CHAPTER TWELVE
When the dawn light began to shine through the windows of the Authority building, many members of the large group were already awake, warily staring into the streets outside, their wide eyes scanning for the slightest hint of movement.
The large group of civilians broke off into their assigned smaller groups, each led by two officers, and each team's lead reviewed the plan they had designed the night before.
Cassandra listened intently, but still a small part of her could not help but to feel, or wish, that it was all some kind of terrible dream.
She felt like she was in a football huddle, planning the next play, only the opposing team was comprised of eight foot tall, deadly acid blood creatures.
She noticed as she glanced down, that her hands were trembling. She swallowed and looked at Kyle. His dirty hair was slicked back and the look on his face was one of anger and uncertainty, but he, too, listened to the group commander's reiterating of the day's upcoming events.
Though no one mentioned it anymore, the words of the negative man still rang through many's ears. Cassandra wondered mostly, when the promised reinforcements and rescuers would arrive, if ever. No one seemed to really know.
Communication was sketchy at best, and the more she strained to listen to the military chatter, the more she realized no one seemed to have any idea what was going on.
She wondered what had happened, what kind of problems they had encountered, or if they were all dead. She wished they would come right away and sweep her away to a land where this horrible infestation was not happening.
Her mind began to drift to a place where these animals, or their destruction, did not exist. It was a hard image to pull into her mind and she found herself unable to as her eyes shifted around to the blood stained floors, bullet holes, and acid burns.
She focused once again on the group's leader as he had just finished his dry run of their plans. The members of the squad nodded their heads silently.
The group seemed ready; the plan was simple. Each group had a written list of the best places to get their assigned stocks. Each member was made aware of exactly how far their destinations were, and how quickly each was expected to travel.
The plan could easily work, in theory. For many, the outgoing trip would not be as difficult as the return trip. As with Cassandra's group, there would be many people carrying bags of foods, clothing, and medical supplies.
They would be hard pressed to make it back quickly carrying a load of supplies, so that was factored into consideration as well. Other teams were sent out to get much needed weapons. They would have an easier time getting back, since they would all be armed, Cassandra assumed.
The ideal result was that the groups that were headed out for weapons would find enough firearms and ammunition to give a weapon to every person in the group capable of pointing and firing at the nightmarish black monsters.
There was some concern about whether or not this would actually happen, but it was a far better idea to at least have some additional weaponry.
Perhaps the only problem with the whole plan, besides the taking to the unsafe streets unarmed, was simply the numbers. As the group conceived the plan last night and wrote down every little detail planning for a quick and flawless run, the one major point that came up ended up being a basic mathematical stumper.
Almost two hundred people of every age were piled into the building, each holding on to their dreams, their hopes, their lives. The attack last night had left many of them dead; not enough to fill out the nice, evenly grouped teams as anticipated, so instead of groups of ten, many groups headed out with just three.
Less people meant less consumption of precious supplies, but it also meant less likelihood of stocking up. No one seemed to be too concerned about the certain eventuality of starving while they were holding out with reducing amounts of ammunition against an ever increasing amount of deadly animals.
Cassandra glanced around to the other small groups huddled throughout the large lobby of the Authority. Though each person looked frightened, they were all obviously intent on giving themselves a chance at survival.
Cassandra noticed that the man who had in essence, caused the plan to be put into effect, did not volunteer for a position within any of the groups. He simply sat, sulking, against a far wall on the upstairs, glancing down the escalator ramps at the people below with a look of contempt on his face.
She thought she could see in his eyes each and every person's demise. She felt herself casting a sour stare at the man. If it was not for him, no one would even be going out into the streets, they would probably just waited for rescue.
It was his fault the group realized they were under-armed, under-ammoed, and under supplied with food for a long haul. She would be far more content to simply stay huddled up in the upstairs eating area, under a blanket, pretending none of this was really happening.
Then again, she would have much preferred to still be residing in her unbloodied new apartment, with her non dead friend, looking forward to their future of starting college the following month and escalating to the upper echelons of the fashion society.
