Sleepers 3 Page 13

  I would not go down. I wouldn’t.

  I had Jessie. She was safe and I would, at all costs, get her out of there.

  I just had to make that distance.

  With Jessie in my arms, and all my intestinal fortitude, I forged ahead and broke free. I took off running. I knew they were in pursuit. I sensed and smelled them.

  I didn’t get winded on my way to town, and I prayed the same would hold true as I ran for our lives. Trust me, I ran. Focused on the wooded area ahead, I asked Jessie, “Do you see them?’

  “They’re coming.”

  “How close?”

  “You’re winning the race.”

  I laughed. She was right. As long as I had her, as long as she was in my arms and I was ahead of them, I was winning.

  I was faster, smarter, and stronger. Most of all, I made a promise to bring Jessie home, and damn it, I would.

  36.

  Mera Stevens

  In a matter of minutes, Grace erupted into pandemonium. People ran scared into the streets, and security men rushed them into trucks. Javier, Noah, and Levi ran through my house with boxes.

  They thought Michael was dead. That’s what Beck said. Then Michael radioed. The Sleepers left. They abandoned the attack on him and moved another direction.

  “I know you’re injured; can you make it to the highway? I have a truck going west,” Beck said as he moved about. “Alright, do that.”

  Beck reached out and grabbed one of the men. “Why are people still on the streets?”

  “Some won’t go,” the guard said. “They won’t get in the trucks.”

  “Then leave them. But tell them we’re blowing this place.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “What?” I asked. “You can’t blow up Grace.”

  “Mera, listen to me. They’re coming here. They’re coming full force and these walls won’t hold them. We have to go.” He lifted a finger and listened to his radio. “Then retreat. Get off the wall. Retreat.” He returned to me. “It’s like a tidal wave. That’s what I was told.”

  “I’m not going.”

  “Beck,” Danny called, “all ready. Bus is loaded. Gas cans on top.”

  “Everyone in there?” Beck asked.

  “Except my mom.”

  “Go,” Beck pointed.

  Danny nodded and raced out.

  “Let’s go, Mera.” Beck grabbed on to me.

  “No. Jessie.”

  “Mera, now,” he snapped. “You hear me? Get your ass on that bus.”

  “No.”

  He grimaced then grabbed hold of me. Arm around my waist, he lifted me off my feet, carrying me out to the back door.

  My hands reached for anything to stop him, but he was bigger and stronger.

  I screamed, No!, over and over. But he didn’t care, he didn’t stop. When we got to the bus, he put me on the step, and I turned around. “Beck.”

  “Mera, I’m sorry, sweetie. It’s over.”

  “Jessie... Alex.”

  He shook his head. “I’m sorry. He hasn’t answered.”

  I felt my entire body tense up. Beck stepped up, nodded at Bonnie, and the doors to the bus closed. Oh my God, we were leaving.

  My baby. My Jessie.

  With my whole heart and soul, I cried out. I wailed, long, and from my gut as Beck lifted me further into the bus.

  “Hit it,” he told Bonnie.

  The bus didn’t just start to move, it jolted fast and sped forward. My body lurched and Beck grabbed me. I was hysterical and not registering anything at that second.

  Danny asked Beck with such a sad voice, “What about the others?”

  “Danny, my focus is you guys and getting you to safety.”

  I saw Danny plop down in the seat. I sat down next to Phoenix and Keller. My head went forward, hands gripping the metal bar of the bus seat in front of me.

  “Take the back gate,” Beck instructed. “Hit the field and then right before the corn, you’ll see the road. Veer right for that.”

  “Got it,” Bonnie said.

  “Beck,” Javier called from the back of the bus, “any word? What’s the last you heard?”

  “They moved like a wall,” Beck replied. “Something was driving them.”

  Phoenix, sitting next to me, whispered, “Keller called them. Keller said come.”

  I heard it; I don’t think anyone else did.

  “No,” I told him. “No, Phoenix.”

  I raised my eyes to see Keller by the window. His hands pressed against the glass and his body faced it. “Mama,” Keller said, “Alex.”

