The Mesmerized

“There aren’t any neat answers are there?”

“You tell me. How do we make sure Mommy doesn’t see us a threat?” Alec stared at her, fully expecting her to answer.

Minji shrugged. “Hell if I know. Humanity kidnapped her kid, so she’s pissed already.”

“If you’re right...”

“If I’m right...”

“And we have her kid.”

“Which could be good or bad, depending on how she reacts. My hope is that the child can help us.” Minji shoved the card into her jacket pocket with a sigh that turned her breath into icy mist.

“So we keep on the baby’s good side.” Shaking his head, Alec started to return to the shuttle bus. “We better get back on the road.”

“How will we get through?” Minji pointed toward the flocks of the mesmerized.

“Carefully,” Alec called out, and kept walking. “Very

carefully.”

Chapter 30

The sun was close to setting and the sky was awash in bright orange, pink, and gold beneath a curtain of diamond studded darkness. Minji sat in front of her husband, attempting to compel Jake to drink some water and a protein drink, but to no avail. Surrendering to dismay, she set the water aside and took Jake’s hands in her own.

Who was staring through his eyes? The child or the mother?

Ava stayed in the aisle at Minji’s side. Whenever Minji moved, Ava followed. Maybe it was her imagination, but she felt as though the entity within Ava was settling into her daughter’s body like the fingers of a puppeteer in a hand puppet. The thought made her a bit queasy.

At the rear of the shuttle bus, Simone rested next to Jesse, eyes closed, her hand lying on his forearm. At this point, Minji had given up hope Jesse would wake before the door between worlds was closed. Simone and Alec were doing their best to take care of Jake and Jesse while Minji drove, but they were only following what they’d seen Jesse do for the other patients. It wasn’t the medical care that Jesse could provide.

The one major relief was that there were no more attacks during their slow journey.

Alec hobbled up the aisle to sit near her. “We still can’t drive any further. They’re blocking the way.”

The day had been long and complicated by the occasional migration of the mesmerized across the highway, which had significantly slowed the progress of the shuttle bus. It was apparent the mesmerized were walking in a straight line to the first facility, ignoring roads and enclosures along the way. A few times Minji had witnessed fences collapsing under the onslaught of the crowds. For a period of time, the hordes flanked the highway in a distant dark wave surrounded by dust clouds, but now their path had intersected with the road again. The throngs trudged toward the first facility from all directions, gradually morphing into one large mass. Now the mesmerized filled the road as far as the eye could see and blocked their passage. Minji had parked the bus so they could eat and rest for a bit in hopes that the crowd would eventually thin.

Kissing the back of Jake’s hands, Minji longed for him to awaken. “We’ll have to go on foot, won’t we?”

“Simone can stay here like we discussed.”

“I don’t know if the other will let Bailey stay behind.”

“We need to try. It’s been thirty hours since this started, Minji. We’re running out of time.”

With a weary sigh, Minji acknowledged the truth of his statement by standing.

In the fading sunlight, Simone’s eyes glittered when she opened them. “You’re going to try? Now?”

“The mesmerized aren’t diminishing in numbers, they’re growing,” Alec answered.

Simone sat up, smoothed her hair, and pushed out of her seat. “All right. I’ll stay here until you return. And you’d better return.” The tense lines around her full lips and hunched shoulders were clear indicators of her worries.

With trembling fingers, Minji untied Ava’s leash and scooted the child along the aisle toward the front. “The keys are in the ignition, Simone.”

“I’m not leaving until you come back,” Simone snapped.

“If we don’t come back, you have to leave for Bailey’s sake. Please.”