The Mesmerized (13 page)

Meanwhile, Bailey played happily with her
toys on the soft blanket Minji had spread on the cold marble floor.
The baby had finished her bottle, then eaten lukewarm mashed peas
and beef. Now she yammered in baby language while tossing her
stuffed dog around. Apple wedges smeared with peanut butter sat in
an open plastic container Minji had fished out of the diaper bag
after feeding Bailey. She’d eaten a few, but had been unable to
compel Ava to take a bite.

Arthur and Simone were also eating. They’d
found a refrigerator full of employee lunches and helped
themselves.

“It’s not like they’re going to eat it,”
Arthur had said in response to Minji’s uncertain expression.

Trying again, Minji regarded Ava with
dismay. “Please, Ava. Take a sip for Mommy.”

“Heeeeeeeeee...” Ava hissed.

Minji took a long gulp from the bottle.
“See, Ava, that’s what you need to do. Drink.” She poked at Ava’s
lips again. Feeling desperate, she drizzled a little bit of water
into Ava’s mouth. It ran out of the corners in clear rivulets.

“Tip her head back and pour it in,” Arthur
suggested.

“Really? That’s your solution.” Simone
arched an eyebrow.

“She’ll either choke or swallow,” Arthur
answered. “It’s not like I’m suggesting you drown the kid. Sheesh.
It’s a bottle of water.” Shaking his head, he continued to eat a
tuna sandwich he had loaded with potato chips.

Again Minji took a sip before encouraging
Ava to drink. This time Ava swallowed. With a grin of delight,
Minji kissed her daughter’s cheek. “That’s my smart girl! Drink
more, Ava.”

To her relief, Ava drank half the bottle
before pulling her head away. It was such a normal gesture Minji
almost wept with delight. She tried to feed Ava the apples, but it
soon became clear that Ava wasn’t about to cooperate when it came
to the food. After a while, Minji wiped the peanut butter and bits
of apple from Ava’s lips and placated herself with the thought that
Ava had eaten a large breakfast. She couldn’t allow herself to
contemplate what would happen if Ava continued not to eat.

“Are you paying attention to the news at
all?” Arthur asked Minji as he unwrapped a Twinkie.

“They just keep saying the same thing.
Showing the same footage over and over again,” Minji answered.

The news kept replaying clips they’d ripped
from social media: the planes going down outside of Las Vegas,
people stumbling about in large crowds, car crashes, burning
buildings, and the same map with an enormous red circle that showed
the affected area. It swallowed most of the West Coast, portions of
Mexico, and was creeping into the Midwest and Deep South.

“They’re showing Texas,” Arthur said.
“Aren’t you from Texas?”

Studying the screen, Minji noted that the
live feed was from somewhere in East Texas. According to the big
red circle, Austin was already in the throes of the event. It only
added to the heavy burden of her worry. Now she wasn’t just worried
about the grandparents, but her brother’s family, her friends, and
her many clients.

“...
volunteer
is
with
the
National
Guard
.
They’ve
secured
a
harness
to
him
that
is
attached
to
some
ropes
.
The
plan
is
for
him
to
walk
into
the
affected
area
…”

The reporter, a young woman with chin length
blond hair, narrated in breathy, rushed words. Minji noticed the
woman’s big blue eyes were rimmed with red and puffy. She’d
probably been crying before going on the air.

“
He’s
wearing
a
gas
mask
and
the
hope
is
that
he’ll
be
able
to
save
some
of
the
victims
before
they
reach
the
lake
.
The
authorities
believe
that
just
beyond
that
road
is
where
the
event
has
come
to
a
halt
.”

Minji snapped the lid back onto the
container of apple wedges and tried to ignore the tragedy playing
out on the television. After all she’d witnessed, it was easy to
predict the outcome. Digging her cellphone out of the messenger
bag, she checked for bars. She still didn’t have any. With a sigh,
she found her gaze straying toward the television.

