He startled. “Huh?”
“Draw me a map to the City.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“Yeah, I heard you, but I don’t understand.” He looked me up and down. “Did one of them things touch ya or somethin’ and I not know about it? Because you’re soundin’ like a nut job, my friend.”
“I’m taking Mia. Right now.” I clenched my fists—not to be threatening, but because I had no time for this. “You heard what Ell said. It’s an emergency, and there are doctors in the City, aren't there? You said so yourself.”
“Well…yeah, but Grady, take a gander outside a second. No, just use your ears. You hear those evil bastards? ‘Cause I do.”
I said nothing, but yes, I heard them. They weren’t important, though. I didn’t think of them as monsters who could kill me, but as roadblocks I meant to smash through. My life wasn’t important either. The only important thing was getting Mia and her baby somewhere safe, somewhere they could be helped.
“It’s only a few miles from here, right?”
Ramsey nodded. “Give or take. But in this weather, with them things out there, you’ll be lucky to get one mile, let alone a few.”
“I’ll get there.”
“Not before she…” He looked at Mia across the room and trailed off. I imagine what he would’ve said was Not before she loses the baby. In spite of it being negative, it was a fair thought. The blanket under her was soaked with blood, a lot of it. Still, at the time, I felt like breaking Ramsey’s nose for even thinking such a thing.
Refraining from violence—there’d be enough of that in the future—I said in a venomous tone, “Just draw me a map.”
That did the trick. Ramsey hustled into the kitchen, mumbling, “All right, all right, just gotta find somethin’ to write with.”
When I turned around, Ell, Stone, Mia, and even Chewy were studying me. The wind moaned, drowning out the voices of the monsters. I heard them laughing, banging on the walls, and screaming. Some even went on in singsong tones, “The ba-by is ouuuurrrrrs! The ba-by is ouuuuurrrrrrs!”
Mia heard this too. How could she not?
“You’re crazy,” Stone said. “Always gotta be the hero.” He shook his head. “Man, you’re such a dumbass.” But he was smiling, almost like he was proud of me. Well, it was more like he was relieved it wasn’t him taking on this burden.
I stepped toward Eleanor. There were tears in her eyes. One corner of her mouth slackened. I grabbed her hands and turned to Mia. “Are you willing to go, Mia?”
“Are you really asking me that?” She made like she was going to stand. Halfway through the motion, another contraction cramped her up, and she froze with the pain. Stone fell out of his chair and limped to catch her before she tumbled. He was quicker than Ell and I, and he steadied her before we got there.
“Seven minutes apart,” Ell said. “If you’re going to go, you’re going to have to go fast. Three to four minutes is usually when you’re supposed to go to the hospital. When that happens, she’s in active labor.”
“Oh Christ!” Mia moaned. Her earlier breathing exercises went out the window. Instead, she just took in as much air as possible, held it until she was red in the face, and exhaled loudly. “I wish my mom was here.”
“But I am, Mia. I’m right outside. Come to me and I can help you…” called one of the wraiths. It sounded close to the window on our left, near the theater’s front doors and ticket booth. Before I could open my mouth and tell Mia to ignore it, she screamed, “FUCK OFF!”
The monster stopped talking, but it cackled, and this screeching laughter was enough to raise the hair on my arms.
I looked over my shoulder. Ramsey was hunched over a table, scribbling on the back of a magazine. He’d lift the magic marker every few seconds, shake it, and then go back to scribbling.
“ETA on that map, Ramsey?” I said.
“Almost done!”
While we waited, Ell gathered up a bag of supplies for us. Mia wasn’t able to walk well on her own, so I carried her to the snowmobile parked in the lobby. Stone trailed behind us with a flashlight. Despite the fire, the air had grown as cold as the outside since Ramsey’s Battery Box malfunctioned. And beyond the front doors, the monsters awaited.
Eleanor loaded the bag into the cab before I helped Mia in. She was wrapped in so many blankets, all you could see was her small face, but she hadn’t stopped shivering.
“Ramsey!” I shouted. “C’mon!”
Thirty seconds later, his boots were thudding against the lobby floor. The magazine, a Cosmopolitan with a scantily clad sitcom actress on the cover, flapped in his hand. Gasping for breath, he shoved it in my face.
“Best I could do, man. I think it’s right—God, I hope it’s right. I ain’t much of an artist, but the trip is mostly a straight shot until you get to here.” He tapped the shakily drawn road nearest the City. “Then it curves. There’s a covered tunnel bridge just before the gates. Last I remember, the entrance and exit was pretty well choked up with snow. Once you get through it, you’re just about home free, Grady. That is, if they even let your asses in…”
“Can we go around the bridge?”
Ramsey eyed Mia and tapped his watch. “Don’t think so. It’ll be slow going enough as it is. Hopefully someone’ll see ya before, and come and get ya.”
“Hopefully,” I repeated, thinking It is what it is. I then stuck my hand out for Ramsey.
He shook it. “Godspeed, Grady.”
“Thanks.” I nodded toward the others. “Keep these guys safe for me, yeah?”
“I’ll do my best, man. And as soon as we get some daylight, I’ll have the other snowmobile up and runnin’, and they’ll be comin’ your way. Hell, I might even join ‘em.