Instead, she sat looking from a grumpy man staring woefully at the troops below him, to the blood filled, empty streets of the city that she loved, wondering if she would make it through the next few hours of her life.
As the groups fell silent and scanned the streets outside for movement, one of the officers leading a group closest to the doors slowly and bravely crept outside. Cassandra and all the others in the large open lobby looked toward him.
From his crouched position, he pushed the glass door open slowly, just enough that he could slip through. He slid outside and looked north, south, and east.
He stretched his neck to look over a car that had been driven up onto the sidewalk. After a moment of studying the street in one direction, he turned his head and weapon in the other.
It seemed to take forever before he strode out one or two steps away from the building and stared again up and down the street, all around him. He took a few more steps slowly and evaluated the building in which the group hid.
After a long tense moment he finally indicated with his hand that the location was secure. Without hesitation, the swarm of people filed out of the one working door in the building.
"Here we go," Kyle whispered to Cassandra as he took her hand and they headed out the door together.
She did not respond, but she felt herself break into a little smile as he slid his fingers between hers just a moment before the pair stepped out into the hot summer air.
Unbelievably, Cassandra and the rest of the people who took to the streets that morning, found them all oddly vacant. There was not even a hiss, nor a distant shriek.
Cassandra wondered if the animals were sleeping, perhaps hibernating, or perhaps they had run off to swarm somewhere else; attack a different group of hopeful survivors. With no interference, the groups were able to depart, stock up, and return without a problem.
Within five hours, every man and woman had returned to the terminal with much needed supplies. Those that remained behind cheered with glee as the first of the groups out headed back, and those cheers multiplied as each group returned and supplies were distributed out.
As expected, there were not enough weapons for every able person in the group, but the groups assigned to armory were able to bring handguns, rifles, even a few shotguns back. There was enough weaponry available to arm nearly sixty people with one gun. A new wave of confidence swept over the group as the weapons were handed out.
"Alright everybody, with a gun comes responsibility. If you arm yourself, you are automatically volunteering for guard duty, too." An officer said as he raised his hands into the air.
Kyle quickly volunteered himself, and filed into line with dozens of others. He returned to Cassandra at their spot next to the odd woman on the ground smiling widely as he carefully handled the gun in his palms.
"Be careful!" Cassandra said automatically.
"It's alright, I'll protect you."
She smiled gratefully at him and watched as the remainder of the weapons got divvied up amongst the men in the group.
As the hours ticked by, several people took to their daily ritual of cooking dinner for everyone in the group. Just before everyone ate their meals, one man stood up, a bottle of crystal clear drinking water in one hand, and a rifle in the other.
He presented a toast to the group. He spoke of this group's will to survive, the certain success they would achieve, and of course, hope for a quick rescue by the military vowed to be on their way.
Each person in the room held their glasses or bottles up high, and though not all of the drinking chalices would click together, the group made up for it with their cheers for each other, for everyone who set out to get supplies, and for the officers who bled to protect them.
The meal was over quickly and the group began to fall quiet. It was barely even dusk before the howling and shrieking of the black animals began to ring up through the streets once again. A hush fell over each and every person.
Massive black bodies began to flow through the streets outside. Every armed man stood along the second level balcony, watching the creatures appear in the blocks around the building. Tension was high, and everyone seemed to anticipate an attack, but the animals seemed to simply ignore the group. More than two dozen of the animals crept past the doors outside as the group held their breath.
"Jesus," one man said as he made eye contact with one of the monsters.
"Hold, people," an officer whispered as loud as he could. "Hold. Save your ammo. Don't shoot if you don't have to."
"We should kill them while we can," someone argued in a quick whisper.
"No!" The officer whispered back sharply. "There's too many of them."
One of the stopped and turned its head, although it was hard to tell if it was staring at anyone in particular. It hissed loudly as an inner set of jaws protruded from between the main mandibles on the animal's long sleek head. The sharp little teeth on the creature's second mouth snapped shut and returned inside the creature's mouth.