The anchorman and woman at the national news
desk of the network made a few comments, basically reiterating what
the reporter had already said. Behind the reporter, a thick crowd
of the mesmerized stumbled through an open field toward a placid
blue lake in the background. With a sinking heart, Minji realized
most were children.

“…
hoping
if
this
is
successful
,
they
can
send
more
guardsmen
into
the
affected
area
and
retrieve
the
people
walking
toward
the
lake
.
Residents
who
live
along
the
lake
outside
of
the
perimeter
have
reported
bodies
in
the
water
.
It’s
assumed
those
bodies
are
the
victims
of
this
terrifying
event
.”

Behind the news correspondent the guardsman
started his rescue run. Several men and women in uniform stood
ready, their gloved hands gripping the thick rope. Yellow tape was
strung along the edge of the road creating a barrier. The guardsman
stepped over it and into the field.

“It’s not going to work,” Simone said
dismally, shaking her head.

“But it has to,” Arthur protested. “It has
to work. How else are they going to save everyone?”

“Gas masks didn’t work earlier,” Minji said
sadly, recalling the death of the doctor earlier. “They won’t work
now.”

The female reporter continued her steady
stream of repeated information, then attempted to narrate the
guardsman’s journey toward the mesmerized.

Then it happened.

The guardsman stumbled then fell into step
with the rest of the mesmerized. Communication ceased between the
guardsman and the makeshift staging area and panic ensued.
Instantly, he was dragged out of the event radius. Jerking the
volunteer about, one of the medics tugged off his gas mask. The
cameraman zoomed in on the man’s face. The all-too-familiar
blank-eyed stare was caught in an eerie close-up.

“He’s doing it, too!” Arthur gasped. “Making
the same faces and noise.”

Simone glanced at Ava, then the guardsman.
“Exactly the same.”

One look confirmed that they were both
right. Resting her elbows on her knees, Minji leaned forward to
rest her head in her hands. What did it all mean? What was
happening?

“Oh, shit,” Arthur said. “The kids are going
into the lake.”

“Turn the channel,” Simone ordered. “Turn
it!”

Visibly shaken, the young reporter was in
tears when the camera zoomed in to witness the mesmerized entering
the glimmering water.

“Turn the channel!” Minji echoed Simone.

Bailey looked up at her mother, concern
etched onto her tiny face, her toy held in mid-air.

Arthur set aside his meal and scrambled to
comply. It was a relief when the terrible image and the reporter’s
cries disappeared, but it was swiftly replaced with yet another
scene of despair and death on a different channel.

“I’m done,” Simone declared. Setting her
empty salad bowl aside, she stood and brushed off her pants.
Slightly limping in her high heels, she walked to the far side of
the room, pulling her cellphone from her jacket.

“Turn off the TV,” Minji said.

Arthur hesitated, then obeyed.

Minji didn’t want to say what was on her
mind. The knowledge that the young, emotional reporter would enter
the lake and drown with the children if another attack happened
weighed on her shoulders.

“They did start telling people to stay
inside their houses and not get in cars,” Arthur remarked.

“But people weren’t listening. You saw the
footage of the traffic jams. People attempting to outrace what they
can't escape.” With a frustrated sound, Simone shoved her phone
back into her jacket pocket.

“Maybe it’s over.” Arthur paced before the
big black screen. “Maybe the last attack was it. There haven’t been
anymore.”

“It’s not over, Arthur!” Simone slammed her
hand against the glass window. “Look outside! They’re still
walking! They’re still under the control of whatever this is!”

“What is it?” Arthur shouted back. “What is
it? What’s doing this to us?”

“Well, it’s not biological,” Jesse said.

Like before, he’d entered without
notice.

“How’s my husband?” Minji asked immediately,
her heart speeding up.

Jesse cast a reassuring smile her way. “He’s
resting. I have him sedated along with all the rest of the patients
that didn’t make it out of the building. Ten in total.”

