Tara saw the tracks of the van in the snow. She glanced down at their passengers, Ben and Lee. The boy had curled up again at some point and fallen asleep, rocked by the motion of the wagon. Lee had not stirred, and Tara took it as a good sign. He hadn’t thrown up.
She glanced at Mary and Julie, took a deep breath and looked both ways down the street. She saw nothing but the expanse of snow.
“Let’s do this,” Tara announced. They made the final push across the road as quickly as possible, all of them huffing and puffing now, exhausted by the trip. Tara as point man was on high alert. Her head swiveled, checking for danger, but her eyes were on the gates just ahead where she’d entered before. Suddenly, she noticed a figure come out of the building and walk to them.
As they pulled their heavy carts and wagon the last few yards, Tara saw it was Luke. Julie and Mary waved hello.
“You made it,” he called. “I wish there weren’t tracks, but it can’t be helped.” Tara was overjoyed to see him. He represented safety and their second chance.
Luke held up one hand, stopping them. He inclined his head toward the building. “I told them you have an infected person with you, and they voted to allow you to stay, but they want you to be quarantined separately.”
Tara figured as much. She was just glad they would allow them in. “Luke, a van just swept through the area.” Luke nodded.
“We know. We’re watching. We’re always watching.” He turned and pointed over his shoulder at the square, five-story tower that loomed over them further down the gated complex. Tara realized that’s why they didn’t need the sentinels outside; they could see for miles.
“We believe the camp may be preparing for an attack on us. At least that’s what we’re thinking. Or they may know you’re gone, and that’s why they’re sweeping the area.”
Just inside the gates to the left stood a small, single-storied red brick building. It looked as though it had been used as an office, the “public face” of the factory for customers and staff when in operation. Luke pointed to it now.
“They ask that you stay in there. There are several smaller rooms in the back too, one for your husband to be quarantined.” Mary and Julie thanked him, and Tara did too. Luke swung the gate open for them and they started pulling the carts inside.
Suddenly, Luke tensed. “Hurry,” he shouted.
Tara saw the van’s headlights coming back down the road. Tara and Mary yanked their loads inside the gate and Luke swung it shut, running into the factory to sound the alarm.
“Run!” Tara shouted, and they pulled as hard as they could toward the small brick building. Julie yanked open the door, which luckily was already unlocked, pulling the little red wagon with Ben inside. Mary dropped her handle and ran to Tara, trying to help her pull Lee out of the cart before the van got there.
CRACK, DING!
Gunfire!
Tara instantly recognized a bullet hitting the metal yard cart.
LEE!
Mary dropped to her hands and knees in panic and Tara joined her. Mary reached for the door handle and pushed it open. “Tara, get in here. We’ll only draw fire from them and they’re going to hit Lee!”
Tara realized she was right. They weren’t aiming for Lee. They were aiming for them. With her heart in her throat, she crawled to the door, bullets whizzing and cracking against the bricks.
“Don’t move, Lee, we’ll get you in a minute.” She didn’t know if he heard. She didn’t want to leave him. Despair at his helplessness almost choked her, but there was nothing she could do. Then she remembered the guns.
Chapter 17
The sound of ricocheting bullets striking all around her almost froze Tara to the ground. She forced herself to crawl backward into the doorway. Tara could see a long row of white vans approaching. They pulled in perpendicular to the factory, lining up as though in formation. It was obvious they meant to wipe out this band of renegades.
Mary was just inside the door and Julie and Ben were a few feet to her right. Ben was lying on the floor beside his mother, a frightened expression on his face.
“Mary, we have guns!” Mary’s eyes widened in realization, as both women fumbled in their pockets. With a loud crack, the window above them shattered.
“My God, they’re going to kill Lee.”
“I don’t think they know he’s in the yard cart,” Mary whispered. “But the stray bullets are going to hit him if we don’t do something. Tara thought fast.
“Mary, I want you to start firing at them. Maybe I can dump Lee out and drag him inside by his blanket.” Mary was checking her gun, taking off the safety and clumsily holding it in her hand. Tara watched her with a sinking feeling.
My God, this isn’t going to work. We’re not outlaws.
Suddenly, they heard shouts coming from the factory side. Tara picked out Luke’s voice, rising above the others.
“Tara, stay down.”
Tara then heard return fire coming from the Resistance. It was now or never. “Mary, Luke’s helping us! Do it now!”
Tara reached up and pushed open the door as Mary got to her knees and began to fire back at the vans. Tara crawled to the cart, raised herself up just enough to grasp one end of the blanket, and pulled on it with all her might. The cart tipped up on one side, and then crashed over, spilling Lee out right beside her. He groaned.
