“I have a feeling every road will be like this,” Simone answered. “And with the way things are deteriorating, we shouldn’t take detours.”
“I say we try the straight shot unless it becomes impassable. I hate to say it but,” Minji gestured toward the devastation in the direction of the airport and the Luxor, “all that destruction is thinning the herd.”
With a weary, defeated sigh, Arthur dipped his head. “Fine.”
With Bailey snoozing on her back, Minji threaded her way through the tangle of bodies and wreckage. She attempted to keep a little distance between their small group and the crowd of mesmerized, but it became increasingly impossible to maneuver through the maze of crashed cars. Eventually, they ended up as part of the silent parade.
The journey was agonizingly slow at times. Arthur made it more difficult by jumping whenever one of the mesmerized brushed against him. Once he nearly toppled the stretcher.
“They’re not zombies,” Minji hissed.
Arthur shot her a doubting look, but helped with the stretcher again.
Simone remained silent, watching the surroundings intently. Like Arthur, she appeared wary of the mesmerized, but wasn’t as high-strung. Minji understood their discomfort. Being engulfed in the crowd of mesmerized was eerie. The vacant expressions, the terrible wounds, and slow pace were unnervingly reminiscent of the zombies in horror movies. Minji understood, though, that the transfixed people were victims just like her husband and daughter.
It was difficult to contain her mounting dread and revulsion. There was so much carnage and the smell of death, roasting flesh, ash, and fire made it difficult to keep calm.
Death was all around them.
A woman bleeding profusely from deep wounds staggered alongside Minji’s small group until she crumpled to the ground. The bluish tinge to her skin and the rattle of her last breath told the sad end to her life story. She’d bled to death and not even known it.
“I really, really don’t like this,” Arthur said in hushed tones.
The steady stamp of feet almost drowned out his voice.
“They’re not zombies,” Minji repeated crossly.
“Then what are they?” Arthur demanded.
“The mesmerized,” Simone replied with a wry smile.
“But what does that mean?” Jerking sharply to one side, Arthur avoided a cluster of men pushing past him. “Where are they even going?”
No one answered, since no one knew.
The Stratosphere Tower loomed ahead, a shining white marker to indicate the end of their expedition. Clouds of black smoke drifted overhead.
Staring upward at the thick haze, Minji said, “Vegas is burning and nothing will stop it.”
“We need to get out of the city,” Arthur declared.
“With the streets like this?” Simone glanced about at the smashed vehicles.
“It has to be better further out,” Arthur defiantly answered.
“Why?” Simone lifted her eyebrows. “Because you say so? How far do you think this phenomenon extends?”
“Las Vegas,” Arthur stammered. “The terrorists struck here like they did in New York on 9-11.”
Simone gave him a doubtful look.
Minji dragged the stretcher around a cluster of crumpled taxis. Within the cabs the passengers and drivers flailed about, attempting to join the other mesmerized.
“It’s not just Las Vegas. It extended further than just here,” Minji said. “We all know it. Didn’t you feel it? The attacks? The disorientation?”
“I went blind. More than once,” Simone admitted. “I even froze at one point before breaking free.”
Shuffling his feet as they skirted alongside a bus rammed into a storefront, Arthur grumbled under his breath.