iRobotronic Read online

  “I'm sorry, but we have the safety of the residents to consider. And last time they found out about you, we nearly had a military coup.”

  Olga and her big mouth. On one hand, Seffy knew the nurse was right to alert Fenn, but she didn't have to like it.

  Quarantined. Again.

  “You will stay to this hallway. You will not be allowed to come to the cafeteria, library, garden—”

  “You just said I couldn't leave the hallway. None of those other places are anywhere near my room, so you're being redundant.”

  Fiona firmed her mouth. “Nevertheless, you will stay away from others. A food box will be delivered to your door weekly and you can call if you have any medical requirements.” She lifted her pointy little chin. “Any questions?”

  “How long will I be quarantined?”

  “At least until your blood samples come back and we know what we're dealing with. After that, I don't know. You'll just have to hope Eugene and Gareth can figure out a way to get you back to the right place.”

  Seffy gritted her teeth and tried to imagine days of dark and lonely misery. “Why do I have to be confined so radically? Nothing I have is contagious.”

  “We don't know that.”

  “Yes, you do. You'd all be sick from me by now. I spent two and a half days with Trent. Have you tested his blood?”

  Something flickered in her eyes. “Just stay here until further notice.” She swept from the room with all the dignity her five foot frame could muster, which in her case was quite considerable.

  As soon as she was gone, Seffy kicked the door and cursed. At this point she honestly couldn't say what was worst—killers with shotguns.

  Or Fugere.

  ***

  Olga sent Seffy a little note, apologizing for spilling the dead mosquito news and gave instructions on how to care for her stitches and gun shot wound. Seffy spent the next three nights awake, all the lights on, terrified by nightmares of zombie Clay and Popov, and the rotting corpses of all the men she'd killed, and spent the days exhausted, depressed, and weepy.

  Even Trent stayed away. She must be sick.

  Her food box at least contained some fresh fruits and vegetables, along with the protein shake mix Olga insisted she drink. Gareth and the girls called and chatted with her on the phone, commiserating with her bad luck. Lani and Addison also excitedly shared the news that some residents were interested in their services. Seffy was glad for them, she really was, it was just hard to show enthusiasm when she was so dejected.

  To pass the nights, Seffy drew diagrams and made notes of the time travel mess she was in, trying to make sense of it. So far she had nothing more than a tangled web of weirdness. When that got boring, she wrestled with her conscience about the idea of sneaking outside. She didn't care if the sky was pink, green or polka dotted, she just wanted to see it. She wanted to breathe whatever apocalyptic chemicals were blowing outside, she wanted to feel the probably toxic wind flutter through her hair.

  On the fourth day, she began to make plans to get out. She decided she'd need to find a pair of coveralls, a baseball cap, and a flashlight for crawling through the walls. She dressed in a black T-shirt, some faded blue jeans and the tennis shoes from her L.A. adventures. Seffy brushed her hair, noting that it was already beginning to grow out, and mentally plotted how to get to the nearest janitor's closet without getting caught.

  She heard a knock at her door and her heart sank. What bad news did she get to hear now? But when she opened her door, the hallway was empty. Seffy closed the door, went to the closet and yanked it open. Trent stared at her with an annoyed expression, but looking yummy in a navy colored button down and Levis.

  “Thanks a lot.”

  She gazed at him, taken aback by the fact she was actually glad to see him. “What did I do?”

  “Mouthed off to Fiona about me being exposed to you.” He held up his bandaged arm for her inspection. “They took about a gallon of blood and quarantined me for three days.”

  “It's for the safety of the residents,” she mocked in Fiona's high voice.

  He grinned. “I've been climbing the walls.”

  “So have I. What stopped you from coming here?”

  “They had me down in the infirmary for observation.”

  “Whoa. I thought I had it bad.”

  He looked her up and down. “Going somewhere?”

  She put her hand on her hip. “What makes you say that?”

