The Last Cabin

Chapter 15

My heart cramped as adrenaline pulsed through my body, my feet moved before my mind caught up to what I was doing. Carson ran alongside me, as people raced to the elevators, overflowing them. I headed for the stairs, but it was bottle necked. In a time when I needed to be acting the fastest, I was waiting behind a crowd of people that wasn't shifting, as they jumped and crawled over each other. Was I waiting on them, or was I waiting for death? Finn caught up and stood next to me.

"You were supposed to stay upstairs. Why are you down here?" he said, out of breath with a worried tone.

"I wanted to see if you guys needed help."

He looked as me as though all the time we had together was ending. He hugged me as the fluttering of his heart and deep breaths rang against my ears. The crowd in front of us still unmovable, and the delirious elevator group squirming . Screams and shouts surrounded us until everything became a blur of tension.

Frank came up beside us and said with a high whisper, "Guys, come this way." Before he could finish, I saw not far behind, at least five limping, blood covered people hobbling over with a pace as quick as they could muster. Terror grew inside, turning my stomach into lava, eating me away; I followed Frank.

He was jogging over to an employee's only door, and opened it with his key. Carson, Finn and I followed him in, closing and locking the door behind us. Once shut, we heard scratches and groans behind it. Frank lead us to the window. Outside was a fire escape ladder up to the next few floors.

As we headed up, a hoard of virus filled people from the street below saw us moving, and started coming toward us. They clawed at the ladder. Our fear fueled us up the stairs; my mind raced with the thought of one of them catching my foot. We got to the fifth floor and jumped in the window, closing it behind us. Finn and Frank found a table to cover it with, but no nails or hammer.

"Down the hall to the right, there is a janitorial closet, should have tools, take my keys. We will hold it down here, but hurry."

I grabbed the keys and ran down the hall. Unsure what I was looking for, my heart pounded, exploding my chest. Then I saw a door that didn't look like the rest, and I fumbled with the keys until I was able to open it. Inside were shelves stocked with cleaners, detergents, sponges. Then I saw the tools; the hammer and box of nails sat on the top self, almost unable to reach. I jumped up to grab for them, the box of nails falling to the ground, spraying everywhere.

Dropping to my knees in a frantic motion, I gathered them and threw them into the box. With the hammer under my arm and box of nails in my hands, I sprinted back down the hall, where the men were holding the table in place, with arms and hands pushing from outside.

Frank grabbed the hammer and nails and started boarding it up as though he were a well-oiled machine. It felt like it took all of five seconds. Between his heavy breathing, he said, "This will only hold for so long, gettin' to the top floor is the safest bet. I'm going to hang on the roof, and make a big sign someone flyin' 'round could see. But otherwise guys, it's only a matter of time before they start getin' up there, too."

Carson looked at me, exhausted, and said, "remember what I said Poppy, I'll meet you on the roof tomorrow. I need some time to get everything together." Then he took off down the hall.

"Where the hell is he goin'?" Frank asked.

"He has a plan to get out of here."

"Well, good for him. We all need to start thinking 'bout a plan to get outta here. I'm off to the roof guys."

Frank headed to the stairs. While Finn came up to me, held my face, and caressed my lips with his, in such a gentle touch, not matching the turbulent moment. He pulled away and looked at me, his sparkling blue eyes wet with tears. "You need to get out of the city, and I don't know how I can get you away from here."