Awaken the Elements (Elemental Trilogy) (4 page)

             
“Careful with that thing, you little shit,” Anatha said with a growl.

             
“Killing sumbitches,” He sung to himself as he moved away from the group.

             
“Let’s clean up, so we can get inside,” Autumn said.

             
Anatha paused. “You think they’re inside too?”

             
“Moss, check inside!” She yelled. A gunshot rang out, and something wet hit her cheek. She looked at the headless zombie crumpled on the ground beside her, and then at Anatha. Her ears rang.

             
“Warn me before you shoot something that close!” Anatha nodded, smiling as she turned away. Autumn felt the dead brain matter slide down her cheek, wet and slimy. She quickly wiped it off with her shirt. “Ew!” She rubbed at her cheek, giving herself a mental shake.

             
Moss stopped in the main entranceway of the mall and turned, saluting them. Autumn gave a slight shake of her head and fired at a zombie walking up to her.

             
There were infected inside but not as many; mostly maintenance people and store employees. The shooters separated, taking different floors. Autumn’s dad and Anatha’s dad were able to help now, since the truck was parked outside. After they dealt with all the infected, Moss looked around.

             
“So what do we do with the bodies?”

             
“Bonfire,” his dad told him. He grabbed an arm of the closest corpse and started pulling it toward the main doors.

             
“We need to get the stuff in,” Autumn said, looking at the main clock on the wall by the elevators. “It’s getting late.” Some got to work, while others helped with the bodies. Autumn decided she would help with the unloading; she really didn’t want to be close to a fire made of dead bodies.

****

             
When everyone was inside and safe and all the supplies were put away and stored, it was finally time to lock up. Anatha, Autumn, and Envy were in charge of the front main entrance. They were locking up as a big bus pulled up close to the doors but not close enough. The three stood there staring in surprise.

             
“Who the hell is that?” Anatha asked.

             
Autumn shrugged, noticing new infected walking toward the bus.
They just keep coming
, she thought.

             
“Does somebody else know about our plan?” Anatha asked.

             
Autumn looked at the bus, “Nope, or at least not that I know of.” She stopped. “Howard and his family are coming, but I don't think that’s them.”

             
“If that’s not them then who?” Envy asked.

             
The doors on the bus opened, and the guys from Tune N’ walked out. They stood there looking like scared sheep as the infected surrounded them. Why would they be here? Anatha and Autumn had the same thought at the same time, their eyes meeting. Autumn looked at the key in her hand. Looking at each other, they decided to do something probably stupid, certainly not healthy. Even though they didn't get along really well, they had always had sort of a telepathic power when they were together. Mostly they never noticed it, but today, both were glad they shared it. The thing they did agree on was that they couldn’t sit there and watch as the group got munched on.

Chapter 3

              The bodyguards were the first to go. The guys stood around looking dumbstruck at the chaos going on around them. With a small nod to each other, Autumn and Anatha threw open the doors and called for them. It took them a few seconds, but they finally noticed the ladies at the door. Autumn pulled her gun and started shooting the infected. She could feel Anatha’s irritating buzz in her head now knowing that Anatha had forgotten her gun somewhere.

             
Busting through the doors, the guys collapsed on the floor, out of breath and scared. Autumn locked the doors, pressing her back against the glass, her heart racing. She closed her eyes, letting the feel of the cool glass on her back steady her as she put the gun back in her hip holster. Anatha glanced at the guys and then at the remains of their bodyguards outside. She looked away quickly. The guys were a much better sight.

             
“Can this month get any weirder?” Autumn asked herself out loud. A small sound on the glass behind her made her turn her head. Her eyes met those of infected, hungry eyes. For a moment she got sucked into the abyss of the undead.

             
Where are you?
The words lightly caressed her mind.

             
She shook her head, throwing away the thought of the nightmare that had been haunting her for the past few months and pulled herself away from the window. Her phone rang, making everyone jump.  She pulled it out of her pocket, looking at the number. She had a moment wanting to ignore it, but that wasn’t like her.

             
She pressed the button. “Hey.”

             
“Hey,” Ryan replied. She could already tell something was wrong. “Autumn, I won’t be meeting you at the safe house.”

             
“Why? What happened?” She turned her back from everyone who stared at her and looked out over the carnage outside.

             
“I was infected this morning,” he said in a small voice.

