The Mesmerized (9 page)

“Nope. They’re all walking off in that
direction,” Arthur said, pointing over his shoulder.

The woman’s face reminded Minji vividly of
the statues of Queen Nefertiti. She was a striking beauty and there
was an aura about her that demanded notice.

With a sigh, the woman pressed one manicured
hand to her forehead. “Great, just great.” Lifting her other hand
to look at her phone clenched in it, she said, “I suppose neither
one of you has a working phone?”

“I don’t have any bars,” Minji said.

“Me neither,” Arthur admitted.

“A tower must be down,” the newcomer
decided.

Arthur rolled his eyes. “Can we please get
out of here?”

The other female regarded Arthur
thoughtfully, raising an eyebrow. Without another word, she walked
over, laid the tire iron on a table, and placed her hand on the
other handhold at the head of the stretcher. Minji gave her a
grateful smile before they started walking out of the casino
area.

Even though the jubilant sounds of the
machines in the casino drifted through the cool air, the aura
within the resort was somber and eerie.

“I’m Simone. Simone Avery,” the stranger
said in a lowered voice.

“Minji Nordim.”

“And who’s this little angel?” Simone asked,
lightly touching Ava’s red curls.

Unexpected tears flooded her vision and
Minji choked out her daughters’ names.

“And him?” Simone asked, her golden-brown
eyes flicking toward Arthur.

“My name is Arthur Freestone,” came the
snappish response.

Simone didn’t rise to the challenge in his
voice. “And I assume this is your husband on the stretcher?”

Minji nodded. “His name is Jake.”

Resting one hand on Jake’s forehead, Simone
said, “You’re going to be okay, Jake. We’ll get you somewhere
safe.”

Seconds later the floor beneath their feet
shook and a low grumble echoed down the expanse of the lobby. Then
a roar unlike any sound Minji had ever heard before burst in the
air.

It sounded like the end of the world.

The rumbling growl swelled in volume while
the walls and ground trembled.

Minji shot a quick, worried look over her
shoulder. “Is that sound inside or outside?” Had the skylight
collapsed?

“Definitely outside.” Simone eyed the
swinging chandeliers near the check-in counter set behind the
gilded fountain with its ornate globe. “And it’s definitely not a
good sound.”

Minji bolted past the fountain toward the
front doors, dragging the stretcher behind her. Simone helped, but
Arthur abandoned them and sprinted to the entrance.

“Oh, my God!” Arthur came to a stop and
stared in horror at the world beyond the glass doors.

“What is it?” Minji called, bringing the
stretcher to a halt. It banged into her hip painfully. How much
worse could things get? She was terribly afraid to find out. “Is it
safe to go out?”

“I...I...” Turning several shades lighter
than normal, Arthur retreated from the exit. “This is bad. Very,
very bad.”

Minji and Simone cautiously pulled the
stretcher to within a few feet of the doorway and peered outside. A
churning gray fog obscured the view beyond the arrival area. Minji
watched the thick haze creeping over the still running vehicles
toward the entrance. It took several seconds for Minji to
comprehend that the roiling gray cloudy fingers reaching for the
front of the resort were something other than fog.

“Oh, my God! We need to take cover!”

Minji pushed the stretcher away from her,
sending it rolling across the lobby away from the entrance.
Grabbing Ava’s arm and scrambling around the fountain, she ducked
behind it.

Simone appeared to grasp what was about to
happen and attempted to follow, but slipped on the slick floor in
her high heels and landed with a thud on her hip. “Shit!”

“Arthur, get down!” Minji screamed.

Simone scuttled behind the fountain, her
expression one of terror. Arthur was released from his paralysis
and hurried to join them.

The cloud of debris hit the building with a
deafening crash. Fragments of buildings, cars, and people pelted
the glass entrance. The glass fractured into a sparkling spider
web, but miraculously held. The angry gray cloud boiled against the
splintered glass like a living beast desperate to break through the
doors and smother them.

“What is that?” Arthur gasped.

“A building came down,” Simone answered
while trying to console Bailey. The baby was sobbing again, much to
Minji’s distress.

Arthur stared fearfully at the dark cloud
that consumed the sunlight and hid the world from view. “How do you
know?”

