Jason Morrow - Anywhere but Here

“Hank, the north hallway is clear and quiet,” a voice says over the radio. “I’ll do another round in five.”

“Ten-four,” Hanks says, then smiles at us.

The next voice over the radio wipes the smile from Hank’s face. “Hank, there’s something moving in the gym, I’m going to check it out.”

Hank’s face crinkles into a look of concern as he raises the radio to his mouth. “Ten-four,” he says. “If it’s one of ours I want you to bring them to me. We are on lockdown, people should know what that means.”

The person on the other end responds, but all we hear is static.

Hank shakes his head, his jaws clenched together. “It’s just this kind of mix-up that will get us all killed.”

“Hank,” the voice calls out, this time in a much lower whisper.

“What is it?”

“It’s not one of ours. I repeat, not one of ours. It’s a greyskin.”

Hank’s face turns white. “Did you say what I think you said?”

There is a long silence form the other end. “We need weapons down here. Blunts and blades.”

“How many are there?”

“I don’t know. I only saw one at first, but now there are like twenty. I’m not sure where they are coming from.”

Hank swears and stands from his seat. “Somebody was careless.”

“We can help,” Ethan says.

Hank holds up a hand. “I’m not certain what we’re going to do yet. Wait here just a minute.” He walks away, I assume to talk with someone.

Nothing can match the look that Gilbert gives Ethan. “What are you thinking?”

“What?”

“Offering to help these people. They aren’t with us. They aren’t our responsibility.”

“But aren’t we all in this together?” Ethan says. “They are people just like us.”

“I don’t care if they are starving orphans,” Gilbert snaps. “We’re just here until those things go away. I’m not risking my neck for these people.”

“Would you risk your neck for anyone?” Ethan says, his eyes narrowing. “You wouldn’t do anything but save your own skin.”

“You know a lot less about me than you think,” Gilbert says. “But if you want my opinion, I’d say there would be little pay off.”

“Since when are we looking for a payoff?” I chime in.

Gilbert looks at me as if he’s disgusted. “What do you know about it? The only reason you’re with us is because of Ethan. I would have left you and your pitiful boyfriend behind.”

I don’t even think before I rear back and punch him in the jaw, and I’m not ready for the pain that shoots through my hand as a result. Gilbert falls to the floor and grabs for his face, but he pulls himself up quickly. At first, it looks like he’s going to hit me back, and I’m ready for it, but Ethan stands between us.

“Let it go,” he says.

Gilbert glares at me with fire in his eyes. I know if he wanted to he could tear me apart. He is probably twice my weight and with a quick-to-snap mouth like his, no doubt he has been in some fights before.

“Don’t talk about Lucas like that,” I say. My jaw is trembling and its everything I can do to keep the tears from forming in my eyes.

Don’t cry. You can’t let him see you cry. If you cry, he wins. Don’t give him the satisfaction.

Gilbert shoves Ethan away from him and turns his back to us, muttering something to himself. I rub my hand and when I look at it I can see that two of my knuckles are already starting to bruise.

“Are you okay?” Ethan whispers to me. He reaches out for my hand gently.

I pull it away from him. “I’m fine.” I turn from him coldly and pace the lobby to try and cool my emotions. I am grateful for Ethan because I’m not entirely certain what might have transpired had he not been there to get between us, but I don’t want him to touch me. I fear touching anyone.

In a few seconds, we hear heavy footsteps coming toward us. Hank leads a group of people that I’ve never seen before. Each of them carries a bladed weapon or club with him. They are ready for battle. For a brief moment, I can’t help but echo Gilbert’s scolding to Ethan in my mind. I didn’t come here to help these people fight greyskins, but the other part of me feels what Ethan said too. Don’t we all need to just work together?

“Reports are coming in from the gymnasium that more are pouring in,” Hank says. “One must have gotten a door open somehow.”

“Why don’t you just lock them in there until the others get back?” I ask.

Hank smiles at me and shrugs. “I would rather they not have to deal with this. I can handle it. Besides, we need to contain the situation with as little noise as possible before it gets worse.” He holds up a hand in the air. “We are prepared to get rid of them, so we aren’t asking you to help us. You are guests here. This is not your fight.”

“Hadn’t planned on it,” Gilbert says under his breath.

Hank ignores him and begins to lead his people down the hallway.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” I say.

“What do you mean?” Ethan asks.

Their backs are to us as they continue into the darkness and I know that this might be an opportunity to test my new ability. Perhaps if I see something bad happen in the future, this time I will be able to prevent it.

“Hank wait!” I say. He stops and all eyes fall on me. I run ahead and reach out for his hand before he can object.

The familiar white light flashes in my eyes and I see Hank leading the charge into the gymnasium. The fight only lasts a few minutes, but Hank somehow gets cornered. He smashes the head of a greyskin but doesn’t realize that there is another greyskin lurking behind him. It reaches out and grabs his arm and, before he can move, it sinks its rotten teeth into his wrist.

I let go of his hand. An icy chill settles inside me as I stare at Hank’s face. He looks at me with a smile as usual, but he also seems confused.

“You can’t go,” I blurt out.

“I’m sorry, Waverly, but it is my duty,” he answers.

“But you can’t!”

“Waverly,” Ethan says, standing next to me. “What’s going on?”

“Why are you so worried?” Hank asks.

I want to tell him that I’ve seen the future. I want to say that I have this ability, but I know Hank won’t believe me, Ethan will think I’m crazy, and Gilbert will never let me live it down.

“I just…” I can’t get the words out. “What if you get bitten on the wrist or something?”

“It is certainly a possibility,” Hanks says. He smiles and pats me on the shoulder and then starts walking away from me.

“It’s not only a possibility,” I say. I can feel my voice shaking. “If you go down there, that will happen.”

He stops and turns to look at me, his eyebrows lowered, but he only shakes his head and continues to walk away.

“Give us weapons,” I say in desperation. “We want to help you.”

“No we don’t,” Gilbert says.

My head snaps at him. “You don’t have to.” I look at Ethan. “You don’t either.”

“I’m ready to help,” Ethan says.

Hank nods and we are each handed a sharpened broom handle. “Just try to keep your kills as quiet as possible,” he says.

Ethan and I follow the group, leaving Gilbert fuming behind us. The broom handles aren’t much, but I’ve killed greyskins with less. It will at least keep a few feet between me and the dead.

“What was that all about?” Ethan whispers to me as we trail the others. “Telling him he will get bitten?”

“It’s just a feeling is all,” I say, but this time I think having a feeling will pay off. This time, I’m going to stay close to Hank so nothing bad happens to him. It’s up to me to keep him from dying. “Just keep your eyes on Hank.”