A few groans and some twisting in beds, but no heads popped up. He went around, pulling back their blankets and shaking their feet.
“Come on! Let’s go!”
This time several of the children sat up.
“What time is it?” one of the boys asked.
“It’s time to get up,” Brandon said.
He knew they should all take showers, too, but it would be harder to get them washed up and ready to go. Plus, it would delay their departure, and that was not something Brandon wanted to do.
Hoping none of them had been exposed, he said, “Everyone get dressed. Something warm, okay?”
The girl in the last bed stared at him, a bear hugged to her chest. He walked over to her.
“Ellie, right?” he said.
She nodded.
“You need some help?”
“I don’t have any more clothes,” she told him.
“That’s okay. Let me see what I can find, all right?”
He gathered items from some of the other kids. Like the clothes he’d given Loni, these would be big on the girl, but they’d do.
As he was helping her dress, the cabin door opened and Miss Collins walked back in. It was clear from the stunned expression on her face what she’d discovered.
Brandon helped Ellie pull her jacket on, then, after making sure she had her bear, he picked her up and hurried over to the supervisor.
Stopping a few feet away, he said, “You didn’t go in, did you?”
Miss Collins shook her head. “No.”
“But you heard the coughs.”
A nod.
“Then you know we need to get out of here.”
No response this time.
“Miss Collins!” he yelled.
She jerked and focused on him.
“We need you to be okay. You’re the only adult.”
A stuttering breath and then a nod. “You’re right. You’re right. I…I’ll be okay.”
Since she had been near the infected cabins, he told her she should take a shower and change clothes. “I’ll take everyone over to the cafeteria, and we’ll meet you there as soon as you’re done. Don’t take long, okay?”
“I…I understand, Brandon. I’ll be quick.”
He kept everyone away from her as she gathered her bag and left again.
As soon as the door closed behind her, he said, “Okay, we’re going over to the cafeteria.”
“What about Miss Collins?” one of the kids asked.
“She’ll join us in a few minutes. Is everyone ready?”
Tired nods all around.
“Then follow me.” With Ellie in his arms, and the others trailing behind, Brandon went out the door.
Ten minutes passed before Miss Collins showed up. In the intervening time, Loni, Vincent, and Carter put together several bags of food, while Brandon worked on how they would get out of there.
They could hike, but who knew how far they would have to go before they reached a house or building they could take shelter in. Too far, probably, especially with seven little kids. The only real answer was down at the end of the cafeteria.
Sergeant Lukes’s Suburban SUV.
Brandon checked the vehicle, hoping the keys would be inside, but they weren’t. He would have to get them from Sergeant Lukes himself in the staff cabin.
Grabbing another change of clothes from his bag, he stopped by the showers first, leaving them on one of benches inside before heading to the staff cabin. The chorus of coughing had increased since his last visit. Even though he knew he was immune, it scared the hell out of him to be so close to the disease, but he also knew it was this immunity that was going to allow him save the others.
He took several deep breaths to work up his courage, and finally pulled the door open. He moved slowly into the room, gently transferring his weight from foot to foot so that the floorboards would creak as little as possible. Sergeant Lukes’s bed turned out to be the second one in on the left. Like the others, his breathing was labored.
Brandon found the sergeant’s pants folded neatly on top of his shoes beside the bed. He checked the pockets. No keys. The man’s jacket was lying on the empty bed beside him. No luck there, either. The only other place to look was in the sergeant’s bag, which he found tucked under the bed.
Carefully, he worked it out from beneath. The zipper proved to be a problem, though. There was nothing he could do to muffle the sound it made. He was halfway through when he heard someone stir and sit up. He dropped out of sight between the beds. If it had been Sergeant Lukes, Brandon would have been discovered in seconds, but the sergeant was out cold.
After a few seconds, Brandon chanced peeking over the top of the empty bed next to the sergeant.
Mrs. Trieb was the one awake. She was sitting up, but her head was in her hands. Several more seconds passed before she groaned and lay back down.
Knowing he couldn’t chance opening the zipper any more, he slipped his hand in the bag and felt around until his fingers touched the keys.
It took every ounce of will to walk out of the cabin as slowly as he’d walked in, but once he was outside, he raced to the showers.
When he finally returned to the cafeteria, he found the others, including Miss Collins, sitting at tables nearest the door, bags of food piled in front of them.
“Grab as many bags as you can,” he said to the three older kids, “and follow me. Miss Collins, you stay with the kids, okay?”
She nodded absently.
He snatched up four of the bags himself, and led the others out to the Suburban. It took them two trips to get everything out and fill up the storage area in back.
When they finished, Brandon went over to Miss Collins and whispered, “Are you okay?”
“Where are we going to go?” she asked, as if whatever they did was going to fail.
“I don’t know,” he said. “But we’ll figure that out later. Right now we just need to get away from here.” He paused. “We need you to help us. You can’t give up.”
“I…I’m not,” she said. “I’m just…” She closed her eyes for a second and rubbed her forehead. “Okay, okay. No problem. I’ll be fine.”
“Can you help with the kids?” Brandon said.
She nodded and stood up. “All right, everyone,” she announced. “We’re going out to the Suburban. It’ll be a bit of a squeeze, but you should all be able to fit.”
“Where are we going?” one of the kids asked.
“On a field trip,” Miss Collins told her.
“Where?”
“You’ll see when we get there.”
“This way,” Brandon said, opening the door.
With him in the lead and Miss Collins bringing up the rear, they headed out. They were only halfway to the SUV when a voice called out, “What’s going on here?”
Brandon stopped in his tracks and twisted around. Mrs. Trieb was standing at the far end of the parking area near the dorms, staring at them. He knew in his gut that if he hadn’t disturbed her sleep, she would have never gotten up.
She sniffled and ran a hand under her nose. “I asked you a question. What the hell’s going on?”
“Get them in the truck,” Miss Collins whispered toward Brandon. She then turned toward her boss. “Alicia, look at yourself.”
“Keep going, everyone,” Brandon said, getting the kids moving again.
“You’re sick,” Miss Collins went on. “You’ve got the flu.”
“Sick? What are you talking about? I’m not sick. It’s a headache, that’s all.” As if to emphasize the point, Mrs. Trieb touched her temple and winced. “Get those children back to their beds.”
“You are sick,” Miss Collins told her. “And it’s not just you. These kids are the only ones who aren’t. I have to get them out of here before they get sick, too. You would do the same. If you don’t believe me, go back to the dorms and listen to the coughs.”