But the Children Survived (45 page)

“It was a Catholic boy’s school,” he said. 

“St. Thomas.  I remember this place.  It was closing because they couldn't afford to run it anymore.  I remember they had all kinds of fairs and things to raise money.  I think I brought Mindy up here once for a carnival.  It was pretty big inside,” Dani said.

She knew what Joe was thinking.  The building looked big enough to house 80 kids.  It had classrooms and probably a big dining hall.  But did the church leave everything in it when it closed school? 

“You want to go in and check it out?” she asked.

“Yeah, let's get the kids off the bus and let them stretch.”

Joe checked the lock on the gate.  It was a standard padlock.  He could easily break it if he could find the right-sized rock.  As he was looking for one, the kids began to gather at the gate.  He asked them to look around for rocks, and a boy with the name tag “Adam T.” found one and ran over to Joe holding up a large rock. 

“Is this okay, Joe?” he asked.

Joe took the rock and held it.  He made a big show of checking the weight of the rock and then said, “Perfect.”  He took the rock and hammered away at the padlock.  After three good whacks, the lock broke, Joe removed it and the chain holding the gates closed.

The kids ran ahead of Joe and Dani.  Jenny hadn’t been out of the car in so long that she ran too.  Julius walked a little ways until he saw a bench and sat down to rest before moving on.  Dani and Joe took each other's hands.  It was nice to be out of the buses. 

The buildings were situated about a mile from the road.  They looked to be over 50 years old.  The bricks in the walls looked in good condition.  These buildings had been designed to look like the buildings in old New England towns.  The landscaping had taken a beating from lack of care.  The grass was overgrown, as were the weeds. 

As Joe had seen from the road, there were three large buildings, at least three stories high.  There were several out buildings as well.  Joe and Dani approached the first building and checked the door.  Joe couldn't kick this one in. 

They went around the back and found an entrance leading to the basement.  That door had a glass window, which Joe broke to get in.

Joe and Dani walked down the stairs into the basement.  It was full of dust and cobwebs.  The walls were lined with washing machines and dryers.  There was a large breaker box for the electricity and a generator for power failures.  There was a sump pump that must have gone off when the basement flooded. 

Dani found the stairs leading up and they climbed them quickly.  The door at the top opened into the kitchen, which had a huge stove and refrigerator.  It had a big double sink and what looked like a fairly new dishwasher.  The first room off the kitchen was a large dining room with one big table. 

“Maybe this is where the priests ate,” Dani was saying.  “Maybe this is where they lived.” 

The rest of the building contained libraries and small classrooms.  The top floor contained several bedrooms.  Dani was right.  These rooms were for adults.  There was a main room in the center with a television set and a computer. There were several comfortable chairs. 

There was an elevator that ran from the first floor to the top floor.  The bedrooms had one bed each with a dresser and a chair.  There were two large bathrooms with two shower stalls in each. 

Dani and Joe went through all the large buildings to see how they were set up.  Joe broke into the basement of each.  They found that each building had about 15 rooms on each floor and were set up like dormitories. 

Each room had two beds, two dressers, two desks, and two wardrobes.  There were common rooms on each floor with a television set.  

Close by were giant bathrooms with showers and urinals.  There were also stalls with toilets.  The bottom floor had a small apartment for a house parent and a kitchen.  There were accommodations for 30 kids on each floor.

“Why did they leave all this stuff here?” Dani asked.

“Maybe they thought another school would buy it, or they thought it would sell faster furnished,” Joe said.

Joe and Dani looked around the rest of the campus.  There was a large communal dining room and kitchen in one building.  Another had a basketball court and other athletic equipment.  The rest had classrooms. 

Joe and Dani then went back to all three buildings to check for running water.  The water worked.  It must have been well water. 

Dani went to the study in the first building, looking for any information she could find about the school.  As she walked in the front door, there was a library to her right.  She saw two desks in there facing each other. 

The first desk was empty.  The second desk had a booklet on it called “A Short History of St. Thomas' Boys School.”  She pulled out the bottom drawer, which still contained files.  One was labeled “City of Largo.”  She took it out and laid it next to the booklet and sat down on the old wooden rolling chair behind the desk. 

The file contained letters from the city offering the church money for the property the school sat on.  It was dated June 14, 2003.  This was the height of the real estate boom and the city was being wooed by a certain big retail chain.  

The chain required huge parcels of land.  This was the perfect location for such a store.  There was nothing else here but the schools, and there were plenty of residents within a five-mile radius to support such a venture.  The tax incentives were enormous, but first the city had to acquire the property. 

The church refused to sell.  Then the city told the school it had to hook up to the city's water or risk being shut down due to a contaminated water supply.  Water testing took place that showed the school’s water was safe, but the city council took a vote and it was decided that the St. Thomas Boys School would have to comply or be shut down. 

The school appealed the city's decision and failed.  School officials began efforts to raise money in order to lay the miles of pipe necessary to hook the entire school into the city's water and sewer systems.  When it was clear they weren’t going to meet their deadline, they closed the school and put it up for sale. 

That was a year ago.  The real estate boom was over, the economy was in the toilet, and the big chain had found another property in another town. 

At some point, the school was forced to raise tuition, prompting parents to find less expensive ways to educate their children.  School officials still hoped to sell the school to a university, but it was bleeding money.  They voted to close it before a buyer could be found.  Those students still attending were transferred to a school in Tampa.

So, the school had well water and the sewerage was not hooked into the city.  That meant it had to be cleaned out when it got full.  Other than that, the building was in pretty good shape and had running water.

They could bring in bottled water until the supply ran out and then they could decide what to do.  For now they had a place to stay with plenty of room and supplies for housing and teaching. 

