“My best guess,” Caesar says, “it that they’re here for you.”
I grasp my biceps with my hands and suck in a breath.
“Let go of me! What do you want?”
“We want you, baby. We’re here for you!”
“Hannah.” Falk’s voice is in my ear and his hand is on my leg. “Caesar’s speaking figuratively.”
“Wha-what?”
“I meant for women in general,” Caesar says. “And children, apparently. That’s what they took, so I assume that’s what they’re here for.”
“Not you specifically,” Falk says, clarifying.
“So, you both think that some green, bug-eyed monsters came down and took all the women? Am I supposed to believe that?” Ryan huffs a laugh out his nose and leans back to finish his drink.
“It makes sense.” Beck grabs the bottle of scotch. He fills one of the plastic cups and takes a big gulp. “But how come she’s still here, and are there any other women left?”
“It took a day just to find you three,” Falk says. “There are others out there, and some of them are bound to be women or children. Seems like being underground kept all of us safe. There have to have been others in similar shelters.”
“This is ridiculous,” I say softly.
“Which part of it?” Falk asks.
“All of it.”
“I’m still waiting for your better explanation.” He raises his eyebrows at me.
“I can’t talk about this.” I stand up and hold my hand out for Falk’s flashlight. “I’m going to sleep. You all can continue to talk nonsense if you want. Maybe we’ll find someone tomorrow—maybe a whole National Guard unit is right around the corner.”
Falk hands me the flashlight without another word, and I stomp to the tent.
Aliens. How fucking insane is that?
I kick my shoes off outside the tent and pull back the flap to duck inside. I use the flashlight to look around, seeing the two sleeping bags laid out side-by-side, a small cooler in the corner, and a battery powered lantern nearby. I turn the lantern on and switch off the flashlight.
I can still hear mumbled talking outside but try to ignore it as best I can. I pull off my sweats and socks and shove my legs into the sleeping bag. The sleeping bag feels cold against my bare skin, but the material is that funky fabric that’s supposed to hold your body heat, so I’m sure it will warm up soon.
I sit with my head in my hands, rubbing at my eyes. I know I told Falk I was going to keep it together, but I think I’m allowed a little bit of a private breakdown.
What if he’s right?
If it is an alien invasion, Washington, D.C. would certainly have been hit. Is there any point in going there now?
There’s a rustle near the door of the tent, and I almost expect to see a grey-green creature with big eyes and an egg-shaped head come through the flap, but it’s only Falk.
“Didn’t mean to startle you,” he says.
“You didn’t,” I lie. I pull the sleeping bag up a little farther.
Falk steps over me to sit on the sleeping bag at the back of the tent. He pulls off his socks and shirt before crawling inside, and I stare at the tent door to avoid looking at his chest. I’m very aware of how small the tent is and how close Falk’s body is to mine as he lies down beside me.
“Should I turn off the light?” I ask quietly.
“Yes. Don’t want to waste batteries.”
I nod and push the button that shuts off the lantern. I scoot farther into the sleeping bag and pull it up to my chin as I lie down. I can hear the fire crackling outside and my own breathing, but that’s it.
“Do you really believe all that?” I ask into the darkness. “All that shit about aliens?”
“I don’t have a better theory.”
“Do you think they’re going to come back?”
“Hard to speculate,” he says. “If they came here for women and children…well, they got those. If that’s all they wanted, they don’t have a reason to come back. If that was just the first wave of an attack…”
His voice trails off, and I think about what he’s saying. Is it possible? If not aliens, then what? Caesar was right—we don’t have the kind of technology that explains what happened.
“I felt something,” I say quietly. “I felt something when we were in the tunnel by the train—right before things started collapsing.”
“What do you mean?”
“There was a…a sound. Did you hear it? It was really low pitched. It hurt my ears.”
“Yeah, I heard it.”
“When I heard that sound, it felt like…like I was being lifted off the ground. When the sound stopped, that’s when I fell.”
Falk is quiet for a minute.
“That’s when they took the others,” he says finally. “You were too far underground for them to get to you, but you could still feel it.”
“I don’t know…maybe. I can’t wrap my head around all of this, Falk. I was prepared to talk to the government about what Hudson was doing. I wasn’t prepared for…for whatever the hell is going on here.”
“I thought you might be relieved you don’t have to testify,” Falk says.
“Yeah, well…” I let out a long breath and chuckle to myself. “I have to admit, I wasn’t looking forward to it. With all the threats, I really didn’t think I would make it all the way to the Pentagon to even give my statement.”
“I wasn’t going to let them get to you.”
“I know you were going to try, but…” A shiver runs through me. “Did you hear what he said? What Hudson said when they took him away? It was in the transcripts.”
“Only that he threatened you.”
“He said I was as good as dead. It didn’t matter where I went or who I had around me. They were going to find me, and when they did, I was going to die. He didn’t even stop yelling when they dragged him off. He was completely serious, and I believed him.”
“He’s probably dead now,” Falk says. “You don’t have to think about him anymore.”
