“How is that possible?”

She shook her head and shrugged. “Maybe we can ask Dr. Karp when we see him.”

“He did this to you?”

“Not him directly. One of his colleagues.”

“Now we’re back to the conspiracy theory,” he said.

“Yeah, except this one isn’t a theory. It’s conspiracy reality.”

Once Ash had realized his kids were still alive, the only thing he’d concentrated on at the ranch was them. He hadn’t cared one way or the other what Matt and his friends were really involved in, but he was beginning to think maybe that was a mistake. Maybe he should care, maybe there was something to whatever it was they seemed to think was happening.

“Who are they?” he asked.

“Who are who?”

“These people you all seem to be fighting, who are they?”

“I…I don’t know. It’s not my place.”

“Maybe it’s not, but Matt’s not here.”

“You’re going to think I’m crazy.”

“I already think you’re crazy.”

They glanced at each other, then she laughed.

“All right,” she finally said. “Are you buckled in?”

He rolled his eyes, then smiled. “Yeah. I’m buckled in.”

“I’m serious.”

He held up a defensive hand. “Okay, sorry.”

She was quiet so long that he looked over to see what was wrong. She had twisted in her seat and was studying him.

“What?” he asked.

“I’ve never been the one to tell anyone before. I’ve only listened as others have done it, so I want to get it right.”

“Okay,” he said, drawing the word out. “Just let me know when you’re ready.”

He heard her take a breath, then she said, “I’m ready now.”

Outside, the mountains had finally started to fall behind them, and the road started to straighten out.

“The end of our world is coming. And it’s happening on purpose.”

 

 

39

 

“Can you hear me?” Tamara said into her phone. She was sitting in the front seat of the van, with the door closed so that no competing reporter might overhear the conversation, trying to figure out who she was talking to.

“Yes, I can hear you,” the female voice replied.

Tamara glanced into the back of the van where Bobby was sitting at the editing console. “Is it okay?” she mouthed.

He gave her the thumbs up, nodding. Often phone conversations needed to be recorded, so they had a device that hooked Tamara’s phone into the van’s equipment, only this time the setup was a little stranger than other times, as the voice of the person on the other end was coming via another phone being held up to a CB radio.

“Can you please give me your name?” Tamara asked.

“It’s Martina Gable.”

Tamara gave it a beat so that Bobby would have a place to cut out the first part of the audio, then said, “Martina, can you tell us where you are, please?”

“Yes. We’re in Cryer’s Corner, California.”

“Who’s we?”

“Well, I’m here with the Burroughs High School softball team. We were headed home from a tournament when we got stuck here.”

“Because of the quarantine?”

“Yes.”

“And there are others there, too?”

“Yeah, there’s the people who live here, and a few others who showed up in cars and got stuck, too. And Ben, of course. Ben Bowerman. He’s the one who figured out the CB.”

“And that’s how you’re talking to us?”

“Yeah. All the phones and the Internet stopped working. And there hasn’t been any cell service here since we arrived.”

Now that Tamara had gotten the basics out of the way, she started in on the more important questions. “It’s our understanding that Cryer’s Corner is in the quarantine zone. How did you get there?”

“Well,” Martina said. “It wasn’t in the zone when we arrived. Until this morning, the roadblock was west of us.”

Interesting. “And then they moved it east?”

“Yes.”

“Any idea why?”

Martina didn’t respond right away.

“Are you still there?” Tamara asked.

“Yes, I’m here. We think they moved it because of Paul.”

“Who is Paul?”

“Paul Unger. He’s the one who took the video your channel’s been playing.”

Tamara smiled. This was exactly what she wanted. “And you’re the one who uploaded it?”

“Yes.”

“How long after this did the Internet go out at Cryer’s Corner?”

“Maybe an hour or two.”

“So, after it started playing on television.”

“Yeah.”

“I’d like to talk to Paul about the video. Is that possible?”

A pause. “He was…injured just as he got here. He’s in the café across the street.”

“How bad is he hurt?”

“Messed up his knee and hit his head when the guys in the helicopters took a shot at him.”

Tamara froze for half a second, stunned. “Can you repeat that?”

Martina did.

“Can you tell me exactly what happened?”

“Sure. I saw most of it from the roof of the gas station.”

The girl then proceeded to tell Tamara about Paul’s escape. After that she relayed the story Paul had told her about his brother and his girlfriend, and their murders in the desert canyon. Through it all, Tamara and Bobby kept sharing shocked looks.

“There’s…there’s something else, too,” Martina said as she finished Paul’s story.

“Yes?”

“Coach Delger thinks Paul might be sick. You know, with the Sage Flu. We’ve split into two groups. One that was exposed to Paul and one that wasn’t. No one else has shown signs of anything, though, so maybe he just has a cold.”

Tamara had already been feeling a strong connection to the girl, but now she felt her stomach sinking. “Which group are you in, Martina?” she asked, afraid she knew the answer.

“I…I was exposed. That’s how I found out about the video. Bu please don’t put that part in your story. I don’t want my mom to know yet.”

