Chapter 26

Grace's wrists hurt from lifting the debris around the stairwell. She grunted as she and Jamil shifted broken ceiling panels and shattered lights, thrusting away wires and bricks and equipment that had fallen from above. She glanced at Jamil beside her as he wiped sweat from his face with his forearm.

"This is taking too long," he muttered with his teeth clenched together. "They could be hurt."

"We'll get through. We'll get to them one way or another."

"It's a mess!" He kicked an overturned cabinet over some rubble, causing its contents to spill out and add to the barrier of wreckage.

Grace sighed heavily as she attempted to step over a mound of rubbish. Stumbling slightly, Jamil grabbed her hand and helped her over. "This is my fault," she admitted, steadying herself. "The explosion…we just needed to stop the Mech. They wouldn't be trapped if it wasn't for me."

Jamil glanced at her and almost looked to be agreeing with her until he shook his head. "Come on. It was chaos up there. If you hadn't blown up that Mech, who knows what else would have happened?"

She swallowed, though her mouth ran dry. She carried on through the obstacle course of debris, her mind swimming - or rather drowning - in thoughts. Was Matty okay? What if she had lured the Mech away rather than setting off an explosion so close to the hospital? Or maybe she wanted this to happen? Maybe Karen was right, and she was infected, and she allowed this to happen because she was subconsciously on the aliens' side? How many times had she sabotaged herself without realising?

"Hey, are you okay?"

She looked up at Jamil, suddenly aware of how intensely in thought her facial expression must have looked.

"Yeah, sorry. I'm just…worried."

"Of course," Jamil smiled sympathetically at her. "You have so many family members to worry about."

Grace half-smiled at him. "A blessing and a curse."

"Sometimes I feel glad that it's just me," Jamil admitted. "I mean, it was just me, before I joined the Second Mass. Now there's so much other stuff to worry about."

"Sorry," Grace joked, remembering once again how she found him hiding in an empty store in Fitchburg, afraid and alone, and decided to bring him back to the Second Mass. She remembered how high her defences were back then, how little she trusted strangers after everything that had happened with Clayton and Sonya and her dad being missing. But she chose to trust him.

"Don't be. I'm glad you took a chance on me, Grace. I know it was hard for you."

"Clearly I made the right call." She smirked at him and he glanced down, chuckling.

"If nothing else, it brought me to Lourdes."

"You really care about her, huh?"

Jamil nodded. "I guess I have you to thank for bringing us together."

She returned his comment with a genuine smile. To know that she could have had a hand in creating the tiniest bit of joy in this post-apocalyptic wasteland warmed her heart a little bit. "Just call me Cupid. Seems like it was at a time when she needed you the most."

"Yeah. She's been going through something…I hope she's okay."

Grace thought about what Lourdes had been through recently. She had always been a symbol of strength to Grace. Quiet, but always helping people. Her faith wasn't something Grace particularly shared (despite some of the connotations of her name), but she admired it. It seemed to get Lourdes through a lot. But lately, after learning about the fate of her family's home in Mexico, that faith didn't seem to be getting her through anymore. It was Jamil who was encouraging her to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

"Careful," Jamil suddenly warned her as they passed a piece of the upper floor hanging from the ceiling. He helped her around it.

"Thanks."

The debris had levelled out a little by this point and it was now easier to simply climb over it than clear it. Grace started to call out, hoping at least one of the three would hear her, but there was no response. She tried not to think the worst, though the fear of finding her little brother mangled and lifeless under a pile of wreckage fought its way to the forefront of her mind. The image made her shudder

"Do you hear that?"

Jamil's low voice interrupted her thoughts - thankfully - and she looked over at him as they walked down a dark corridor.

"Hear what?"

"That noise."

They stopped and Grace concentrated. She did hear it. It was like a scratching or rustling sound.

"Could it be from the damage?" she suggested, glancing up at the holes in the ceiling and the uneasy creaking sounds it was making.

Jamil shook his head, his gaze pointed towards the floor as he focused on the noise. He then shifted his eyes towards a door and slowly gravitated towards it. Grace followed silently, noticing the noise get slightly louder. It was coming from the other side of the door.

