Awaken the Elements (Elemental Trilogy) (5 page)

             
“Huge. Makes me feel smaller than I already am,” Stefan said. Stefan Mallow was the oldest in the band. Also the shortest, standing five-five give or take a little. He had messy black hair and brown eyes. And energy that Autumn picked up on;   his was subtle. Not as heavy as Anatha’s but more than the rest. She put that away for later.

             
The group walked over to the other, larger, group made up of Autumn’s and Anatha’s parents, family, and friends. The crowd of people looked at the group of eight when they walked up, eyeing the strangers. Autumn looked at Hazel, and she looked back giving her a faint smile. The shock was still there but not as bad. She had forgotten everything, and that was good enough for now. When Hazel was ready to relive it all, Autumn would help.

             
Her eyes questioned Autumn as she walked by. “Later,” she mouthed.

             
“Well, what’s this?” Bud asked. He was looking at the five guys.

             
“We decided since we had a lot of people already, what could five more hurt? Plus we all witnessed their bodyguards get munched. I think it’s only fair we get to keep them, Dad, you know, finders keepers,” Autumn said, trying to add humor to her voice but failing.

             
“Smart ass,” Envy whispered, making Autumn shoot her an angry look.

             
“Did you get a call?” her mom asked from beside her dad.

             
She nodded, looking down at the ground. “He’s infected.”

             
“Oh,” her mom whispered. Her hand went to her mouth as tears fell from her brown eyes.

             
“Sorry, Autumn.” Bud squeezed her shoulder. “Who did you happen to find?” he asked. He knew nothing of boy bands and pop singers. He had been a rocker since the beginning. He understood his youngest daughter liking the hip hop stuff and the pop stuff, but he didn’t like hearing it around his house.

             
“Well, these two are Stefan and River,” She pointed to the two standing beside her.

             
“And these three are Drake, Rowan, and Linden,” Anatha finished.

             
“Hi,” the guys said in unison.

              Lily, Autumn’s baby sister, ran over to them. “Ohmygawds, your
   
” She turned red and hid behind her mom. Lily looked just like her mom and Envy. Brown hair and hazel eyes. Autumn always felt the odd one out when with them. She looked nothing like either of her parents or any of her siblings. Her mom said she looked like her grandmother who had died when Autumn was really little.

             
“What are you going on about?” Bud asked, giving her a questioning look.

             
She stuck her head out. “It’s Tune N’,” she squeaked.

             
“So we got some famous people,” Anatha’s mom, Regan, said. Regan and Anatha looked alike except for the eyes. No one knew why she had auburn eyes, which reminded you of fall leaves or fire.

             
The boys didn’t say anything. “And they are modest too,” Anatha’s dad said.

             
“Oh, Dad,” Anatha said giving him a what-are-you-doing look.

             
“Did you get anyone on the CB?” Autumn asked, changing the subject.

             
“Yeah,” Bud said.

             
“Well?” She wanted to know more.

             
“The guy is supposed to get back to us,” he said, eyeing the boys in the band.

             
Just then a staticky voice came through on the CB. “You still there?”

             
“Yes,” Bud said.

             
“So how many of you guys are there?” The voice asked.

             
“One hundred,” someone said.

             
“Fifty,” someone else said.

             
“One fifty,” Bud lied. He scowled at the group whispering, “
Shut the fuck up
.”

             
“That’s a lot. So let me get this right. You guys started your own safe house and did not report it until now?” the voice asked.

             
“Yes, we couldn’t make it to a real safe house in time.” Bud looked at the guys, “We were attacked trying to get into the city.” Autumn’s dad had always been a good liar, and it didn’t surprise her that the guy on the other end fully believed him.

             
“Well, okay. You are now considered safe house one-five-five-five. When I contact you, that’s what I will ask for. Give me your location, so we can map out a way to get supplies to you. Do you have enough water?” The voice was fading in and out.

             
“Yeah, plenty of water,” he replied, and then gave the man directions.

             
“Your drops will be every two weeks. You’ll get fresh produce and dairy products,” the voice said. “If there is anything you need such as a doctor, contact me."