“Sure. We’ll keep that part out,” Tamara said, meaning it. “Can we talk again in the morning?”

“We’ll have to come back to the truck where the radio is. What time?”

“Eight?”

“Zee?” Martina asked. “Is eight okay for you?”

“As long as I’m still sitting here, which looks pretty likely,” the trucker who’d connected them said.

“Great,” Tamara replied. “We’ll talk to you then.”

As soon as she hung up, she turned to Bobby. “Oh, my God.”

“Oh, my God is right,” he said.

“I’ll bet you that the helicopters that shot at this Paul guy are the same ones we saw. The same ones who killed his brother and his girlfriend.”

Bobby didn’t reply, but the look on his face said he was thinking the same thing.

There was a knock on the passenger window beside her. Joe was standing right outside. He’d been on lookout to make sure nobody got near the van while she was on the phone. She motioned for him to climb into the back.

“So?” he asked, once he’d joined them.

“You’re not going to believe it,” she said.

“Tell me.”

While Bobby worked on cutting the important parts of the interview into their already prepared piece, Tamara filled Joe in.

“I think we should go up with it on my next spot,” she said once she was done.

She could see the hesitation in Joe’s eyes.

“Come on. It’s great stuff,” she told him.

“It is,” he said. “I would just feel a bit more comfortable if we sent it to the network first, so they know what we have.”

“I think we should just go for it,” Tamara argued. “I don’t want them messing this up.”

“You know that’s not the way we’re supposed to do things. Network has the right to see all this first.”

“Oh, I see. You’re Mr. Corporate-Rule-Follower now?”

“No,” he said, his face hardening. “But I am a man with a family who would like to keep his job. We do this on our own, there’s a very good chance we get fired. You’ll have no problem finding something else. Me, it won’t be so easy.”

She looked out the window, annoyed, but knowing Joe was right.

“Fine,” she said. “But if the network tries to change any of this, our version gets posted to the Internet.”

• • •

Mr. Shell had been right to keep his eye on the reporter. Perhaps taking her brother had been a mistake, but it had revealed that she was a problem.

If people would just let things go, they had a much better chance of living.

He had watched the report the woman and her editor had just sent to their bosses in New York, and knew it was time to do something about it. But given the slapdown he’d gotten over the death of the girl’s brother, he decided to cover his ass first.

The Director of Preparation called five minutes after Shell sent him an email with a link to the video.

“Tamara Costello appears to be very good at her job,” the DOP said as soon as Shell answered.

“Unfortunately for her, sir.”

“Yes.”

Shell hesitated a moment. “I assume you’d like her removed.”

“Mr. Shell, I believe part of your job is making those decisions yourself. I don’t have time for you to run every little aspect of your operation by me first.”

Shell gritted his teeth, but pushed his frustration down and said, “I’m just bringing this particular case up in light of what happened concerning the subject’s brother.”

“Well, he was a mistake. You should have seen that from the beginning.”

“Yes, sir. You’re right, of course.”

“I’m sure you’ll make the right decision this time, Mr. Shell.”

The line went dead.

• • •

The Director of Survival was sitting across the table from the DOP. They had both been eating their dinner when the email from Shell came in. Together they had watched the video, then the DOS listened as his counterpart talked to Shell.

“So he was looking for guidance, then?” the DOS asked once the other director had hung up.

“Yes, he was.”

“Disappointing.”

“It is, but given recent history, not necessarily surprising.”

The DOS cut his asparagus into three parts. “Better to know now.”

“Very true.”

“Is his replacement ready?”

“Of course.”

With nothing more to say on the subject, they both began eating again.

 

 

40

 

“On purpose?” Ash asked.

Chloe was still watching him. “I know it’s hard to believe, but yes.”

“I’m not really sure I know what you mean by that.”

“What I mean is that this group of people we’re up against, the group you’ve unintentionally become entangled with, is working toward bringing about the end of civilization as we know it.”

He tried hard not to laugh as he shook his head. “You’re starting to make the idea of a fake moon landing sound reasonable.”

“I warned you,” she said.

“You did.” He should have known better than to ask questions. Whatever delusions these people were operating under were their business, and obviously had little to do with his kids. But as he watched the road his curiosity got the best of him. “Just exactly how are they supposed to be bringing about the end of mankind?”

“I didn’t say the end of mankind. I said the end of civilization as we know it.”

“What’s the difference?”

She was silent for a moment, then said, “How many people are on Earth right now, at this minute?”

With a smirk, he said, “Well, I’m not sure I have the exact number.”

She frowned at him. “Roughly.”

“I don’t know. Four or five billion?”

“Over seven.”

“Okay, seven.”

“When do you think we reached one billion?”

“I have no idea. Why is it—”

“The early eighteen hundreds. Just a little over two hundred years ago. That means it took over a hundred thousand years for us to reach that number. Do you know how long it took to reach two billion? Just over one hundred and twenty years. Three billion, thirty-three years. Four, fifteen. You see the pattern?”

“So are you saying we’re growing so much it’s going to bring about the end of civilization?”

