The car comes closer, and we slink into the shadows. I hold my breath as it passes. It’s black with tinted windows, like all the others, but I notice a loudspeaker mounted on top of it.
After it’s gone, Bruno stands up. His knees crack. My mouth feels like cotton’s been shoved inside. I’m starting to have a harder time focusing, and occasionally my boots catch on the ground and I trip. Cole grabs my shoulder, but judging by the weary lines on his face, he may be running out of energy too. When are we going to get there? It’s nearly impossible to get my brain to think rationally.
Five blocks. Six blocks. Seven blocks pass in a blur of desolation. I tell myself to speed up, but my legs are heavy, like I’m dragging them through mud. Our stops become more frequent. Every time we start out again, Grace sighs. I’m irritable, and the sweltering heat doesn’t help.
“Dude. I’m pissing brown,” Bruno says after taking a quick break. Come to think about it, I haven’t peed all day.
“Thanks for sharing that with the group, love,” Grace says.
“Just keeping it real.”
“So this is what it’s like being around him twenty-four seven,” I say to Grace.
“I’m afraid so. Sarcasm is Bruno’s trademark. I’ve learned to roll with it.”
My eyelids start to flutter, and my head begins to bob.
“Lexi, you still with me?” Cole asks, putting his hand on my waist. I lean against a wall, closing my eyes.
“Not so much; my head’s spinning,” I say.
“Hang in there; we’re almost there,” he says, sounding dehydrated too. I bring my hands to my face and rub my burning eyes, but the spinning won’t stop. My body leans forward, and he catches me with both hands. “Whoa, there. I got you.”
He hoists me over his shoulder.
“You don’t have to carry me,” I say. But it comes out sounding more like a long groan.
“Yes I do and I am. Where I go, you go. And you weren’t moving.” He grunts under my weight. His shoulder pushes through my stomach, but I don’t have the strength to argue with him.
“Dear God in heaven, please say we’re here,” Grace says, holding on to Bruno’s arm.
“Well I’m not God, but we’re here,” Bruno says.
Cole lowers me to the ground and bends over to catch his breath. Zeus plops down next to him, his nearly dry tongue dangling from between his teeth.
“It’s that building right over there.” Bruno points.
“Hallelujah,” Grace says, raising her hands in the air.
“One last push,” Bruno says, wiping sweat from around his eyes, “and we’re in.” He straightens his back and lifts his chin.
Cole extends his hand to me and pulls me to my feet. “Do you think you can manage?”
“Sure.” I twist the ring around my finger, drawing strength from its inscription.
Bruno sprints along the building, checks the timing of the cameras, and then shoves through the heavy metal door. Relief floods through me. It’s open.
It’s dark inside except for the light that spills through blown-out windows. The smell of feces and urine fill the air. My skin crawls at the sight of rats the size of small cats skittering across the floor in front of me. Empty water vials and cans of peas litter the floor.
“Lexi, come on,” Cole says, and then I realize I’ve fallen behind.
We follow Bruno into the same monotone office space as last time, where chunks of drywall lie crumbled on the floor. Empty bookshelves and a desk covered in dust sits in front of a chair that has been turned over.
Bruno points to the open closet marking the entrance to the underground. Cole eagerly, but carefully, lifts the floorboard panels in the closet and then peeks into the empty space.
“I can’t see a damn thing,” he says.
“Hold up; I’ve got a flashlight,” Bruno says, pulling it out of his pack. Bruno shines the light in front of Cole, making a pathway for him.
“That’s better; I’ll take Zeus down the ladder first,” Cole says.
I remember how this went last time.
Sure enough, Zeus whines as he crushes Cole’s face with his oversized paws. Cole curses the entire way down. Who knows how Cole has the strength to carry him after everything we’ve been through.
“Okay, Lexi, you’re up,” Bruno says, moving aside so I can make my way down the rickety ladder.
Stepping into the shaft, I use my right foot to feel for the next rung down. It’s slippery and just as precarious as the first time I made this trek. I close my eyes, willing myself to concentrate on getting down without slipping off and hurting myself. The light from Bruno’s flashlight is like a small candle to an abyss. It barely just reaches the bottom of the landing.
Soon, almost everyone is down, and Bruno replaces the board at the top. The ladder creaks as he climbs down. I hear a snapping sound.
“Oh shit!” Bruno says.