             
Everyone looked at Bud. “I’ll ask. Stop looking at me like that,” he told them. “Excuse me, I do have one question.”

             
“Shoot,” The person on the other end said.

             
“What’s going on around the US?” Everyone crowded in closer.

             
“Are you sure you want to know?” the voice sounded tired.

             
Bud looked around the crowd. Everyone was either nodding or whispering yes. “Yes,” He said reluctantly.

             
“We lost contact with New York yesterday. We think the infection overtook the city,” The voice paused, and they heard static. They waited, looking around with puzzled eyes, listening. “Sorry, the plug fell out,” the guy came back on finally, “We also keep losing contact with Florida, but they confirm it’s their connection.”

             
Anatha heard the guys of Tune N’ all heave a sigh of relief.
That’s good
, she thought, at least that should help them sleep a little easier tonight. It’s not likely that anyone would actually get to sleep. Although being away from your family for five years would be damn hard, looking at her mom, dad and stepdad, she couldn’t think about not being around hers. She could live five years without her stepdad, but her mom and real dad, she couldn’t, even if her mom was strange and sometimes mean.  She snuck a peek at River. She still couldn’t believe she was going to live with him for four years. It was just
   
she couldn’t find the right way to finish her thought.

             
“They are okay,” Rowan put his arm around River. “Come on, your mom is probably worrying more about you. I think she knows you’re okay. Although.” He paused, looking around at the girls, “I don’t know what she would think about your safety.” He winked at the ladies.

             
Autumn shook her head at him. He thought he was a big flirt now, but he hadn’t met Envy. Envy was Autumn’s middle sister. She had short, wavy brown hair and was almost five inches shorter than her. They were nothing alike. Envy could be mentally unstable at times and outweighed her by a hundred pounds. They had nothing in common, so Autumn really had nothing much to say to her sister.

             
Now, her friend Ivy Lee was Envy’s twin. There were many physical differences, but that's really it. First off, they were the same age. Ivy Lee had long, down past her butt, blond brown hair, and was four feet and five inches tall. She also had a baby. It was hard to believe that big baby came from such a small woman.

             
“What now?” someone asked. Autumn’s dad was off the CB, and everyone stood around staring at each other.

             
“I say we all settle in and get ready for sleep,” Anatha’s mom said.

             
“Good idea,” Autumn said, and was first to the stairs. She was really tired. They had been busy all day messing with the infected, moving into a new home, and saving a boy band.  She was downright pooped.

             
“I can’t sleep,” Anatha said behind her.

              Autumn shrugged her shoulders, “So what? I am.” While on her way down to the third floor she thought of all the stuff she had been through that day. She waited for the shock that had been threatening to finally sink in. She didn’t know or care if it came and was too tired to worry about it. All she wanted to do was sleep.

             
Autumn looked around at the stores. The idea of sleeping in one of the larger stores kinda creeped her out. A smaller store would be fine, but which one? She eyed the pillow store. Shrugging, she went in. She created a mound of pillows and quickly fell asleep.

****

             
A few hours later, Autumn sat straight up, breathing hard. She had just had the mother of all nightmares. She got up, looking around. For a moment she felt lost; where was she? Slowly it came back to her, and she sat down, crushed. She put her hands to her face and sobbed as the whole ordeal came crashing back all at once. The world as she knew it, gone. The idea of being stuck in a stone building with not a touch of earth, her very soul hurt. And she felt guilt over Ryan; even though she told him all the right things, she didn’t mean them, and it felt mean.

****

             
Most everyone in the mall was either wide awake or trying to slip off to sleep. Anatha sat on the hard, blue carpeted ground of Mervans, thinking. Autumn had been having problems since she walked in on Hazel and her dead family. She frowned.  There was no treatment for an infected bite. If you got bit, you were going to become infected. It took a while. Some people lasted eight days, while others turned quickly. She guessed it had to do with the severity of the wound a person received. If you came up against the infected you either hoped you could get away without a mark, or have them munch you quickly until nothing was left.