“These people, the ones that Dr. Karp works for, they believe exactly that. They believe the end of civilization is impossible to avoid. But they also believe that if they can control how things end, they can create a new beginning without sacrificing the resources the planet still has.”

“Okay, so how are they planning to do that?”

“You ready? This is the good part, relatively speaking. They’re going to eliminate over 99% of the current population.”

Ash snorted a laugh. “Right. Sure. They’re going to kill off 99% of the planet.”

“More than ninety-nine. We don’t know the exact target number, but we think they want to end up with around ten million people. They start again, only without losing any of the knowledge the human race has already obtained.”

Ash shook his head. This was ridiculous. Chloe, Matt, Rachel, and the others had been more than helpful, but they were clearly operating on the fringe of reality. Check that, beyond the fringe.

“What do you think was going on at that base where you and your family lived? You said Matt told you, right? It was a test, Ash. They’re trying to find the best method to get rid of everyone else. And when they do finally unleash whatever it is they come up with, you better believe that those they’ve chosen to remain behind will have been immunized against the disease by a vaccine developed from someone who had true immunity.” She paused. “Someone like you and your children.”

The sneer that had been on his face disappeared.

“No one ever believes it the first time,” she went on. “I didn’t. So I don’t expect you to, either. But you’ve heard it now. It’s there in your mind. In time, you’ll see that everything I’ve told you is true.”

See that everything you’ve told me is crazy, more like it. But even as he thought that, there was a small kernel of doubt tapping at the back of his mind.

He took the next exit, then switched places with her and tried to get some sleep. But each time he started to drift off he would see the same emergency vehicles that had been parked on his street the night Ellen died. Only they weren’t parked just on his street now.

They were everywhere.

 

 

41

 

Night had descended over Fort Irwin, the sky filling with the arcing band of the Milky Way. But Tamara wasn’t looking at the sky as she paced impatiently near the lights Bobby had set up for her next report. Joe had disappeared fifteen minutes earlier. She had been under the impression he was taking a call from the network, but how long did it take for them to say, “Yes, play the video”?

The three of them had already been waiting for over an hour for a response. An hour! It was enough to make her want to punch the side of the van over and over. Couldn’t the network see how important this was? Couldn’t they understand she needed to do this for her brother? The reporting was good, and the evidence was there. She just needed the damn go-ahead.

Maybe she should have just ignored Joe, and had Bobby send it up live during her spot. Maybe they should still do that.

Not maybe.

With a renewed sense of determination, she headed around the van to tell Bobby to get the report ready, but before she reached the door, the sound of multiple helicopters cut out any ability to have a conversation.

She moved to the end of the van. The area near the media area had seen a drastic increase in the amount of helicopters using it for a landing area. Every time they arrived, Tamara would check, hoping they’d be the two helicopters from earlier, the ones with the man who’d killed Gavin. But they hadn’t returned.

Until now.

“Bobby!” she yelled.

Realizing he couldn’t hear her over the noise, she ran back and grabbed his arm, then pointed at the camera. As soon as he picked it up, she pulled him to the end of the van. When he saw the helicopters, he raised the camera and turned it on.

Like earlier, several men climbed out of each helicopter, then gathered together. When they finished talking, they started heading as a group in the general direction of the media area.

“What are they doing?” Bobby asked.

“I don’t know,” Tamara replied. “But try to get a shot of each of their faces.”

“It’s a little dark.” While the landing area was flooded with bright light, the media area had to make do with a few scattered floodlights on poles.

“Do what you can.”

As the men got closer, she could see the two in front scanning around, looking for something. Then one of them seemed to settle on the PCN van. He said something to the other man, then the whole group veered slightly to the left and headed straight for Tamara and Bobby.

“What the hell?” Bobby said.

The men were still a good hundred feet away when someone grabbed Tamara and Bobby’s arms from behind. They both turned quickly. It was Peter Chavez.

“Come on,” he said. “We’ve got to get you out of here.”

“What are you talking about?” Tamara asked.

“I’m talking about saving your lives.”

“Saving our lives?” She tried to pull her arm out of his grasp, but he didn’t let go.

Moving his face close to hers, he said, “Those soldiers? They’re here to kill you. Just like they killed those two kids out in the desert. Like they killed your brother.”

“What? How did you—”

“Come on!”

He pulled at her until she was running along with him. Bobby, who’d heard it all, fell in beside her. Chavez led them on an angle that kept the van between them and the approaching soldiers until they were able to duck around the back of a transmission truck belonging to a Los Angeles network affiliate.

“How do you know that’s what they’re here to do?” Tamara asked, shaken.

“They know about your report. They’ve killed it in New York, and they’ve already got Joe, but you’re still a loose end.”

“Joe? But how—”

“It doesn’t matter,” he said, cutting her off. “We have to keep moving.”

He pushed off the truck, and ran toward the building the media had used to sleep in. Tamara shared a quick look with Bobby, then they both took off after Chavez.

“All the way through,” Chavez whispered once they were inside.