  “That determined look in your eye...and shoes.”

  Seffy looked down. She usually was barefoot or in slippers in her room. “I was planning on taking a little field trip.”

  “Without me? How dare you.”

  “I thought you were avoiding me like everyone else.”

  Trent walked over and loosely linked his arms around her waist. “I would never avoid you.”

  Seffy stepped away, still conflicted about her feelings for him. “So what did your tests show?”

  “Initial results came in normal. But they sent off blood work to some outside labs. I won't know for a couple more weeks.”

  “The compound medical clinic should be worrying about finding a donor match for Fenn, not this silliness. So I'm dangerous to insects. Big whoop.”

  He smiled. “Where were you headed?”

  “Well, I had kind of a vague plan to go outside.”

  He shook his head. “Sorry, babe. They've planned for that contingency and have guards posted at both ends of the hallway.”

  Seffy dropped her head in her hand. “Damn.” Hot tears stung her eyes. “I have got to get out of here.”

  Trent put his hands on her shoulders. “Don't worry, Uncle Trent will help you.”

  She shook her head, trying not to smile. “Uncle Trent?”

  He slipped his arm around her shoulder. “What about Cousin Trent? Or maybe Brother Trent? I'm just trying to figure out what floats your boat, babe.”

  She pushed him away. “Gareth and I are in no way related, you dork.”

  “Well, then it'll just have to be Sexy Neighbor Trent.” He grabbed her hand. “C'mon, I want to show you something that might help.”

  “What?”

  “Let's just say when I said I'd been climbing the walls, I meant figuratively and literally.”

  Seffy made a face. “The last time you showed me something it was a basement full of zombie victims.”

  “I promise you'll like this one.”

  Seffy followed him through the passageway connecting their rooms, blinking away moisture from her eyes. Despite his relentless flirtation, she was suddenly so thankful for his company.

  When they got to his room, she watched as he climbed onto his desk and shifted aside a ceiling panel. He looked down at her. “Do you think you can handle it up here?”

  She nodded. “Last time I was seriously sick and overly medicated, so I should be okay.” Seffy clambered onto the desk and accepted a hoist from Trent up toward the opening. She grabbed at the framing while he lifted her by the waist all the way up. Once she was stable, he joined her in the ceiling and replaced the panel.

  “Are you ready?”

  “I guess.”

  “Tell me if you start feeling faint.”

  “I won't get faint. Gosh.”

  After grabbing a flashlight he must've kept up there, he turned it on and led the way, crawling on boards that spanned the ceiling joists. After a few twists and turns, she noticed they were heading into an area that wasn't as dark. They turned another corner and Seffy's eyes widened.

  Sunlight streamed through a skylight in the low ceiling. Below it was an area covered by plywood, making a kind of floor. Aside from about six feet of clearance directly under the skylight, the rest of the room sloped away to a low of about four and a half feet. Enough to sit upright and bask in all that light.

  “How did you find this?” she asked, her voice reflecting the awe she felt.

  “I was bored, of course. Decided to follow some of the wiring and plumbing and s
ee where it went. I found this the day before we left for L.A.”

  “Why isn't it covered with blankets and pillows? You should have books here and empty food containers everywhere. I mean, I'd live here if I could.”

  He laughed. “Feel free. I don't own it.”

  She looked at him, her brain going a hundred miles an hour. “Can we get some blankets now?”

  His expression told her he was pleased with her response. “Sure.”

  They spent the next two hours going from Trent's room to the Light Room—as they dubbed it—outfitting it as a leisure room. They spread several layers of blankets for cushion and added a few pillows. When they were finished, Seffy crawled to the center of the blankets and flopped onto her back, closing her eyes. The warmth from the sunlight seeped into her bones, making her feel sleepy.

  “Check this out.” Trent reached up and flipped some kind of mechanism. The skylight popped open a few inches and locked into position. Fresh air poured into the space, causing the edges of the blankets to flip over.

