With another wipe of her nose, Mrs. Trieb started walking toward the group, her balance far from perfect. “Everyone, back to your beds!”
“Alicia, please!” Miss Collins shouted, moving to keep herself between Mrs. Trieb and the others. “If you get too close you’ll expose them, too! I know you don’t want that.”
Brandon ran the last few feet to the Suburban and threw open a side door. “Everybody in. Quick.”
The ones closest to him piled in, but those in back looked unsure of what to do as they glanced between him, Miss Collins, and Mrs. Trieb.
“It’s going to be okay,” Loni said, urging the younger ones along.
After the last of them was in the car, Vincent and Carter followed.
“You, too,” Brandon said to Loni.
“What about you?”
“Just get in and keep them calm. I’ll be right there.”
Reluctantly, she climbed inside.
“Hey!” Mrs. Trieb yelled as she altered her course toward Brandon. “You get them out of that car right now!”
Miss Collins repositioned herself in front of her boss again. “Alicia! Stop! You don’t want to do this!”
“Shut up, bitch!”
Mrs. Trieb was fifty feet away from the Suburban, Miss Collins twenty feet in front of her.
“Get in the car,” Miss Collins said to Brandon.
He hesitated a moment before climbing into the front passenger seat. As soon as the door closed, Miss Collins turned and ran for the SUV. When she reached the truck, she circled around the front to the driver’s side door.
Unfortunately, Mrs. Trieb had also picked up her pace. Though she wasn’t as fast as Miss Collins, she was able to round the hood just as the younger woman pulled on the door handle.
“You’re not going to make it!” Brandon yelled.
Miss Collins looked over at her colleague, and realized Brandon was right. She let go of the door and ran around the back end of the truck. Brandon reached over and pressed the door lock button. There was a loud clunk as all the locks engaged. Behind him, many of the kids started to cry.
“It’s okay,” Loni said. “We’re going to be fine.”
Brandon hopped over the center console into the driver’s seat.
“What are you doing?” Vincent asked.
“What’s it look like I’m doing?”
Brandon moved the seat as far forward as it would go, helping his foot reach the pedals.
“You know how to drive?” Carter asked.
“Uh-huh.” Brandon started the engine.
“I don’t believe you,” Vincent said. “Who taught you?”
“My dad,” Brandon said. “Now be quiet so I can pay attention.” He moved the transmission into Drive and sped forward.
“What about Miss Collins?” Loni asked.
Brandon didn’t answer. Before he reached the end of the parking area, he turned the truck back around and stopped there as he scanned the area for Miss Collins.
“Where is she?” he asked. “Do any of you see her?”
“I don’t know,” Loni said.
Mrs. Trieb had once more changed directions and was now heading for the cafeteria entrance.
Brandon rolled down his window and yelled, “Miss Collins!” When she didn’t appear, he honked the horn and called her name again.
Mrs. Trieb turned to look at the truck, twisting her whole body as if the muscles in her neck no longer worked.
“Miss Collins!”
A door slammed somewhere. Not near the cafeteria, but in the direction of the dormitories.
“You kids get out of there,” Mrs. Trieb yelled, her voice barely audible above the Suburban’s engine. “Go back to your cabins.” Miss Collins seemingly forgotten, she lurched toward them again.
Movement to the left caught Brandon’s attention. Two of the older boys were coming down the path from the dorms, one holding a hand over his mouth as he coughed.
We have to get out of here, Brandon thought.
“Miss Collins!” he yelled again. “Where are you?”
A head poked out from behind the far end of the cafeteria — Miss Collins, looking nervous and scared.
“Everyone hang on,” Brandon said as he rolled up his window.
He switched his foot from the brake to the accelerator, and drove in a wide arc around Mrs. Trieb over to the cafeteria. As he neared the logs that marked the back of the lot, he tried to do one of the tricks his father had shown him, slamming on the brakes as he whipped the wheel around.
The Suburban tipped violently to the left, the wheels on the passenger side all but leaving the ground. Almost everyone in back screamed. The truck rocked back to the right, then left, then right again before settling back down.
“Whoa!” Vincent said. “Your dad taught you that?”
Brandon lowered his window again and yelled at Miss Collins, “Hurry!”
She broke from the building and ran around the back of the truck. Just as she got to the passenger door, Brandon pushed the Unlock button. She yanked the door open, and jumped into the seat. The second the door was closed again, Brandon relocked everything.
“You want to drive?” he asked.
She shook her head, her face strained with fear. “You seem to be doing fine.”
Brandon did a quick look around. Mrs. Trieb was a good thirty feet away, still heading toward them. The two boys who’d come out of the dorm were standing near the end of the path, and a few others had staggered outside to see what was going on.
“Get us out of here,” Vincent said.
Not needing further encouragement, Brandon gunned the engine, slalomed around Mrs. Trieb, and raced out to the road that would take them away from Camp Kiley.
23
The only things I can get on TV now are infomercials and movies. Most of the stations are no longer broadcasting. Either they have a logo just sitting there or the channel has gone completely dark. In a way, that’s even scarier than when they were showing what was going on.
So far, no one has tried to get onto my floor. Thought I heard a noise in the stairwell earlier in the evening, but if it was someone, they didn’t come up this high. I think that’s probably my best safety feature. Anyone who’s sick won’t have the energy to climb more than a floor or two, and if what the news had been saying is correct, then pretty much everyone is sick.
The thing that’s been worrying me the most has been the elevator. It’s the easy way up. I had blocked the entrance, but it wouldn’t take much to get through my barricade. I finally decided I needed to take a chance and do something a bit more drastic.
I hunted through some of the other rooms, and found a rain slicker that went down past my knees, some rubber boots, and a pair of skiing gloves. (By the way, if for some reason everything goes back to normal, I’m probably going to be on the hook for the cost of the door to Kendal’s room. I just figured it would be cheaper to bust into hers, since she’s our resident advisor, and find her master keys than to break through all the doors.) I also took one of the medical masks out of the floor’s first-aid kit, and my roommate’s swimming goggles.
When I put everything on and pulled the hood over my head, I’d created what would probably be a pretty good Halloween costume. (No, I didn’t think that at the time. I’m trying to be clever in hindsight. It’s helping me to keep my sanity.)
I dismantled my barrier, and, well…
I don’t know how long I stood in front of the elevator dressed like that before I finally pushed the button to call up the car. I knew it was risky, but there was no way I was going to be able to sleep very well until I was sure the elevator was out of service.