The Mesmerized (27 page)

“You should stay on the bus,” Alec said,
realizing she was trailing him.

“No,” she answered.

“Right,” he grunted. “I keep forgetting
you’re stubborn as a mule.”

“Exactly.”

They reached the outer ring of bodies. All
were dead, riddled with bullet wounds and appeared to be from all
walks of life. Near the front of the pickup, Alec bent over a
figure covered in blood and gore. Parts of the body looked like raw
meat.

“Don’t look, Minji,” Alec said. “He’s torn
apart.”

“Torn apart like eaten?” For a second she
doubted her own theory and feared Arthur’s zombie speculation was
more feasible than she’d imagined, then she dismissed those
thoughts.

“I don’t think so. There are bites, but
honestly I think they were just trying to kill him. His head is
bashed in.” Alec crossed himself, then searched through the man’s
blood-soaked pockets. “Nothing. From his uniform I can tell he was
a private and his last name was Hernandez. I wonder if there is
something in the truck that would explain why they attacked him.
I’ll check.”

Minji pointed her attention away from the
grisly remains in the direction of the mesmerized herds. “They’re
not even aware of us. Why attack them, but not us?”

“Damned if I know,” Alec said distractedly,
crunching the glass from the shattered windshield underfoot. He
jerked the cab door open.

Drawn by curiosity, Minji walked along the
side of the pickup to the truck bed. The vehicle had severe body
damage and was slathered in blood. To her disgust, she saw that a
corpse was wedged into the wheel well of the rear tire. Pressing
upward onto her tip toes, she looked into the truck bed to see the
female soldier’s mangled body. Minji climbed onto the tailgate, and
gingerly stepped into the bloody mess. The rubber soles of her
boots squelched in the red liquid causing her to cringe with
revulsion. Carefully, she inched her way to the body of the woman
taking extra care not to slip, then crouched to search through the
woman’s uniform. The warmth of the fresh blood and the reek of
copper, urine, and feces made her task even more harrowing.
Gritting her teeth, she fumbled about until she pulled a white card
from the woman’s pocket.

It matched Dr. McCoy’s.

“Alec, I got something,” Minji called
out.

“Me, too.” Alec flattened a white card
against the rear window.

Minji flashed the one she’d found. “What the
hell?”

“Get her dog tags. I’ll get his. It’s the
least we can do.”

Swallowing any trepidation, Minji bent over
and gently worked the chain over the woman’s head. Her hair was cut
very short and was a cloud of silky black against Minji’s hands.
The female soldier had lost so much blood her dark skin looked
gray. Minji noted the tattoo showing through the woman’s torn
uniform. It was a heart with a cross.

When she rejoined Alec, Minji was close to
losing her calm demeanor. Alec peered at her face as she approached
and held out his arm, offering a hug. Minji shook her head,
delivered the dog tags, and set her hands on her hips.

Dropping his arm, Alec sighed while storing
the tags in his jacket pocket. “The tank was running on fumes and
the truck has severe body damage.”

“There’s a corpse wedged into the wheel
well.”

“Yeah, I saw that. Also, they had a map with
the first and second facility marked on it.”

Minji tapped her fingertips lightly against
her hip bones. “Do you think they were trying to enter the first
facility and were stopped by the mesmerized?”

Rotating the card with his fingers, Alec
pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Why would the mesmerized stop them?
They’ve been peaceful up to this point. What did they do to upset
your kidnapped baby?”

“I don’t think it’s the baby that did this,”
Minji answered.

Alec chuckled without any trace of mirth.
“Okay, lay it on me.”

“I think it’s the mother. I don’t think the
door closed all the way because the mother was attempting to rescue
her child when the scientists tried to close it. Like someone
stopping a door with a toe, I suspect that’s what’s happening.”

“She shoved a toe in the door, huh?”

Minji shrugged. “I think so.”

“And this mother has an influence on what’s
going on?”

“These creatures are obviously telepathic in
some way. I suspect she’s projecting her will through that crack
between our worlds and has something to do with this.”

Laughing without mirth, Alec tilted his head
back to gaze up at the heavens. “Of course! So…how do you know
this?”