“Didn’t you see the 9-11 news footage?”
Minji asked incredulously. “That looks just like the debris cloud
when the towers went down.”

Wiping his mouth with his trembling fingers,
Arthur sluggishly nodded. “The helicopters?”

Simone wagged her head in the negative. “No,
a plane came down on the Luxor. The building must have
collapsed.”

“You saw it?” Arthur couldn’t tear his gaze
from the cracking glass.

Simone continued to try to shush Bailey by
patting her back while she spoke. “I had just left the airport. My
driver was taking me to my conference when the car ended up in a
pileup. Lucky for me, it was slow moving traffic. I was the only
one to get out of the cars. Everyone else stayed inside, not
moving, just staring. I tried to rouse my driver, but it didn’t
work. Then I saw the plane hit the Luxor. It was like a knife into
butter. When the plane exploded I ran. I kept running until I saw
the rescue vehicles outside.”

The mammoth glass pyramid must have
collapsed for there to be such an enormous debris cloud.

“I think I heard it when the first attack
happened.” Minji distinctly remembered a loud boom that had rocked
the casino.

“It wasn’t the only plane to go down. I saw
more falling out of the sky when I was running, but those appeared
to be further out of the city.” Simone dipped her hands in the
water and attempted to wash the grit and blood off them.

“So it is terrorists,” Arthur declared.

Simone shrugged. “Who knows? All I know is
that everyone but the three of us – and the baby – is acting like
a...” She flicked her fingers, the droplets striking the smooth
surface of the water. Her high brow furrowed beneath her side-swept
bangs. “Acting like…”

“Zombies,” Arthur offered.

“They’re not attacking people. They’re not
eating us,” Minji said defensively, hugging Ava lovingly.

“Yet.”

Simone rolled her eyes at Arthur’s
comment.

“They’re still alive. Jake has a pulse. So
does Ava. It’s like they’re sleepwalking or something.”

Arthur shrugged. “The terrorists must have
put something in the air. Maybe in that plane that crashed.”

Simone dismissed this comment with the shake
of her head. “I doubt that, Arthur. That plane crashed after the
massive pileup. My driver slipped into a trance and it appeared
everyone else driving did, too. No one honked, no one slammed on
their brakes. They just drove into one another. Then the plane
struck the Luxor.”

Bailey quieted, letting out a pitiful
sniffle.

Minji lifted her hand so Bailey could grip
it. The young mother definitely sympathized with her baby daughter.
The sights and sounds of the day were overwhelming to her as an
adult. She could only imagine how terrifying it was for Bailey.
Gazing at Ava, Minji was torn. Was it better that Ava wasn’t aware
of the terrible events unfolding? Yet, how could her transfixed
state be something good? When would she awaken? At least she wasn’t
attempting to follow the others anymore.

Faint patches of sunlight pierced through
the thick, dark cloud as it gradually dissipated while the heavier
fragments settled to the ground and the hot desert wind brushed
away the lighter particles.

“We should be able to leave soon,” Minji
said, though she wasn’t really sure she wanted to venture
outside.

“Maybe we should stay here?” Simone glanced
toward a body near the check-in counter. “On second thought...”

“We should get some masks out of the
ambulance,” Arthur said. “The...uh...mesmerized people with the gas
masks are already gone, so we’ll have to settle for those surgeon
ones.”

“The mesmerized?” Simone tried the word out,
and then nodded. “A very good description of them.”

Rolling her shoulders, Minji tried to relax
the knot forming at the base of her neck. The other woman noted her
discomfort and gently pulled Ava from Minji’s arms.

“You’re doing too much, Minji. Arthur, we
need to help her out more. Get the diaper bag. I’ll take care of
the little girl.”

“Why should I—”

“Do it,” Simone said, her voice firm.

Grudgingly, Arthur took the heavy diaper bag
from Minji.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips. “Thank
you.”

Simone clambered to her feet and hoisted Ava
onto her hip. Ava’s head immediately swiveled toward Minji.

“Is she waking up?” Minji gasped, pulling
herself to her feet.

Ava’s head tilted to follow Minji’s face,
but she didn’t speak or give any indication of awareness.

“Ava, do you want to go to your mommy?”
Simone asked.