  “Omigosh. This is perfect.” She tilted her head back and reveled in it. She sensed Trent scooting next to her. He slid his arm under her head and pulled her close.

  “Now it's perfect,” he whispered.

  She opened her eyes and looked up at him. “Thank you.”

  He grinned and tapped his lips. “Right here, if you mean it.”

  Seffy was too happy to be annoyed. Propping herself on one elbow, she leaned down and gently pressed her lips to his. When she opened her eyes, she saw his surprise. Before he could react—or take things further—she shimmied back down to where she was resting her head on his arm. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep.

  ***

  Trent dreamed about fighting with a wildcat. Then he woke up and realized Seffy was thrashing in his arms. The room was pitch black, which meant it was night, and that there must be a new moon. Great.

  “Hey, Seffy. It's Trent. Wake up. You're having a nightmare.” He managed to sit up, but was having a hard time getting her to hold still. He could tell by her frantic breathing that she was terrified and crying. Groping for the flashlight, he found it and flicked it on. Illuminating his face, he said, “Sef, it's me. You need to calm down.”

  He couldn't see her but her movements slowed. He moved the beam to see her face. The light cast harsh shadows, making her eyes look black and feral. Tears glistened on her cheeks as she tried to catch her breath.

  He lit up his watch. “It's just after midnight. We can stay here until it's light enough to see, or we can try to get back to your room with the flashlight.”

  “I want to go back.”

  The tremor in her voice shook him. “Okay,” he said slowly, “but it's going to be hard to see.”

  She nodded. Trent squared his shoulders, not looking forward to doing this in the dark with a freaked-out girl. “Do you want to tell me me about your dream?”

  “No.”

  He tried to reconcile this version of her after the experience of having her sleep in his arms. Talk about night and day. “Well, then, here's how we're going to do this. I'll have you hold the flashlight, but since you'll be following me, I'll need you to hold the beam so I can see where I'm going.”

  “Okay.”

  Looking at her bleak expression one last time, he led the way out of the space. The trip back was painstaking and difficult, made more so by the fact that Seffy sounded like she was going to hyperventilate. She tried to keep the light beam where he could see the path, but her hand was shaking so much, it was nearly useless. Trent wished he would've thought to bring some other kind of light source. Of course he hadn't planned on falling asleep for so long.

  After thirty minutes on a trip that should've taken ten, they arrived at his room. Trent moved the marked panel and lowered himself onto the desk. Next, he helped Seffy down. His room was dark, too, so he waited until she was on the floor before closing up the ceiling. He jumped off the desk and hit the light switch, only to find Seffy heading for the passageway.

  When he got to her room, she'd turned on every light and was pacing in the middle of the floor.

  “I need more light. It's still too dark.”

  Trent took hold of her arms. “It's plenty light in here. You've got to relax.”

  “No, it's too dark.” She plucked at the front of his shirt, breathing erratically and looking everywhere else but at him. He led her to the couch and got her to sit down where she held her head in her hands and closed her eyes. When she looked up, her face was twisted in pain and she began crying again.

  Trent noticed that her skin seemed more translucent. Small purple veins were visible around her eyes making her look more frail than ever. He wondered if it had anything to do with her blood chemistry...or just plain stress. “Tell me what's wrong.”

  She ran her hand through her hair and pulled on it. “God.”

  “C'mon, you gotta tell me something. Was it dark in your dream?”

  She looked up at him, her brown eyes hollow and sad. “Trent, it's dark everywhere.” She closed her eyes again, and her breathing became labored. “It's like every bad thing in my head is churning together in a mental puree.”

  He put his arm around her and tugged her close. She rested her cheek against his collarbone.

  “I'll stay with you until morning.”

  She shook her head. “No. I don't want to be a user. I just use people up. That's all I do—”

  He gave her a little shake. “Seffy, you're not using anyone. You've got to calm down, okay?”

