Page 57 of Consume Me

“If it’s like the ones at home.” I studied the wall looking for a likely trigger point and found a button hidden neatly in a painting’s frame. When I pressed it, a panel slid open. Smoke billowed out, but none of hesitated.

“Should we mask up?” Brex asked, gesturing toward the protective shield dangling from his helmet.

“We need to be able to communicate.” We’d thrown together our gear at the last minute, which meant we didn’t have a comms system to fall back on. “If it gets bad…”

They could use their judgment. For now, we needed to be able to get each other’s attentions, especially with the noise spilling through the open panel. It would be worse once we reached the bunker hidden under the house.

“Weapons out,” Smith shouted.

Now that we were closer to the source of the chaos, it was even harder to get bearings. The alarms inside Windsmoor sounded like wind chimes compared to the screeching fall-out bells running on continuous loop down here. We followed them, knowing we were heading in the right direction as they got louder.

None of us knew what waited for us on the other side. Then again, it didn’t really matter. We’d all come here for one purpose. It united us now.

But it didn’t prepare us.

The door we found at the end of hidden hall might have been impenetrable if someone hadn’t left it ajar. Pushing it open, we stepped into the remnants of a hospital wing. Bright white walls, exam rooms, flickering fluorescent lights—it might have been any hospital except for its current state. It looked as though it had been abandoned in a hurry, papers and files strewn everywhere, a gurney knocked on its side. But there wasn’t a living soul around.

“Alexander!” Smith called and I turned to find him staring, white faced into a room. I couldn’t imagine what had shaken a man like him. Moving to it, I pulled back the curtain and nearly collapsed.

In the center was a hospital bed surrounding by monitors. A blue curtain was hung across its center and a cart of surgical implements waiting next to it. It might have been used for anything but on a stainless steel table next to a small scale sat a baby blanket.

“It hasn’t been used,” he said, coming up next to me.

But it was here. She was here. I didn’t know if that made me feel better or worse.

“Find her,” I called out. We’d taken a few steps when a small explosion burst through a wall down the hall. Plaster ricocheted toward us and we ducked for cover. I threw myself behind a nurse’s station, barely missing a stool. When the initial shock was over, I pushed myself up, steadying myself with the desk counter.

“Is everyone okay?” Georgia yelled, shaking bits of plaster from her hair.

I heard a few more shouts but didn’t answer her. I was distracted by a file laying on the counter.

Norris, James.

Throwing it open, I tried to make sense of the reports, but it was full of cryptic test results. The one thing I could make out was the date. These tests had been performed earlier this week. I pulled the sheets out, rolled them up and shoved them in my pocket.

“What’s that?” Smith asked, tipping his head to the papers.

“Not sure, but I think we might have found more than we bargained for.” I flashed him the file folder, and his eyes widened.

We’d given up Norris for dead. Maybe he was. Maybe his captors had executed him after these tests. But he had been here a few days ago—alive.

I had found him and I knew that meant I’d found Clara, too. But my brief joy was eclipsed by another explosion.

“They’re bringing this whole place down,” Brex said, grabbing my arm. “We need to get back to the surface.”

“Not without them.” I shrugged out of his grasp.

“You can’t go in there, Poor Boy. I won’t allow it.” He stepped into my path.

“You’re going to stop me?” I wasn’t walking out of here without Clara.

“Not this shit again.” Brex groaned and I could have sworn his trigger finger twitched a little. “We’ll look. I can’t let you go.”

“We’ll go in,” Smith said, stepping beside him. Together the two formed a formidable wall, but that wasn’t going to stop me from going through them.

“Like hell you will.” Georgia stomped over to Smith and got in his face. “You’re going to be a father.”

“So is he,” Smith bit out.