To the great relief of all, the animal turned and headed off with the rest of its swarm and disappeared through the streets. The group sighed a synchronized relief, although some of the trigger happy and newly armed men seemed a bit disappointed.
Sometime after the creatures had passed by, the husband of the woman with the face hugger still attached howled out with shock. All heads turned to the pair.
The creature had removed itself from her head and fell to the ground in a fetal-like position, dead. The woman opened her eyes as if she had awoken from the strangest dream one could imagine.
She was a little confused for a moment, but she stared into her husband's eyes and smiled at him. He smiled back at her, sobbed with gratitude, and held her so tightly it looked as though he might suffocate her himself.
The man looked at the group around him. While many of the people shared his joy that his wife was awake, sitting up, and complaining that she was hungry and had to pee, he looked at other members of the group that stared at him with a lost look on their faces.
Cassandra and others who knew what would happen next eyed the woman like the carrier of a deadly disease. She stared back at them and her smile faded from her face.
One officer came over to her and looked at her solemnly. Cassandra stared at her feet and watched her own tears hit the toes of her expensive shoes. The officer whispered to the woman and man and both dropped solemnly to the ground crying hysterically.
"No, no," the woman sobbed. "You don't understand, I feel fine. I'm perfectly fine…."
Cassandra turned away. She slid back down to the floor at her spot, feeling the weight of the loss of hope over take her once again.
The husband and wife spent the next several hours quietly talking through their teary eyes. Sometime nearing midnight, the woman began to cry out in pain and convulse. She howled in agony as her mouth filled with blood and her chest throbbed as the three foot long parasite under her ribs began its bloody route to the surface.
Cassandra put her hands over her ears, squeezed her eyes shut, trying hard to ignore the sickened screams from all around her. Someone fired a gun and even more screams filled the room. Cassandra looked up and saw the crazed husband of the now dead woman leaping towards the man who had pulled the trigger.
The animal that had halfway emerged from the woman's chest was slung over her breast, lifeless. The two men flew backward and slammed into one of the dining tables, knocking it to the ground and sending chairs clattering in all directions.
Several other men piled in trying to separate the two.
"She was dead anyway!" The man who fired the gun shouted while the husband cried for his wife and several people pulled them apart. "Shit! You crazy son of..."
"Hey!" Another person cut him off. "That was his wife, alright, now calm down."
The man grunted and patted ruffled clothes straight. He suddenly shot his eyes up and stared at the red faced husband.
"Where's my gun, man?"
Suddenly, the husband, who had been released when he submitted to those holding him, raised his hand. It seemed in all the chaos, everyone's eyes had been misdirected and the husband now stood pointing a gun directly between the eyes of the man who shot his wife.
No one moved. Cassandra held her breath and tried hard not to start sobbing.
"Come on, man. She was dead anyway. I killed the creature. You know it. It would have grown up to become another one of those...those things... come on, man, please." The man pleaded. "We're all on the same side!"
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" The angry husband howled, shaking the gun at him. "That was my wife, damn it. My wife! Oh God! You killed her! You had no right!"
His eyes filled with tears, his face had a look of anguish combined with rage. No one dared move toward him to get the gun that clattered in his trembling hand. Without another word, he turned the gun to his own head, pressing the barrel hard into the crevice between his eyebrows.
"No!" Someone pleaded from the crowd. "Don't do this!"
But the gun fired. It clanked to the ground at the same moment as the husband's bloody corpse, accompanied by the screams of the crowd around him. Cassandra dipped her head into her knees and sobbed.
The lobby remained silent for the rest of the night. From time to time a distant hiss or shriek filled the air from the black animals that prowled the streets, but the humans made no more noise.
They quietly collected the cadavers and deposited them into the room with the boy from the night before. Eventually the sobbing women fell asleep and the men, whether in mourning or shock or both clenched their jaws and watched the night streets.
If there were any animals nearby, they took no interest in the happenings of the group. They showed no concern for their own barely born dead, and they offered no attempt to surge into the building and attack.