“It’s not that easy.”
In the dark silence, I can hear Falk’s steady breathing along with my own. There’s a crackle from the fire outside, and I imagine someone has added more wood to it though the voices have stopped.
“Do you want to tell me about what happened?” Falk asks.
I tense as memories begin to flash through my mind. I shake my head sharply.
“No,” I tell him. “Not now. Maybe someday.”
“All right.” He shifts, and I think he’s rolled from his back to his side. “If you ever decide you want to, I’m here.”
“Thanks.” I’m not sure the time will ever come even though I’ve told the story a dozen times. Falk said he had read up on me, so he probably knows most of it anyway. I don’t know why he would want to hear more of it.
“I asked for this assignment,” Falk suddenly admits.
“You did? Why?”
“You impressed me.”
“How so?”
“Tyler Hudson is one of the most influential people in the country,” Falk says. “I met him years ago when he first started working with government contracts. I didn’t like him from the moment I saw him. Everyone knew he was shifty, but no one ever stood up to him. His money always talked louder than anything anyone ever said about him. Then I heard about this young woman who found something, dug in, and reported it. Then she didn’t just report it, but when he tried to take her out, she escaped and reported him again. She had enough sense to go straight to the hospital and get his DNA collected. She never backed down even though she knew her life was in danger. That’s impressive, Hannah.”
“It feels more stupid to me now.”
“It wasn’t. It was brave. Incredibly fucking brave. I haven’t heard of courage like that outside of combat.”
“What else was I supposed to do?” I ask. “Just let him get away with it? I didn’t really think about who he was. When I found the pictures…I couldn’t just let that happ
en, could I?”
“A lot of people would. In fact, a lot of people did.”
“I saw their faces,” I say. “I saw how scared they were in the pictures. I knew what he planned to do to them.”
“So did others. He didn’t act alone.”
“They all planned to profit from it.”
“Do you really think they were the only ones who knew what was going on?”
“No.” I take a deep breath. “I think there were others. Jillian in accounting—she must have seen the discrepancies before I did.”
“But you did something about it.”
“When I was in college, I took a class in modern crisis.” I stop for a moment and twist my fingers together underneath the edge of the sleeping bag, remembering. “It was offered by the philosophy department. I did a paper on human trafficking. I talked to a family whose daughter had disappeared when they were traveling. They never heard from her again, and it tore the family apart. The couple got divorced, and their younger daughter ended up on drugs. She even tried to kill herself. That was all I could think about. What if one of those girls had been her? Not exactly her, but someone just like her. All those girls got back to their families.”
My body shudders, and I close my eyes. The memories of the family—my family—flood back into my head.
“And you were abducted later and nearly met the same fate in store for those girls.”
“It didn’t happen, though. I got away from them.”
“That’s how I know you are strong enough to deal with all of this. You’re going to have to be. It’s going to get worse.”
I roll to my back to try to see his expression, but in the dark, I can only see the outline of his face.
“What do you mean?”
“Think about it, Hannah.” Falk props himself up on his elbow, and some of the light from the fire filters through the tent and creates eerie shadows on his face. “The women and children are gone. We know the men on the surface are all dead. We know those people who were underground survived. Who do you think is more likely to have been underground, men or women?”
“Men, I suppose.”
“You’ve become a very rare asset, Ms. Savinski. If I’m right, and I think I am, that makes you valuable. People act very differently when they think there is something valuable around them.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that we’re in a unique situation and that people do things you don’t expect them to do when they feel their survival is at stake. Those guys out there may seem like they’re friendly, but that can change in a heartbeat.”
“Is that why you didn’t want me to talk to them?”
“In a sense, yes.” Falk clears his throat. “I don’t want you to get too friendly with them. I don’t want you to give the impression that you are available. At some point, someone’s going to take advantage of that.”
I narrow my eyes as I take in what he’s saying. I am the only woman in this group. Chances are, we’ll find other survivors, and chances are those survivors are going to be additional men. At some point, mob mentality takes over.
“Like what Hudson was going to do with those girls.”
“A lot like that, yes.”
What exactly does that mean for me?
I haven’t thought about the future since the day I took the information I had and sent it to the authorities. Everything has been very moment-to-moment as I was dragged from the local police department to the prosecutor in the county courthouse to the governor’s office. Then those people from Washington showed up, and I was further tossed back and forth as they gathered more information.
Then the assault.
More police. More government officials. I didn’t have time to think about the future or what it held for me. After the arraignment and Hudson’s threats, I’d taken him at his word. I didn’t expect to have a future.
Now no one knows what the future holds, but I know one thing—I’m not going to be doing any computer work any time soon. I also know my survival skills aren’t exactly at the same level as Falk’s. Eventually, I’m either going to have to prove my worth in other ways, or I am going to be seen as good for only one thing.
“I’m scared.”
I hear Falk roll over and feel his body heat closer to my back. A moment later, he snakes his arm around my waist. I tense at first, but when he doesn’t move any closer—just leaves his arm there around me—I relax against the ground. I can feel the exhaustion in my limbs creep up into my head, and I yawn.
