The Life Beyond (13 page)

Joshua’s expression was distant, his lips tightening. Tyler sat in the backseat, his t-shirt ripped where he’d used a strip to make a dressing for his arm.

“What do you think they’ll do to your dad if they find out he helped us?” Tyler asked.

Joshua’s eyes darted to him. “I don’t care. Just like he didn’t care when he abandoned me.” But I noticed the slight tremor in his voice revealing the lie.

“What if they really tricked him? Don’t you think he would have come back if he hadn’t thought you were dead?” Tyler asked.

His jaw clenched. “If he really cared, he would have checked on us. He wouldn’t have given us up like that. He wouldn’t have moved on to a new family.” His voice was clipped. Tyler glanced at me, but he stayed silent.

3 hours 58 minutes.

My skin was sickly pale, like the reflection of a ghost.

I must have fallen asleep because the next time I opened my eyes darkness had fallen over us and our surroundings had changed to desert.

I struggled into a sitting position and rubbed the sleep from my eyes but my vision stayed blurry.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“We’re almost there,” Joshua said.

Tyler was fast asleep on the backseat, his head pressed against the window.

We passed the Lost Vegas sign.

Tyler jerked awake. “How long have I been asleep?”

“A few hours.”

Tyler shook his head like he couldn’t believe he’d zoned out. He shifted in his seat. “You don’t look good,” he said.

“Yeah, I feel like shit.”

He touched my forehead. “And you’re burning up. Don’t worry. The Undergrounders should have the medical stuff you need.”

After a few minutes we pulled into the junkyard and got out of the car. The familiar stench of sulfur carried in the night air. We crept into the darkness of the drains, guided by the small flashlight Tyler had taken from the car. Keeping our balance on the narrow sidewalks was difficult. I pressed my hand against the slimy walls of the tunnel to steady myself and Joshua stayed close behind me, to catch me if I fell. Small dots like hundreds of flashlights flitted in and out of my vision and I stumbled, suddenly overcome with the desire to just forget about everything.

“Please be strong, Sherry. We’re almost there,” Joshua said, holding me gently.

“Hello?” Tyler called out, the word echoing in the drain. “Is there someone there?”

A voice in my head warned me. Calling was dangerous. It would draw attention. What if someone outside heard? But I couldn’t move.

“Stop shouting!” someone hissed. I knew the voice.

When I opened my eyes, a face swam in my vision. It was Alexis. “What’s the matter with her?” she asked.

“She was bitten,” Joshua said. “I think her body’s shutting down from shock.”

Alexis stumbled back. “Why did you bring her if she’s infected?”

“We’ve got the cure, but we need your help. Have you got syringes so we can inject it?” Tyler asked.

Alexis and Joshua helped me to my feet. “How the hell did you get bitten?” she hissed.

“Long story,” I got out.

Quentin was already waiting for us when we entered the sleeping quarters of the Undergrounders.

I sank down on the bed. My arms and legs felt too heavy to move. Joshua stayed beside me.

Voices echoed in the chamber as more and more kids gathered around us. Quentin shooed them out and disappeared for a few minutes, only to come back with a makeshift first-aid kit. He perched on the edge of the bed.

“I didn’t think you’d get out of the lab alive,” he said. “What if it isn’t the cure?”

“It is,” Joshua said firmly. He perched on my other side and took my hand. It was the first time that I noticed the gash on his eyebrow and the scratches all over the left half of his face. His shoulder wound had bled a lot too.

Tyler held out one of the vials he’d taken from the backpack but before Quentin could take it, Joshua snatched it out of his hand. Quentin gave him a syringe. Joshua’s hand shook as he pushed the needle through the sealed opening of the vial and drew up the liquid.

“How do you know how much you need?” Alexis asked. She was leaning against the wall a good distance away, as though she was worried I’d attack her. I didn’t think I even had the strength to lift my head.

“We’ll just have to guess,” Joshua said.

Quentin shook his head. “That doesn’t sound like the best plan.”

“We don’t have a choice,” Tyler said curtly.

