I guided her toward the door. The males were gone; the loud footsteps as they’d run off had been clear even through the door. The ear-piercing siren was even louder when we stepped out into the hallway.
“Come this way,” Dottie said, leading me back the way she’d come when I’d caught her. “This is a fire alarm and not the attack siren. We’re supposed to gather outside in front of the building.”
I followed her outside and around the side of the building. I saw no fire and smelled no smoke. It was still the time of yearwhen the sun set early, and it was already much darker than it had been when Dottie had come in from outside. There was no glow of flames either.
As we joined the throng of people pouring out of the building, a team arrived along with Roger, Kaj’k, Jask’l, and a stern-looking female whom I’d been introduced to the first day I arrived in the settlement. I couldn’t remember her name
Roger had been the original leader of the human group, but as more people settled here, they added more representatives. Each one represented their respective residential building. Kaj’k was the one from the hunters’ compound, and Jask’l represented the mothership building.
“Where’s the fire?” the woman asked with an authoritative voice.
“My warriors are at the ready,” Kaj’k agreed. Hunter shuttles carried a decent amount of water in them. We often used it to put out the flames after burning the scourge’s bodies. It made sense that the hunters’ shuttles would be this settlement’s first defense against the flames. After all, fire did not much care what or who you were. And while it was an irreplaceable tool and weapon, it also took many lives.
It was soon clear that no one knew where the fire was, or even if there was one.
“Ror’k.”
At the sound of my name, I looked over at Jask’l. Roger had noticed us too.
If Dottie did not wish for us to be seen together, it was already too late. They waved us over.
“Kaj’k and I are going to go in to check the building with Remi’s team,” Jask’l said. “Come join us.”
I looked over at Dottie. She was already speaking with Roger. I joined Jask’l and Kaj’k, along with a group of humans in fire-retardant clothing, and we entered the building to find the source of the alarm.
“This building has older manual pull-station alarms,” explained the uniformed female named Remi explained. “That means the one that was set off will need to be reset. Hunters, you take the third floor. Joe, you and your team do this one. My team will take the second floor. When you find the triggered alarm, note the location.”
By the time we finished searching all three floors and were back outside again, the crowd had dissipated as many of the humans chose to go home instead.
Nobody found any signs of a fire, not even the residual scent of smoke. What we did find was that there were several broken internal windows. One of the windows was at the front of the library.
“The library!” Dottie looked chagrined. “But it was already closed for the day.”
“People were pushing and shoving,” Roger said. “Someone almost got trampled. We’ll get it fixed. Where was the alarm pulled?”
“Back hallway. The one that connects the gym and the library.”
Dottie met my gaze but didn’t say anything. We’d been in the back hallway. I thought of the bits and pieces of conversation we’d overheard.
Could the young males have set off the alarm? Was that what they meant by a distraction? And a distraction for what?
“Question whoever’s left and see if they saw anything,” said Roger. “I’ll be in the administrative office in the main survivor building. Come see me if you find anything.” He turned to the woman who wasn’t in uniform. “I’ll update you, Claudia, if I hear anything.
As the team of uniformed humans started to question those remaining in the crowd, many decided it was time to go.
Dottie grabbed me by the arm and started off after Roger.
”Can we talk to you in private?” Dottie said quietly to the human leader.
“Of course.” His eyes traveled down to where she still held me by the arm.
We were inside the privacy of his administrative office before long.
Dottie was direct with her words. “Ror’k and I were in that hallway. Well, actually, we were in the storage room.”
Roger raised a brow, but Dottie held a hand up and kept talking.
“We overheard a conversation. They sounded like teenage boys. I didn’t recognize any of their voices. And I only caught a few words, but I’m sure Ror’k heard more than I did with his better hearing.”
