Anywhere But Here (The Starborn Ascension) (15 page)

He can’t help but yell out. Skip would help him but there are two more greyskins closing in on him. A knife is useless to us in here. I lift up my gun and take aim at the greyskin on top of Gabe. With a pull of the trigger, it’s brains splatter against the wall across from him. He throws the body off and jumps to one that’s on top of Skip. Paxton lets off a round and so does Mendez, but neither of the greyskins go down.
 

Finally, Skip is able to stab one of them through the temple but not before the other one takes a deep bite into his shoulder. He lets out a bellowing scream as his own blood pours down his side. Gabe reaches out and stabs the greyskin in the head but it is too late. With five greyskins on the floor around us, Skip bleeds heavily, destined to become one himself.

Gabe spits on the ground and lets out a curse as Skip whimpers.
 

“I’m dead,” Skip says over and over. “I’m dead. I’m dead. I’m dead.”

“We need to get what we came for and get out of here,” Mendez says “Others will have heard the shots.”

Paxton remains nervously silent as if he’s waiting for Gabe to give the orders.

My ears perk at the sound of more greyskins shuffling through the sheriff’s office. I step past all of them, trying to let the cries of Skip fall to the background, but when I walk around the corner, I don’t need super hearing to know that at least ten more greyskins are coming straight for us.
 

“More!” I yell out, letting off round after round. I’m usually a good shot, but I miss twice in my killing spree, though I send three of them to the ground. “Go back! Get out!” I shoot two more to the ground.
 

“Go on without me!” Skip yells out. “I’ll hold them off.” He stands, holds up his gun and unloads on the others, infected blood still dripping down his shoulder.
 

Paxton is the first one out of the sheriff’s office with Mendez close behind him. I make for the door and turn back to see Gabe standing next to Skip, firing away.
 

“Gabe,” I call out, “we have to get back to the car!”

“I’ll be there in a sec,” he says over his shoulder, a greyskin coming at him too close for comfort.
 

I hate leaving them in there, but I can hear more greyskins outside. I burst through the door only to hear Paxton yell out “that way!” with a subsequent gunshot from Mendez. Glass shatters as greyskins break through the windows, charging after the gun blasts as though they are a call for dinner.
 

I take aim at one and pull the trigger, but all that comes is a
click.
I curse as I throw my backpack and duffel bag to the ground. I reach into the side pocket and start loading the gun. I’m distracted by the number of greyskins all around us, scraping to exit the five buildings. I can’t imagine why there were so many in each of these.

The greyskins start pouring into the streets. One of them sets its eyes on me as I fumble to load my gun. Bullets clank to the ground as I drop them nervously. I can hear its guttural moan. Its grayish skin seems to be falling off its face, its clothes in tatters, its teeth chomping at me as though it can already taste my blood. The bullets are finally in and the greyskin is almost on top of me. I fire it once and the bullet shoots through its neck. No good. I shoot again and this time the bullet goes through the middle of its forehead and it falls to the ground only a foot in front of me. There have to be at least thirty greyskins in the street and now more have trained their eyes on me.
 

I look ahead to see Paxton and Mendez sprinting for the SUV. They aren’t about to take it and run, are they? I fire a round, a greyskin falls. I shoot again, another falls. But I know I don’t have thirty bullets left. Like an answer to a prayer, Gabe crashes through the door of the sheriff’s office, helping Skip walk with him. When they get near me, Gabe fires into the crowd of greyskins and Skip falls to his knees next to me.
 

I get a sick feeling in my stomach at the sight of Skip’s injury. No, not
injury
. More like
death sentence
. To be bitten is to be killed in a slow and painful way. He seems to be weaponless, and Gabe complains that he’s already down to the last of his bullets.
 

“There shouldn’t have been that many greyskins in there,” he says as he takes aim at another greyskin.

I don’t know what to think. All I do is keep firing. Firing, firing, firing until I’m completely out of bullets. I’m thankful to see that Paxton and Mendez didn’t completely abandon us, rather they take aim from the safety of the SUV in clear view of us, but then their guns are silent.
 