The large room in front still had cots set up all over the place, so they had to weave around them to get to the door on the far wall. Passing through it, Tamara glanced back at the building’s entrance, sure that soldiers would rush through and pursue them. But, so far, they hadn’t shown up.

Perhaps Chavez was wrong. How did he even know the soldiers were after them in the first place?

“Are you sure—”

“Come on, come on!” he yelled.

They were in a corridor now that seemed to run the rest of the length of the building.

“Peter, please,” she said, desperately trying to convince herself that everything was all right. “How do you know they’re really after us?”

Peter kept looking toward the door that led back into the main room, obviously anxious to keep moving. “I have a friend at your network. Dean Gaboury. Do you know him?”

“Dean? Yes, sure.” Dean was one of the suits in charge of afternoon news coverage.

“He told me your story’s been killed, and that Joe’s already been detained. He said they were coming after you, too, and asked if I could hide you someplace safe, until they can get this worked out. Your network doesn’t like the idea of its reporters being arrested.”

“Arrested for what?”

“Does it matter?”

“Jesus,” Bobby said.

“No kidding. Now, let’s go,” Chavez said.

Just as they passed through the door at the end of the hall that led back outside, a voice called out from behind them. “Stop right there!”

Tamara’s fear level skyrocketed.

“Over there,” Chavez said.

He moved across a short expanse of concrete, and pulled open the door of a building that looked very much like the one they’d just exited. Tamara was the last one to pass inside, but Chavez was still able to get the door closed before the soldiers exited the other building.

Halfway through, Tamara stopped. “Hold on, hold on. We can’t keep running like this. What’s really going to happen if they find us? They’ll put us in a room and ask us some questions?”

“You know what they did to those kids in the desert, to your brother.”

Her eyes widened. “But…but we’re on a base. People have seen us, right? They can’t do anything like that to us.”

Chavez stepped over to her and grabbed her shoulders, looking her in the eyes. “All right. The truth. Those men are not in the U.S. Army. They are something else entirely. They operate on a whole different set of rules. Their only goal is to get rid of loose ends. Joe is dead, and if you don’t come with me, you’ll both be next.” He dropped his hands to his side.

“Joe’s dead?’” Bobby asked, shocked.

Tamara stared at him, unable to speak.

“Blue pill or red pill,” Chavez said. “Blue pill, you stay in your ignorant world, go out there and talk to your soldier friends, and stay happy for maybe another hour until they put a bullet in your brain. Red pill, I save your lives.”

“I’m taking the red pill,” Bobby said quickly.

Tamara’s lower lip trembled slightly as she licked it. “Okay.”

Chavez nodded once, then continued down the hallway.

When they exited the building, they found themselves in a small parking lot. There were half a dozen cars, a couple pickups, and a medium-sized, white cargo truck. Chavez led them over to the truck. The back was already open so he jumped inside, then held a hand down to help them up.

“This is too obvious,” Tamara said. “They find us in here for sure.”

“Trust me. They won’t.”

Bobby climbed up on his own, then Tamara reluctantly took Chavez’s hand. Once she was on board, he went to the front of the cargo area and touched two of the screws holding the panels in place. A small section of the wall popped open about a quarter inch. He put his fingers into the gap, then pulled it all the way open like a door.

Inside was a three-foot-wide space that ran the width of the truck.

“It’s not a ton of room, but you’ll be safe. The walls are insulated. Still, I wouldn’t talk very much. There’s food and water, and a pot in case you need to relieve yourself.”

“How long do you think we’ll be in there?” Bobby asked, surprised.

“I don’t know.”

“Whose truck is this?” Tamara asked. “I don’t remember it from the roadblock.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s safe. Once you’re inside, there’s a latch. Close that and no one can open it from out here. Don’t undo it until you hear someone knock three times like this.” He tapped lightly against the metal, knock-knock, then paused a second before adding the final knock. He looked out the open end of the truck as if he’d heard something. “I know you have questions, but now’s not the time. Just get in.”

Bobby immediately went inside.

Tamara looked Peter in the eyes. “You’re not lying to us, right?” she asked, already knowing he wasn’t.

“I’m not.”

“And Joe is dead?”

He nodded. “Yes. I’m sorry. Now get in quickly. Please.”

She took a breath and passed through the opening, then watched with a nightmarish sense of the unreal as Peter closed the door behind her.

 

 

42

 

In the dead of night, the landscape of Eastern Oregon didn’t look much different than that of the Mojave Desert surrounding Barker Flats. Perhaps it had a bit more scrub covering the ground, but like the Mojave, neither the flatlands nor the nearby mountains had any trees.

Chloe had done well, and had already saved them an hour by the time Ash took over driving again. Their destination was approximately fifty miles north of the Nevada border, in the southeast corner of the state. That was, of course, if Olivia had told them the truth.

What buildings they’d seen so far had been few and far between. There were stretches where it seemed as if this part of the country had either been abandoned or never claimed in the first place. None of it served to boost Ash’s confidence.