“Is this okay?” Falk asks quietly. He tightens his arm around my middle.
“Yeah, it’s okay.”
“I know you’re scared,” he says. “That’s one of the reasons I’m keeping you close.”
“What are the other reasons?” I yawn again. I can’t keep my eyes open any longer.
“A topic for another time.”
Chapter 6
“If you’ll just take a look at this television. It’s on sale right now, and I think it will be perfect for you,” the salesman says.
“Sorry, but I’m in a rush, late for work, and my boss will kill me if I’m late again.”
Another salesman approaches. Then another.
“We have fabulous sales for you.”
“I can’t right now, really.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am.” The head salesman comes up to me, and the others shift back. “Please forgive them, but they just found out they are all going to lose their jobs. The store is closing. They have to sell all the inventory before they can leave.”
I’m getting angry.
“That’s too bad,” I say, “but I’m late. I have to get to work, or my boss will kill me.”
I push my way through the men and into my closet. I’m only wearing a towel, and I have to get dressed for work. I turn to lock the closet door behind me, but the lock isn’t working. One of the salesmen pushes his way inside.
“You want to buy something from me,” he says as he approaches. I can’t make out his face, but there’s a scar on it, just below his eye. “You know you do.”
“No…” I can barely utter the word. He’s pushing me against the rack of clothes behind me, and he reaches between my legs, fingering me. I turn my head to the side. I just want him to go away and leave me alone, but he doesn’t.
“Please,” I whisper. “I’m late. My boss will kill me.”
I wake alone in the damp tent. The remnants of the nightmare buzz around in my head, and I feel queasy. My leg throbs painfully, and my hip is sore from sleeping on the ground. I can hear voices outside, speaking in hushed tones as I sit up and rub my eyes.
When I try to stand, I drop back to the sleeping bag, grunting from the pain in my leg. It’s stiffened up a lot overnight, and putting weight on it hurts like a bitch. I press my hands against it, as if I can hold in the pain.
Falk appears at the tent entrance.
“You all right?”
“I’m okay,” I say through clenched teeth.
“Bullshit.” He smiles slightly at me. “I know that has to hurt.”
“It’s just a little stiff.”
Falk kicks off his shoes and enters the tent, going to one of the bags set off to the side. He pulls out a bottle of ibuprofen and hands me three of them along with a bottle of water from the cooler.
“Take them. It will help a little.”
I nod and take the pills.
“Want some help getting up?” Falk asks. “Walking around may loosen it up again. You should eat, too, so those pills don’t upset your stomach. After you eat, I’ll check it out and put a new bandage on it.”
“I can do it.” Using my hands for support, I manage to get myself to my feet. Falk takes a step forward, offering his hand to me, but I don’t take it. He leaves it there anyway in case I change my mind.
I hobble out of the tent. Caesar and Beck are out by the fire, trying to cook something in aluminum foil over the coals. Nearby, one of the camp stoves holds a bubb
ling pot of coffee.
“Want some?” Beck says with a smile as he holds up a coffee mug.
“Please,” I respond.
“I’ll get it.” Falk walks around the fire, ignoring Beck’s offered cup, and grabs a different mug to fill with coffee.
Beck glares and is about to say something when Caesar speaks up.
“We need to figure out what’s next,” he says. “Are we going to stay here or find more habitable ground?”
“We’re going to a group of apartments near here,” Falk says. He fills the mug from the pot and brings it to me.
“Says who?” Beck asks as he crosses his arms in front of his chest.
“It makes the most sense,” Falk replies. “One of the buildings isn’t damaged at all, and I have supplies there. It offers protection, and everyone can have their own living space but remain close to the group. There’s still running water there—enough to give us time to dig a well if we need to. It’s the best option for now.”
“It does make sense,” Caesar says.
Beck narrows his eyes at his friend.
“That’s not the point,” Beck mutters. “We’re just going to go to his apartment complex because he says so? That’s bullshit. There are other options.”
“It’s as good a plan as any,” Caesar says. “It’s not like we’re stuck there. If we come up with better arrangements later, we can change.”
“It’s bullshit,” Beck repeats.
Falk ignores their exchange and starts breaking down our tent. Ryan steps out of his own tent a minute later, stretching and rubbing his temple.
“How much of that scotch did we drink last night?” he asks.
“All of it,” Caesar responds.
“That’s what my head is telling me.” Ryan reaches his hand out, and he and Beck bump their fists together. “How about you, bro?”
“About the same,” Beck replies. “Want coffee?”
“Hell, yeah!” Ryan smiles, stretches again, and looks over at me. “Good morning!”
“Good morning,” I reply, smiling. Even hungover, Ryan is in a better mood than the rest of them.
Falk flashes me a look of warning, which I assume has to do with me speaking to the others. I raise my eyebrows at him. I know he doesn’t trust them, but it’s not like I can completely avoid talking.