  Just as I heard him say that, Bonnie cried out, “Oh, dear God, hold on.”

  The bus jerked hard to the left and she gunned it.

  “What are you doing?” Beck asked, charging to the front of the bus.

  “Alex!” she screamed. “Alex!”

  I glanced at the window, moved Keller over, and looked out. Alex was indeed running through the high grass of the field and in his arms, he carried my daughter.

  The bus made a full turn, taking Alex from my view and I stood, so did Danny, to look out the windshield.

  I screamed in excitement while Bonnie barreled the bus his way, and then I saw why. A virtual wall of Sleepers was running right behind them.

  “How close can you get?” Beck asked.

  “As close as I can,” Bonnie said. “Grab them, and make it fast..”

  She was moving fast; thank God, she could drive that bus like no other. Alex saw us. Bonnie slowed down the bus, turning it as she did. She whipped open the door.

  “Hurry!” Beck was off that bus, and before my son could go, I jumped out too.

  I ran out after Beck, ignoring the call of my name, and charged to Alex and my daughter.

  The Sleepers were close— we didn’t have much time at all.

  Beck arrived at Alex first, grabbing Jessie from his hold to free him so he would be able to run. The moment Beck took Jessie and raced back toward the bus, I saw Alex stumble.

  “Mera! Come on!” Beck yelled.

  I kept running to Alex. No way was I leaving him. Not when he had done that. Not when he had brought back my daughter.

  I reached him and grabbed his arm. “Come on, Alex!”

  “Go,” he said weakly.

  “No. I can’t leave you here. Let’s go.” I grabbed his arm. “I’ll help you.”

  Alex got back on his feet. I glanced back one more time. The Sleepers were close, too close. It was a race against time. Alex and I moved together toward the bus. I reached out, placing my hand on his back for support.

  It was wet, thick, like mush. My hand virtually sank into his frame and then my heart sank into my stomach.

  I couldn’t look. I didn’t have time to look. No... I didn’t want to look. We just needed to make it to the bus.

  At the door, Beck jumped down and grabbed Alex.

  “Easy, he’s hurt,” I said. When my foot hit the first step of the bus, Bonnie took off.

  It was a good thing she’d closed that bus door or I’d be out, gone, because I flew back against the door.

  The bus erupted into screams. Those on the bus, the kids especially, yelled for Bonnie to hurry.

  Then… Slam. Slam. Slam. The bus jolted with repeated impacts from the Sleepers’ bodies hitting the outside.

  “Keep going!” Beck ordered. “Danny, arm up!” He reached over and extended the rifle through an open window. “Hold your ears!”

  He started firing. Danny started firing. I’m not sure if we hit any of them. But eventually we moved ahead and left them behind.

  They chased us for a while. However, after a distance, we lost them.

  When the excitement and rush of the moment was over and we hit the overgrown roadway, it was time to take it all in.

  “Jessie?” I called.

  “Mommy!” She was in the back of the bus with Javier. “Mommy! Alex!”

  “She’s fine,” Javier said. “I’ll examine her more when we can stop.”<
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  Then I looked down. Alex sat on the aisle between the seats. I crouched down. “Alex, thank you so much.”

  He lifted his head. His eyes were dark and filled with a pain.

  “Alex,” Beck softy called him, “what did you do to yourself?”

  Alex chuckled once; it was more strained than real. “I think I lost a kidney.”

  “Let me look.” Beck tried to conceal the look on his face when he checked Alex’s injuries, but he couldn’t. I couldn’t, either. I wanted to cry. Alex was ripped apart. His entire back had been torn to shreds. His joke about losing a kidney wasn’t funny, because I could see them. I could see many of his organs.

  Beck’s voice cracked. “Mera, get my field dressings.”

  “Big guy,” Alex said, “I think you’re gonna need more than field dressings this time.”

  “Yeah, well, that’s all we have. We’ll make do.”

  I handed Beck his pack. Alex had lost a lot of blood. I could see that. So much that I don’t think he had any blood left to bleed.