****

              Over in a hidden trailer outside the edge of the mall property Mabon was watching Aarawn. “What are you doing?” he asked.

             
“I’m nosy,” Aarawn said as he pricked his finger with the tip of his dagger.

             
“You know what Pyrus said.” He watched as Aarawn made a small smear of his blood on the back of a mirror.

             
“I know, but you have to admit you’re curious too.” They watched the mirror cloud up, and then they could see the inside of the mall.

             
“Show me our sisters.” The mirror showed Autumn. She was sitting there, her eyes puffy and red.

             
“She looks like you, little cat,” Aarawn said with a smirk.

             
Mabon ignored him and stared at his twin with interest. “We don’t have the same eyes,” he said. “Hers are green. But the hair is the same.” He reached out to touch the mirror, but the picture faded, showing Anatha.

             
Aarawn looked at his sister. “You’re right, our eyes don’t match, but we have the same hair color. How come Anatha and I get the brown copper and you and Autumn get red? She’s fire. You two are just water and earth.”

“Our mother had red hair.”

He watched his sister walk around the store she had taken over. “I will protect her, for my mother’s sake.”

             
“Your mother?” Mabon asked.

             
“What of it?” Aarawn turned his light grey eyes to Mabon. They were so light he almost looked blind. They darkened quickly, turning the color of thunderclouds.

             
“You still have the dreams?”

             
He looked back at the mirror as it started to cloud over again. “Sometimes, but that’s because I’m more in tune with those things. They say she’s dead, but I feel her, and I know she is somewhere out there,” He looked back at Mabon, and his eyes lightened. “So, where’s your cat?” He laughed, shaking his long brown hair around him.

             
Mabon shot him a spiteful glance. “He doesn’t like spiders.”

             
“Sure,” Aarawn said, putting the mirror down.

Chapter 4

              Autumn couldn’t get back to sleep and didn’t feel like lying in bed. She decided to get up and explore the mall, perfect timing to do it by herself. She walked out of the pillow store and paused, head cocked, listening for a while. The mall was as silent as it could be. A good thing. She didn’t feel like being bothered at the moment. For the first time in a few weeks, she needed some alone time.

             
The lights were dimmed. Just bright enough so people could get around without tripping on something. She silently made her way around the shops on the third floor. Not daring to go inside, she had no clue where everyone was sleeping.

             
Walking to the elevator, she noticed the room temperature. It was just a little colder than normal. Probably set about sixty or so. No more bitching about the electric bill now. Thinking about it made her chuckle, and she coughed it back. All she needed was uncontrollable giggles someone might hear. She listened to the little noises. It was the little noises that were usually the most frightening. The giggles hit her again. Still in control, she pressed the call button of the elevator. She thought of anything, asking herself silly questions.  It was the only thing that kept her from thinking about the zombies surrounding them.

              Getting in the elevator, she pressed the number two button. She leaned back against the cool glass and watched the doors close. The elevator hummed softly as it took her to the second floor. It was a short trip, since she had started on the third floor. Most people under thirty were sleeping on that floor; the older crowd sleeping above on the fourth floor.

             
The elevator binged as the doors opened, letting her out. She noticed it was not as quiet as above. The noise came from the infected groaning at the glass doors. Looking over at the dark shapes, she shivered. She stood where she was for a while just listening, trying to hear sounds other than the infected outside. No one should have been down here, unless they too were having trouble sleeping. They had all agreed no one was allowed to sleep on the second floor.

             
She walked slowly over to the middle of the mall where huge plastic palm trees with fake grass surrounding them sprang up in the middle of the white tiled floor. The trees went all the way up to the fourth floor. She looked up. Right above the palm tree tops was a glass dome. That’s why the fifth floor was smaller than the other floors. She scanned her surroundings; a water fountain shaped like a small pond sat neatly in-between the trees. She touched the tree. She knew but still had to touch the chocolate colored plastic base. 