Not another bullet was fired that night or the following day. The animals beyond the glass doors and windows to the terminal building were claiming the streets outside. In the very early morning hours a large group of the animals could be seen passing the building, each one carrying an apparently paralyzed human body with them.
The humans inside the building simply watched in horror as the creatures walked by. Knowing it would be suicide to try to attack the animals to save the people they carried, no one attempted to even point a gun in the creature's directions.
That day passed silently. There was little to do but wait for a rescue they all hoped would come.
As one day turned to two, it seemed the silence and the wait would ultimately destroy more people than the animals.
Cassandra slipped her fingers through her filthy hair, taking a moment to think back to the last time she even had a shower.
She watched the people in the group all around her slowly fade to insanity. Four people took their own lives in the early morning hours that day, silently slicing their wrists with broken glass, like they had made a pact.
Cassandra noticed how small cliques formed in whispered silence. Stronger minded people merged together and whispered about leaving and surviving.
Women gathered together to cook up nearly all the food supplies in just a few short days, like they were in a community kitchen.
Eight children played together in morbid silence. Other small groups mingled together whispering prayers, stories, and their own experienced with the war thus far; whatever it took to keep their minds occupied.
The military officers mingled together in their own group and Cassandra and Kyle joined another, younger group that said very little to one another.
As the early evening hours approached and the group dined quietly over their meal, several people did not join the community meal, they simply sat and stared into nothingness.
Cassandra watched a small group of those that refused breakfast, lunch, and now dinner too. She chewed slowly on a piece of chicken and contemplated those that watched the rest eat. Surely after not eating all day, they must be hungry.
She thought that perhaps they were just giving up, too, in their own way – too afraid to slice their wrists, but also too afraid to face another night of the horrible monsters.
The vocalizations of the animals outside began again while the sun was still hovering just above the horizon, far beyond any of the skyscrapers in the City. The group fell quiet and huddled in fear as the animals made their presence known.
Again, the animal horde passed them up without so much as a glance towards them. The waiting was certainly going to make everyone insane, there was no doubt.
"Why do they ignore us?"
"Are they afraid of the fire?"
"Maybe they don't sense us, or they don't see us."
"Are they like bats? If we stay silent, they're blind?"
The whispers continued on for what seemed like hours. Cassandra kept silent, but listened to everyone. It was in the early hours of the morning that those in the group that had found a moment to sleep were woken up to the sounds of gunfire.
The animals were back, and were attacking. People were screaming and within an instant, complete chaos emerged. Why the animals hadn't attacked them before, or sooner, no one knew, and no one bothered to concern themselves with such things as the animals shattered the glass windows and flooded into the lower lobby.
They barreled through the humans like locusts. They killed with ease while those that were armed emptied their cartridges and could barely reload fast enough to make a kill.
As acid sprayed in all directions, anyone not subdued by one of the monsters, was maimed or killed by the burning blood. Military officers shot off a covering spray of fire and bullets to give frantic civilians a little extra time to escape.
The animals clawed and bit the humans that desperately shot at the creatures, and others used their long barbed tails to pierce the bodies of the shooting men. They would whip their tails from side to side and send the corpse of their victims flying through the air like useless rags.
"Oh shit!" Kyle yelled to Cassandra and anyone else that would listen, as a body was tossed over his head, nearly hitting him.
"Let's get outta' here!" He shouted.
He grabbed Cassandra's hand and they darted over a counter top following in the tracks of others who had just fled, they were quickly followed by many more. They bolted through the back door of the food court and tore through the back hallways until they found an exit at a loading bay.
Frightened, nearly out of weapons, and fleeing certain death, the small group managed to pour out of the building into the streets.
They found no freedom in the abandoned city streets, however. The creatures appeared to have overtaken the city. One of the creatures, on the roof of the building from which the crowd had just emerged shrieked out what could have only been an alarm, for more animals began to suddenly appear out of nowhere.
"Oh Jesus! Cassy hold on!" Kyle stopped and fired his weapon. "Come on!"