             
“Oh, Ryan, I am sorry,” she said, not sure of what else to say.

             
“So am I. I’m not supposed to be on the phone. They have me at some other place trying to help out and run tests. But I can feel it inside me.” Autumn closed her eyes, trying to fight tears. “Are you still there?”

             
“Yes,” she whispered.

             
“I love you. I just thought you needed to know.”

             
“To know you are dying?”

             
“That I love you.”

             
“I do too,” she said, knowing the lie was meant to give him some peace. “Goodbye, Ryan.”

             
“Goodbye, Autumn. Maybe they will fix me, and we will meet again.”

             
“I really hope so.” She heard shouts on his end.

             
“I have to go.” The phone went dead, and she stared down at it in her hand. She felt numb and angry for the guilt that built up in her. Frustrated, she turned and threw the phone across the way. Somewhat satisfied at the loud thud it made.

****

             
Everyone was either standing or sitting while watching the infected eat the rest of the bodyguards, avoiding her little outburst. Anatha looked over at her cousin who was watching the new arrivals. The only thing that came to her mind was, oh my. Sitting in back of her was her biggest crush. She wanted to pull Envy over to the side and do the whole fan-girl, o-m-g, screech thing. Envy herself didn’t bother looking out the windows at the horror; her eyes were on the guys.

****

              “Anyone hurt?” Autumn asked, her voice sounding far off. They all shook their heads, but she barely noticed as she walked back to the glass doors. She closed her eyes, leaning against the glass again. The glass was cool against her hot skin. She felt Anatha’s excitement through their weird bond, but what she wanted to feel was stability. She felt like her control was slipping away. She opened them, and in front of her stood the same infected person as before. Its dried lips pressed against the glass as it tried to bite through the window. Snapping at her like an untrained dog would if she had food in her hand. She stepped back; not wanting to go back to the abyss its sick eyes pulled her into.

             
After half an hour of silence, Autumn decided to put down the security bars. She wondered if adding five more people to their living situation would cause any problems as she reached up to press the button that would lower the gate. She held the alarm key in her hand which shook.

             
“Wait,” Linden said, standing up. Linden Stables was the bass of the boy group. He stood about as tall as Autumn, five-eleven, and was six months older than her.  She saw how wide his pretty blue eyes were, his brown hair trimmed short, making his ears stick out.
Shock
, she thought,
we all look wide-eyed and scared
. “You can’t lower the bars. We have to leave.”

             
Anatha looked at him like he was crazy. “Did you not see what just went down outside? Do you not see what is out there
   
”

             
“You can leave if you want to,” Autumn said, cutting off Anatha, “No one’s stopping you.”

             
“Are you crazy?” Drake said, standing up.

             
Autumn hit the button to stop the gates and spun around to face him. “Crazy? Sure, why the hell not? So far I’ve seen enough in the last few days to drive any sane person mad. That,” She turned pointing at the remains of Tune N’s bodyguards which were nothing than blood smears and bones, “Could be considered the last push of my sanity. So if you want to call me crazy, go ahead. Who knows, by the end, we all might be eligible to sit in the same rubber room while we drool on ourselves.”

             
She looked at the infected as they ambled toward the glass. “You guys can leave now if you’d like,” she told them. “We won’t stop you, but we can’t help you either.”

             
The guys looked at her. No one knew what to say. Shocked by her bluntness, they sat there quietly.

             
“We’re stuck,” Stefan said to no one in particular.

             
“Stefan wins the smart award of the day,” Anatha said, and the harsh irony made Autumn wince and Envy snort.

             
“But our families.” Linden whined, “We can’t stay here.” Autumn had a pretty good handle on her patience, but she knew Anatha didn’t. Things had to move along before she burst.

             
“You have two damn choices,” Anatha held up her fingers, making a peace sign. “You either stay with us,” she lowered her pointer finger, showing them her middle finger, “or leave and get-.”

             
“Munched,” Autumn said, cutting off Anatha again. She knew exactly what was going to come out of the girl’s mouth.

****

“Shit,” Drake hissed. Drake Spear was the man behind some of Tune N’s songs. He wrote and helped produce some of the material on their newest album. The reunion his idea the media had said. He had long dark hair. His brown eyes watched the infected through the windows. Anatha wondered what was going on in Envy’s mind, since he was her crush. Why couldn’t she have this dumb link with Envy and not Autumn? Autumn was boring. She caught herself before making a face.