I struggled into a sitting position and thrust my arm out quickly. “Just do it.”

Joshua’s eyes never left mine as he pushed the syringe into my arm. I bit my lip as the needle pierced my skin. The liquid burned like cold fire as it spread in my veins. I steadied myself with a hand on the bed and wheezed. This was far more painful than I’d imagined. I sagged forwards.

Joshua’s arm came around my waist. “Sherry?” I could hear the concern in his voice and forced myself to straighten.

“I’m fine.”

His eyes searched my face.

Quentin put a bottle with peroxide, dressing material and strips to close a wound on the bed. “We need to stitch you up, and Tyler could use some tending too.”

“I’ll do it,” Joshua said.

Alexis nodded toward Tyler. “I’ll take care of you.” She turned to Joshua. “What about your shoulder?”

Joshua glanced down briefly. “It’s nothing.”

I stretched on the bed and let Joshua take a closer look at my bite wound. The peroxide burned like hell when he cleaned it but I forced back any sounds trying to escape. He closed my wound with a few stitches.

The area around my ankle was red and tender but the stitches stopped the bleeding. Joshua wrapped the dressing around my calf. He was taking care of me again; no matter what happened I knew I could always count on him.

I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry for our fight in the woods. You’re right, I don’t know what you’re going through.” I didn’t want the others to overhear our conversation.

Joshua looked up. “No, Sherry. I was acting stupid and defensive. And afterwards I was too proud to admit that I’d behaved like a jerk.”

“You aren’t a jerk. A bit stubborn maybe.” I managed a smile.

He stopped wrapping the dressing and pressed a hand to my cheek. “I was so terrified I was going to lose you. Next time I push you away, remind me of that, okay?”

He leaned in toward me, and laid a soft kiss on my lips. It was only when he pulled away that I noticed Quentin hovering beside our bed.

“Sorry for interrupting, guys, but we need to discuss what happened,” he said. Alexis and Tyler looked up. “I need details. Did you manage to get any footage?”

Joshua’s face fell. “Shit. No. We got nothing. It was terrible. But then we’re lucky we got out of there alive.”

Quentin sank down on the bed across from mine while Alexis leaned against the walls of the duct. “So?”

They listened intently as Joshua told them about our journey to the lab, describing how we were brought down with tranquilizers and attacked by Weepers, explaining how we escaped.

Quentin almost looked impressed. “I didn’t think you’d come back.”

“We almost didn’t,” I said, trying not to think about the bite wound.

“So what now? Are you heading back with the cure? Or are you still planning on taking down this sorry-ass government?”

Joshua didn’t look at me. He twisted his hands in his lap. I hesitated. It had been six days since Dad had left Safe-haven. By the time we got back to the Void it might already be too late for him, and besides, it would only help people who had been bitten already. It wouldn’t change anything in the long-term. Exposing the government was the only way to save the country.

I looked up. “Yes.”

Joshua took my hand and stroked it. He was there for me.

Quentin got up. “Why don’t you film the rest of the ducts? I could lead you around. That’ll be impressive on film.”

“I’ll do it,” Tyler said. He took our camcorder from the backpack beside Joshua and followed Quentin.

Joshua nodded. “I’ll be there in a minute. I’ll wait until Sherry’s asleep.” He brushed a few strands from my forehead. “We’ll start out tomorrow, Sherry. For now, you should try to get some sleep.”

I stretched out on the bed.

I wanted to protest but I didn’t have the energy. I closed my eyes, my veins throbbing with heat, and hoped that I’d wake up again.

Chapter 12

Whatever I’d been given, it seemed to be helping.

Three hours and 12 minutes later, I no longer felt like I was about to puke all over the bed and the sweating had stopped. That was a good sign, I guessed. But despite the tiredness in my body, I couldn’t sleep. Rhythmic breathing surrounded me. Everyone was asleep, even Joshua.

Suddenly, there was a noise; distant, almost unnoticeable beyond the sounds of sleep around me. I propped myself up on my elbows. Joshua tightened his hold around my ribcage but didn’t wake.