He fired the gun until it was empty, but it seemed to do no good. The small handgun barely seemed able to penetrate through the thick outer shells of the creatures' shiny black hides.
Someone fired a weapon from behind Cassandra's head, so close the sound reverberated through her ear drum and made her head pound. She screamed and dropped to the ground, yanking Kyle halfway down. He yelled at the man who had nearly shot Cassandra in the head as he dragged her back to her feet.
She shook her head, trying to restore her hearing and focus her vision. After moment she found herself bolting away with Kyle, and surrounded by an ever dwindling group of people. Suddenly, someone in the group pulled to a halt and shouted.
"Wait!" The man called. "Do you hear that?"
The rest of the group stopped sharply and gritted their teeth together. A very loud sound filled the air. The animals seemed to hear it too, for they stopped their immediate attack, lifted their heads in the direction of the sounds, shrieked loudly to one another and bolted off in the direction of the noise.
"That's a horn! And gunfire!" One man shouted.
"Come on!" Kyle yelled and darted off with Cassandra.
They too, headed in the direction of the sounds. The echoes through the empty streets made the exact location of the source of the sound a little hard to figure out, but the group ran all out, following the direction in which some of the fearless black monsters headed off. They rounded a corner and came out onto an adjacent street.
The group pulled to a halt again and took a moment to allow their eyes to grow wide. They howled and cheered in celebration.
A large caravan of heavily armed and armored transport vehicles was slowly parading through the street, pushing away abandoned cars that blocked their paths and running over the alien animals as they went.
Each vehicle was equipped with a large machine gun, operated by one solider. Next to him crouched one other soldier who was keeping a careful eye on the buildings all around the vehicles and at each end of the truck, stood one officer holding heavy weapons in their hands.
The massive gun on the top of the vehicle chewed through the hides of the horrible animals with great ease and sent a rainstorm of acid pouring into the streets.
From within the vehicles more civilians howled in joy each time an animal was shredded. Officers standing in the open back door of the massive vehicles quickly ushered Kyle and Cassandra's group inside. They jumped into the back of one of the twelve vehicles.
The massive armored transports rolled slowly through the streets and a huge rush of relief filled Cassandra's heart. She sat on the floor of the crowded vehicle as the gun whirred above her head. The sound was sweeter to her ears than that of morning birds chirping on a gentle summer's day.
The thrilled yells of rescued people was more uplifting than a song of praise itself. She shut her eyes and listened for a moment to the happy sounds around her and felt a pair of arms encircle her. She opened her eyes and glanced at Kyle holding her tightly. She wrapped her arms around him in return.
The caravan honked it horns non-stop as the vehicles navigated the streets. While the sounds attracted the attention of any people in hiding, it did also drew in hordes of the massive black animals. However, any of the creatures that were not obliterated by the heavy gun emplacements were quickly killed by the small army of armed officers that escorted the main weapons, or they were just smashed under the power of the vehicle.
Each time the door opened up in the back of the vehicle and an armed officer riding in the back would hold their hand out, those inside clapped and howled as survivors, some in singles or pairs, others in large groups, jumped inside. The vehicles continued on their rescue mission, traveling single through the Manhattan streets.
The loud crunching sounds that happened every few seconds told Cassandra that another empty car was getting shoved aside. The vehicle felt it had tracked for hours.
She lost track of time inside the hot cramped space. The guns that were mounted to the tops of the twelve transport vehicles never stopped firing the entire time.
Cassandra listened quietly for a long while, hoping that each and every one of the horrible animals were being shot to death and that her life would return to normal soon. Eventually a man stuck his head into the back of the truck from the armored cab.
"Hi folks! How the hell are ya!" He howled with a smile on his face.
The back of the vehicle lit up like a rock concert on steroids. The sounds of the gratified people that had been rescued resonated through the streets. It was a proud, but deafening noise. Cassandra cheered with the rest. A smile crossing her lips for the first time in days.
