into the center of the room was a pile of human remains, nearly ten feet high.
"What in the Christ?" Lot asked, voicing what the others were almost surely thinking themselves. Some of the bodies looked to be in an advanced state of decay and some seemed to be more recently deposited. Why anyone would go to the trouble of dragging them down here was beyond her.
"Do you think they killed each other?" Clive asked.
"If they did, then who collected all the bodies and left them like this?" Lot asked. "What..." He trailed off without finishing the thought, looked around with a dumbfounded look on his face and spoke again. "Well, I guess the good news is that it looks like the place is ours for the taking." He paused, clearly waging an internal debate with himself. "Before we start bringing people over here, we need to clean up this mess."
"Do you think that Ricco guy could have had anything to do with this?" Clive asked.
Sophie answered. "No way. He looks like he would have a hard time overpowering a child, let alone anything like this."
The door opened behind them and they all spun around as Daniel and his companion come in.
"We found them like this," Daniel said.
"I'm guessing that door is on a motor," Lot said as he walked towards it, likely trying to change the subject. He knelt down to peer underneath it. "I can see that it slopes up to the parking lot." He stood back up and redirected his flashlight into the room. "There's got to be a manual release mechanism. I'll see if I can find it."
Clive raised his light, carefully avoiding the bodies as he looked, pointing across at some vehicles parked against the wall. "Can someone see if any of those start?" Daniel's partner, seemingly composed for the time being, stumbled across to one of the trucks. Several sets of keys hung on the wall and he grabbed them. It took a while for him to find the correct key, and another few minutes of turning it over, but eventually it did start. He killed it, not wanting to waste the gas.
"Daniel, why don't the two of you head up and let everyone know that we're all right," Lot said. "Ask Rowen and Meredith to come down here but don't say anything about the bodies. Tell the others to head over to the parking ramp and get everyone loaded up. When we get all of this cleared out of here, we'll open the door and signal you all to come over."
Daniel nodded and seemed grateful for the excuse to leave. Lot walked over to the wall and pulled on a heavy chain. There was a heavy mechanical sound of something disengaging and the door pulled up slightly. Lot walked over and tried lifting it. He was able to get it to move a few inches but in the end, it took all of them to open it completely. He nodded approvingly.
"Once we get everyone over here, we can close this and re-engage the attachment to the motor. This door is so heavy, you'd need a lot of force to break through it."
Sophie just wanted to get through this and put it behind them. She walked over to the pile and reached down to grab a pair of legs. Lot and Clive ran up behind her to help as well. Soon, they were all lifting bodies and dumping them into the truck. She tried to block out as much conscious thought as she could over the next hour. It took all of her concentration to just keep herself quiet, to not dwell on the people here.
When the truck was loaded, Lot nodded to Clive. "Just get somewhere practical and dump them. Make sure you're paying attention to the gas gauge, we can't have you getting stranded somewhere." Clive nodded and jumped into the truck. This time it started right up, and it shuddered precariously as he drove out of the garage and up the ramp. Lot and the rest walked up to the parking lot, waving when they were within sight of the rest of the group. The RVs and busses started making their way down the ramps to the stadium parking lot.
It was time to move in.
-29-
One by one, the caravan drove across to the stadium. There was room down below for all of the
"What in the Christ?" Lot asked, voicing what the others were almost surely thinking themselves. Some of the bodies looked to be in an advanced state of decay and some seemed to be more recently deposited. Why anyone would go to the trouble of dragging them down here was beyond her.
"Do you think they killed each other?" Clive asked.
"If they did, then who collected all the bodies and left them like this?" Lot asked. "What..." He trailed off without finishing the thought, looked around with a dumbfounded look on his face and spoke again. "Well, I guess the good news is that it looks like the place is ours for the taking." He paused, clearly waging an internal debate with himself. "Before we start bringing people over here, we need to clean up this mess."
"Do you think that Ricco guy could have had anything to do with this?" Clive asked.
Sophie answered. "No way. He looks like he would have a hard time overpowering a child, let alone anything like this."
The door opened behind them and they all spun around as Daniel and his companion come in.
"We found them like this," Daniel said.
"I'm guessing that door is on a motor," Lot said as he walked towards it, likely trying to change the subject. He knelt down to peer underneath it. "I can see that it slopes up to the parking lot." He stood back up and redirected his flashlight into the room. "There's got to be a manual release mechanism. I'll see if I can find it."
Clive raised his light, carefully avoiding the bodies as he looked, pointing across at some vehicles parked against the wall. "Can someone see if any of those start?" Daniel's partner, seemingly composed for the time being, stumbled across to one of the trucks. Several sets of keys hung on the wall and he grabbed them. It took a while for him to find the correct key, and another few minutes of turning it over, but eventually it did start. He killed it, not wanting to waste the gas.
"Daniel, why don't the two of you head up and let everyone know that we're all right," Lot said. "Ask Rowen and Meredith to come down here but don't say anything about the bodies. Tell the others to head over to the parking ramp and get everyone loaded up. When we get all of this cleared out of here, we'll open the door and signal you all to come over."
Daniel nodded and seemed grateful for the excuse to leave. Lot walked over to the wall and pulled on a heavy chain. There was a heavy mechanical sound of something disengaging and the door pulled up slightly. Lot walked over and tried lifting it. He was able to get it to move a few inches but in the end, it took all of them to open it completely. He nodded approvingly.
"Once we get everyone over here, we can close this and re-engage the attachment to the motor. This door is so heavy, you'd need a lot of force to break through it."
Sophie just wanted to get through this and put it behind them. She walked over to the pile and reached down to grab a pair of legs. Lot and Clive ran up behind her to help as well. Soon, they were all lifting bodies and dumping them into the truck. She tried to block out as much conscious thought as she could over the next hour. It took all of her concentration to just keep herself quiet, to not dwell on the people here.
When the truck was loaded, Lot nodded to Clive. "Just get somewhere practical and dump them. Make sure you're paying attention to the gas gauge, we can't have you getting stranded somewhere." Clive nodded and jumped into the truck. This time it started right up, and it shuddered precariously as he drove out of the garage and up the ramp. Lot and the rest walked up to the parking lot, waving when they were within sight of the rest of the group. The RVs and busses started making their way down the ramps to the stadium parking lot.
It was time to move in.
-29-
One by one, the caravan drove across to the stadium. There was room down below for all of the
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