The Rain: The End, Marietta Standlee [year 7 reading list TXT] 📗

amused grin. "You haven't done anything yet."

"Didn't you just see me shoot that maniac?" I ask, grinning. "What else do I need to do around here?"

"Start cleaning up?" Hugo suggests, nodding towards the dead bodies.

I pull my lip up towards my nose in disgust. "Really? Don't we have trainees for that, Hugo?"

Hugo laughs good-naturedly, "Sorry, I'll have to take Sean to the medic. He's injured."

"Come on, you lazy wench, give me a hand," Colin commands, walking towards the first dead body.

With a dramatic sigh, I follow him, grabbing the maniac's feet and help Colin throw it onto the dumb truck, while Kat and Derek grab the other one.

"Alright, now really, I killed, I cleaned up. Can I get some food now and go to bed?" I demand.

Derek knocks his fist against the dumb truck, letting the driver know he can leave. "Come on, I'll show you our accommodations." He offers.

I watch Hugo and Sean disappear towards a waiting Humvee; I don't think Sean needs to see a medic, but whatever, without saying anything, I follow Derek to another waiting Humvee.

"The area is still teeming with maniacs; we'll be back tomorrow morning." Derek states.

"Don't they just come out for noise anymore?" I ask as I slide into the back seat, next to Colin.

"No, they don't." Kat answers. "It's creepy; it's as if they know they're being rounded up and are hiding, like normal people would. It is really slow going and makes me feel like a killer."

"It was a long day," Derek adds. "One guy was actually hiding underneath a sink, inside the cupboards."

"Wow, are they evolving?" I wonder.

"Your guess is as good as ours. Who knows what those nanobots tell them to do." Derek ventures.

He steers the Humvee towards a large hospital. I guess we could have gone with Sean and Hugo because they're stopping by the Emergency entry. Baffled I exclaim, "Really?"

"What?" Kat asks, craning her neck.

I point towards the Emergency entrance where Hugo is helping Sean out of the truck, and I watch a nurse sprint towards them. Derek laughs out loud. "Sean has had the hots for that girl for some days now. Good for him."

Well, that explains it, I guess and note that Colin, seems more amused, than surprised.

"Waste of resources," he mutters.

"Oh, come on." Kat chides. "No harm done."

"Don't be a sour puss," I add and punch him playfully in the arm.

"Maybe I should check that nurse out too." Colin teases.

"You can try." I challenge.

Derek stops the Humvee by the regular entrance, guarded by four men in militia uniform. They actually salute us as we exit the Humvee and enter the building. I watch Colin and the others salute back and feel silly copying them, but I would have felt even worse, not doing so.

"This building is secure. Pick any empty room you like; food is in the cafeteria." Derek tells us.

"Food or shower?" Colin leaves the choice up to me.

Since I haven't really done anything to warrant clamoring for a shower, I decide in favor of my grumbling stomach. "You know, I think this is the first time we ever worked without getting dirty," I remark.

Colin looks thoughtful for a second. "Don't get used to it, princess."

I roll my eyes. Whatever.

In the cafeteria, we're greeted by more familiar faces and load our trays with food that doesn't even come close to measuring up to Alfredo's standards but looks appetizing, nevertheless.

"Do you think we can talk Alfredo into coming with us?" I ask Colin after we sit down and take our first bites.

He pretends to think it over. "We can try." He answers mischievously. "That would serve Blake right."

I laugh at the plotting face he is making. "Poor Maggs, though, she's pregnant after all." I muse.

"Yeah, there is that." Colin shakes his head. "Well, we all have to make sacrifices for the cause."

Familiar faces join us at the table. And after a while, Sean walks in, his arm draped around a pretty brunette wearing scrubs; I guess that has to be his nurse. Good for him, I think, as I wave them over.

Chapter 7

It's nice to sleep in a bed for a change, even if it is a hospital bed. Colin found us one of the oversized ones, and we are all snuggled up in it when it's time to say goodnight. Several layered blankets make up for the plastic mattress's discomfort.

Bright and early the next day, we take our showers, eat breakfast, and leave the hospital to wait for the Humvee to pick us up. While we're standing by the stairs, I feel like somebody is watching me. Nervously I check our surroundings. Several buildings surround us, but all appear empty.

Colin looks at me, questioning. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know, I feel like somebody is watching me." I explain.

He steps in front of me and checks on our surroundings as well, but he too doesn't see anything suspicious. I try to laugh it off. "Probably just nerves.  I need a vacation."

He doesn't seem to think it's funny and is just about to say something when our ride arrives with Sean, Derek, Kat, Drew, and a few others I haven't met yet. "Are you going to be okay today?" Colin asks worriedly.

I realize he's referring to my objection of stalking and killing maniacs, I nod affirmatively. I made up my mind last night that this needs to be done, we need room for all of Fort Lewis' new inhabitants. And they need a city free of danger to live in. After all, that's what and who we're fighting for. I have fully committed myself to not be sidetracked by my conflicted feelings. Right or wrong, for this mission they're the enemy and the enemy needs to be exterminated.

We pass some boarded-up houses, and Derek explains, "Those have already been cleared."

"Nobody can sneak by the boards?" Colin double checks.

Kat shakes her head. "They're sealed. We inspect them before we move people in. Even with their newfound intelligence, the maniacs shouldn't be able to