  How was he even standing? How had he kept going? I don’t know. He lifted his head as Beck attempted to do something with the wounds. His eyes met mine and that’s when I knew. His eyes. They were dark. So dark, they absorbed all his pupils.

  I knew at that instant why he had made it. Alex, just like my daughter, was a Sleeper.

  * * *

  A little town called Brady sat in the center of Texas. It was the closest town we knew of and we hoped that Sleepers hadn’t taken it over. We didn’t run into a single Sleeper once we left them behind, but that was no guarantee we wouldn’t run into more.

  Brady pre-event had a population, I guessed, about five thousand. The Heart of Texas Memorial Hospital was smaller than my local Walmart. It sat in the center of the beaten town. It worked to our advantage that Brady was small. Most of the parents had run to the hospital on foot instead of driving. The traffic congestion was minimal.

  I hated that Alex had to be treated in a raw, dirty environment, but it was better than nothing and better than any field dressings Beck could apply. The wounds were so bad, Beck didn’t know where to start.

  We arrived at Brady, and parked the bus next to the hospital.

  We’d packed thirty people on that bus. Only half of the residents of Grace had made it out, Beck estimated. A tractor-trailer with more people arrived in Brady shortly behind us.

  Beck made radio contact. They still hadn’t found Michael, but he was calling out.

  At least he was alive.

  We all were a mess.

  Javier, with Noah’s assistance, went to work on Alex. Alex didn’t want to sleep. He was afraid to close his eyes. Levi assured him he wouldn’t be a monster, and to rest. He claimed he felt nothing. Barely any pain, only pulling.

  Sleepers lost the ability to feel pain.

  That’s why Jessie didn’t complain about her abrasions or bruises. I cried when Levi told me that she had been beaten badly. She’d lost hair, one of her ears was half gone, and worst of all, he believed my daughter may have been raped.

  Oh my God. She couldn’t even comprehend what they were doing to her. It hurt to think of all that she’d endured. Such an innocent, and her innocence was brutalized in an animalistic way.

  She curled into a fetal position against Danny, finding security with him while we waited for news of Alex.

  Six hours later, Javier finally emerged.

  He shook his head. “I don’t know how he’s still alive.”

  Beck was standing with me. He exhaled loudly, running his hand down his face. “I know it’s bad.”

  “Bad?” Javier laughed once sarcastically. “His internal organs are shot. Shot, Beck. Punctured lung, one kidney left. They went through his back and tore him apart from behind. I counted five bite marks where chunks were taken from him. It is almost inhumane to let him suffer. I would deliver a dose of morphine to him and end it all if he wasn’t telling me he felt nothing.” He tossed up his hands. “I don’t know what to do. Alex is dying. His body isn’t processing fluids. He’s drowning from the inside. But he’s still fighting. I did the best I could to get everything in place and repaired but… it’s a matter of time. Not much at that. I’m sorry.”

  I wept, grabbing on to Beck.

  “Is there any way…” Beck said, “…any way that we can keep him stabilized for two days?”

  Javier gasped. “I don’t know if I can keep him stabilized through the night. Why two days?”

  “That’s how long it’s gonna take,” Beck said. “To take him home. Back to his home.”

  “We can try. Be gentle when we move him. Take what we can. Stop if we need to. But I’m gonna be honest, Beck, if he does stay alive, Alex is the one doing it.”

  Alex.

  How much trouble I gave him. How much I fought with him. And for every mean thing I’d said, every time we’d fought, I wanted to cry.

  He was sleeping for a while after surgery. I spent time with Jessie, getting her clean. Bonnie wanted to spend time with her as well. I couldn’t deny her. I was so grateful my daughter was with me. She was alive, and it was all due to Alex.

  About two in the morning, I decided to go see him. As I left, I heard Keller.

  “Mama. Alex. Touch.”

  I knew what he was conveying. He wanted to visit Alex. Touch him. And more than anything, I believed Alex wanted to see Keller.

  With the child in my arms, I went to where Alex rested.

  A generator from a local hardware store, with our gasoline, powered the respirator. Alex was awake.

