“So what about us?” Ethan asks. “Won’t they find out when you haven’t dropped us off at the warehouse?”
“I’m giving you the SUV,” he says. “There are weapons and supplies in the trunk space. I’ll tell them you three jumped me and took it so I had to walk back. They won’t be able to argue with that.”
“And where do you suggest we go from here?” Gilbert asks.
A bullet smashing through the windshield is his answer. The four of us duck down as more bullets slam into the SUV, ripping holes through the metal. I throw open my door and duck down. I can see Gabe running toward the woods to our left and I follow him. Bullets whiz by my head and I’m almost to the edge of the woods when my foot catches a rock and I fall hard to the ground. I’m about to pull myself from the ground when I look up and see that Scarecrow and his men are right on top of me.
Chapter 17 – Remi
It’s weird being back in Elkhorn after three years and it pains me to see everything that used to be beautiful and welcoming look like crap. The streets are littered with trash and abandoned cars. Many of the columns in front of the buildings are stained with blood which are remnants of when the military came in, trying to stop the chaos. The once-bustling buildings are now silent and empty. Well, I know they aren’t empty. I suppose I mean that they are empty of life. I can smell the decay in the air, the three years of rotting greyskins. People have another name for this place: the Epicenter. Most believe that this is where it all began. I guess it’s true. As a student here I didn’t think much about where the madness came from. None of us really had time to think. One day students were going to class, the next we were being attacked by these monsters that used to be people.
I will never forget the first greyskin I encountered. His name was Andy. I sat next to him in English class before the outbreak. He was a smart guy, but he didn’t talk much. That day, so many of us were running in a panic. I couldn’t find my friends. I remember seeing Andy and calling out to him. When he turned his head I could see that he had changed into one of them…one of those creatures. At that time, the greyskins were nameless. I’m not exactly sure where the word greyskin came from, probably the news, but the name described Andy well. His skin looked like ash and his eyes had darkened. I remember trying to call out to him, but when he came toward me I knew he wasn’t coming to my aid. He was coming to bite me, to scratch me, eat me. I remember seeing a police officer shoot him down right in front of me. I was in shock. The police officer was telling me to get somewhere safe, but before he could finish his sentence, two more greyskins were on top of him, ripping his skin from his bones.
Elkhorn is one of the last places I want to be right now. I’d rather be anywhere but here, but if I’m going to be allowed back into Crestwood, I need to find something out about Jessi Paxton. I know it’s probably a stupid idea. I know Paxton has probably sent me on a death mission, but what else can I do? It’s not like I know of any other safe haven. But if I can, I would like to be back at Crestwood, even if that means helping Gabe uncover whatever this plot is about Shadowface.
The grey clouds roll in through the distance, casting a dark shadow across the university. It’s going to rain, I think to myself. Rain is good for disguising steps, but it’s bad for keeping warm. As a gust of wind hits me from behind, I become more thankful of the coat Gabe gave me.
My enhanced hearing can sense the shuffling of greyskins all around me, though none of them have noticed my presence. I can see one or two in the street up ahead, but I won’t be going that way. I cut through an alley (something I hate to do with the limited space) because on the other side I will come to the road directly across from the university hospital.
It’s one of the last places that I want to go, but if Robert Paxton’s daughter is the same Jessi Paxton that I knew in college, then she was pregnant. If she was pregnant then she would have more than likely gone to the Elkhorn University Hospital to have the baby. If that was true, then they would have a medical record on her at the maternity ward. I know it’s a shot in the dark. There are so many factors that could go against me.
What if it’s not the same girl? What if she went home to have the baby? What if she never even had the baby? What if her name was actually Jessi Roberts and not Jessi Paxton and you’re just confused? What if you’re wrong? Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Don’t go into the hospital, stupid! Do you know how many greyskins will be in there? Go on, take a listen.
I try to ignore my inner voice as I approach the hospital parking lot. I duck behind a car when I see a greyskin in an EMT uniform walking through the forever-stuck sliding glass doors of the ER. I try to remember the inside of the hospital, but I’ve only been here once. When I was a freshmen, I had been playing intramural flag football and some jock decided to play tackle. Well, his tackle broke my ankle and he ended up taking me to the emergency room to get it fixed. I remember he tried to turn it into a silly, romantic moment that would send us spiraling into a life-long love affair like some cheesy chick-flick, but I quickly told him off, using language that would make a sailor blush. Needless to say, we didn’t go on any dates afterword.
I close my eyes trying to remember the layout of the ER, but all I can remember is the waiting room and having to sit there for two hours before someone would see me. I will have to go in and follow the signs like everyone else, I suppose. I’m glad Gabe thought to give me a machete along with the guns. Guns are great, but there is no way I would survive this hospital with them. One shot would be enough to bring about thirty greyskins down on me. Then I would be forced to shoot more. Then more greyskins would come. Here, there would be no end in sight.
I pull the newly sharpened blade from the sheath and hold it by the short handle. It’s a good weight in my hands and I like that the blade is longer than my forearm. The farther away from the greyskins, the better off I am. I stand up from behind the car and begin walking toward the entrance of the ER. The noise from inside tells me that there are many greyskins, but none within the immediate vicinity besides Mr. EMT. When the greyskin notices me, it lets out a short groan and starts making its way toward me. This one is slow; a foot drags as some bone protrudes through the middle of his pant leg. This one must have fallen down some steps.
I feel a rush of confidence as I swing forward and imbed the machete into the greyskin’s skull. Black blood splatters over my hands and the creature stops moving and falls to the cement with ease. I think about wiping off the blade for only a second before I realize that it’s pointless. The shuffling of feet within the hospital seems to be everywhere. I take a deep breath, knowing I’m going to have to face whatever is inside.
I crouch when I get to the front door. Peering around the corner, I see a dead body hunched over the side of the front desk. The halls beyond are dark and there are very few windows to light the way. There probably hasn’t been electricity in this building for two and a half years or more. At the front desk, the dead body’s head pulls up to look at me. Its aged decrepit chest, sticky with dried blood, is glued to the desktop. I can’t take a chance of this thing finding the strength to rip free and come after me so I lift my blade and stab it through the temple and it falls back down to its previous sleeping position.
I walk past the front desk and into the hallway beyond. On one of the walls there is a directory with all of the departments. My stomach drops when I see that the maternity ward is on the fourth floor. Why would they make pregnant ladies have to go up so many floors? Why would they make me go up so many floors?