"OK, here's the drill, we're headed to a safety zone, we're gonna get you people outta here, okay? We're moving slow right now, but soon as we get on the highway, we're gonna' go quicker. Sound good?"
The man's voice was happy and excited. He managed to uplift the large cramped group in the back of his truck. The passengers howled approvingly.
"You're gonna be safe." He said softly.
The group cheered again.
Cassandra and the person in the front passenger seat locked eyes on each other for a moment. Her lips formed the words 'thank you' and the young, close shaven, dark haired man smiled and nodded before he faced front again.
The vehicle did just what the officer had announced it would. The gun on the roof continued to fire until the caravan had reached the city limits and took to the highway.
Cassandra and most of the others huddled in the vehicle fell silent as the caravan sped along the roadways. Soon she shut her eyes and caught up on some missing rest.
When the caravan came to a stop eventually, Cassandra was prodded awake by Kyle and the sounds of people filing off of the massive armored vehicles. She floated with the group out of the shelter of the caravan and out into a parking area, barely paying attention to being frisked and scanned for both weapons and signs of impregnation. Weapons were confiscated but everyone was allowed through, all deemed healthy and free of contamination.
They were directed towards a large building heavily guarded with armed soldiers. The massive parking lot to the building, and the long, only slightly overgrown fields beyond provided a large visual perimeter to the guards that patrolled the rooftop.
The sun was shining brightly, a gentle breeze was blowing just enough to whisk litter and papers and empty Styrofoam cups through the parking lot, past a few semi-trucks and trailers, cars, and military vehicles. Just beyond a barricade of trucks, Cassandra could see the glistening reflection of the ebony hides of a pile of the dead animals. The parking area smelled of blood and sulfur.
Cassandra caught the eye again of the passenger from the front of the vehicle she had been in. He walked around to the back of the vehicle to help the people out, informing them that there was plenty of provisions and medical attention inside.
"Excuse me," she said to the officer.
He glanced at her and smiled softly. "Yes?"
"Where are we?" She asked.
He raised his eyebrows and tipped his head and sighed. "Well, it's nowhere fancy, but it's far enough away. You're in a little town called Halfway, Pennsylvania."
She smiled and nodded as another officer grabbed the man's attention away from her. She turned and headed into the building with Kyle and the rest of the group.
They entered through a double set of double steel doors under a little sign that informed them that this was the West Entrance.
When she stepped inside Cassandra realized that it was no military installation. It was a giant industrial warehouse.
Coming from the big city where every building was so closely knit on top of each other, she was used to smaller, taller, cramped buildings. The warehouse was enormous. She had never been in a building so big. The officer was correct about tons of provisions.
There were giant truckloads of food, huge refrigerated units with everything from milk and meat to even ice cream, enough to supply a months' worth of good eating to the thousands of people that made the place into their temporary home.
She walked into the vast open space, past a series of hallways and her jaw dropped. She must have become accustomed to the group of people she had been sheltered with in New York City over the last week.
At first glance when she saw two hundred people making the most out of the food court in the Port Authority terminal building, she thought it was the most unbelievable sight imaginable.
However, now, she stared across the floor of a massive industrial building and was certain this was the end all of incredible sights.
She suddenly felt like a refugee during a World War. The place was absolutely packed with people, on two levels. Families, children, elderly, men and women of all ages filled the massive open space. Bed sheets hung up on clothes line, with "house numbers" spray painted on them, and cardboard signs gave names to the "streets" between the rows upon rows of makeshift accommodations.
Other, larger areas of the floor were covered in blankets and pillows and personal belongings, set up like a giant camp. There were even animals, pets of the families that they could not abandon when they were forced to leave their homes.
The building was as homelike as possible, with extension cords running every which way through the sea of curtained off 'homes', to provide power to medical equipment, lights, and even microwaves.
The second level, though nowhere near as large as the first floor was also bustling with people. Offices that overlooked the main floor had their windows covered with sheets or newspaper for some privacy, but many of the residents on the upper level mingled with other evacuees outside their private rooms.