             
With a small sigh, turning, she buried her right hand in her jean’s pocket, feeling for change. Her wandering fingers didn’t find any but did stumble upon some keys. She tried to figure out exactly what the keys were for. Then it came to her. Earlier, up on the fifth floor, she noticed the keys to level one, also known on the directory map as Playland.

              Autumn started walking quietly by the stores, eyeing the merchandise, window shopping. She didn’t need money now; if she saw something she liked, it was hers. She pulled the keys from her pocket, looking at them. There were small keys and some larger keys, all with small codes on them, likely for the games and other stuff. From the website, she knew there were all kinds of things down in Playland.

             
Something in the window of Got Shocks caught her eye.

             
Was it movement?

             
She had not brought a weapon with her. Her eyes went up to the next level, and she thought briefly about going back. Autumn walked to the store. She reached the entranceway, grabbing the welcome sign from the base.

             
“Hello,” she called out in a louder whisper than she liked. She waited a few seconds. No one answered.

             
“I’m seeing things,” she told herself out loud. It was so quiet, her own voice startled her. She turned around, getting ready to leave, telling herself how silly she was as she lowered the sign. Just then something bulky fell, making a huge crashing sound. She jumped, spinning around quickly, the sign up and ready to swing. Someone or something was in here.

              “Who’s in here?” She called out a little louder than before. She walked deeper into the store. Pausing, she looked down at the ground toward the back of the store. Lying there was a guy she had never seen before.

             
The guy looked up at her. “I sorta tripped,” he said.

             
“I see that. Who are you?” Autumn asked, giving the sign a small swing showing she meant business.

              “Hey, no hatin’, girl. Name is Jaime RM. I’s be the rapper who was opening here today,” he said as he got to his feet and dusted off his pants. “Damn, just got these too. Just my luck to put a hole in them.”

             
“Never heard of you.” Autumn still had a death grip on the sign.

             
“I’m new to the scene,” he said, bending over to pick up his wallet. She noticed it had a little more money than it was built to hold. Shoplifting? The idea was funny, and this time she laughed out loud as the laughter from earlier bubbled up, escaping. She laughed until her sides ached and tears ran down her cheeks. She used the sign to lean on as she calmed herself.

             
“Why are you here?” She finally asked when she could speak. Mr. Rapper made six new people to their little shelter. It was only supposed to be for her family and close friends. The laughter faded. She frowned at him. The way things were going there would soon be a hundred and fifty people.

             
“Well, the zombies attacked, and,” he said, shrugging, “I hid out.” He adjusted the brown beanie on his head. His black hair looked a little shaggier than the current “in” style. His appearance was sort of comical, and she couldn’t hold back her amusement. Her frown was replaced with a smile. He looked like your normal white guy trying too hard to be urban.

             
“Why didn’t you come out when we were locking down? You had to have heard us.”

             
“Well, you know, I was sorta scared, but don’t tell anyone,” he said in a low voice.

              “Okay, go on up to the third  or fourth floor,” she said, rolling her eyes, looking at the ceiling, “and find a room to crash in.”

             
“Maybe I’ll just stick with you for now,” he said, losing the act for a bit, showing her the fear in his eyes. She shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t care, and actually, having some company would make her less jumpy. “So where you headin’?”

             
“Down to Playland.” They left the store.

             
“Play-what? Is there some giant orgy or something going on down there?”

             
She gave him a quick look. “No. It’s just a giant game room.”

             
“Ah, a brother can dream. So is there any other fine bitches and hos with ya? Not saying you aint fine, but you have a ring.”

             
“I dunno,” she replied coldly. She wasn’t a feminist, but still, hearing that shit come out of his mouth made her want to reach back and smack him. She had to control the weird anger that burned in her core at the moment. It felt almost like Anatha’s. It was possible she was still up fuming because she couldn’t sleep. She hated feeling so in tune with her cousin. But it wasn’t just the anger; sometimes there were other feelings she could just not place. But when she looked at the ring guilt bubbled up. She pulled it off her finger and shoved it in her pocket.

             
“Don’t get me wrong or anything, but I did overhear something about being stuck in this mall for a few years. I’m right, right?”