“Lee, I’m dragging you inside.” Tara doubted he understood or even heard her in his coma-like state, but she thanked God he was suddenly more accessible to her. Tara yanked and tugged on him, gaining ground inch by inch. She was nearly inside with the blanket containing Lee, when Mary shrieked. “I’m out of bullets.” Her gun clicked, then clicked again; empty.
At that moment, Tara rose to get a better purchase on Lee. A searing pain like a hot poker jammed into her upper arm knocked her back. She screamed and fell. Suddenly, Julie was beside her, pulling her in. Mary crouched and grabbed the end of Lee’s blanket, yanking it the rest of the way inside.
“I’m shot,” cried Tara. Julie pushed back her coat to see. Tara’s right arm felt on fire. Blood was running down it as Julie pulled a sheet from the wagon and ripped off a strip. Julie checked to be sure no arteries were hit, and told Tara she was lucky. It had passed through the fleshy part between her shoulder and elbow, what Lee had always joked and called her chicken wing. Julie wound the strip around tightly to stop the blood. The terrible burning sensation had lessened, but Tara felt her ears begin the high-pitched warning ring that signaled she might pass out.
“No,” she yelled, trying to shake it off and stay in the present. She realized then that Lee was inside with them on the floor, and she calmed a little.
You’re okay. Lee’s okay
.
Return fire was now coming from the direction of the factory and above them from the sniper tower.
The camp soldier’s bullets were no longer aimed at them. They seemed to be focused entirely on the factory and tower. Mary crawled to the far corner, and told Tara and Julie to come over. Julie pulled Ben with her and settled in, back against the wall. A small window above them afforded a good view without risk of being seen, and Tara scooted over too. Mary was relaying what was happening, ticking off the van’s occupants’ locations as they spread out, using the wide paneled sides of the vehicles to shield themselves.
That’s why they parked that way.
The firing from the factory had now stopped. The Resistance seemed to be waiting, maybe saving their ammunition.
Tara pushed Mary aside to see for herself, clutching her injured right arm. Down the road came a long line of camouflaged vehicles. The one in front looked like a Hummer. Tara watched it pull in sideways too. A terrible feeling of hopelessness came over her.
We’ve come so far, been through so much. But there’s no way to win. We’re totally outnumbered.
With a sinking heart, Tara described what she was seeing. The door of the Hummer opened, and Commander Meyer’s close-shaved haircut flashed into sight for an instant, and then disappeared behind the vehicle. Next came the sound of a bullhorn.
“Come out with your hands in the air. We will spare you if you do.” It was Meyers’s voice. “You’ve got five minutes to decide. Then the flamethrowers begin.”
“What should we do?” cried Mary. Tara stared at her, trying to think. “Nothing yet—wait to see what the Resistance does.” Tara knew they were at the mercy of Meyers’s soldiers. With no way to contact Luke or the rest of the Resistance, they were in a terrible position in their isolated little brick building.
Suddenly, the van nearest the tower pulled in closer. There was the sound of an explosion, and instantly the tower was in flames. The women held hands and Tara began a prayer. They all joined in, even little Ben.
The lower floors were soon engulfed, and Tara watched in horror as figures at the top were outlined against the windows in the orange light of flame, screaming. Finally, they jumped. Their burning bodies fell five stories, hitting the pavement with a terrible
thwacking
sound. Tara knew she would never forget that horrible noise. She could not believe this was happening.
We’re all going to die
. She glanced over at Lee, still unconscious on the floor.
Thank God, he won’t suffer any longer
.
Tara realized the evil in this man Meyers was beyond human understanding. Julie had begun to cry and Mary held both her and Ben tightly, praying softly.
The loudspeaker crackled on. “Send out your women and children first.” Tara glanced at Mary and shook her head.
“No,” was all Tara said. Mary nodded, agreeing. They would die together in this place, if need be. Mary reloaded her gun, giving Tara a look. Tara smiled at her, understanding. They would not burn to death. Mary would take them out first.
Tara looked out the window again, and saw three women and two children slowly walking toward the line of vehicles, their hands up. She did not recognize any of them. None of the three was Luke’s mother. Perhaps she’d decided to go out the way Tara and Mary had.
Slowly, the women and children came forward until they were at the gate, far from the building. The sudden crack of rifles broke the silence, and the women’s bodies dropped to the ground.
“My God!” cried Tara, “they’ve killed them.” Their children screamed, their high-pitched voices agonized, and the rifles fired again. The small bodies lay still.
Tara was racked with sobs so hard she couldn’t even tell the others what happened, but Mary and Julie had already guessed. Tara couldn’t watch any longer. She sank down onto the floor, her back against the wall.
