Alliance

Chapter Fifty-Two

We drove frantically out of Denver.

We didn't know how fast the raiders would get together to come after us, that is if they came after us at all. Behind me, Ben slumped over. He leaned against me, his arms crushed me around the waist. Either he was fearful of falling off because of my driving or he was on the border of losing consciousness. I hoped the case was the former.

Nearing the third hour of driving, Olivia and I finally pulled off the expressway. The Rocky Mountains around us mimicked tall sleeping giants in the moonlight. For miles we traveled in the dark, passing by a few small towns. We didn't dare stop at any of them. They were located too close to Denver. The raiders would expect us to stop at the first town and they would search through those first.

The exit we turned on was for Georgetown, a small town snuggled in a valley. No lights were twinkled in the city or as far as we could see when we stopped at the bottom of the exit. We turned off the engines, the city was silent.

"I think it's best if we go on by foot," I said.

Olivia nodded beside me. "The city looks abandoned, but that doesn't mean it is."

"Let's hope it is. We need to find a hospital and get these two checked out."

Ben had swung a leg over the bike to get off, he swayed dangerously to the left while he tried to get his footing. I jumped off the bike and grabbed Ben's arm before he fell. "Asher, could you?"

"On it," he said, taking the bike from me. I slung Ben's arm over my shoulders, my arm wrapped around his back for support. "I think I saw a sign that said the hospital was that way." He walked where he indicated and we followed.

The moonlight was the only light that guided us to the hospital. Luckily the walk was short ways from the expressway. The entire time I prayed Ben injury wasn't severe. His breathing was fine, only a little shallow. The biggest fear that gripped my heart was he had pierced a lung with the broken rib. If he had done that, I wouldn't know how to help him. I wasn't a surgeon.

We turned down the street and the hospital loomed above us. The sides were made out of windows and there were four floors. We stopped before doors. Inside, darkness loomed.

"So, now what?" asked Olivia.

"I'll go find a room on the second floor," I said. I had a gut feeling the second floor was the safest. "With any luck, there will be a supply room with medicine in it."

Asher and Olivia nodded. "We will hide the bikes, just in case if there are people around."

"Good idea." With my worry about Ben's wounds, hiding the bikes hadn't occurred to me. Asher handed me our backpacks from the storage on the bike. "We will meet you upstairs."

The front glass doors that were once automatic was shattered open. The crunch of glass below my feet halted my step, my mind went back. Back to when I was in another hospital.

When I was tripped into a room full of glass and Wilson picked me up. The phantom pain itched over my skin.

"You okay?" Ben strained to get out. Those were his first words since we left Denver.

I opened my eyes. We stopped in the middle of the entrance. Stopped because I was frozen in fear of the flashback. I shook my head to get rid of the bad memories but the motion didn't stop my racing heart.

The last time I was in a hospital, I almost died.

"Yeah," I took another step. Maybe it was my imagination, but Ben's arm tightened around me.

The waiting room was covered with leaves, twigs, and other things that had flown in from outside. I tried to avoid looking down for too long. The floor was similar to another hospital floor.