             
“Munched?” Stefan asked.

             
“Autumn’s easy way of cutting me off by saying silly shit,” Anatha replied, rolling her eyes.

****

              “Anyone leaving?” Autumn watched the guys but not really interested. The day was almost over, and it was finally catching up with her. She yawned. No one made a move. She pressed the button, so the bars continued to close the rest of the way. The sun was going down. It bounced off the parked cars, blinding everyone. It made the infected look even creepier. Even more realistic than those really good virus movies she loved to watch. Well, not anymore. She knew she was going to have nightmares again tonight.

             
Autumn turned to look at the five guys as the gate lowered. They looked helpless, and she felt bad for them.
It’s going to be hard for them being away from those they love,
she thought. She turned back around and watched the gate slowly close, wishing it would hurry up. Four years. The gate closed loudly, echoing through the mall, making them all jump once more.

             
Reaching into her pocket, she brought out a leaf she had picked earlier that day.
The last tree leaf I will touch for five years
, she thought bleakly to herself. The grief felt like it would drown her.

             
They heard another security gate go down on the opposite side. Someone shouted a confirmation. Anatha shouted theirs was down. They all listened for others up above. Autumn shoved the key into the slot and turned it. The small red light came on above it.

             
“My name is Autumn, and that’s my cousin, Anatha and my sister, Envy. We know who you are. We expect nothing from you. We have tons of food and room.” She hesitated, and then added, “No one sleeps on this level.” She continued, “The main entrances are here
.
Any questions?”

             
She looked at them, thinking of the concert barely a month ago when life had been normal. It was downright peculiar how destiny creeps up on you and sinks its yellow teeth into your flesh, wanting to infect you when you least expect it.  Life felt to be spiraling out of control, and she suddenly felt lightheaded and dizzy. Taking a deep and calming breath, she centered herself.

             
The boy band had it all; the baby, the good guy, and the bad boy, Rowan Reeves. He always did everything his way and didn’t care if someone brought it up or it was splashed all over the tabloids. He stood six-one, had black hair, although the color changed weekly, and plain brown eyes.

             
Anatha was looking at the guys too, especially River Osteridge. River was the baby of the band. He stood six-one too, with curly brown hair and dark blue eyes. He had muscles in all the right areas, which was fine by her.  He was busy looking out the window at the drying blood.

             
“What now?” Anatha asked.

             
“We go up and see if they got someone on the CB,” Autumn started to leave. She turned back, seeing no one was following. “Coming?”

             
The guys slowly got to their feet. Anatha and Envy whispered behind her. Autumn had the urge to cry again, that far away emptiness threatening to overtake her. She wondered if anyone felt it too. A dark abyss. Sometimes she felt so alone, though surrounded by people who knew her or at least thought they did. She felt like something was missing from her life. Being exhausted and with everything happening
   
Ryan.

             
“Can you believe it?” Anatha whispered.

             
“What?” she asked.

             
“Them. Tune N’.”

             
“Oh, yeah. Weird, huh?”

             
Anatha stared at her cousin’s back. “Weird? What’s wrong with you?”

             
Autumn looked at her over her shoulder. “I feel bad for them.  Actually, I feel bad for all of us.”

             
“Yeah, I understand.”

             
“Do you, Anatha? Did you have to say goodbye to someone today who you were living with for a few years? Even now I can feel how excited you are that they’re here. Have you taken time to actually think about what is going on?”

             
“Don’t you think
    
”

             
But Ivy stopped her. “No use fighting with her.”

             
Autumn blew a curl out of her eyes as she moved ahead of everyone. She led them up the stairs instead of taking the elevator; escalator stairs, so they didn’t have to do much walking. They went up to the fourth floor only to find it almost deserted. Moss sat in a lawn chair watching the little kids run around. He pointed to the roof after Anatha asked where everyone had gone. Autumn knew exactly where the maintenance stairs to the fifth floor were. The generators for the solar panels were up there. They were very noisy as they walked across the room. The small group found the stairs to the roof. They went up, looking around. Their ears buzzed from the noise below.

             
“Wow, this is huge,” Anatha said. It wasn’t until they saw the roof that they noticed how big the building truly was. Autumn felt so tiny standing there. Yet ideas of what could be came to her in waves. Already her mind had put together a garden.