“We’re out!” comes the voice of Mendez. A few of the greyskins turn toward him as he yells.
 

Six are coming toward us, four are going after Paxton and Mendez. Gabe takes down two more greyskins and declares he’s out of ammo too.
 

“Some planning,” I say to him. “Why didn’t you pack more ammo?”

“There weren’t supposed to be this many!”

I roll my eyes at him. As the greyskins move closer, I know what I’ve got to do. I reach down for my backpack and unzip the top. My hand clasps around the silver handle of the pistol I stole from Paxton.

Nine bullets, eight greyskins. Little room for error.
 

A sudden surge of confidence washes over me as I stand, proudly declaring that I was the one to break into Headquarters as I lift the gun into the air.
 

Boom!
A greyskin’s head splits open.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The shots are so loud, and the recoil is hard, but I don’t miss a single shot. I start walking forward as the greyskins that were headed for Paxton and Mendez suddenly turn toward me. I walk within two feet of them and their heads explode like fruit as I let off two shots.
 

One bullet left.
 

I’m left standing in the middle of the street with the others staring at me. Paxton gets out of the SUV, his eyes squinting as he moves forward. I think about it for only a brief second. I’m not sure what his intentions are, but if they are bad, I can end him. All I need is one bullet. He knows the sound, the feel, the weight of this gun. He
knows
I still have one bullet left. I try not to look him in the eyes as he approaches me, but he doesn’t acknowledge me at all. He watches my eyes until he walks past me, and he ends his walk when he stops in front of Skip.
 

Gabe looks up at Paxton. “It’s a bite,” he says.
 

“You know I can’t let you into Crestwood,” Paxton tells Skip.
 

Skip doesn’t look at him, but nods. “I understand.”
 

Paxton cracks his neck, looking away from him as though he is contagious simply by looking at him. His eyes fall back on me and he walks to me this time. He reaches out his hand and asks for the gun even though he never opens his mouth. I look down at the ground and hand it to him. I don’t know if he wants to shoot me with it or if he will take me back to Crestwood. There is no way for me to tell. Gun in hand, he walks over to Skip.

“You’ve got about twenty-four hours until the infection kills you,” he says coldly. He hands Skip the gun and Skip takes it, looking at it as though it is the end of him. It
is
the end of him. “Miss Remi here has stolen this gun from me and left you a bullet. Do with it as you wish. You were a good soldier, Skip.” Paxton turns from him and begins walking back to the SUV. He stops when he nears me and looks deep into my eyes. “I’m not surprised, you know.”

“I know you aren’t,” I say. “I will be on my way. I don’t have to come back with you.”

“You’re coming back,” Paxton says as he walks away from me. I look back at Gabe who is sitting on the ground next to Skip. He shrugs at me and shakes his head.
 

“What about Skip?” Gabe calls out.
 

Skip shakes his head. “Leave me here,” he says. “I know what I got to do, I’d rather none of you be here to see it.”

I feel sick on the inside. It’s hard for me to see Paxton act so cold, but I feel just as cold. I don’t want Skip to die, but to me, he’s dead already. Once bitten, you’re gone. There is nothing to be done.
 

Gabe does his best to console Skip, but Skip actually shoves him away and screams for us to leave. With our heads down, Gabe and I get into the back of the SUV as Mendez drives and Paxton sits up front. I try not to look at Skip as we drive away. I try not to think about what Paxton is going to say to me when we get back - the punishment that I’m going to face. It’s a couple of miles down the road before I hear the noise. It’s too far away for anyone else in the silent car to hear, but I can hear it as clearly as if I am standing right next to him.
 

Skip pulls the trigger, ending his life before the virus does it to him. It’s the same story I’ve seen too many times. Do I think this world will ever heal?
 

No.
 

Healing comes in death alone.
 

What Paxton calls a holding cell is more like a room with a large, thick door and a padlock on the other side of it to keep in prisoners. Gabe leads me to the room without saying a word. I don’t blame him for not talking. I don’t say anything either. There is nothing to say.
 