“Should be five-point-two more miles,” Chloe said, her gaze never leaving the road.

Ash glanced at the odometer. She was right. “How do you do that?”

She shrugged. “It’s just the way my mind works, I guess.”

They drove another tenth of a mile before he asked, “Do you think you could do that before? When you still had your memories?”

“I have no idea.”

More silence. “Do you think they did that to you?”

“Can we not talk about this?” she asked, obviously uncomfortable.

“Sorry.”

He looked over at her, but she had her back partially turned to him, her eyes staring out the side window. He started to say something else, but decided it was best to leave it alone. Besides, they were closing in on NB7, and he needed to focus so that he didn’t miss anything.

According to Olivia, just ahead they would find a road that led to the West.

“It’s more asphalt than dirt,” she had said. “But not by much.”

At the forty-nine-mile mark, Ash started scanning the left side of the road in case Chloe’s mileage estimate had been wrong, but it hadn’t been. The road was right where she said it would be. It had the forgotten look of having been abandoned to the elements long ago, as if its construction had been well intended, but its promise never fulfilled. Given the fact that it was literally in the middle of nowhere, Ash wondered why it had been built at all.

Even if Olivia had not cautioned them that the road would be watched, Ash would have still kept driving by just like he was doing. She had told them their only chance was if they hiked in. He didn’t like the idea of following her instructions precisely, but there didn’t seem to be much of a choice.

He drove on for another half mile, then pulled the car to the side of the road. In the wide open landscape, there was really no place to hide the vehicle.

As he turned off the engine, he looked at Chloe. “Stay with the car.”

“No way.”

“I want to make sure it’s still here when I get back with my kids.”

She looked outside, scanning both ways down the road. There were no other headlights in sight. “Where would it go?”

“Just stay here.”

He got out and circled around to the trunk. From the weapons case, he removed another gun, filled its mag, then set it on the floor of the trunk. He grabbed his spare mags and the container of little bangs, and distributed them between his jeans and his jacket. Picking up the spare pistol, he shut the trunk, then walked around and knocked on the passenger window.

Chloe stared at him for a moment, then lowered it.

“Here,” he said, handing the SIG to her. “Just in case.”

She pulled back as if it might bite her, but then reluctantly took it.

“You know how to fire that?” he asked.

“I’ll figure it out.”

He nodded, then said, “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Her only response was to roll the window back up.

He checked both ways before he crossed the empty highway, then angled into the desert on the other side, paralleling the access road that was supposedly being watched. Olivia said NB7 was about a mile and a half in, on the side of the road Ash was currently on.

His eyes quickly adjusted to the moonless night as he made his way through the scrub-covered land. At one point he thought he heard something in the brush. He paused, listening, but the sound didn’t return. He decided it was rabbit, perhaps, or whatever other types of animals might choose to live in this nothingness.

As he passed the mile mark, his jaw tensed. Mike had warned him to be careful about believing anything Olivia said. Maybe this was just a lie. Maybe he was the only thing out here. Maybe Josie and Brandon were hundreds of miles away, and would die because he had chosen to follow the directions of an obviously deranged woman locked up in a secret prison.

If that turned out to be the case, he would go back to the Bluff and kill her.

He slowed his pace. If NB7 was here, he had to be close. Better to sneak up on it than to stumble.

Again, he heard something in the brush. It came from behind him, maybe thirty yards. He crouched down, then looked back the way he’d come, letting his eyes focus on nothing in particular.

There. Just off to the right of the line he’d been following, a shadow hovering above the brush and moving in his direction.

A lookout, he thought. If he’s already seen me, I’m done.

If that was the case, half a dozen others were probably closing in on him from different directions, and he was going to get taken down before he even got to NB7.

Should he run? Stay where he was? Or what?

He looked at the shadow again. It had moved to about forty feet away, then stopped. Carefully, he turned, scanning around, looking for others, but the only thing he could see was more brush. If there was anyone else out there, they had to be lying on the ground.

If he’d had time to play games, he would have kept moving to see if the shadow was really following him. But time was something he didn’t have.

He pulled out his gun, and made a beeline straight for the shadow. Before he’d even gone halfway, it disappeared. Not moved to the right or the left, or any other direction, just disappeared. But he didn’t slow until he was within a few feet of where it had been.

He was sure whoever it was had dropped to the ground, blending in with the brush, but there was no one there. He swung his gun around, angling it toward the ground, knowing the person had to be close.

“I could have killed you if I wanted to.”

He whipped around. Standing directly behind him, her gun at her side, was Chloe.

“I told you to stay with the car,” he whispered.

“And I never said I would. You need me,” she whispered back.

“I don’t need you. I can do this myself. Now just go back.”

He turned and started walking in the direction he’d been headed. After only a couple of seconds, he could hear her following him.

“Chloe, it’s not safe,” he said, turning back.

“And going into the psych hospital earlier was?”

“That was different. You were the one who knew the layout. I had no choice. But you don’t know this place. I’m not going to put you in a position where you might get hurt.”