The reaction pissed off Minji and she folded
her arms across her breasts and glowered. “Because the entity
looking through Ava’s eyes said 'Mommy' when the attack was going
on.”

Mimicking her pose, Alec muttered, “Just
fucking great.”

Now that Minji had spoken her thoughts
aloud, she perceived how it made sense. The mesmerized had shown
different signs of awareness throughout the last day. What if the
baby’s influence was limited, but the mother’s wasn’t? What if it
was the mother who was dragging humanity to the doorway of her
world?

“But that doesn’t answer why this
hypothetical mother would attack these soldiers, does it,
Minji?”

“Maybe they were perceived as a threat. Like
the white lab coats resulted in the death of everyone wearing
white. Were there Army soldiers at the facility?”

Alec swore under his breath. “They all died,
too.”

“So maybe their uniforms identified them as
an enemy.”

“That’s a distinct possibility based on what
we’ve already seen.”

Alec gestured at the gore laden area further
up the highway. “They were driving through the mesmerized. They
were probably desperate to escape when things went south at the
facility. Hell, they were desperate enough to try to signal us for
a rescue. Or at least I’m assuming that’s why they crawled onto the
hood.”

“They probably thought they could push
through the crowd.” Minji shuddered remembering her own struggle
with the mesmerized at the waterfall. It felt like a million years
ago.

“Possibly. We’ll never know now.”

“So if they tried to go to the facility,
how’d they know about it?”

“Any soldier with immunity would have
immediately reported in for orders.”

“Which means more may be on their way.”

“Yeah. And they’ll be in danger if they’re
still in uniform. Shit. There’s no way to warn them.”

“So where did they get these?” Minji
attempted to rub some of the blood staining the white plastic, but
gave up when she realized it was also on her hands.

“That I don’t have an answer for.” Alec
appeared just as baffled as she was at the unexpected situation.
“Maybe they were assigned to the second facility and got those off
of the affected scientists. But it’s hard to say.”

The mesmerized continued onward, crossing
the road a hundred yards away from the bloody scene.

“There aren’t any neat answers are
there?”

“You tell me. How do we make sure Mommy
doesn’t see us a threat?” Alec stared at her, fully expecting her
to answer.

Minji shrugged. “Hell if I know. Humanity
kidnapped her kid, so she’s pissed already.”

“If you’re right...”

“If I’m right...”

“And we have her kid.”

“Which could be good or bad, depending on
how she reacts. My hope is that the child can help us.” Minji
shoved the card into her jacket pocket with a sigh that turned her
breath into icy mist.

“So we keep on the baby’s good side.”
Shaking his head, Alec started to return to the shuttle bus. “We
better get back on the road.”

“How will we get through?” Minji pointed
toward the flocks of the mesmerized.

“Carefully,” Alec called out, and kept
walking. “Very carefully.”

The sun was close to setting and the sky was
awash in bright orange, pink, and gold beneath a curtain of diamond
studded darkness. Minji sat in front of her husband, attempting to
compel Jake to drink some water and a protein drink, but to no
avail. Surrendering to dismay, she set the water aside and took
Jake’s hands in her own.

Who was staring through his eyes? The child
or the mother?

Ava stayed in the aisle at Minji’s side.
Whenever Minji moved, Ava followed. Maybe it was her imagination,
but she felt as though the entity within Ava was settling into her
daughter’s body like the fingers of a puppeteer in a hand puppet.
The thought made her a bit queasy.

At the rear of the shuttle bus, Simone
rested next to Jesse, eyes closed, her hand lying on his forearm.
At this point, Minji had given up hope Jesse would wake before the
door between worlds was closed. Simone and Alec were doing their
best to take care of Jake and Jesse while Minji drove, but they
were only following what they’d seen Jesse do for the other
patients. It wasn’t the medical care that Jesse could provide.

The one major relief was that there were no
more attacks during their slow journey.

Alec hobbled up the aisle to sit near her.
“We still can’t drive any further. They’re blocking the way.”