At least I’m not cuffed. The almost empty, windowless room is lit by harsh, white incandescent lights. An ominous single chair waits for me at the other end. I walk to it without having to be told. Gabe stands at the door, his eyes hanging on me.

“You don’t have to say anything, Gabe.”

He lets out a sigh. “Why did you bring the gun?”

“Same reason you didn’t bring enough ammunition,” I come back. “Poor judgement.”

His eyes are fixed on me firmly now, but I’m the one to turn away.

“I don’t want you to take the fall,” I say. “There’s no reason for both of us to be punished.”

“I never asked you to do it,” he says.
 

My head jerks to him and I can feel my neck and cheeks getting hot. He had basically asked me to break into Headquarters for him. “You didn’t exactly protest my offer when I made it.”

“I was afraid this was going to happen,” he says. “I just didn’t think you’d be dumb enough to bring the gun.”

“Well, I wasn’t exactly expecting Paxton to come along, was I?”

Gabe shakes his head. “I wasn’t either.”

“What’s going to happen next?”

Gabe shrugs. “I'm sure the elders are going to talk it over. You might be sent away. I don’t know. Paxton isn’t a terrible man, he’s just untrusting. If he thinks he can’t trust you, he’s not going to want you here at all.”

“Will they at least let me tell my side of the story?” I ask.
 

His face seems to lose color for a minute.
 

“I’m not talking about mentioning Shadowface,” I say. “Just that I really want my weapons back.”

“I don’t know if they will let you talk. You’ve already incriminated yourself. You
did
break into Headquarters and steal the gun. Regardless of your reasons, you are guilty in their eyes.”

Gabe was right. They were going to throw me to the dogs and there was nothing I could do about it. He stands in the doorway for a few more moments. I want to tell him to go away, that our friendship isn’t so deep that he should feel as guilty as he does. I’ll find my way. I’ll take whatever Paxton and his elders give me. Finally, Gabe says that he will keep me updated, and turns to leave.
 

“I’m sorry about Skip,” I say. It sounds half-hearted but I mean it. No one deserves to end like that.
 

Gabe stalls for a moment as if he wants to say more, then he closes the door behind him, locking it securely.
 

The room is silent but for my steady breathing. I’m not scared. There is no reason to be now. Being locked away in a room keeps me safe from the greyskins. I’m safer in here than on the outside - at least, for now I am.
 

It’s just like me to do something stupid like this. It’s just like me to feel the need to take a stolen gun and then use it. It’s been three months since I killed a greyskin. Seeing them surrounding us like they did…I just couldn’t handle it. When I ran out of ammo, I had no other choice but to pull out the gun. In fact, wasn’t it smart that I brought the gun? Didn’t I save my life?
Our lives?
 

Throughout the next few hours I try to focus my hearing in every direction possible. I close my eyes in deep concentration, doing my best to locate the second floor of the headquarters building. I’ve found that the longer I’ve stayed at a place, the better I am at locating sounds. If I’m unfamiliar, I can’t determine the direction of the noise nearly as well. The only problem is that now I hear nothing. Paxton’s meeting with the elders hasn’t started, or it’s taking place somewhere else.
 

I let my senses dull and stare down at the cold, blank floor in front of me, unsure of how I came to this. Immediately, I know… I stole from Paxton, but in a way, I also stole from Crestwood. How had I gone from a fun-loving, college party girl to a rifle-wielding, greyskin-stabbing, cold girl? But I know I’m not unique. There are a million like me. Unless they’re dead.
 

I had been well-liked in my former life. I had many friends, but none of them close. I guess even before all this greyskin stuff started, I kept people at a distance. I never had much of a relationship with my family, especially my parents. It’s something that I feel like I should regret, but knowing that they are all dead, I don’t see the point in it. Part of me knows I should have been closer to them all, but another part of me feels relieved that I had been distant for so long. It made it easier to swallow the fact that all of them were probably eaten and gone. I try not to think about the possibility that they still roam the world, turning more of their victims into mindless creatures just like themselves.