“But he’s going to be okay, right?”

Jesse nodded. “In time, yes.”

Relief flooded through her, wiping away a
good chunk of her fears. Yes, she still had to deal with the fact
that Jake and Ava were mesmerized, but her husband wasn’t going to
die.

“You said it’s not biological,” Simone said,
her dark eyes watching the silent, gruesome parade outside.
“Why?”

“Because if that news report is correct,
there is a distinct boundary after each new attack.” Jesse leaned
back against the receptionist counter, resting his elbows on it.
“Germs, viruses, anything organic, aren’t going to just stop
spreading,” he snapped his fingers, “just like that.”

“Maybe it’s sound waves. Maybe the
terrorists just can’t transmit that far in one burst. They have to
let the machine recharge or something.” Arthur looked slightly
pleased with himself for forming that hypothesis.

“Why don’t you just suggest aliens at this
point?” Simone said, her tone caught between serious and
mocking.

With a shrug, Jesse pushed off from the
counter. “Whatever is behind all of this isn’t important in the
here and now. Speculation isn’t going to help us. We have to deal
with our present circumstances.”

“Which aren’t good.” Simone shifted on her
feet and blinked tears from her eyes. “There’s a good chance that
everyone we love is caught in the event and that they will
die.”

“Don’t say that!” Arthur stomped toward
Simone. “Don’t you dare say that!”

“It’s the truth,” Minji said sadly.

“My friends in Las Vegas, my family in
Arizona, my girlfriend on vacation in Mexico...all of them may be
walking to their deaths.” Jesse swallowed hard, his jaw flexing as
he struggled to contain his composure. “Those people out on the
boulevard are walking into the desert. They will die. Everyone
that’s...” Jesse searched for a word.

“Mesmerized,” Minji offered.

“Yes, mesmerized...all of them will die
without water within three days if they don’t die from the
elements, wounds, and the wreckage.” Jesse motioned toward the dire
panorama outside the building’s glass windows.

The black smoke was thicker now and the
mesmerized shuffling through it were in dire need of medical
attention. Minji observed how Jesse clenched his hands at his
sides. She wondered if he felt even more helpless because he was in
the medical profession. Simone was right. They couldn’t help
everyone. It was a terrible reality.

“But we’re safe here until someone comes to
get us!”

Arthur’s argumentative tone was really
beginning to wear on Minji.

“Who’s going to come?” Simone asked Arthur.
“Out of all the people living and visiting Las Vegas, how many are
immune? Right now I see only us.”

Minji almost protested by pointing out that
Arthur and Simone had been affected earlier, but then reconsidered.
Emotions were already heightened.

The floor beneath her feet began to tremble
and the furniture started to vibrate. Minji immediately lifted
Bailey onto her hip and grabbed Ava’s hand. There was a mad
scramble across the lobby to the double doors leading deeper into
the building. Simone picked up Ava and scurried ahead of Minji into
the hallway just as the rumble grew to a gut-wrenching roar and the
floor lurched. The lights sputtered and the world outside turned
ominous. The sunlight vanished into the churning smoke and debris.
Car alarms in the parking garage and along the boulevard blasted.
The building was pelted with rubble and the windows let out a
dreadful screech as they splintered, but held.

Clustered in the hallway, the people
listened to the destruction of yet another part of Las Vegas and
watched the ghastly gray cloud engulf the boulevard.

“It’s all coming down,” Arthur wailed.

Minji again fought a valiant battle against
despair and hopelessness. She refused to surrender to it. She
would
save her family somehow.

Then, even as the world seemed ever bleaker,
a cellphone chimed.

Despite the tumult in the outside world, the
four adults straightaway fumbled for their phones. Minji’s thoughts
instantly centered on her parents somewhere on the road to Austin,
Texas. Her heart sank when she realized the opening notes from
Chopin were not coming from her phone. Looking up, she saw her
expression mirrored in the faces of Jesse and Simone.