The day had been long and complicated by the
occasional migration of the mesmerized across the highway, which
had significantly slowed the progress of the shuttle bus. It was
apparent the mesmerized were walking in a straight line to the
first facility, ignoring roads and enclosures along the way. A few
times Minji had witnessed fences collapsing under the onslaught of
the crowds. For a period of time, the hordes flanked the highway in
a distant dark wave surrounded by dust clouds, but now their path
had intersected with the road again. The throngs trudged toward the
first facility from all directions, gradually morphing into one
large mass. Now the mesmerized filled the road as far as the eye
could see and blocked their passage. Minji had parked the bus so
they could eat and rest for a bit in hopes that the crowd would
eventually thin.

Kissing the back of Jake’s hands, Minji
longed for him to awaken. “We’ll have to go on foot, won’t we?”

“Simone can stay here like we
discussed.”

“I don’t know if the other will let Bailey
stay behind.”

“We need to try. It’s been thirty hours
since this started, Minji. We’re running out of time.”

With a weary sigh, Minji acknowledged the
truth of his statement by standing.

In the fading sunlight, Simone’s eyes
glittered when she opened them. “You’re going to try? Now?”

“The mesmerized aren’t diminishing in
numbers, they’re growing,” Alec answered.

Simone sat up, smoothed her hair, and pushed
out of her seat. “All right. I’ll stay here until you return. And
you’d better return.” The tense lines around her full lips and
hunched shoulders were clear indicators of her worries.

With trembling fingers, Minji untied Ava’s
leash and scooted the child along the aisle toward the front. “The
keys are in the ignition, Simone.”

“I’m not leaving until you come back,”
Simone snapped.

“If we don’t come back, you have to leave
for Bailey’s sake. Please.”

Simone met Minji’s imploring stare with a
stony one, then exhaled explosively. “Fine! How long before I
leave?”

“Twenty-four hours,” Alec answered.

“Okay. Twenty-four hours, but you’ll be back
before then. Or I will be very unhappy with both of you.” Simone
gave them a withering stare that actually elicited smiles from both
of them. “I’m not joking.”

“You’re good people, Simone.” Alec gave her
a gentle hug which she immediately returned.

She clung to Alec. “Please don’t leave me
alone for long,” She said, her voice cracking.

“We won’t.”

The man’s answer made Minji bristle. She
didn’t like him lying to Simone, even though Minji held onto the
hope that they would be successful. If someone made a promise,
Minji fully expected them to fulfill it. How could Alec promise
something he couldn’t be sure of?

The one vow she’d made to her family was
that she would do her best to save them, and she would fulfill it.
But there was one vow she had yet to make and it was the most
important. As a mother the mere thought of Ava and Bailey lost in
another world among completely alien creatures was unbearable. In
spite of the destruction brought on the world, her heart broke for
the two creatures torn apart.

Crouching before Ava, Minji stared into the
glassy gaze and projected as clearly as she could the compassion in
her heart. “We’re going to try to save you. We’re going to where
they have you trapped so we can send you home. Alec and I want to
save you.”

A blank look was her only response.

Inspiration hit and Minji unzipped Ava’s
Mulan backpack and withdrew several dolls. Holding up the Mulan
doll, she said, “Mommy,” and pointed to herself. Picking up the
Tiana doll, she started to speak, but Ava immediately pointed to
Simone.

“Did she just...?” Simone had retrieved
Bailey from the child seat and stood over the mother and daughter
observing the interaction.

“She recognizes you as an individual. That’s
good.” Alec sat across from Minji and Ava and leaned toward the
little girl. “Which one is me?” He indicated himself with his
thumb.

Ava pointed at a male prince.

“Damn.” Simone’s eyes widened.

Excitement flooding her, Minji set the rest
of the dolls on her lap. “Which one is Ava?”

Ava’s eyes barely flicked to the dolls, but
the finger pointed at Merida.

Minji grouped the Merida and Mulan doll
together. “You have a mommy like Ava has a mommy.” Waving to the
remaining dolls, she asked “Which one is your mommy?” Which doll
would the entity choose to represent its mother?

The little digit wavered, then pointed out
the window toward the stars.