“Not your decision,” she said. “I’m here, and I’m coming with you. Now let’s go, unless you want to stand here all night arguing.”

Short of carrying her back to the car and locking her in the trunk, he saw there was nothing he could do to stop her.

“Okay,” he said. “But you do everything I say.”

He took her silence for assent, though deep down, he knew it wasn’t.

For the next five minutes, his concerns that Olivia had been lying continued to grow. There was nothing but dirt and brush. No buildings at all.

“What’s that?” Chloe whispered a couple minutes later.

She was still behind him, so he had to look back to see what she was talking about. She pointed twenty degrees to their right. It took him a moment, but then he saw it, too.

Just ahead, the terrain dipped into a shallow wash, then rose on the other side, perhaps not high enough to be called a hill, but definitely higher than this side of the wash. At the very top was a post or, maybe, the trunk of a small tree. It appeared to be less than a half-foot in diameter, and stood two feet above the brush.

“There’s another one,” Chloe said. “About twenty feet to the left.”

She was right. After that, it was easy to pick out others. They spotted seven in all, stretching in what looked like a line blocking their path.

“A fence?” she suggested.

“Seems kind of low.”

They walked through the wash, then up the embankment, finally stopping ten feet short of the first post Chloe had seen. Though it was hard to judge color in the darkness, Ash got the sense the pole had been painted to blend in with its surroundings. Why? There didn’t appear to be anything attached to it, or anything sitting on the flat top. It was just…a post.

Chloe pulled out her flashlight and flicked it on.

“Turn that off. Someone will see it,” he whispered.

“Anyone who can see this probably watched us walk up the hill,” she told him, then pointed the light at the post.

Instead of wood, it appeared to be fabricated out of a plastic-like material. Near the top, a thin slot ran all the way around the post with what looked like curved, tinted glass covering it.

“Any idea what this is?” he asked.

“Motion sensor?”

“Could be,” he said. “Let’s see how far it goes.”

They went approximately seventy-five feet to the right before the row of posts took a sharp left turn. As they followed the new section, the hill fell away and they were on level ground again. Three hundred feet this time, then another turn to the left.

They’d gone twenty feet down this third part when Chloe touched Ash’s arm.

“There it is,” she said.

Ash had seen it, too.

Land had been carved out of the hill across from them and leveled off. Built exactly in the center of this area was a one-story, commercial-style building with no visible windows. On a large concrete slab next to it were several satellite dishes.

Exactly how Olivia had described NB7.

From their current angle, they could only see the back and west side of the building. There were no cars visible, but given the helicopter that sat on another concrete pad closer to the front of the building, maybe cars weren’t necessary. The aircraft was big enough to probably carry up to ten people, not including the crew.

There was a hundred feet between the line of posts and the building, or, as Ash saw it, a hundred feet between him and his children. They had to be there. It was the only possibility. To think otherwise would be pointless.

He continued down, following the odd-looking fence until he could see the front of the building. There were still no windows, but there was a door, and in front of it sat two cars.

He was contemplating walking all the way around to get a look at the east side of the building, the only part they hadn’t seen, when two people stepped out the door.

“Get down, get down,” he whispered as he crouched into the brush.

They watched the two men walk over to one of the sedans, get in, then drive toward the front of the property. Along that end was a traditional fence with a gate across the entrance road that opened automatically as the car neared. A few seconds later, the vehicle was heading down the half-asphalt, half-dirt road.

That was a problem.

Figure a mile and a half on a bad road would take them two to three minutes tops to reach the highway. If they turned right, no problem, but if they turned left, once they drove another thirty seconds, they’d pass Ash’s car parked suspiciously off the side of the road.

So, two and a half minutes plus the time it took to call back to the building, and those inside would know someone was there. He and Chloe had to move before then.

He was pretty sure the posts were motion detectors, perhaps triggered when something passed between them. But while breaking their invisible beam would betray his and Chloe’s presence, it would come as a surprise to those inside, and they would be on the defensive as opposed to being on the hunt because they’d been warned by their friends in the car.

A hundred feet. In college, Ash could run the forty-yard dash in four-point-seven seconds. He’d been younger then, and in slightly better shape, but he thought he could still do it in five and a half. And forty yards would actually get him all the way to the front door. Even if there wasn’t any kind of delay before the alarm went off, he should still be able to get there before anyone inside had the time to react.

“How fast can you run?” he asked Chloe.

“Fast enough.”

“Then that’s what we’re going to do.”

He moved over to the imaginary line of the fence.

“Wait,” she said. “What’s the plan?”

“The plan? Get my kids back.”

He put his head down, then started to run.

 

 

43

 

Their new room wasn’t that much different than their old one. There were two beds and a bathroom, just like before. The only difference this time was that the door was locked.

Brandon knew the people watching over them had done something to put him and Josie to sleep before they switched rooms, but he had no idea why. The thought that the room they were now in was in an entirely different building in an entirely different state hadn’t even crossed his mind. He thought they were still on his dad’s base, just down the hall from the room they’d been in before.

