morning. Then, if the bad guys are all gone, go check out your house and try to find your dad. Hopefully they won’t come back to a place they’ve already been through.”
He turned and headed back toward the apartment, trying not to let any emotions cloud his judgment. The boy and his dad and the women’s screams in the background would not be the last people in trouble he would encounter. He had to stay on task, focus on surviving and helping the people he’d already decided were most important to him.
He ran back to the apartment, aiming his flashlight at the window without slowing, and pulsing it three times.
At the top of the stairs he called through to Carrie, “It’s McLean. Open up, please.”
He went inside and helped Carrie lock the door behind him. Three pale faces were turned toward him, and six pairs of wide, dark eyes glittered in the candlelight.
“It’s bad,” he said. “They’re invading neighborhoods, looting and killing a few streets over. We need to get out of here, now.”
Carrie gasped. David sat on the couch and put his head in his hands, staring down at his scuffed dress shoes.
“Where’s my boyfriend?” Shauna whimpered. “I need him now. Oh, I hope he’s okay.”
“We’re going to be on the run for a while, so only bring things you’ll absolutely need,” McLean said, ignoring Shauna. “Nothing heavy. Everybody needs a bottle of water, one of those energy bars we picked up at the gas station earlier, and a flashlight or candle. Put on a dark-colored jacket, take off any shiny jewelry. Hurry.”
He ignored the complaints, protests, and terrified murmurs from Shauna and David, who were already at the end of their ropes and couldn’t face the prospect of fleeing again. Carrie, he was pleased to note, quietly gathered up supplies not only for herself but also for the other two, and filled a couple of backpacks and bags with them.
McLean also noticed that she threw in not just the food and water he’d recommended, but a roll of toilet paper and a handful of other bathroom items, a sturdy knife from the kitchen with its blade wrapped up, and a first aid kit with several additional bottles of medication. She put on athletic shoes herself and made Shauna change from her trendy flats into more sturdy footwear.
Five minutes later McLean and Carrie stepped outside together, pulling Shauna and David behind them, and locked the door. Then they descended the stairs and headed off into the night in the opposite direction of the gunshots and screams, which were now noticeably nearer than before.
Chapter 5 : Dark City
McLean led the way, shotgun in hand, with his pack strapped on his back and belted around his waist. He took the small group out the east end of the neighborhood, stopping only for Carrie to knock on a couple of doors and warn the occupants of what was coming. They took a quiet street south from there, beginning a long curve to the southwest that would take them toward the mountains and skirt the more densely populated areas of Denver proper.
They passed one neighborhood with a whole row of homes that were brightly lit, through some quirk of the electrical grid or through some ingenuity with a working generator. McLean gave it a wide berth, knowing it would be a beacon to the marauders, drawing violence down upon it like flies to a jar of honey. Already they could hear the sounds of violence echoing after them, staccato gunshots piercing the night air.
“Who are those people?” David asked McLean, walking alongside him. “Is it, like, an invading army?”
“How would I know?”
David tried to read McLean’s face in the dark. “You seem like you know a lot about this stuff.”
McLean shrugged. “I doubt it. If they were a foreign army they’d they’d have some heavier weaponry, probably be taking more strategic positions to control the city. These guys seem like they’re just trying to foment panic and instability. But they could be agents
He turned and headed back toward the apartment, trying not to let any emotions cloud his judgment. The boy and his dad and the women’s screams in the background would not be the last people in trouble he would encounter. He had to stay on task, focus on surviving and helping the people he’d already decided were most important to him.
He ran back to the apartment, aiming his flashlight at the window without slowing, and pulsing it three times.
At the top of the stairs he called through to Carrie, “It’s McLean. Open up, please.”
He went inside and helped Carrie lock the door behind him. Three pale faces were turned toward him, and six pairs of wide, dark eyes glittered in the candlelight.
“It’s bad,” he said. “They’re invading neighborhoods, looting and killing a few streets over. We need to get out of here, now.”
Carrie gasped. David sat on the couch and put his head in his hands, staring down at his scuffed dress shoes.
“Where’s my boyfriend?” Shauna whimpered. “I need him now. Oh, I hope he’s okay.”
“We’re going to be on the run for a while, so only bring things you’ll absolutely need,” McLean said, ignoring Shauna. “Nothing heavy. Everybody needs a bottle of water, one of those energy bars we picked up at the gas station earlier, and a flashlight or candle. Put on a dark-colored jacket, take off any shiny jewelry. Hurry.”
He ignored the complaints, protests, and terrified murmurs from Shauna and David, who were already at the end of their ropes and couldn’t face the prospect of fleeing again. Carrie, he was pleased to note, quietly gathered up supplies not only for herself but also for the other two, and filled a couple of backpacks and bags with them.
McLean also noticed that she threw in not just the food and water he’d recommended, but a roll of toilet paper and a handful of other bathroom items, a sturdy knife from the kitchen with its blade wrapped up, and a first aid kit with several additional bottles of medication. She put on athletic shoes herself and made Shauna change from her trendy flats into more sturdy footwear.
Five minutes later McLean and Carrie stepped outside together, pulling Shauna and David behind them, and locked the door. Then they descended the stairs and headed off into the night in the opposite direction of the gunshots and screams, which were now noticeably nearer than before.
Chapter 5 : Dark City
McLean led the way, shotgun in hand, with his pack strapped on his back and belted around his waist. He took the small group out the east end of the neighborhood, stopping only for Carrie to knock on a couple of doors and warn the occupants of what was coming. They took a quiet street south from there, beginning a long curve to the southwest that would take them toward the mountains and skirt the more densely populated areas of Denver proper.
They passed one neighborhood with a whole row of homes that were brightly lit, through some quirk of the electrical grid or through some ingenuity with a working generator. McLean gave it a wide berth, knowing it would be a beacon to the marauders, drawing violence down upon it like flies to a jar of honey. Already they could hear the sounds of violence echoing after them, staccato gunshots piercing the night air.
“Who are those people?” David asked McLean, walking alongside him. “Is it, like, an invading army?”
“How would I know?”
David tried to read McLean’s face in the dark. “You seem like you know a lot about this stuff.”
McLean shrugged. “I doubt it. If they were a foreign army they’d they’d have some heavier weaponry, probably be taking more strategic positions to control the city. These guys seem like they’re just trying to foment panic and instability. But they could be agents
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