Little Dead Monsters (13 page)

Chapter Thirty.

They were careful in taking only routes with plenty of hiding spots. Occasionally, a few vans drove by, but they were well concealed behind the empty buildings in the shopping district. From the sounds of things, Ryker had already started deploying guards in the suburban area, where Allegra was last seen.

She was exhausted but forced herself to keep moving. She wouldn’t allow her physical limitations to be a burden for Dog. They were going to leave Bimini no matter what.

They stopped by a convenience store to look for a few supplies. Most of the food remaining had already been spoiled and there wasn’t much left inside worth salvaging with the exception of two bottles of water, which they both consumed down to the very last drop. Allegra was starving but she tried to ignore it. The thoughts of freedom were more than enough to suppress her hunger.

With each exhaustive step, the towering condos in the distance—blurry pillars from the haze of the sunlight—drew closer. When twilight finally cast its gentle glow across the horizon, they had reached their destination.

“We’ll stay here tonight,” Dog said. “Once we get some rest, we’ll make a break for it a couple hours before the sun rises. Ryker’s men will most likely be exhausted from the search by then.”

They entered through the glass doors of the tallest condominium and walked across the foyer, decorated with artificial trees and a barren stone water fountain.

“The elevators are dead. There’s no electricity here,” Dog said. “We’ll have to take the stairs. Let’s try and get ourselves to a high spot.”

They ascended the winding stairwell. Her calves tightened and her thighs burned as she clung onto the railings, dragging herself up. She wiped sweat from her brow and did her best to keep up with Dog, who kept a modest pace in front of her, traversing each step with relative ease, while the gun dangled loosely around his shoulder.

Allegra realized that he could have left the city long ago without her. However he had come back for her, keeping his promise that they would escape together.

Finally at the twenty-fourth floor, Dog opened the door leading to the hallways. The first condo unit they saw was 2404. Dog turned the handle and gently pushed open the creaking door that was rusted at the hinges.

“This will do,” Dog said as they both entered into the residence. Layers of dust blanketed the condo like snowfall on a winter’s morning. Dog immediately began to sneeze. Allegra was used to the dust on account of all the cleaning she had done in the Arena.

“Will you be alright?” Allegra asked as she wiped her finger on the kitchen’s countertop, revealing black granite underneath the layer of grey powder.

“I’ll be fine,” Dog said.

“Why don’t you search for some food and water while I clean the place a bit? There’s no point in us inhaling this stuff all night if we plan on staying here.”

Dog agreed and he left the apartment in search of supplies for the night. Meanwhile Allegra set to work cleaning up the place. She found towels in the linen closet, which she used to wipe down the dust on the countertops, leather couch, shelves, window sill, and anything else it covered. When she was done, she opened up the taps hoping to get a drink of water, but as she suspected, it was bone dry. The entire city was sucked of its resources with the exception of the Arena. Ryker had generators and water systems built so it could still function properly despite being in a dead city.

Dog finally returned with some canned food, bottled waters, and a can opener.

“Look what I found,” he smiled as he locked the door behind him.

“Is that food?”

He nodded. “I got some canned beans, peaches, and vegetables. Hopefully they’ve kept.”

“I’ll eat anything,” Allegra said. The dinner itself was nothing special, but her hunger had seemed to enhance her taste buds and every morsel of food was sweet and savoury on her tongue. When their meals were done, she was disappointed that there wasn’t more.

“I can’t wait until we’re out of here and can eat some real food,” Allegra said. “I’ll do almost anything for a pizza.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever had any,” Dog said.

“What? Are you serious?”

“When you don’t own a single penny, pizza’s a little difficult to come by,” he sighed.

“That’s the first thing we’ll eat when we’re out of here,” Allegra announced. “A pepperoni and double cheese pizza with thick crust and a mountain of garlic bread accompanied by honey flavoured chicken wings.”

“That sounds amazing,” Dog said.

Allegra took the can of eaten peaches and drank the thick syrup left over at the bottom before sitting back and letting out a sigh.

“You look exhausted,” Dog said. “Why don’t you sleep first. I’ll keep watch of things.”

