Chapter 17

An hour or so after Sasha and Ridley had left there was a knock on the door. Mac and Asher didn’t really expect them to be back so soon, also; they had their own key. Therefore they were a bit nervous when Asher opened the door to peek out. Naturally, he did not see anything but the underside of the stairs, but he did hear a familiar voice.

“Aren’t you going to let us in?” Dalton asked

Asher opened the door and to his great (and very pleasant) surprise he saw that Kingsley and Lance were also waiting in the stair house.

“Come inside!” Asher said

As they entered the hallway was filled up with the young men and their overnight bags. They all hugged Mac and shook Asher’s hand.

“Where is Ridley?” Lance asked

“He and Sasha went to Drew’s place to bring them here. We are planning to leave the city.” Mac said

“Ah, great idea! And where are you going?” Dalton wondered

Before Asher had time to answer Kingsley interrupted; “Have they gone there all by themselves?”

“Yes.” Mac said

“They took the bikes.” Asher added

“I’m worried they might get in trouble, how long has it been since they left?” Kingsley asked, looking very concerned

“About an hour.” Asher said

“Hmm.” Dalton said. “Maybe it would be best if we went there to look for them?”

“But we have no idea of which way they might have gone.” Lance pointed out. “How would we find them, if they are not already at the apartment?”

“That is all true, but I still think we should go to the apartment and check. I have a bad feeling about this.” Kingsley said

Now, Kingsley was not known to refer to his instincts, but his common sense was well respected by all of them. If he thought that they should go, he was probably right.

“All right, we’ll go and see if we find them.” Lance said

“Don’t worry, we’ll be right back, I’m sure.” Dalton said reassuringly to Mac and Asher as they left

Ten seconds later they knocked on the door again.

“Where does Drew live?” Kingsley asked

“I’ll draw a map for you.” Asher said

“While we are waiting, do you have some coffee?” Dalton asked

“I don’t think so. I’ll check.” Mac said and went to the kitchen. “No, we don’t. I’m sorry.”

“Oh, ok. I shall have to do without it for a while longer.” Dalton said, looking a bit disappointed

It took a while before Asher had drawn the map and added the necessary explanations, but about thirty minutes later Lance, Dalton and Kingsley arrived at Drew’s apartment. They used the code given to them to open the front door, and walked up the stairs and rang the doorbell. There was no answer. Lance pointed to a bit of paper sticking out from the mailbox. Kingsley carefully drew it out.

It was a note from Drew, telling whoever might read the note that she and Kenzie had left for the safe zone four days ago (provided she had gotten the date right).

“I didn’t know Kenzie had a car.” Dalton said

“Probably her parents’.” Kingsley said

“So they are not here. But where are Ridley and Sasha?” Dalton wondered

“Let’s go outside and wait.” Lance suggested

They did so, but after standing outside in the cold for ten minutes they decided that they had probably already been there, and gone back again. They started walking towards the car when Kingsley suddenly stopped. He looked towards the university park with a strange look on his face.

“What is it?” Dalton asked

“Shush. Be quiet.” Lance said, listening intently to the wind. Apparently he must have heard something because he started running towards the park, closely followed by Kingsley.

“I’ll get the car.” Dalton called after them

As Lance and Kingsley entered the park they saw a rather frightening sight. A huge mob of people were gathered on the lawn, standing very closely together, and in the middle were Sasha and Ridley!

“Help!” They screamed

“Have no fear!” Kingsley yelled to them

Even from this distance Kingsley and Lance could see the look of surprise in their faces. Right then Dalton arrived with the car and Lance pointed towards the mob. Dalton instantly knew what he meant, and started driving towards the mob, honking his horn.

The mob scattered and Kingsley and Lance ran up to the terrified Ridley and Sasha and helped them into the car. They were just about to leave when Dalton halted. A girl from the mob had turned around and was now standing right in front of the car, staring at them. Even though she looked terrible, her long hair all messed up, her eyes blood red and her clothes dirty they all recognized her.

“Isn’t that Eryn?”

Indeed it was.

“Is she… infected?” Sasha said

“She sure doesn’t look alright.” Kingsley said

She apparently recognized them, because she was talking to them. Or rather, she was trying to talk to them. All that came out was guttural sounds. She was crying.

“What are we going to do?” Dalton asked

“We have to help her.” Ridley said

“But if she has the virus she might spread it to us.” Lance said

“We have to do something.” Kingsley said

They were all quiet for a while. Eryn was lying on the hoof of the car now, all huddled up.

“Maybe…” Lance said, but then he stopped. “Ok. This is all wrong but… we could perhaps tie her to the roof?”

“Don’t be silly!” Dalton said. “Unless she is violent we’ll take her in the car.”

Said and done. Kingsley and Dalton stepped out of the car and carefully approached Eryn. After a few minutes they concluded that she was no threat, so they put her in the luggage space of the big Volvo and drove back to the apartment.