Dani went to find Joe to tell him what she’d learned.  The kids were having a ball running around the place.  They had been cooped up so long it felt really good just to run.  Dani found Joe playing basketball with some of the kids and she told him this was a good place to stay.  They had water.  All they needed was some way to light the place up at night. 

It would be getting dark soon, so Joe and Jenny headed out to the mall to see if they could find supplies to light the inside of the buildings.  Dani got the kids inside the buildings and told them to find a room and a roommate.  She told them that they would be staying here from now on. 

Julius found a nice room in the first building.  It was on the first floor behind the kitchen.  It had a bed and a recliner.  Julius opened the windows to let the late afternoon breezes in.  He sat in the recliner and kicked off his shoes.  He was asleep in minutes. 

Joe and Jenny found a camping store at the mall with a body on the outside holding a key.  The poor guy hadn't even gotten the door open.  They used the key to open the door and found several oil lanterns and bottles of oil.  They also grabbed long stick matches.  They also picked up battery operated and solar powered lanterns.

They broke into other stores and found candles and flashlights.  These would have to do for now, until they could figure out how to electrify the place.  Joe would have to check out the generators they’d found in the basement of each building. 

They filled the back of the car with food they found at a Granger's.  There were some bodies in there, but it was too late to search for something else.  The food was in cans and the smell would not get through that.  They also took several cases of bottled water. 

When they got back to the school, they brought all the stuff they found into the first building to divide it up.  The food was put away and the water stacked.  The lanterns were filled with oil, but Dani didn't feel comfortable putting them in the kids’ dorms.  She gave the kids the battery and solar powered lanterns and flashlights, and kept the oil lanterns with the adults. 

After getting everyone settled in for the night, Dani and Joe slept in the house parent's apartment in the second house.  She and Joe made a plan to visit their house in St. Petersburg the next day to collect their clothes and see if Mindy had gone there.  Dani had wanted to go tonight, but she was just too exhausted.  As they drifted off to sleep that night, Dani said a prayer that she would see her Mindy in the morning. 

Chapter 56

The Wilmer Biosphere, Palm Harbor, Florida

A few days after Mark and Mindy left the facility, Gerald stood on the landing overlooking the playground, listening to the laughter of the children playing below.  When one of them looked up and saw Gerald, he signaled the others and they all looked up. 

They stopped what they were doing and just stared quietly at Gerald.  They were all a little scared of him, and they definitely didn’t trust him.  He tried to smile, but it resembled a snake trying to turn up the corners of its mouth. 

He walked down the stairs and looked over the children.  He spotted a chubby little boy sitting on a bench and he approached him.  The boy looked right and left, trying to find an escape route, but it was too late.  Gerald was upon him and was asking him his name.

“Austin,” he replied.

“Ah, a wonderful city, Austin, I went there once for a conference on cattle.  Lovely city.”  Gerald sat down next to Austin.  Austin moved away.

 “Now, son, you don't have to be scared.  I have a proposition for you.  I have a video game in my lab.  It is a very special game that I had the team bring back for me.  I would like to give it to you in exchange for a sample of your cells.  If you’re willing to accompany me back to my lab, it will only take a few minutes.” 

“What game?”  Austin asked.  Gerald could see he was ready to take the bait.  His beady little eyes were squinting at Gerald.  Gerald had done his research before coming down here.

“Something called Resident Evil 5.” 

Austin's eyes lit up.  He could feel the excitement rising in his stomach.  It was quickly taking over the part of his brain that warned him to stay away from Gerald.  He had wanted that game for his next birthday, which of course never came.  Maybe this was fate.  He was supposed to get this game, and if this wacko wanted some of his cells, he could have them.  Austin imagined Gerald taking a swab to his cheek like he had when collecting his DNA. 

“Okay,” Austin said. 

They got up from the bench and, with Gerald leading the way, climbed the stairs to the upper floor and Gerald's lab.  When Austin got inside the lab, he began to look at all the scalpels and needles Gerald had placed on a stainless steel tray.  He looked on another table and saw a machine with long wires attached to it.  He saw test tubes and a microscope.  Austin had sat through too many World War II documentaries.  He remembered Joseph Mengele very well. 

“You’re gonna cut me up!  You’re gonna do experiments on me.  No, you won't!”  Austin bolted for the door.  Gerald got in front of him and stood in his way.

“I am merely going to take a sample of your cells.  I promise it won't even hurt.” 

“You get out of my way, you wacko!  HELP!  HELP ME, SOMEBODY!” 

Austin began kicking Gerald in the shins.  Gerald pushed Austin to the floor and jumped on top of him.  He held him down and tried to get him to lie still so he could cut into Austin's arm. 

Christie heard Austin’s screams.  She tried to get in the door, but Gerald's legs were blocking it.  She could see inside and saw Gerald fighting with a child, but she couldn't see Austin's face.  She pushed and pushed until she jammed the door into Gerald's leg.  He rolled off Austin and glared up at her.

“All I wanted was a little skin scraping.  This little moron wouldn't lie still for one second.” 

Gerald's hair was in his face and he looked like a madman.  Austin jumped up and run out the door.

“Are you crazy?”  Christie asked him.  “What the hell did you think you were doing?  I told you no cutting.  There is no reason to cut these kids.  We have enough data.  Leave it alone, Gerald, or else.” 

“Or else!  Who do you think you are to threaten me?  There’s nothing you can do to me, Christie.”

“I can kick you outside.”  She looked at Gerald defiantly.  She knew being outside was the one he feared most.

“You could never get me out there.”

“Not by myself.” she said.

The implication was clear.  The team would gladly help her push Gerald out the hatchway.  Gerald knew they all hated him. 

He got up off the floor and walked over to his computer.  Martha's face stared back at him.  He knew he had to wait, but the temptation to strangle Christie right then and there was overwhelming.  He tried to calm down by breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth.