The group moved as a clumsy, panicked unit.
Thomas took the lead with Kofi. Jax and Jengo brought up the rear. In the middle, Maggie and Dr. Aris supported Marcus Sterling, who had stumbled out of the shadows. The businessman was in shock, clutching his briefcase to his chest like it contained his soul.
"They're gone," Sterling was mumbling, his eyes wide and unfocused. "My bodyguards... they just... they turned. One second they were standing watch, the next they were eating each other."
"Shut up, Marcus," Dr. Aris hissed, dragging him forward. "Save the oxygen."
They reached the double doors of the Laundry Facility. The sign on the door featured a smiling cartoon elephant washing a t-shirt. It was a grotesque irony.
"Clear it," Thomas ordered.
Kofi kicked the door open and swept the room with his weapon. It was empty. The room was vast, filled with rows of massive industrial tumblers and folding tables. The air smelled of industrial detergent and bleach.
"In," Thomas said.
They piled inside, and Jengo and Kofi immediately began shoving a heavy rolling cart filled with clean linens against the glass pane of the door. Then they dragged a massive industrial dryer in front of it.
"Is that enough?" Maggie asked, her voice trembling.
"It'll hold against a push," Kofi said. "But if they figure out they can break the glass..."
"Don't give them ideas," Thomas snapped.
He walked to the center of the room, his chest heaving. He looked at his survivors. There were seven of them now. Himself, Maggie, Lucas. Kofi and Jengo. Dr. Aris. Marcus Sterling. And Jax, who was leaning against a folding table, sharpening his knife with a whetstone he'd found in a maintenance kit.
Thomas looked at Lucas. His son was standing by a large vat of detergent, staring into the swirling blue liquid.
"You okay, son?" Thomas asked. It was the first time he'd used that word since the argument in the kitchen.
Lucas looked up. "I'm not the one who got slapped, Dad."
The joke was weak, but it broke the tension. Thomas let out a short, breathy laugh. "No. I suppose I deserved that."