The fighting stopped, and they came. Not as zombies, but as free members of society, though society didn't even know they existed.
As if on cue, icy rain broke from the heavens. It poured down so hard, it subdued the fires and eventually put them out.
When Brad and his people arrived, Luke, Lucy and I had organized everyone into groups with team leaders and jobs. Some groups were assigned to clear buildings and retrieve the bodies of the dead and wounded. Other groups were responsible for gathering research material and secret information, using the codes and keys Higgins had given Lucy to access the safes.
So much loss of life. And who could say for sure where the lines of good and evil lay? No single person was all one or the other. So how did we decide which actions to place on the scale of good and evil?
I chose to look at how they'd spent their last moments of life.
***
The familiarity of Brad's embrace sent me into another round of tears. No one had seen Drake, and his body hadn't been found.
"We'll find him." Brad took off his jacket and draped it over my shivering shoulders. "In the meantime, there's someone I think you should meet."
An elderly priest in cleric robes got out of the car and came to me. "You must be Sam."
He held out his hand, but I reached over it to hug him instead. "Father Patrick, it's so good to finally meet you, but you shouldn't have come here. It's still very dangerous."
The father's smile was infectious, even in the midst of such bitter sadness. "Do not worry for me. The Lord is my keeper and He alone decides the time and place of our reunion, does he not? But I'm not here to give a sermon. We've brought buses for the kids, and I have a safe haven for them lined up until we sort all of this out."
I marveled at all he and Brad had done, but a man and woman dressed in suits walked up to us before I could thank the priest.
The man held out his hand to me, and I shook it. "I'm Agent Morrison, and this is Agent Simmons."
I raised my eyebrow at Brad. He'd involved law enforcement? I couldn't decide if this was really great news, or really dreadful news.
"Sam, these are the people who sent the mysterious email. They work for a secret arm of an intergovernmental agency created, in part, to stop Rent-A-Kid from becoming too powerful: IPI, International Paranormal Investigations. They helped us put together the resources we needed to get your guys out, and they want our help in taking down the entire organization from the top."
Agent Morrison's mind opened up instantly to my mental touch. 'I know you can read my mind, Sam, so you'll know I'm telling the truth. We're here to help. We can discuss all the details later. In the meantime, we're taking your friends and fellow students to a property owned by the Church and run by Father Patrick. We assumed that would be a more comfortable solution for all of you while we get to know each other?'
I nodded and called to Lucy. I could read minds, sure, but sometimes a lie detector is better to have around. For me to tell if someone was lying, I had to dig. She knew instantly.
She walked over with Luke in tow. "Can you read these guys for me?"
We had both agents make several statements of intent about what they planned for us and whether they intended to hurt us—intentionally or otherwise.
"They're on the up and up. We've got some seriously injured kids here. Did you guys happen to bring any medical personnel with you?"
Agent Simmons got on her walkie-talkie, and within a minute or two several ambulances drove up with E.M.T.s ready to get to work. I'd never seen so many vehicles around our school.
One medic noticed my hand and pulled me away from the group.
Lucy stayed beside me as the woman had me sit on the back of her ambulance, where she unwrapped my makeshift bandage. "This is a pretty bad burn. How'd it happen?"
I told her, leaving out all the painful details.
Lucy arched her eyebrow.
"I'll tell you later, Luce. Just know, the Seeker is dead."
Her eyes filled with tears, which I did not expect. "I believe you. We have so much to talk about."
"How far along are you?" The medic palpated my stomach and held a stethoscope to it.
"Um... I guess I'm... four months along. I'm not sure."
"You look big for only four months. Are you sure?"
Lucy glared at her and the woman shrugged. "You'll need to have a full psychical as soon as possible. And regular prenatal appointments, if you want a healthy baby."
Somehow prenatal appointments hadn't been high on my list of things to do with people trying to kill or imprison me, but I promised I would follow up.
She smeared ointment on my hand and wrapped it in clean gauze. "This is a third-degree burn. You need to get it checked out immediately."
I promised, and headed back onto the school campus.
Lucy grabbed my arm. "Where you going, Chica? We need to get out of here."
"I have to find Drake. He's not with any of the students, so he must be on the campus. He could be trapped or hurt. I have to get to him."
"Okay, but let me at least get Luke to help."