She agreed and headed into the bedroom and collapsed atop the queen-sized bed and closed her eyes. The last thing she remembered was the sweet taste of peaches on her lips just before she fell into a dreamless sleep.

When Allegra woke from her nap, she noticed Dog standing by the window, peering out into the night. She rose from the bed, walked over to him, and wrapped herself around his massive arm. She felt the tension run down the length of his arm from his shoulders to his fingertips.

“What are you looking at?” Allegra asked. Dog pointed to the orange glow in the distance.

“Ryker’s burning down the houses. He’s trying to smoke us out.” he replied.

The only memories left of the families that lived in this tragic place would soon be reduced to cinder and ashes. It was all so very sad, Allegra thought.

“He won’t find us, will he?” Allegra asked.

“I don’t think so. We gave ourselves some distance. Even if they do decide to scout the condos, there’s way too many rooms in each one for them to check thoroughly,” he said, though Allegra could hear the hint of doubt in his voice.

“It is a rather large place,” Allegra said, trying to reassure both of them.

“Yeah,” Dog agreed. “I don’t think Ryker ever anticipated the slaves escaping from the Arena itself. The only contingency he has outside of the Arena’s walls are the mines. He’ll be relying on that alone to prevent us from escaping but he doesn’t know that I have a GPS.”

Dog looked through the window and up at the sky and smiled. “It’s funny,” he began, “even though I’ve lived outside for so long, I never truly looked at the stars. I guess when we get out of here, I’ll have a new found appreciation of them when I’m sleeping outdoors again.”

Even though there was a smile on his face, Allegra could tell there was sadness behind his words. Dog needed comforting and she owed him that much at least. Allegra leaned forward and closed her eyes, her lips moving slowly towards his.

He drew back from her.

“Why?” she asked. “You love me, I can see it. Why won’t you kiss me?”

Dog shook his head as his face was suddenly wrenched with pain while his words were full of an aching longing. “You don’t love me.”

Allegra felt as if she had been struck. Dog’s words were blunt, but she knew they were also true.

“I’m sorry,” Allegra said. “I want to love you, I really do.”

“Don’t apologize,” he replied. “It’s hard to love a murderous beast. I understand that.”

Allegra shook her head. “No, you’re not a beast. Ryker is.”

“You don’t know the things I’ve done. You don’t know who I am and where I’ve come from. I’m a monster.”

“You’re a victim of circumstance,” Allegra said.

Dog disagreed. “It’s in my blood. Wherever I go, violence finds me.” He took a step away from her.

“I’m going to sleep for a bit,” Dog said. “If you hear anything, wake me up.”

“I’m sorry,” Allegra repeated.

“Quit apologizing,” Dog said. “I’ll get over it.”

“What if I don’t want you to?”

Dog shook his head. “You’ll forget about me,” he replied. “Just like everyone else always does.”

Chapter Thirty-One.

“Why do you love me?” Allegra whispered aloud as she glanced over at Dog, who slept soundly in the bed, the gun resting beside him. She wanted to forget the look of hurt on Dog’s face, but she couldn’t get it out of her head.

Underneath that monstrous tattooed body of his, Dog was as brittle and broken as she was. Allegra cared for Dog and she felt safe when he was around, but to love him was something else entirely. She tried to picture a future with Dog, but it was difficult. Casting a long shadow over him were the bodies and the ghosts of the Arena.

She often wondered if given another time and another place, if it was even possible for them to have a relationship like they had now.

“Why do you love me?” she whispered again.

Allegra was not deserving of anyone’s love. She had failed so many people in her life: all the boys that died because of her inability to save them. The one that haunted her the most was her brother. Her stubbornness resulted in his death and her imprisonment. If only she had swallowed her pride, she wouldn’t have left the house that night dramatically after such a trivial argument with her parents. Allegra’s sole purpose at the time was to punish her mother and father; to make them worry and she knew her leaving the house in the middle of the night would do just that.

Of course, Allegra’s brother found her and convinced her to come back home. He was always good at bringing her back when she went off on her self-centered tantrums. He calmed her and promised that he would always be on her side.

Then the mysterious men came in a van and stole them both away. That same night, Allegra watched her brother get pummeled to death by a lead pipe inside the fighting pit. Now her parents would worry about them forever.

