Page 84 of Protecting Bree
He entered the lobby of the building and grimaced. It was trashed. Broken glass, refuse, rotting food. This obviously wasn’t a five-star apartment building, but then again, he hadn’t expected it to be in this neighborhood. Thankfully, no one was in the lobby as Smiley strode toward a door with a sign over it, depicting a stick figure seeming to float above a set of stairs.
He kicked open the door, relieved that it really was a stairwell.
“Where are we going?” Bree asked.
“Somewhere we can regroup. Sit and rest in peace,” Smiley told her.
“I’m too heavy for you to carry. Put me down,” she insisted.
Smiley snorted as he recalled the weight of the packs he’d carried on some of his missions. Not to mention the gear they always wore. He barely felt the two rifles he had slung across his back. Carrying Bree was no hardship.
He hoped it was a good sign that they didn’t run into anyone on the way up. When they reached the top, there was a single door. He lowered Bree’s legs and held on to her for a moment, making sure she wouldn’t stumble or fall. Then he pushed her behind him as he reached for the door handle.
Holding his pistol in his free hand, ready for trouble, Smiley held his breath as he opened the door. Sunlight streamed into the stairwell, momentarily blinding them both.
Blinking…Smiley’s heart dropped.
He’d hoped to find an empty place to hole up, but instead, the rooftop seemed to be just as crowded as some of the streets filled with the homeless. There were tarpsand makeshift “homes” built with boxes and other trash. The people he spotted were all lying down in shade they’d created with their dwellings.
“Fuck,” he muttered.
He felt Bree shift behind him. She steadied herself with a hand on his back as she leaned around his body. “Over there,” she said, pointing to their right.
He saw immediately what she meant, and mentally nodded. There was a small space between two other dwellings that was shaded, where they should be able to lie down. It was also at the edge of the roof, so he’d be able to get a good visual of the city and hopefully figure out which direction they needed to go.
The only wildcards were the woman and child to the right of the space, and the older man to the left. Would they be all right with them crashing there for a while?
There was only one way to find out.
He was just opening his mouth to tell Bree to hang back, to wait here for him while he scoped out the situation, when she began to walk forward.
Catching her by the hand, he pulled her to a stop. “You can’t just walk over there,” he said.
“Why not?”
Why not, indeed. At first glance, the people on the roof looked harmless. They were either elderly or mothers with children. Everyone looked down and out. Tired. Beaten down by circumstances. But that didn’t mean they weren’t a threat. Smiley pretty much thought everyone was a threat, while it was obvious Bree wasn’t quite that cynical.
The more he thought about it, the better it would be for Bree to make first contact. He was carrying weapons,and wasdefinitelya threat. But Bree, in her ill-fitting clothes, limping slightly, with one eye almost swollen shut…she didn’t look as if she could harm a flea.
Keeping his eye on the people all around them—who were all keeping a very close eye on them, as well—Smiley and Bree made their way toward the small sliver of unoccupied space.
Bree gave the man a smile, and then turned to the woman holding a baby.
“Hola,” she said, gesturing to herself, and then to the space. She held her palms together as if pleading.
Smiley held his breath.
First the woman nodded, then the man.
Was it really that easy? He was skeptical. Nothing had been easy recently, but then again, he’d found Bree before she’d been shipped to the jungle, so maybe, just maybe, their luck was changing.
Turning, Bree beamed at him. Her obvious pleasure in having succeeded shining through loud and clear. Smiley nodded at their new neighbors, then put his hand on the small of Bree’s back and urged her forward. They had no padding, nothing soft to sit on, but at the moment, all Smiley was concerned about was getting Bree out of the sun and getting her off her feet.
He got her seated, then took a moment to look over the edge of the roof. All around him were buildings as far as he could see. In the distance, he saw the ocean. It was hard to believe he and Bree had gotten as far inland as they had. Shit, he’d obviously walked longer and faster than he’d thought when he’d first left the port.
“Smiley, get off your feet for a moment,” Bree begged, tugging at the leg of his pants.
It was hot out, and while he wanted to continue to study the landscape in the hopes that something would stick and he’d be able to figure out how to get back to the motel and his team, Smiley couldn’t deny Bree her request.