  When she looked up at him, he knew she didn't see him. She was somewhere else inside her mind. After everything she'd been through, he wasn't surprised, but he was still wigged. “Who told you you're a user?”

  She furrowed her brow as another tear spilled down her cheek. “I don't know. I can't remember.”

  “If you ask me, it sounds like something Addison would say.”

  She swallowed and sat up. “Maybe it was Gareth.”

  Trent shook his head. “I don't know what kind of thing you two have, but I know he does care for you. He'd never say that.”

  Her darks eyes were confused. “I need to talk to him. To explain.”

  “You'll have to wait. It's the middle of the night.”

  She looked at at him, as if searching his expression for confirmation. He showed her his watch. She stared at it, but the numbers didn't seem to register.

  “Are you sleepy?”

  “I'm always tired. But I don't want to go to sleep.”

  “Because of the nightmares?”

  Seffy nodded.

  Trent needed a way to get her mind off her dark thoughts. He saw a stack of videos on top of the TV set. Someone must've brought them by for her to watch while she recovered from her little alternate universe side-trip. “Do you want to watch a movie?” He got up and looked at the titles. “Have you seen any of these?”

  “No. Lani thought I might need something to do, I guess.”

  “How about Pink Panther?”

  She shrugged. “Sure.”

  Trent turn on the TV and started the movie. He returned to the couch and pulled her close. She rested her head against him. As the familiar theme song began, she stared up at him for several minutes.

  “Why are you doing this?”

  “What?”

  “Putting up with me...all of this.”

  Trent returned her look. “You know why.”

  Her weary eyes surveyed him. “You must have issues.”

  He smiled. “Probably.”

  Seffy settled against him. Within fifteen minutes, she was asleep and her clenched hands relaxed. Trent watched her face, wondering what hellishness was going on inside her head.

  One thing he knew for sure—Gareth held the key.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Seffy woke up on the couch and tried to remember how she got there. After a moment of puzzling it out, she closed her eyes. God, what a mental case. Slowly, she sat up and ran her
hand through her hair. Trent had put a blanket over her at some point. No wonder he'd left. He was probably sick of her psychosis.

  She got up and looked at the clock. It was just after seven, presumably in the morning. Maybe it would help if she had some actual daylight. Seffy thought of the Light Room. She'd loved seeing the sun, but getting there...getting back made her think she might never see it again.

  Despite getting hours and hours of sleep, she still felt bone-deep fatigue. She took a shower, hoping it would wake her up, but she felt depressed when she saw her dreary face in the mirror afterward.

  No wonder Gareth was weird around her these days.

  Gareth. She needed to talk to him. Seffy found an outfit that didn't make her feel like a hippie, styled her hair and tried to cover up the marks of exhaustion on her face with makeup. Before she left for Gareth's room, she felt she should say hi to Trent. Let him know she wasn't cowering in a corner, drooling. But he didn't answer her knock. Either he wasn't there or her shenanigans had worn him out.

  Seffy headed back toward Gareth's room, trying to still the butterflies in her stomach. Why should she be nervous talking to her oldest friend—the one who knew everything about her? She'd hardly seen him since she'd returned from the future. Maybe he had some news on what went wrong before. She hoped he didn't mind her early visit.

  When she arrived at his door, Seffy took a deep breath and knocked. Only at the last moment did she remember to smile.

  ***

  “Isn't it a bit early for a visit?”

  Trent attempted a charming smile. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

  Olga's brows went up a notch. “Is it about Seffy?”

  He nodded.

  She opened her door all the way. “You better come in then.”

  Trent entered her living room and sank onto the overstuffed couch.

  Olga pulled her well-worn apron off. “I was just making coffee. Would you like some?”

  “Sure.”

  As she bustled into the kitchen, Trent swallowed. He still wasn't sure if coming here had been the best idea. He just couldn't think of an alternative. She returned a few minutes later with two steaming mugs.