What was it?

A whooshing. It grew louder. Tilting my head, I tried to find out where exactly it came from but it seemed to surround us.

Something was wrong. The hairs on my arms rose. A vibration shook the crates keeping our beds from the damp floor. I untangled myself from Joshua’s grip and got up. The floor vibrated under my feet. Slowly I walked toward the wall of the chamber and put my palm against it. It trembled against my hand. The first kids stirred in their beds but they didn’t wake.

The whooshing was closer. It sounded like water.

Oh god.

I shook Joshua.

“What’s up, Sherry?” he asked groggily, eyes half closed.

“Something’s —”

Alexis stormed into the chamber. “They’re flooding the drains!”

Within seconds everyone had jumped out of their beds. People were screaming and crying. Quentin raised his arms to get their attention but they rushed through the chamber in panic. Joshua took my hand and Tyler supported me on my other side. People pushed us as they ran. If it wasn’t for Joshua and Tyler, I would’ve lost my balance. My head began ringing.

Someone gripped my shoulder. “Come on. We have to get out of here!” Quentin shouted. Alexis and Marty were at his side. They led us into another drain, so low we had to crouch. By now the whooshing sound had grown to a roar, echoing in the drains. Water began to pool around our legs; still shallow and slow but more was racing toward us.

The tunnel narrowed until we had to crawl. Only the adrenalin and blind fear surging through my body was keeping me moving. Water lapped against my chest and chin. After a few seconds the small tunnel ended and opened up to a wide drain. We jumped down and landed in deeper water. It reached our waists and slowed us down as we hurried after Alexis and Quentin. More Undergrounders had joined us.

“Do you know where we’re going?” Joshua asked.

“Of course,” Alexis said.

A hissing rose in the tunnel behind us. I turned around to see a wave head our way. “Hold onto the walls!” Quentin ordered.

We tried to press ourselves against them but there was nothing to hold on to.

The wave washed over us. My feet lifted beneath me and I struggled against the tide. I heard Tyler cry out, and saw to my horror that his bag with the camera equipment had been swept away. Water flooded my mouth, tasting of mould, detergent and something rotten. I gagged and spat it out. My hair clung to my face and I had to push it out of my eyes. I looked around until my gaze found Joshua. To my relief, he was clutching the backpack with the cure.

“Come on. We have to get out,” Quentin said.

In the distance I could hear the rumble of another wave. There would be no room to breathe if it reached us. Our heads were inches from the ceiling of the duct. We swam as fast as we could but it felt like we were barely moving forward. The rumbling was closer and the water stirred. It was getting harder to stay above the surface.

“We need to get up there!” Alexis pointed at a ladder that hung from the ceiling and led into a narrow shaft. We crowded around it. The growing current tore at us. I swallowed gulp after gulp of the disgusting water. The youngest kids went up first.

A wall of darkness and noise raced toward us. It filled the drain. In a few seconds it would take us with it.

“Hurry!” Quentin screamed. I gripped the slippery rungs of the ladder and pulled myself up. My wet clothes dragged me down and my arms protested as I climbed into the narrow black pipe. Water and dirt rained down from the kids climbing above me. Below me I could hear the comforting rhythm of Joshua’s breathing.

The roar of the water echoed through the pipe.

“Faster!” Someone screamed.

A screech sounded above us and dim light filtered into the duct. We spilled out of the tunnel and plopped down on the ground. My chest heaved and I shivered, though the night air was warm. Quentin was the last to emerge, but he didn’t lie down like the rest of us, and instead began to check our surroundings.

We were in a narrow alley filled with dumpsters.

“Where’s Mo?” Quentin asked. That was the name of the boy I’d seen who’d been sniffing glue.

Alexis sat up. “I don’t know. He was with us in the drain.”

Quentin’s face tightened. “I hope he’s with the others.”

“Do you think they got away like we did?” I asked.

“I don’t know. And I’m not sure we’ve got away yet. We need to keep moving.”

