl and a kid who might refuse to leave when they arrived at his dad’s house. If they even made it that far.
Ah well
, he thought, taking in his new traveling companions.
You only live once
. And it couldn’t be any more dangerous than the worst Galway had to offer, right?

“We should go through the woman’s things, see if she has anything we can use,” Anat said. “Sophie, check for shoes. I want my boots back. I’ll go through the food and divide it up. Nico, find better weapons for us.”

“I saw some tools in the basement,” he said.

“Get them,” Anat commanded. “And hurry. If we’re going to stay here tonight, I want to secure the windows before it gets dark.”

“Yes, sir,” Declan muttered. At least he wouldn’t be saddled with her.

“Can’t sleep?”

Sophie looked up from her spot in the window seat. Declan was standing in the doorway watching her. She wondered how long he’d been there. She’d been lost in her own thoughts, wondering what the rest of her family was doing right now, if they were trying to find her. The others were settled in the master bedroom across the hall. One of them was snoring loudly—Nico, probably. They’d agreed to take turns keeping watch, just in case.

“Not really.” She managed a wan smile. “I told Anat I’d take her shift. Of course, I’ve done nothing but sleep the past few years, so maybe I saved enough up.”

He came in and settled on the window seat across from her. “Got to keep up your strength, though. How are you feeling?”

His voice was tinged with concern. Self-consciously, Sophie plucked at the chenille blanket draped over her legs. “Fine, I guess.”

“Yeah? Because if you were really ill, seems like …”

When he didn’t finish, Sophie said, “Seems like what?”

“Seems like we should try to find you some medicine. There wasn’t anything in the cabinets other than some bandages. But we might pass a pharmacy tomorrow.”

“I was already kind of past the point of medicine.” She hesitated, then added, “Actually, I was pretty much dead.”

Declan didn’t speak for a minute. His eyes were shadowed, so she couldn’t tell if he was looking at her or not. Finally, he sighed. “What do you think this place is?”

“If it’s heaven, color me disappointed,” she joked.

He laughed quietly. “Right? I was thinking the same thing.”

“I don’t think we’re in purgatory, or hell, though,” she said after a minute. “We’d know if we were, right?”

“Maybe. Tell you the truth, I didn’t pay much mind in Sunday school. Now I’m wishing I had.”

“No, this is definitely something else.” Sophie couldn’t explain how she knew that for certain, but she felt it deep down. This was the real world, just … different. Of course, she’d spent most of the past year cooped up in hospital beds, so maybe something dramatic had been going on outside and no one had bothered mentioning it. Although she hoped someone would have clued her in to the sudden appearance of giant clawed lizard creatures. At the thought, she let out a small laugh.

“What?”

“Just … do you think it’s true? That whatever the old lady saw was real, and that’s what tried to get into the house earlier?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted after a minute. “Sounds nutters, sure. But then, this is all pretty crazy, right?”

“Right,” she said faintly. “Still, you’d think something like that wouldn’t need to use the door.”

“I know, that’s been bothering me, too.” He shrugged. “Guess we’ll find out.”

“That’s a cheerful thought.”

He laughed quietly, then stole a quick glance at her. “So who’d you leave behind?”

“My parents, and a little sister. Her name is Nora.” Saying it out loud made her want to cry. Sophie drew her knees up to her chest and tucked her chin down on them. “What about you?”

“My mum. Dad—well, haven’t seen him in ages.” He paused, then said more softly, “And my girl. Katie.”