His biggest concern at the moment was his sister. She had yet to wake up. He, on the other hand, had been awake for at least a couple hours, maybe even more.

The same guy who’d been bringing them food from the beginning had brought in dinner a while ago. He was the nice one, the guy who always smiled, and seemed to really care about them.

When Brandon asked him if he knew why Josie was still asleep, the man had said, “Because she’s still getting over her illness.”

That only made Brandon more worried. What if she was getting sick again? That happened sometimes, didn’t it? He was sure he’d heard that before. Would she be even sicker this time? Would she even…die?

Thinking that terrified him. His mom and dad were already gone. What was he going to do if Josie wasn’t around, either? He’d have no one. No one at all.

He sat on the edge of her bed, wiping her head with a damp towel from the bathroom. He didn’t think she had a fever, but he wanted to make sure it stayed that way.

“It’s okay, Josie. I’m here.”

Ten minutes later, he fell asleep beside to her.

• • •

NB7 was not considered a high-priority location for project security. Its isolation was believed to be its best defense. That didn’t mean there wasn’t a security staff on hand, but it did mean other resources such as constant satellite observation were considered unnecessary. It was, by design after all, mainly a storage and backup shelter facility.

What additional security the building did have consisted of a state-of-the-art motion sensor grid surrounding the perimeter, video surveillance along the road that led to the property, and a car recognition system set up on the highway.

The way this last item worked was that cars traveling on the highway would trip an electronic beam twelve miles either to the South or to the North. This would trigger a hidden camera to take a picture of the car and its license plate, then, in a completely automated process, determine the make, model and year of the car. The vehicle would then be checked off when it crossed the opposite electronic eye on its way out of the area. There was leeway built in to the system to account for slower drivers, and for those who might stop to take a few pictures—something that happened more often than those at NB7 may have expected. But once these items were taken into consideration, if a car failed to trip the second beam in the allotted time frame, an alarm would be activated, and a team would be sent out to check.

Just such an alarm went off at 12:58 a.m. for a 2009 Honda Accord with Florida license plates. It was probably nothing, the head of security thought. He bet the driver had just pulled to the side of the road to take a nap. That had happened, too.

Still, protocol was to dispatch a team.

So he did.

• • •

Dr. Karp was feeling particularly pleased with himself. He’d been in touch with his research team, and was told all indications were that the new vaccine would work exactly as they’d hoped.

This was the fifth time they’d tested KV-27a, and only the first in which they’d run across someone with immunity. What a bonus that had been. They’d been working on a synthetic vaccine to that point and having multiple problems, but the blood running through the veins of Captain Ash and his children had proved most useful, and the previous problems quickly disappeared. Even the issue of how females versus males reacted was on the cusp of being solved.

The doctor had all but given up hope that they’d find someone like the three surviving members of the Ash family. Between the tests in Tanzania, Bangladesh, Tajikistan, Alaska, Barker Flats, and the unintentional victims of what the media was calling the Sage Flu outbreak, there had been 3578 subjects, of which 3575 had died. That was a success rate of 99.9%, even better than their targeted goal of 99.85%. Which would mean there should be even fewer genetically immune survivors when the official implementation occurred, and thus making it easier for those survivors chosen by the project to control those chosen by nature.

Of course, thinking like that was getting ahead of the game. There were still many obstacles to overcome. But his part was all but done. He was sure of it. Once the vaccine was in production, he could relax and act as consultant for the others as he waited for the great day.

His most immediate task was the children. What he had to do wasn’t pleasant, but he was smart enough to understand this was not a task he could delegate. These children would be giving their lives so that he and the others could make things right. In many ways, they were as important to the future as he was. Well, almost.

He would take care of them first thing in the morning before they woke—that would be best. Right now, he was content to let them have one more night of dreams.

Why not? Everything was going so well. Even the outbreak in California had given them more data to back up his work.

Yes, very well, indeed.

 

 

44

 

“What time is it?” Tamara asked.

Bobby turned the camera back on, its display screen lighting up their tiny room. It was the only clock they had. His cell phone was sitting on the editing console in the van, while hers was in her purse along with the wristwatch she had for work but seldom wore.

“Eleven fifty-three,” he said.

He switched the camera off to save its battery, plunging them back into darkness.

Tamara dropped her chin to her chest. Eleven fifty-three p.m. They’d been in the truck’s secret compartment for over five hours. And who knew how much longer they’d have to stay?

After the first ten minutes in the box had passed, she’d had a moment when she started to think that maybe Chavez was wrong, that maybe the soldiers weren’t there to kill them. But then an image of her brother’s face appeared in her mind. Gavin looked confused and unsure at first, then suddenly his eyes went wide and he started to scream. The bullet. It had been fired by one of the soldiers who were now chasing her.

“Should…should we check?” Bobby had asked. “Maybe they’re gone.”

“No,” she said quickly.

Another silent minute went by, then, as if to confirm Tamara’s response, the sound of several boots running on asphalt could be heard approaching the truck, then stopping at the back.

“Clear!” one voice called out.

“Clear!” a second one chimed in.