No one should love someone so stupid and weak. She was undeserving of it; but Dog did, and for some reason, Allegra couldn’t do the same.

It broke her heart.

Chapter Thirty-Two.

The voices from outside the hallway stirred Allegra awake from the couch. The last thing she remembered was listening to the sounds of rain pattering on the windowsill, lulling her to sleep. She cursed herself for dosing off and she immediately went into the bedroom with the intentions of waking Dog, but he was already sitting upright with the gun in hand. The leadened sounds of footsteps drew closer and the once barely audible murmurs of the men became clearer.

“What a waste of time,” one of the men complained. “I’m tired as hell. We’ve been doing this for almost six hours. Twenty-four floors of this garbage and another ten to go still.”

“Let’s just get it done and over with so I can go back to sleep,” the other one said.

Allegra stared at Dog desperately, her body frozen with fear. He looked her straight in the eye and calmly mouthed the words to her, “Hide.”

She nodded as Dog took her by the hand and led her to the kitchen and opened up the cupboard underneath the sink. Allegra crammed herself inside and watched as the door slowly closed, sealing her in complete darkness. She heard Dog walk over to the main door and unlock the bolts. He was smart. If the door to unit 2404 was the only one locked, it would only arouse more suspicions. She heard Dog scurry off, no doubt hiding himself somewhere in the small condo.

Silence followed, that was until the door of the unit creaked opened and the men entered inside.

“Maybe we should just give up, find ourselves an empty bed to take a nap in. We can return to Ryker later and tell him that we put in an honest effort.”

“Think of the payout Ryker promised us,” a guard said. “It’s enough to set us straight for a lifetime. If we manage to find those bitches, I’m going to take my share of the money and open up a nightclub and fill it with women and alcohol. I’ll be living the dream.”

“I know you by now. You’re not going to leave this place. You’re addicted to the fights and you’ll gamble away every cent you own.”

“Just you watch. When I own the hottest club in the country, you’ll be begging for me to let you in, and I’m going to turn you away at the door like some schmuck.”

One of the guards entered into the kitchen. Allegra bit her lip, nervous at the fact that only a thin wooden cabinet door separated her from him.

“Hey do you notice something strange about this place?” the other guard’s voice trailed from the living room.

“What’s that?”

“All the other condos are piled with dust except for this one.”

She was startled by the abrupt sounds of deafening gunshots and shattering glass. After what seemed like several agonizing minutes, though in actuality it was seconds, the sounds of explosive gunfire finally ceased.

“Christ, Dave?!” the voice from the living room cried out.

Dog roared like an animal and what followed were the sounds of struggle. Allegra cautiously opened the cupboard door and cringed as she saw the body of a guard in a sitting position, leaning against the fridge. His eyes were wide open, staring blankly at her while blood oozed from the bullet wounds in his chest.

Dog and the remaining guard were fighting in the open living room as furious punches were being delivered to each other. A gun lay by the ceiling-high windows, broken by the bullets, and it was obvious that they were both trying to maneuver towards it. The guard pushed Dog back and lunged for the weapon but Dog managed to tackle him to the ground where they continued to wrestle. Dog struggled to gain position on top and delivered a few blows to the guard’s face but lost his advantage when his opponent managed to shove a heavy boot into Dog’s stomach, winding him.

With the opening he needed, the guard grabbed the gun but before he could open fire, Dog charged into him headfirst like an angry bull, knocking both the guard and the gun through the window, broken glass trailing the body as he plummeted to his death. Allegra walked over to Dog, who was breathing heavily, a mixture of sweat and rain dripping down his face.

“Are you hurt?” she asked.

Dog shook his head as he looked out the window and into the black abyss that swallowed up the sides of the building. The rain poured down like hundreds of silver needles that disappeared into the darkness.

“We should go,” Dog said as he walked over to the kitchen and did a quick search of the body lying there. He pulled out a hand held radio along with a set of keys from the dead man’s breast pocket.

“I think I found our way out of the city,” he said.

*

The descent down twenty-four flights of stairs was less tiring than Allegra had anticipated, but at that point she was running on pure adrenaline and she had the energy to scale down a mountain if required.