Jamil motioned for her to step back, placing his fingers around the handle. Grace stepped back and poised her rifle, preparing herself for whatever was on the other side.

Three. Two. One.

Jamil pushed the door open. Grace stepped forward, readying for an attack - but the room was empty. No humans, no aliens. Not even a rat.

"What the hell?"

Jamil entered the small room, perplexed by its emptiness. It appeared to be a storage closet with old packets of medication and equipment stacked on metal shelves. Grace wondered if this could have been one of the stores Anne, Lourdes and her brother raided before the ceiling caved in. They could be nearby. She turned for a second to look down the hallway, trying to figure out where they had headed, when she heard Jamil yell out.

She spun around back towards the door just in time to see Jamil clutching at his throat and gasping for air, flailing around the room. In his panic, he fell against the door, slamming it shut.

"Jamil?!"

She pushed down on the door handle, desperately trying to open it, but something was blocking her. It was Jamil's body, lying against the door, as he screamed and spluttered.

"Jamil!"

Whatever was attacking him, he was fighting it. She heard thumping and banging and metal shelves collapsing as he thrashed about on the floor.

"Jamil, get away from the door! I'm coming in!"

She took a short run up and kicked the door open, almost falling over Jamil who was sprawled out on the floor, grabbing at his face and body. She immediately saw why. Several spider-like creatures the size of an adult human hand were crawling all over him - his chest, his legs, his face. The man's eyes were lit up with panic as he frantically swiped them away.

There was no time for Grace to get a closer look. She swiftly kicked one off his torso and watched it slam against the wall with a light thud. That's where she noticed a small hole had formed. Sudden dread hit her as she realised more of these insect-like attackers were climbing out of the hole and into the room. She backed away, firing at them. It seemed to work as the bullets reduced some of the creatures to a pulverised mess, but more kept coming, like an army of ants - there were too many to pick off.

She glanced back over at Jamil who appeared to have successfully brushed off the remainder of the creatures, though his face and body were red with blood and scratches. In between shots of her weapon, she helped pick him up and they stumbled outside, slamming the door as quickly as they could before more of those things could follow them.

Jamil fell against the door, his fingers wrapped around the handle, holding it shut. Grace knelt beside him, observing the sores on his face and body.

"Are you okay?"

Jamil shook his head and made some attempt at speaking before it turned into gagging. The engineer lulled his head back weakly, a mix of blood and sweat dripping off his skin. His eyes began to glaze over deliriously. His body slumped against the door as if he were falling into unconsciousness. He seemed sick. It suddenly became apparent those creatures had done something much worse to him.

"What is it?" she questioned, trying to hold him upright. "What did they do?"

Jamil was trembling against her touch; he was burning up, his gaze couldn't focus. He was fading. She had to get him out of here.

"Come on."

She lifted herself to her feet and held a hand out to him, but he shook his head again.

"Go," he whispered through shallow breaths.

"I'm not leaving you here."

Jamil stared up at her, his deep brown eyes gleamed sadly at her, but the rest of his features pulled into a grimace. "Find them," he rasped. "I'll hold them off."

"But…"

"Go!" he yelled, practically frothing at the mouth as he bore his teeth at her.

"Fine. But only to get you help. I'll be back."

She watched him slouch against the door, his head resting against it, still refusing to let go of the handle. She left him. She ran down the corridor, yelling for Matt, for Lourdes, for Doctor Glass. For anyone. By some miracle, she finally turned a corner and there they were.

"Grace!"

Her little brother immediately launched into her arms. She knelt over to squeeze him, perhaps a little too hard. She was just so relieved to see him in one piece. She looked up to see Lourdes and Anne walking towards her, looking a little worse for wear.

"Are you all okay?"

"We're fine," Anne replied. "What happened up there?"

"Mech attack," sighed Grace as Matt finally released her. "It's a long story."

"Is anyone hurt?" questioned Lourdes, her eyes large with concern.

Grace caught her breath and swallowed hard, knowing the fear gleaming in Lourdes' eyes would only grow with what she had to tell her.

"Jamil needs help."