Carrion (The Bren Watts Diaries #1)

Chapter 31

When we went past a corner, I thought we got lost, and those vectors would be on us. We followed the signs along the walls and the ones hanging by the ceiling that pointed back to the foyer and then to the cathedral. We turned a corner, then another, until the corridors melded into one, and I couldn't tell the difference.

I looked over my hand. The young vector did a number on me, had cut deep into my palm, wishing none of the major nerves and arteries were too damaged. I didn't want to lose a hand if it became a problem. It still hurt like hell, but it scared me that it would get infected without proper treatment.

Soon, the corridors opened up, and we found ourselves on the third floor of the foyer. We looked down over the railings and found the bottom floor devoid of vectors. We rushed toward the stairs.

"I guess the noise in the stairwell drew everyone away, else we would've caught them all in here," said Logan.

A slight smile crept on my lips, happy that we didn't encounter more of those things.

We reached the bottom of the stairs and turned right, passing by the CATHEDRAL sign hanging at the top of the archway. We're so close. It still pained me that we had to leave a lot of food behind back in the cafeteria. Though, there was no use thinking about it now. We went deeper and deeper through the hallway, and then I began to hear Yousef and Luke shouting, along with other familiar voices.

Luke and Yousef banged against the heavy doors of the cathedral, screaming to be let in. Standing beside them was Margot and Felipe, who seemed to be in hysterics as they huddled at the corner with Margot wrapped around Felipe's arms. On the other hand, Miguel was beyond the fence, face red with fury as he continued to pummel his fist on the heavy doors. He heard us approached, aimed the rifle slung around his shoulders toward us.

"Stay back!" Miguel shouted.

I raised my hands, shouted back, "Hey now! We're not them! It's us!"

Yousef turned around and gaped, "Holy shit! I didn't think you guys would make it!"

"Sorry to be disappointing, but here we are now," I said as I walked toward the door. "Now, can someone please open that fucking door so that we can get out of this building?"

"They won't let us in!" Yousef screeched.

"Who? Bobby?"

Yousef nodded. "We've been here for two minutes, telling him we're not infected, but he won't listen"—Then he lowered his tone—"I think he got Joe's gun. Joe won't even answer us."

I clenched my fist until my knuckles turned white, and all I saw was the door—and only the door—and all the pain and nagging thought that invaded and overwhelmed my senses slipped away for a split second as I marched to the door and rapped on it as hard as I could.

"Bobby! You better open this door, or I swear to God, I would string you up and hoist you out of that fucking bell tower, you hear me? We're not infected!"

"Fuck no! You don't scare me! The hell am I opening this door for? Ya'll infected! I swear it! Nothing can survive that many!"

Suddenly, I felt Logan's hand on my chest as he pulled me back. He gave me a stern look, pushing me back to stand next to Felipe and Margot. Logan tried a softer approach, but the results remained the same. However, Bobby was a bit sensible this time around.

"Let me look," Margot said as she took my injured hand.

"It's nothing," I said.

"You're hurt."

"I can see that."

Margot rolled her eyes. "Bad. Very bad." She began miming a needle and weaving it into my palm, and I blanched.