I struggled to my feet and wrung out my clothes. Joshua took my hand.“Where are we?” he asked.

“I’m not sure,” Quentin said as he led us out of the alley. We weren’t close to the strip. This part of Vegas had been run-down and poor even before the rabies. A few homeless people sat in their shabby homes made from cardboard boxes and shopping carts, watching us.

“Won’t they tell on us?” I whispered as we walked past them.

“They’re hiding from the military too,” Alexis said.

Not a single window or street lamp was lit in this part of town. We didn’t speak as we crept through the streets. It was silent except for the occasional siren or car.

We came to a junkyard littered with old fridges, TVs and other technical equipment. Only a few shabby cars were parked among them. A cat hissed and jumped off a fridge as we walked past. The scuttling of more animals followed.

Without Mo we were fourteen people. Quentin and Alexis talked quietly among themselves as they checked the abandonded cars for something usable. I had a feeling Joshua, Tyler and I were their topic.

The other kids sat on the dusty ground, crying and shivering. Some gave us angry looks.

I approached Marty who leaned against an old freezer. “What’s the matter with them?”

He shifted and stared at his feet. “They blame you.”

Us? “Why?” I asked, but Quentin and Alexis chose that moment to return.

“We’ll divide into three cars,” Quentin announced. “We can’t stay together. It’ll draw too much attention. We’ll have to find a new part of the drains and settle there.”

“Why can’t you just return? The water will be gone soon,” I asked.

Quentin shook his head. “Don’t you get it?”

Joshua wrapped an arm around me protectively.

“Hours after you return, they flood the drains? That isn’t an accident.”

“What do you mean?” Joshua asked, his voice hard.

“They must have followed you and saw you enter the drains and now they probably know we live there. We can’t return. Ever.”

“Nobody followed us,” Tyler said, but there was a hint of uncertainty in his voice. I had been too sick to pay attention.

“It doesn’t matter now. It’s too late,” Quentin said. He rubbed his face.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “We didn’t mean to put you in danger.”

Quentin met my eyes. They were tired, not angry. “It was just a matter of time. We’ve been living in the same place for too long. We’ll search for another part of the drains that we can make home.”

I glanced at Joshua. Was he thinking the same thing I was?

“Why don’t you come with us?” I asked.

“Where?”

A hush fell over the Undergrounders. They exchanged disbelieving looks.

“To the Void, you mean?” Alexis asked.

Fear flashed across the faces of the younger kids.

“Yes. I mean it’s no worse than here. On our side you wouldn’t have to live in drains and eat rats. We live in an old Mission in Santa Barbara, near the ocean. There’s no military there. Well, at least not yet.” I explained.

“It’s full of mutants,” Marty whispered.

“There are Weepers but they keep to the cities and there aren’t as many as you think. Of course, it’s not safe. But we look out for each other. Besides, there’s nowhere that’s safe anymore,” Joshua said.

“So we could move around outside?” A girl, only a few years older than Mia, asked. Her face was smudged and the fuzz on her head matted.

“Yes. We have a courtyard where we’ll grow crops and there are roses and birds.” As I described our new Safe-haven, it seemed much more idyllic than I’d remembered it. But I could still see the uncertainty in their faces.

Alexis looked thoughtful. “Why not?” she said eventually. “It’s not like we’ve got anything that keeps us here. Our families are all dead. We’re being hunted.”

“But what about the others? They could be anywhere,” Quentin said. Two dozen Undergrounders were still unaccounted for. “We can’t search for them now. Not when we don’t know if the military is surveying the area. We can’t just leave here here.” He took a deep breath then and kicked at the ground with his feet.

“But we could do something from the other side of the fence,” I said. “I mean, we have the camera with the footage —”.

And then I remembered. Everything had been destroyed in the flood. Sickness rushed through me, although I couldn’t tell if it was from the virus, or from the realization that all the evidence we had worked to collect was gone.

Joshua touched my shoulder. “It’s okay. I’m just glad we got out. We can film the fence again when we’re back on the other side. But with the drains flooded, I think we’ve lost all our footage of the Undergrounders.”

