Hugging Bailey closer, Minji plunged into the bar. With her free arm, she pushed the other victims toward the exit, hoping they’d leave. The floor was very slippery and glass crunched under her boot heels.
Ava was at the far end of the café, battering her small frame against the curved bar. Most likely she had been caught in the midst of the horde, and when they parted around the bar, she must have gotten stuck among the tables. Her Mulan backpack was askew and the leash dangled loose, the end trailing through the liquid on the floor.
Reaching her daughter, she gripped one of Ava’s shoulders and rotated her about. A whimper escaped Minji’s lips when she saw the little girl’s bloodied nose and inexpressive eyes. Ava immediately swiveled around and slammed into the bar again. Minji dragged her daughter about and pinned her in place against the bar with a knee planted against the girl’s thighs. It was difficult to juggle Bailey on her hip and tend to Ava, but she was relieved that she’d found Ava so quickly. Grabbing some napkins from the bar, she dabbed at Ava’s bruised nose, wiping away the blood, gently squeezing it to staunch the flow. It didn’t feel broken. Ava continually tried to turn around throughout the process, but Minji wouldn’t let her.
“Ava, I don’t know if you can hear me or understand me, but I’m going to get you out of here.”
Her voice sounded obscenely loud without the normal hubbub of the shoppers.
Securing the backpack around Ava’s shoulders and gripping the end of the leash, she heaved Ava onto her other hip. Ava didn’t resist, but Minji could sense the tension in her slim body when the little girl twisted her face in the direction the horde had taken earlier.
The young mother staggered through the bar, evading the transfixed customers. She was almost to the door when she saw an older man with white hair and watery blue eyes watching her trek. Unlike the others, he was not bungling about trying to rejoin the horde. He merely stared, his gaze flicking from Minji’s face to those of her daughters.
“Hello?” Minji asked hopefully.
The man continued to study the trio.
“Excuse me, but are you immune, too?” Minji hesitated in her stride, hoping that maybe she had found someone else that was unaffected. Maybe he could assist her with rescuing Jake. “Can you help me?”
Ever so slightly, the man cocked his head. There was something eerie about the glint in his unblinking eyes.
Cautiously, Minji said, “Sir? Are you okay?”
Very slowly, the man tilted his head in the other direction, his blue eyes never leaving her face. His mouth opened and closed, reminding her of a gasping fish out of water.
The chilling touch of invisible tendrils slithered over Minji’s flesh, then the man swiveled toward the exit along with all the others in the bar. As one, they started forward. Minji immediately scampered out ahead of them, mindful not to slip on the floor. She skittered to a stop near one of the other shops and watched those inside the bar make their way out and start after the others.
Among them was the man who had been observing her and the girls.
Minji was certain he had been watching her, but now he was just another of the mesmerized. What did it mean? Had he almost awakened from whatever controlled everyone else?
“The mesmerized,” Minji whispered, naming the victims of the horrific event unfolding around her.
Casting one last wary glance around, Minji lugged her children toward the escalators, all the while praying that her husband was still alive.
Chapter 6
Minji was almost to the escalators when she gave up on carrying both girls after nearly losing her footing several times on the slick floor. It didn’t help that her wet socks caused her feet to slip around inside her boots. Setting Ava on her feet, she wrapped the end of the leash around her own wrist a few times while Ava twisted about and faced the direction of the mesmerized horde. Minji firmly took her oldest daughter’s hand and started toward the top of the descending escalator. Though Ava continued to crane her neck to gaze up the hallway, she followed, much to Minji’s relief.
The escalator continued to glide downward, but the steps were coated in blood and other fluids. Minji scooted Ava onto a step, then took the following one. A heap of bodies waited at the landing. Minji did her best to turn Bailey away from the view though it was difficult to protect the baby from the ghastly scene encompassing the shopping area. When they reached the base of the stairway, Minji was forced to shove the bodies of a young boy and two older women out of her way with one foot. It wasn’t easy, but she managed to clear a small path. Gingerly, Min
ji sidled past the bodies, and Ava scuttled along behind her.
Sorrowfully, Minji realized she would have to secure her daughters so she could climb over the bodies surrounding the waterfall in order to reach her husband.
“Oh, shit,” she murmured, guilt and angst eating at her.
How could she keep Ava from following the other mesmerized and Bailey from crawling after her? The baby had an iron grip on her dreads and was obviously awfully frightened. For a brief second, Minji wanted to sit on the floor and cry. There was so much death and the task before her was intimidating. After taking a moment to evaluate the area, she dragged Ava to a large vase with a huge fake tree spouting out of the top.
“Bailey, I know you’re not going to like this, but Mommy needs to get Daddy.”
Minji set the baby on the floor and speedily wrapped the leash around the base of the pot. Bailey crawled to her mother’s side and tried to climb into her arms. Tears stinging her eyes, Minji kissed Bailey’s cheek, and then finished knotting the cord. She’d tied it at the middle of the leash so there was leeway on both ends. She set the baby next to the vase and tied one end of the leash around her chubby tummy. Guilt weighed heavily on her as she made it snug enough so Bailey couldn’t slip free.
Ava strained to walk away on one end of the leash while Bailey cried and tried to crawl toward Minji on the other. Wiping tears from her face, Minji took several deep breaths to calm her wildly beating heart and steady her nerves.
“I’ll be right back, Bailey. Don’t cry, baby. I’ll be right back.”
Minji stood and turned toward the waterfall. The beautifully decorated atrium was now a place of horrors, but she didn’t focus too long on the bodies. Hands trembling at her sides, she gingerly stepped over the corpses.