The Rot: Book 3

Chapter 17

 Angela was sitting on the lobby floor, her face buried in her knees. Ang sat there, completely motionless.

"She's been like that for hours," Janice whispered.

All I could do was shake my head. Seeing Ang like that was bad enough, but now I had to inform her that I still hadn't located her sister.

"Ang?" I asked. I figured she'd look up at me when she heard my voice, but she didn't. Angela didn't even move. "It's Reid. Look, I-"

"Either my sister is dead, or, you still don't have her," Angela interrupted.

"The latter. But, we did find Mick."

"Really?" Janice asked.

"Yeah."

"How is he?" Ang wondered. I looked back at her. Ang had lifted her head, eyes red from all of the crying.

"Well, not good. Not good at all," I answered. "It looks like he's being held hostage."

Ang lowered her head again. "Fuck."

"I was able to speak with him briefly. I couldn't get any info about Cyn."

"Why?"

"Whoever's holding him hostage barged into the room and saw me and Rube."

"Yeah, we had to get out of there," Ruby added.

"On our way back, that's when we met these two," I said, gesturing to the brothers.

Angela wiped away a few more tears. "Cynthia isn't even over there."

"We don't know that. Those bandits started shooting at me and Ruby before we could find out anything about Cynthia."

Janice chuckled softly.

"What?" I asked her.

"We could hear some faint gunfire. Ang and I figured you started some shit."

I heard Ang giggle, "What's this? Ang, did you laugh?"

"I might have," Angela answered me. "As soon as we heard the shots, I said, 'That's Reid.'"

"Oh, that wacky Reid. What kind of hijinks will he get up to next?" I quipped.

Jim walked up to me. "Me and Mark plan on heading out in the morning. Is it cool if we crash here for the night?"

"Sure, of course."

"Ang, do you mind getting up so Mark and Jim can have the lobby?" Janice asked.

Ang sighed and nodded, "Okay." Janice helped Angela get up, and the two walked down the hallway.

"Man, she looks rough," Mark whispered to me.

"Ang?" I replied

"Yeah."

I sat down, "I got separated from her sis-" I stopped myself. I was so tired of telling that damn story. I tossed my bat down and sighed, "Shit."

"Reid, are you all right?" Ruby asked.

"No I'm not," I answered tersely. "I don't know what the hell to do. I have no clue how to get Cyn and Mick back. I'm sure Cyn's cooped up in that place, too. But I don't know what the fuck we can do to get them back here."

"Just take a deep breath."

"That shit doesn't help," I scoffed."Sorry, Rube. I'm just angry. No offense."

"None taken."

Mark and Jim set down their gear and sat across from me.

"Where are your friends?" Jim asked.

"Not too far from where we met you guys, actually," Rue answered. "That small-ish apartment building?"

The brothers looked at each other. "We hadn't really noticed," said Mark.

"Yeah. We really stick to the alleys when we can," Jim added.

"If you haven't noticed, we're not from around here."

"Okay. Well, it's an apartment building," Ruby said.

"Boarded up, and fortified," I told Mark and Jim.

Mark scratched his beard, "Hm."

"And whoever's in there is armed. They shot at us."

"You two wouldn't happen to have a tank lying around, would ya?" I asked the brothers.

They both laughed. "Nah," Jim said.

After that, we sat there in the lobby quietly. Janice emerged from down the hall and sat beside me.

"Ang is laying down."

"Hope she gets some sleep. She looks awful," I replied.

"She really lost it over Nicole while you guys were gone."

"Don't doubt it."

Rue and I updated Janice on what we saw. Jim and Mark tried to get some rest, so Rue, Janice, and I moved to another room.

"And I thought Carter was bad," Janice told me.

"Right?"

"We have to figure out a way to get into that building," Ruby said.

"Is there any kind of way we can sneak in?" Janice wondered.

I shook my head, "No. Not even a possibility. I mean, even if we sneak into the yard, we probably couldn't get into the building."

"What if...no," Rue murmured.

"What's up?" I asked Ruby.

"What if we didn't have to sneak in?"

"Okay, I'm listening."

"Remember when Bradley was telling us about those bandits? I recall him mentioning they were abducting people. Whoever it was that shot at us, probably only did so because they caught us snooping around."

"You are not suggesting one of us goes over there and willingly gets kidnapped, are you?"

"No. What I'm suggesting is, what if one of us goes over there and introduces ourselves."

Janice and I were both confused. "Huh?" Janice asked Rue.

"So hear me out. Let's say someone goes over there like a survivor just passing through? 'Hey, I saw your barricaded fence here. Looks pretty safe. Mind if I come in?'"

"That was some shit acting."

Janice let out a big laugh. "Reid, you dick."

"And I suppose you could do a better job?" Ruby asked me.

"Nope," I answered. "Not even about to try."

"But do you get what I'm saying?" Rue asked us.

"I think so," I answered. "Shit, I'll go up there first thing in the morning. Pretend like I'm being chased by a bunch of stenches, and I had to take refuge in their yard."

"I like it."

"Yeah, but didn't they shoot at you two?" Janice asked.

"They did," Rue answered.

"Then they'd probably recognize one or both of you."

I looked at Rue, "Think we could convince the brothers to try and help us with this?"

"Worth a shot." Rue responded.

"We'll talk to them about it in the morning."

Ruby, Janice, and I spent the rest of the evening coming up with a suitable plan to take to Jim and Mark.

We got a little bit of sleep, but I got up at the first sign of daylight and headed into the lobby to speak with Jim and Mark. But, when I walked down the hall and into the lobby, Jim and Mark were gone.