When they reached the ground level, Dog instructed her to hide while he scoped out the area. He was armed with a combat knife, taken from the dead guard’s boot.

He gripped the weapon and disappeared through the condo’s entrance and into the night while Allegra hid behind the concierge’s desk. She tried to steady herself and control the rapid beating in her chest along with her heavy breathing.

A few minutes later, Dog returned and motioned for Allegra to follow him.

It was a downpour outside, but the rain felt good. It had a calming effect on Allegra’s nerves and it woke her from the surreal daze she was in. Dog led her to a rusted black van parked a couple of yards away from the entrance of the condo.

“Do you know how to drive?” Allegra asked. Dog nodded.

“I’ve stolen a car once and took it for a spin, though I ditched it when the heat became too much.”

“You stole a car, but never thought of stealing yourself a pizza?” Allegra asked.

Dog shrugged as he opened driver side door and entered into the vehicle. “The guy who owned the car was an asshole.” Allegra entered into the van from the opposite side. After examining the guard’s keys, Dog found the one he was looking for which he inserted into the ignition and cranked it. The hum of the engine delighted Allegra and she barely contained her excitement as a wide grin spread across her face.

Dog switched the gears on the car, took his foot off the break and pressed down on the gas pedal, jerking the van forward suddenly. Allegra grabbed onto the side of the door out of reflex.

“Sorry,” he said. “I’m still a bit rusty.”

“It’s okay. I don’t know how to drive either,” Allegra replied. It took a few more minutes before Dog got the hang of it again and much to Allegra’s relief, the ride after was a lot smoother. When he was finally confident behind the wheel, he pulled the GPS out of his pocket and handed it over to Allegra.

“They must be able to drive in and out of Bimini somehow. I need you to find the path out of here. Look for a location that is clear of mines,” Dog said. “Do you know how to work it?”

“I used to help my dad navigate with one of these when I was a kid.” she replied. Allegra took the GPS and stared at the screen which was focused on a single blue dot indicating their position. She zoomed out of the screen and was overwhelmed with the collection of blinking red lights that surrounded the outskirts of the city. Ryker saved no expense in setting up mines along Bimini’s perimeter. She navigated the touch screen with her fingertips, frantically searching for some type of clearing, devoid of mines. When she finally found it, she squealed out of joy. On the screen was a winding pathway empty of mines, though the red blinking lights lined up alongside of it, threatening to blow up any travelers who veered off the path. As long as Allegra had the GPS, she could navigate Dog through it.

“The south-east region of the city, just past the shopping district,” Allegra said. “That’s the route out of this place. Just follow my instructions.”

Dog followed her directions to the letter as Allegra navigated him through the city with the use of the GPS. A few times, a van drove right past them and Allegra had never been more thankful for the invention of tinted windows.

“We’re almost there,” Allegra said as she watched the blue dot on the screen draw closer to the escape route. As long as they remained hidden in the van, they were able to leave Bimini undetected. The idea of freedom was no longer just a dream and she was so nervous that the butterflies threatened to burst out of her stomach.

Suddenly the radio that Dog took from the guard crackled and Dallas’s voice came online.

“Ryker is heading for his house and he wants a couple of guards there just in case. I’m assigning you two nimrods to go, is that understood? And be quick about it, he’s pretty much there on his own right now.”

Dog picked up the radio, pressed the intercom button and responded. “Yes,” he said in a deadpanned voice, before dropping the radio onto the seat. Allegra saw the look in his eyes and it scared her.

“Don’t,” she said.

“I have to.”

“Please,” Allegra was desperate. “I’m begging you, we’re almost free. We can leave this place and then come back with the police. Let the authorities deal with Ryker.”

Dog slammed on the breaks, grinding the van to a halt. Without even looking at her, Dog grabbed the GPS out of her hands and examined it, no doubt looking for the coordinates of Ryker’s house.

“We’re free to go, you and me. We can begin a life outside of this place. You don’t have to do this,” she said, making one last plea to get through to him.

Dog said nothing as he handed her back the GPS. He took his foot off the break and began driving again and Allegra could only watch as the blue dot on the screen veered away from their original destination. He was beyond reasoning now. It was clear that Dog had every intention of killing Ryker tonight, even if it placed both their lives at risk.