Clearly distraught, Arthur took out his cellphone and stared at the screen. “I need to get home. I’ve got my own family to take care of...”
Minji speared him with a sharp look. “I’ve got two little girls and a wounded husband right here, right now. Your family is far away from all this, and hopefully, they’re safe. How is not helping me going to make things right with your family?”
“Fine,” Arthur said, his shoulders slumping in surrender. “What do you want me to do?”
“Help me pull this out, okay?”
It took several tries to get the stretcher out of the ambulance. There was a trick to releasing the wheels that mystified them until Arthur realized they had to let go of a red bar that extended the wheels to make them snap into position. When they finally rolled it onto the asphalt, Minji exhaled with relief.
“Now what?”
“We go get my husband.” Holding out the colorful child leash to Arthur, she continued, “Please hold onto this so my daughter doesn’t follow the others.”
“What if she starts to try to eat me?”
“Really?” Minji widened her eyes in disbelief. “Really?”
“They look like zombies,” Arthur said defensively, but took the end of the leash.
Ava remained unmoving.
Giving Arthur a disapproving look, Minji wondered if she’d be able to put up with the man, but she needed help with Jake.
Bailey was dozing on her shoulder, so Minji shifted the baby so her other arm could take the brunt of the weight. It was sweet relief to her exhausted muscles. “Okay. I’ll pull the stretcher and you push it. Don’t let go of the leash, okay?”
“I’ve got it,” Arthur snapped. “But if she tries to bite me...”
Minji rolled her eyes.
Chapter 10
Taking hold of the handle at the end of the stretcher, Minji started the trek back to The Venetian, the diaper bag beating a steady staccato against her hip. There were a few dead bodies sprawled on the driveway, but they were easy to scoot around. Behind them, Treasure Island burned and the loud booms of explosions rent the air. Plumes of black smoke marred the skyline and the bitter reek made Minji’s eyes smart. Rushing through the front doors into the casino, the smell changed from metallic to organic.
“It smells worse,” Arthur complained.
“It’s all the dead.”
“Are you sure your husband is alive?”
“Yes, I’m sure,” Minji said, finding it increasingly difficult not to scream at the man.
The march to where Jake lay beside the waterfall was generally silent. Arthur grumbled whenever they had to maneuver around bodies, but mostly he was mute. Minji tried to muster sympathy for the man in spite of his surliness. It had to be difficult for him to be so far away from loved ones. She was worried sick for Jake’s parents and her own, but she had to concentrate on the task at hand. If they could work together, maybe they could find a way out of this disaster and find help.
Jake was where she’d left him. Still unconscious, her husband had not stirred, much to her relief. Several of the severely wounded mesmerized crawled along the floor in an attempt to join the others on their silent trek. A few blocked the way to the base of the fountain. Minji was very unnerved by the crawlers and waited warily for them to drag themselves out of her path. She hated to admit it, but she could now see the zombie-like aspect to them that unnerved Arthur. Glancing at Ava, she realized her love for her daughter colored her vision. Ava’s unexpressive appearance was very perturbing, but Minji couldn’t allow doubts to enter her mind. She would save her family.
“Now what?” Arthur queried irritably.
Minji picked up the baby backpack she’d discarded earlier and handed it to Arthur. “Help me get into this.”
It took a few minutes to fasten the backpack securely to Minji’s back. Bailey was so exhausted she didn’t even stir when Arthur strapped her into the apparatus while Minji rubbed the cramped muscles in her arms. Having Bailey secure on her back made it easier for her to weave through the bodies to Jake’s side. His long blond hair and clothing were soaked through, and he appeared disturbingly pale in the light pouring through the skylight. Resting her hand against his neck, Minji anxiously searched for his pulse and was relieved when her fingertips found the familiar, steady beat.
“I knew you were too tough to die.”
“So how do we get him on the stretcher? There’s like a dozen...bodies.” Arthur stared at the corpses with a combination of fear and disgust.
“We move them aside.”
“What if they’re contaminated?”