  “Hey,” I whispered as I approached his bed. “Look who wanted to see you.”

  “See me?” Alex smiled. “Well, I guess in his own way he does.”

  “How are you?”

  “I’ve been better.”

  My lips felt huge. They puckered, and I fought the tears.

  “Please don’t cry, Mera.”

  I couldn’t help it. I looked down to Alex. He was so pale, his arms were starting to swell, stretching those tattoos he was so proud of. I grabbed his hand. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

  “Even though part of this was for you, this was for Jessie. You know I love her, right?”

  “She loves you.”

  “Mera, when she called my name,” Alex paused to close his eyes, “that moment… that moment hearing her call my name… like I was the one person she needed to see most, it was worth it. No one has ever called me or looked at me like she did. It was worth it.”

  My vision blurred from the tears that welled in my eyes.

  “Tell her I love her. Tell Danny I love him. Okay?”

  I shook my head. “You tell them yourself. Besides, you have lots of time to tell them.”

  “Who are you kidding? I know.” He squeezed my hand. “You know, you and I, we fought. But you’ve been my best friend.”

  “You’ve been mine.” A sob bigger than I was escaped me, and I bent down, Keller in my arms, and placed my face against his. “I love you, Alex Sans. Know that. I love you for who you are and everything you have done for me.”

  “I know that. I love you, too. We’ve had a journey.”

  “And it’s not over.”

  Alex chuckled. “Yeah, it is.”

  “Not yet,” I said. You have to hold on, Alex. You can beat this. If anyone can, you can. Please hold on.”

  “I’ll try.”

  “You think I was a mess when I lost Beck? Ha! I’m not gonna be the same if you leave me. You drive me. So please keep driving me.”

  Weakly, Alex said again, “I’ll try.” He closed his eyes. I listened for the sound of his heart as it beat through the monitor.

  When I prepared to leave, Keller reached out his tiny hand and I leaned him forward. Without my guidance, his hand laid upon Alex’s chest.

  Alex didn’t open his eyes, but he lifted his hand and laid it on Keller’s. “I know, buddy, I know. I love you too.”

  Alex went to sleep.

&nb
sp; Oddly, I didn’t hear what Keller conveyed, but Alex did. I suppose, at that moment, that was all that mattered.

  37.

  Alex Sans

  I supposed people facing their death comes to the revelation in one way or another that, this is it. This is the end of my life. I knew mine was close, for a couple of reasons. I had a euphoric sense about me. No pain, no struggle to breathe. Levi said it was the Sleeper virus that was causing it. Or it was my sheer will to beat it.

  My hands swelled and I couldn’t even bend my fingers. I didn’t recognize my own arm. This was me, positioned on my side, slanted, a tube in my arm.

  A part of me wanted to call Beck, to have him put a bullet in me. I would slow them down. Then another part of me wanted to fight. People live with one kidney, a partial liver, and John Wayne, hell, he lived with one lung. Who was I kidding, though? They just tucked what they could back inside, sewed what was ripped, and hoped for the best.

  There was no positive ending in all this, not on my end. I was virtually a Heston movie. Do something good, but it comes with a price.

  Death.

  Mera never left my side. She sat in a chair by me, staring. Every time I dozed off, I’d wake and she’d jolt and ask me if I needed anything. This was a woman who wouldn’t fry me an egg in Grace and now she was offering a bottle to help me piss. I guess she forgot my body wasn’t processing fluids.

  That was another sign that I was a goner. Mera was being nice to me.

  During the course of the night, a lot of people stopped in to see me. Jessie came in. It was hard to see her, but I was glad she was alive. She didn’t seem to comprehend my condition and I was happy about that.

  The hardest person to face was Beck.

  Yeah, he was my friend, we went through a lot, and I loved him, but to see him like that killed me. A big man, strong and always in control, was broken. He couldn’t look at me without his eyes filling up.

  “I want to say it’s going to be okay,” Beck whispered. “I want to tell you, that you’re gonna be just fine.”

  “I know better.”

  “This is just killing me.” Beck closed his eyes. “It’s breaking me up.”