The Day After by Andrew Baze

Author:Andrew Baze [Baze, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780983505327
Amazon: 0983505322
Publisher: Max Publications
Published: 2014-05-03T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Katy felt a little bit better after her short rest, and thought about continuing her trek home. Even though she was pretty well concealed behind the dumpster, anyone walking up the alley would see her, and she didn’t feel like dealing with anyone else. She felt vulnerable just sitting there, and decided to improve her situation.

She crept to the alley entrance and looked around. The coast was clear. She stepped onto the sidewalk and headed south. A minute later, she reached the end of the block and crossed the street. She would update Jeff in a minute, she thought, when she had a better idea of which route she was going to take.

As Katy slowly crossed the street, she scanned right and left. Two blocks to her right, she saw four young men striding into the intersection. To her horror, one of them pointed at her and shouted. The men all turned and stared at her.

The red backpack! Katy cursed. It made her too easy to spot. She should have left it in the alley, since it was practically empty anyway.

The men were too far away for Katy to tell, but she wondered whether one of them might be one of the men she had fought with earlier. Maybe they were part of a gang. It didn’t matter. This new group of punks was clearly looking for her, and thanks to the bright red beacon of a backpack, they’d found her.

The four young men broke into a run. Without thinking, Katy dashed across the street, just out of their line of sight, up to the closest doorway, the front of a four-story apartment building. She heard their shouts getting closer.

She pushed the entry door open and flinched when the smell hit her. The lobby was filthy. She ignored it and darted to a nearby door marked “Stairs,” pushed it open with her left arm and ducked inside the stairwell. There was nowhere else to go but up. Weak and fighting waves of nausea, Katy grasped the railing and pulled herself upward, step by step.

The exertion had reopened the wound on her arm. As Katy stopped on the second floor landing to catch her breath, she glanced downward and saw drops of blood on the concrete floor, leading back down the stairs. They clearly marked her trail.

Katy wasn’t sure her pursuers would be perceptive enough to notice the trail of blood, but decided to take advantage of the situation. Katy smeared her bloody hand on the metal door and the door handle, trying to make it impossible to miss. She only had seconds before someone might come looking in the stairwell. She entered the second floor hallway and left several handprints along the right wall, as if she’d needed to brace herself. Then she touched the two closest doors, leaving more handprints. After that, she threw her backpack down toward the far end.

Katy stumbled back into the stairwell. Careful to keep pressure on the wound and not leave another blood trail, she headed up the stairs again.

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