Against all my instincts, against my desperate need to take the cure to my dad, I spoke up. “Then we need to film something else. People already know the fence exists; it won’t be enough. And besides, we need to find another camera.”

Joshua stared at me, before linking my hand with his. “Are you sure, Sherry?”

“You’re really determined to do this, aren’t you?” said Quentin. It was weird; his tone almost sounded admiring.

“Yes,” I said, my brain now working overtime. Nausea rippled through me again, but I fought back. There wasn’t time for me to feel unwell. “Maybe we should split up,” I continued. “Joshua and I could try to get some more footage – maybe from that military base nearby. Tyler, you can take everyone else and the cure, over to the other side. What do you think?”

My question was directed at Joshua, but to my surprise, it was Quentin who answered.

“I’m thinking I’ll lead you to the base and get you in,” he said.

Joshua’s eyes narrowed. “Why? What’s in it for you? I thought you wanted to stay out of it.”

Quentin met my eyes. “You saw what just happened there. No matter where we hide, the government will always find us. I’m sick of hiding.” He took a deep breath. “We lost over twenty kids today. I won’t let those bastards take any more.”

Despite everything, I smiled. Quentin looked back at us, a steely determination etched on his face. “Do you remember you asked me why I didn’t try to make everything public before?”

I nodded. “You said you can’t hack the military system without —”

“— being inside the base to log into their system,” Quentin finished for me.

“If we got into the lab, could you hack their computers from there? And then what? Can you destroy their system?”

Quentin shook his head. “No. I can’t and I wouldn’t. Their system is linked to nuclear power stations. It could lead to a catastrophe.”

Joshua’s grip on my hand tightened. “So what could you do, then?”

“I could search for classified information; secret memos, maps of their bases and labs. They used to store them on a central server. We could use that information later.”

“Could we send everything to a radio or TV network on this side? Would they make it public?” I asked, hope rising within me.

“No, they’re all run by the government. They wouldn’t broadcast something like that,” Alexis said.

I should have thought of that. Immediately, another idea struck me. “Quentin, could you hack into their frequency?”

He was silent for a moment, deep in thought. “I’d need a tower or an antenna mast for that but the ones this side are all heavily guarded.”

“There’s a tower near L.A.,” Joshua said, glancing at me. “I remember. We drove by it on our way from Safe-haven to the mission. I noticed it because it was one of the few things that hadn’t been destroyed by the bombings.”

“On your side?” Alexis said.

“Yes.” Joshua nodded.

“We could direct a speech to the people out there,” I said. I could hear the excitement creeping into my voice. “If we managed to broadcast that, people would believe us, don’t you think?”

“They might,” Quentin agreed. “The situation in the poorer areas of the east coast is already strained, maybe such a report would tip it over. It would be a start.”

“Okay, so what about the camera?” Joshua asked.

“There are a few abandoned stores close by,” replied Quentin. “We should be able to find something.”

“Okay. So it’s a deal?” I held my hand out to him and we shook on it.

“Deal,” he said, his lips forming the first genuine smile I’d ever seen from him.

Joshua squeezed my shoulders, and I could tell he was pleased too.

I turned to Tyler. “Do you think you can do it? Do you remember where the tunnel is?”

“Yeah, I guess,” he said. “But won’t you need me?”

I touched his arm. “You’re the only one who can lead them to Safe-haven and I know you don’t want to return to the base.”

He relaxed under my hand. A thought, dark and terrifying slipped into my mind, as I imagined Tyler reaching Safe-haven – as I imagined Mom and Mia’s faces when he told them about Bobby. I buried the thought deep within me. I had to stay strong.

“Okay, so it’s settled then?” I asked. In the back of my mind, despite how excited I felt, I could still feel the seconds ticking away. Time was running out for Dad. In fact, maybe it was already too late. But I would not give up hope.

Quentin addressed the other Undergrounders who’d been whispering among themselves during our conversation. “I won’t force you to come with us,” he announced, “but you have to decide now.”