CHAPTER 27
I didn’t know what happened after that. Hands grasped at me and pulled me from the surf, they carried me somewhere. I wasn’t handled roughly, but there was a hurried urgency to the hands that was disconcerting and frightening. I couldn’t quite make sense of anything; I didn’t know where I was. Time went in and out in flashing blurs that left me disoriented and confused.
At times I was certain that no time had passed, at others I felt as if an eternity had slipped by. Yet, through it all I was acutely aware of one fact and one fact alone...
Cade was gone.
He had cut the rope. He'd been taken by those awful creatures. He was gone. He was probably dead.
In those moments of utter clarity the anguish of his loss was so intense that it was all consuming, and debilitating. Agony would flash through me, it would sear me with its intensity and I would once again lose myself to the world of delirium and denial that enshrouded me.
Then, one day, I awoke. At first I wanted to return to oblivion and lose myself to the world of delirium and denial, but I couldn’t. I had to face reality. I couldn’t simply curl into a ball and die like a part of me so badly longed to. It hurt to breathe; my heart was a broken vessel that only served to pump blood through my veins. But it continued to pump, I continued to breathe, and apparently the world was still turning. It was time that I rejoined it.
I found myself in a small room, one that I didn’t recognize, and one that I couldn’t begin to place. I frowned as I stared at the dingy white walls, gray concrete floor, and ceiling fan spinning leisurely above me. I was on a metal table but a thin mattress had been placed upon it.
What the hell?
I carefully sat up and winced as I swung my legs over the side. Pain ran up my left leg and lanced across my hips and waist. I was wearing a shirt that I didn’t recognize and a lose pair of sweats that were most definitely not mine. I pulled the shirt gingerly up, my mouth dropped as I took in the red gash marring my skin and the stitches holding it together. Pulling the pants down, I wasn't surprised to see a bandage covering my hip and upper thigh.
What had happened?
My eyebrows drew together as I tried to ponder the answer to that question, but it completely eluded me, as did my location.
Bracing myself I slipped off the table. I winced as my feet hit the floor but I was able to support my weight. The floor was cool beneath my bare feet as I padded toward the closed door. I bit on my lip, I was anxious about what I might find on the other side, but I had no choice. I knew Cade was gone, but where was my family? I had to find them, they might need my help.
Although it was obvious that I'd most certainly not been much help lately.
My hand trembled on the knob; I held my breath as I cracked it open. I placed an eye to the crack and peered out on a vacant hall. My forehead furrowed as I tried to place what was stretching before me, but I was unable to do so. I shuffled forward, moving past a few closed doors before coming across one that was a little ajar. The steel was cool beneath my hand as I pushed it cautiously open.
A scream burned its way up my throat; I could scarcely breathe through the constriction that encased my chest. I'd seen many horrible things in my life, but this had to be one of the worst.
“You’re awake.”
I jumped and stumbled a little as I spun toward the voice on my right. My breath exploded from me, my hand flew instinctively to my injury as the abrupt movement jarred me. I bent over as I panted for breath and sweat broke out across my brow. It took me a minute to regain control enough to stand and face the man.
It wasn't a monster beside me, or at least he appeared completely human, but after what I'd just seen I wasn’t so sure I could trust my own eyes anymore. The aliens appeared human too, had I been captured? I swallowed back the coppery taste in my mouth before I spoke. “Yes.”
I don’t know why I had bothered to respond, it was obvious that I was awake, I was standing here after all. “How are you feeling?”
I studied the tall man, wary as to what was going on. He appeared to be in his mid to late thirties. His wavy brown hair had hints of grey at the temples; his grey eyes were large behind the horn rimmed glasses he wore. He appeared friendly, personable even, but with what was inside that room I couldn’t even begin to feel at ease.
“Ok,” I answered, unable to stop my eyes from darting back toward the door.
“You were wounded pretty badly.”
“My brother and sister?”
“They just went upstairs to eat. They’ve been sitting by your side for the past week.” A week I had been out of it for a week? “They’ll be relieved to see you up.”
I’d be relieved to see them and find out just what was going on around here. “Where am I?”
He gave me a sad, understanding smile. “A lobster warehouse in Wareham.”
“The aliens?” My eyes flitted involuntarily back toward the door next to me.
“They haven’t found us.”
I heard the unspoken yet at the end of his sentence. Finally, I was unable to take it anymore. “What is going on in there?” I demanded.
He quirked an eyebrow, then his gaze returned toward the door. “Oh. Well we’re trying to see what has caused The Freezing.” I frowned at his nonchalant response. “Come.”
I flinched as he opened the door to reveal the horror within again. He moved quickly into the room, apparently immune to the dreadfulness of what lay within. I remained hovering in the doorway, not quite ready to step in there. There were rows of people within the room, at least twenty of them from what I could see. They were all frozen in various positions, all trapped within their bodies. Though I knew it wasn’t true, I felt as if their eyes followed me when I moved hesitantly into the room.
“Are they still alive?” I managed to croak out.
He glanced back at me as he stopped by a child. A child. Of course I knew that children had been affected by this, I had seen them before, but not this close. The young girl, with her brown hair in a ponytail, her head tilted back, and her small hand reaching out toward something that wasn't there tore at my heart.
Tears burned my eyes, but even more than that I could feel a swelling rush of fury growing within my chest. I walked toward the little girl, taking in her innocent features, and the small smile that curved her mouth, a smile that was completely out of place given the circumstances. She could almost be a perfect, life sized doll. A part of me tried to believe that she was a doll, another part wanted to destroy the things that had done this to her.