The place was not solemn, Cassandra quickly noted; the people in the building were not waiting on death to come swiftly. To her, most of them seemed content; happy.
She wasn't sure if that was comforting or disturbing at first, but it was still good to see people laughing, mingling with drinks in their hands, children running and playing, and music soaring through the air like they were all at some kind of huge city-wide party.
There was one area in the back of the main floor that had a huge hand spray painted sign on it that read 'hospital' in large bright red letters.
Another, more colorful sign equally as talentedly painted was hung up over another that read 'school' in colors of bright yellow and orange and blue.
Some of the people were mingling together with glasses in hand like they were at cocktail hour in their favorite local tavern, while others seemed to stay alone, huddled back against the farthest walls they could find and clung to their possessions.
One man stared at his laptop computer and was apparently having a detailed business conversation with himself, other people were reading books, and row after row of "homes" echoed with voices and music and laughter.
Another woman kept herself far away from most of the group and stroked a blood covered pastel pink quilt in her hands.
"Wow, this is unreal," Cassandra whispered.
"Yea it is," Kyle responded.
"It's secure though," another voice added.
They turned around and Cassandra looked at the officer that had helped escort them all to this strangest of hideouts in the middle of nowhere, halfway between civilization and the war zone outside.
"I didn't get your name," Cassandra smiled softly.
"Lewis Sans, Corporal Sans...Lewis, uhh...Lewis." He finally said with a crooked smile.
"Nice to meet you. Thank you. I'm Cassandra Reynolds, and this is Kyle Nolan"
The trio shook hands and Sans extended his arm to direct them around the main floor. As they drifted towards the hospital, a man in a clean white long lab coat eagerly rushed out to greet Sans. Cassandra saw the embroidery on the man's coat that read 'Dr. Murray' as he and Sans shook hands happily.
"Wow! I'm so glad... what took you so long?" He switched from relief to hassling his friend.
Sans stared at the ground, but smiled just the same as he patted his friend on the arm while Murray gripped his shoulder.
"Got held up."
Sans introduced Cassandra and Kyle to his friend.
"I've seen you on the news! You're that doctor from Philadelphia, right?" Cassandra said.
"Yes," the doctor replied quickly as his face grew slightly pale.
"Uhh..." Lewis interrupted. "Well, if you need anything, I'll be over there." He pointed off in the direction of a group of military. "But you guys make yourselves at home here, okay?"
Cassandra smiled and she and Kyle excused themselves to find an area to make a nest.
"Hey, psst," Kyle whispered to Cassandra to get her attention once they had claimed a spot. Cassandra followed his glance down and noticed Kyle was holding the end of what appeared to be a large knife.
"How did you sneak…"
"Shh!" He stopped her and she lowered her voice even more, casting a glance around to make
sure no one heard her.
"If they catch you with that…."
"What are they gonna' do? Put me in a bed sheet jail? Or cast me outside, feed me to those animals."
She smacked him lightly. "That's not funny."
He shot her a smug look and wrapped an arm around her. "It's for protection. It's fine."
"Let's go get something to eat, I'm starving." Cassandra said, changing the subject and jumping to her feet.
It did not take long for the pair to relax into the hideout. They felt safe and secure, surrounded by heavy weapons and soldiers from almost every branch of the military. The massive industrial building was not quite home, but it would do.
Cassandra and Kyle wandered the common area for a long while, acquainting themselves with the locations of everything they might need. They filled up on some food and found restrooms and showers at the east end of the main area, down a short corridor.
Cassandra was overwhelmed with joy when she stepped into the shower and let the warm water trickle down her face so pleasantly. Her body relaxed and she lathered up with a flowery scented body wash that had been provided for the ladies' room.
It had been close to a week since she had felt shower water. She didn't even realize how much she missed showering. Part of her had simply become accustomed to hand washing with towels at the sink of the public restroom in the terminal in which she had been hiding.
But as the water ran down her face and over her body, she shut her eyes and smiled gently, hoping that this feeling would never go away.