She heard the men inside the factory screaming at Meyers in rage. Calling him a coward, calling him every foul name they knew. But Tara thought he was worse than that. She thought that maybe he was the Devil.
The crash of some sort of incendiary devices through the factory windows began next. The sound of fire breaking out, the whoosh of flames, and the screams of men, all told Tara what was happening. Meyers and his soldiers had forgotten their own little band of escapees in the red brick office building for the moment, but it wouldn’t be long until it was their turn.
Tara turned to Mary and Julie. “I love you both so much. I am so grateful for you—for your tender care, your friendship, and for getting Lee and me through all of this up until now. We had a pretty good run, didn’t we?” Tears coursed down Tara’s cheeks, but she forced a smile and pulled her gun back out, reloading it.
“I love you too, Tara. Thank you for everything.” Mary looked angelic, her white hair like a halo around the profile of her face.
Julie kissed Ben over and over, then turned to them. “I love you, Mom. Thank you, Tara,” she said.
They had all said their goodbyes. Tara thought she would need to dispatch Lee first, so he wouldn’t suffer any more, her final act of love. She aimed the gun at his head, gauging where it was located under the blanket.
“Wait a bit,” Mary said, and Tara nodded. She would wait until the last possible moment, until the fire started inside the room with them.
The screams coming from the factory were shrill.
There’s a lot of room to spread out in there, maybe Luke can get away
. Tara waited for the incendiary device to be fired through their window. She closed her eyes, forcing herself to be brave.
Any second now.
A strange sound began, rising above the screams and chaos, above the whoosh of the great conflagration consuming the factory. Tara did not recognize it at first. It was so foreign. But Mary perked up.
“Listen!” she cried.
Puzzled, Tara strained to hear. “What is that?” she asked.
“Helicopter!” Ben shouted, waving his toy. Tara jumped up, looking out the window. Mary and Julie crowded in beside her.
Just beyond the white vans on the distant expanse of snowy road, was a long line of military vehicles. Out in front of them an odd sight pulled into view. It was a riding lawnmower, with a very old man in a Marine uniform driving it.
“CLYDE!” screamed Tara.
Helicopters whirred overhead as the camouflage trucks and white vans of the camp soldiers frantically scattered, making a hasty retreat. Tara ran for the door with gun in hand. Maybe she could help save Luke. As Mary ran outside after her, Tara saw what was left of the resistance gathered in the courtyard of the factory, firing at the retreating enemy. She spotted Luke and said a quick prayer of thanksgiving. The enemy vehicles had all pulled away, running for the safety of the camp, but the Marines were right behind them.
Clyde pulled close to Tara on his Lawn Boy, and she gave him a huge hug. “Oh, Clyde, you saved us!”
“No, Tara, you saved all of
us
! When Luke brought your message, I got on the Gibson Girl and called my four-star Marine general grandson in Cleveland. He knew just what to do.”
Tara held on to her painful upper arm and went in search of Luke and his mother. She found them, but the terrible loss of their husband and father Kevin, and now their friends in the Resistance, left them with a thousand yard stare. Tara understood, thanking them quietly.
The Marine brass debriefed them all, and Julie, Tara and Mary told their story of the camp in detail and exactly what had been going on there. Clyde finally came over and introduced his grandson. Just then, a call came on his radio that the camp was secured, Meyers was under arrest, and all his henchmen soldiers and fake CDC representatives were being rounded up too. Mary hugged Tara, and Julie joined in, with Ben putting his spindly arms around them as well.
Tara suddenly remembered Lee and gasped. She trotted back to the little red brick building that she’d assumed would be their tomb. She went inside and over to Lee. She found him wide awake, almost like his old self.
“Lee, sweetheart, how do you feel.”
“I feel better, so much better.” Relief flooded through Tara. Mary and Julie came in just then.
“He’s awake and lucid!” Tara cried. Julie nodded and smiled. “The plasma works quickly on some. This is fabulous.”
Tara sat down against the wall and told Lee they were safe, explaining a little of what happened. He drifted off again during her story, and Tara didn’t mind. She’d fill him in later.
“It’s going to be okay now, Julie.”
Julie agreed, trying to be heard with Ben on her lap making helicopter noises. Tara looked at Mary and repeated it. Mary just laughed out loud, leaning her head back against the wall. Tara joined in. Life was so good. It often took the very bad to make you realize it.
Tara leaned back against the wall too, exhausted and in pain, but right with the world. The noise of a Marine battalion—the
real
Marines this time— pulsed outside all around them. But inside, Tara was at peace.