The five-year old continued to stare at
Minji, but there wasn’t a hint of recognition in her eyes.

“Try moving over there,” Simone suggested,
gesturing with her chin toward an archway.

Nearby Arthur watched nervously. “I don’t
like the way her eyes look. They’re all spooky.”

“Arthur, you need to be quiet,” Simone
commanded.

Minji took a few steps to one side, removing
herself from Ava’s immediate view. Her daughter’s head swiveled to
follow. Joy burst to life in her heart and her first smile since
the disastrous event flitted across her lips. Ava had to be
awakening.

“Ava, can you hear me? Can you hear
Mommy?”

The redhead faced Minji, but her eyes still
weren’t clearly focused on her mother. Again, Minji scuttled to one
side. Ava twisted in Simone’s hold to track her mother’s path.

“What does it mean?” Arthur demanded. “Is
she waking up?”

“Maybe,” Simone said cautiously. “Or maybe
it’s not affecting her as much as the others. Her mother and sister
are immune. Maybe she has a limited immunity.”

“Then why is he doing it, too?” Arthur
asked, indicating the nearby stretcher.

Minji’s heart stuttered in her chest.
“Jake!”

Her husband had craned his head toward her,
but like Ava, he showed no sign of actual recognition. Then, very
slowly, his lips parted revealing his white teeth. At the same
moment, Ava did the same thing.

“Put her down! She’s going to bite you!”
Arthur shouted, scrambling backward.

Though Simone threw a nasty look Arthur’s
way, she did set Ava down and took a step back, keeping hold on the
leash.

Taking a hesitant step forward, Minji held
out her hands toward her husband. “Jake, are you waking up? Can you
hear me?”

In response her husband’s mouth twisted in
odd shapes, his jaw jutted outward, and the muscles in his neck
flexed.

“She’s doing that, too!” Arthur
screeched.

Flicking her eyes back and forth between her
husband and daughter, it became frighteningly clear that they were
perfectly mirroring each other’s movements. In a flash of memory,
Minji realized she had seen something similar.

“A man did this earlier. Like he was trying
to talk, but...” Minji faltered.

“Didn’t know how?” Simone suggested.

“Look! The air is clearer. I’m getting out
of here and far away from any of the others like them. This is
getting really crazy now. I can’t deal with this!” Arthur hurled
the diaper bag to the floor. “You’re on your own!”

“Then so are you,” Simone said coldly, her
dark eyes narrowing. “No one to watch your back.”

Arthur hesitated near the doors.

“If you get hurt, who’s going to help you?”
Simone’s heels clicked against the floor as she walked over to the
diaper bag. Picking it up, she slung it over her shoulder. “Go. See
how far you get on your own. Without a plan. Without help.”

Arthur whirled about and stormed over to the
stretcher. Grabbing the handholds, he glared at Simone. “If I need
you, you need me. Don’t forget that.”

“We all need each other,” Minji reminded
both of them. “So far we’re the only ones that aren’t affected by
this event. We might be the only people in all of Las Vegas who are
not mesmerized. How many are dying right now? How many are dead? We
need to find medical help for my husband. We need to find a safe
place away from collapsing buildings and fires. I say we go north.
Jake pointed out a new emergency medical facility down by the
Stratosphere. We should go there.”

“That’s about two or three miles away. It’s
not going to be an easy trek with all that chaos out there,” Simone
observed.

“We don’t have a choice,” Arthur said. “We
should go.”

“It’s in the direction the mesmerized are
walking,” Simone reminded him.

“Then we won’t have to fight the flow of
foot traffic.” Minji’s mind was made up. She was tired of being at
the mercy of the situation and was determined to be proactive. Her
husband and daughter might be on the verge of awakening, but she
couldn’t just sit in the lobby and wait. Jake needed medical
attention that she didn’t know how to give him.

“She’s right. If we’re moving with the
crowd, it’ll be easier.” Arthur gave Simone a triumphant look.

“Okay, but did either one of you wonder
where the mesmerized are
going
?” Simone’s arched eyebrow
slid upward.

Losing his bravado, Arthur glanced nervously
toward the boulevard. “They’re just walking.”

“In the same direction,” Simone mused. “In
one big crowd. Like they have a purpose.”