             
“Yep,” she said.

             
“Damn,” he muttered to himself.

             
“Don’t worry; we all feel that way.”

              “So about the girl thing?” he asked, and Autumn walked on, ignoring him. “Well?”

             
“Well what?”
Pervert
, she added in her mind.

              “How many girls up in here?” He had a cheesy rapper-like accent.

             
“I dunno. A few.”

             
“Are they of age?”

             
“Sure, sure,” she said, annoyed.

             
“Great,” he said, rubbing his hands together.

****

             
Anatha walked along the quiet stores, pausing by the pillow store. Usually she could sense Autumn. They might not be very close, but they had a connection. They didn’t like it one bit, but it had always been there. She couldn’t sense her in there. She placed her hand on the front glass, advertising some of the best pillows you’ll ever lay your head on, and closed her eyes. She reached out feeling for Autumn. Nothing. She walked into the store.

             
“Autumn?” she called out in a whisper. She saw the big pile of pillows on the floor which she assumed had to be her bed.

             
Anatha left the store and looked at the elevators. She could go down, but to tell the truth, she was scared. Just then Envy and Ivy Lee came out of the elevator.

             
“Hey, Anatha, whatcha doing up?” Envy asked. Her mannish voice overly loud in the quiet area.

              “I couldn’t sleep, and I guess neither could Autumn. She has disappeared. Were you two up on the fourth?”

             
“Yep, they got a killer bar up there,” Ivy Lee said.

             
“You guys are already drinking?”

             
“No, we snuck up to scope out the goodies,” Envy said. “The parents have started. You’d think they want to drink themselves to death already.”

             
“Yeah, saving it up so they don’t drink it all before we get any.” Ivy Lee showed her a bottle of vodka she had in her shirt.

             
“Oh, well. If they drink it all, we wouldn’t have to worry about drunken parents any more. But you see, the problem is, my mom knows the recipe to make moonshine, and we all better pray it doesn’t come to that.” She told them, craning her head over the edge of the railing to look for Autumn.

             
“So where do you think Autumn went?” Envy asked.

             
Anatha tilted her head, her mind reaching out. “I think she’s down below.”

             
“She went down there?” Ivy Lee looked over the edge to the second floor.

              “Yeah,” she said, her voice a whisper, as her eyes wandered over to the infected behind the doors. They couldn’t get in, but seeing them frightened her. They were so close, yet they weren’t. And it didn’t help that night made the infected spookier than during the day. It was all the scary movies they watched when they were younger.

             
“Well, let’s go find her.” Envy made her way back to the elevator.

             
“Envy wants to see if Autumn has made friends with the members of Tune N’ yet. She hopes Autumn isn’t flirting with the one she likes.” Ivy Lee whispered to Anatha. “Hold the elevator!” Ivy Lee grabbed the bottle of vodka and the couple of bottles Envy had on her and ran off. She came back a few minutes later empty handed.

             
“Had to put them away,” she told them, getting into the elevator.

             
“Autumn, flirt? Please, she just lost her fiancé,” Anatha whispered back to Ivy Lee as Envy hit the button for the second floor.

             
“Rowan is cuter in person. Actually, they are all cuter in person,” Ivy Lee said, a huge goofy smile on her face.

****

             
They didn’t know Autumn was down on the other end looking at something in a store window. Her eyes were drawn to something shiny and brand new, and she knew she had to have it. It was a lava lamp, a purple one at that, shaped like a monkey. She had always wanted a purple lava lamp, and she liked monkeys, so that was a bonus. The store itself looked interesting, some kind of retro seventies store. The annoying rapper was bugging her, talking her ear off about his career and so on. She was ignoring him the best she could without being too rude. She went into the store. Jaime followed behind her like an obedient dog, still talking.

****

             
“River, you up?” Rowan called out. River and Rowan decided on sharing a room, since they got along better than the other guys. Oh, they could all tolerate each other, but being on tour pushed them to the limit sometimes. But for some reason River and Rowan never had that problem.

             
“Yeah. You can’t sleep either?”