There was some scuffling around, then a new voice said, “Team one, recheck the buildings along that row. We’ll take these over here. They’ve got to be in one of them. Say whatever’s necessary to get them into the helicopter, but let’s get this done now.”

Several voices replied, “Yes, sir,” then immediately there was the sound of at least half a dozen people running off.

Say whatever’s necessary to get them into the helicopter…

The words stuck in Tamara’s mind. Any lingering doubts that the soldiers just wanted to talk to them were gone.

As the hours passed, they could hear groups of people running by the truck on five separate occasions. Whether they were the soldiers or not, it was impossible to tell, but it was more than enough to reinforce the idea she and Bobby were better off in their box than anywhere else.

Then an hour passed with no one running by. It was the longest gap there’d been yet. Tamara hoped the others had finally left, and that the next sound she and Bobby heard would be the three knocks on the side of the truck, telling them it was safe to come out.

But the night remained silent.

“Why don’t you stretch out on the floor?” Bobby suggested in a whisper.

Their hidey-hole was set up with cushion-topped metal boxes they could sit on at either end. In the boxes, as they’d found out by touch, were food and drink, and on the floor near Bobby’s side had been the pot for relieving themselves. So far both of them had been able to avoid the need to use it. Between the two metal makeshift seats was an area plenty long enough for either of them to lie down, just not both at the same time.

“I’m fine,” she said softly. “You can use it.”

“I know you’re not fine, because I’m not fine. Now get some rest. The sooner you’re done, the sooner I can lie down.”

“Bobby, seriously. You can go first.”

“Absolutely not. You first, or neither of us go.”

Even though she knew he couldn’t see her, she rolled her eyes, but as soon as she lay on the floor, she was thankful he’d forced her to do it. She was completely drained. The time since they’d arrived outside the roadblock at Sage Springs seemed to have blurred into one long, living nightmare.

“We probably lost our jobs,” she said as she closed her eyes.

“They won’t fire us. They’ll make us stars. ‘The reporter and the cameraman forced into hiding by…’ ”

“ ‘…a rogue military force,’ ” she finished for him.

“Oh, that’s good. I like that.”

They fell silent for a moment.

“Who do you really think they are?” he asked.

“I wish I knew.”

He asked her another question a moment later, but though she could hear his voice, she couldn’t make out the words as exhaustion took over, and she fell into a deep sleep.

 

 

45

 

The low tone of the motion sensor alarm suddenly pulsed out of the speaker in the security room right off the lobby at NB7. The head of security had been sitting at the monitoring desk, talking to one of his men. The moment the alarm went off he whirled his chair around and looked back at his computer.

His first thought was that the two men he’d sent out to check for the missing car on the highway had somehow triggered the motion sensors.

By the time he took a good look at the warning screen, six seconds had passed.

Cameras covered the entire grounds, but there was no sense in constantly watching them since the system would alert security to any problems, at which point the video could be reviewed.

Though he immediately saw the others weren’t there, the head of security wasn’t worried. They’d had these alarms in the past, and all had turned out to be animals wandering in from the desert. The beams were supposed to be elevated high enough to cut out this kind of false alarm, but it still happened.

As he tapped the link to the video, he said, “Luke, go out front and check.”

The other man got up from his chair and went into the lobby.

By the time the head of security was looking at the video feed from the west side of the building, ten more seconds had gone by.

There was nothing on the screen but the same monotonous desert he’d been looking at since he’d been assigned to this post. Apparently whatever had triggered the alarm had wandered back out. As he hit the button that would take the video back a full minute, he heard Luke open the front lobby door and go outside. He almost called out to stop him, but realized he was too late.

He shrugged—no big deal.

Eight more seconds passed.

The video started playing again. He watched in real time for several seconds, then tapped on fast-forward, making the footage go at double speed.

Suddenly, he slapped the keyboard, pausing the image. “What the hell?”

Just then, out in the lobby, the front door opened again.

• • •

Ash didn’t have a stopwatch, but he was pretty sure he reached the sidewalk near the front door in less than six seconds. Not as good as he hoped, but good enough. As he stopped, he looked back and saw that Chloe was still right behind him.

The entrance was actually a double metal door that opened outward. It was taller than normal and a little bit wider, obviously designed to accommodate large items. There was a security card reader mounted on the wall next to the door, which was a pretty good sign that the door was locked.

The wear marks indicated the right half of the door was the one used most. Ash moved over to the hinges, then pulled the box of little bangs out of his pocket. His intent was to use one of the white crackers along the edge, and hoped it was enough to blow the door loose. But just as he was lifting the lid off the box, the knob turned and the door swung out.

There was no way Chloe could get out of sight, so she froze in place.

The man who stepped through the doorway saw her immediately, but hesitated for a second, caught off guard. That was all the time Ash needed to put the barrel of his gun against the man’s back.

“Nothing stupid, agreed?” Ash said, giving his gun a nudge.

“You shouldn’t be here,” the guy said.

“Is that a yes or a no?”

“Sure. Nothing stupid.”

“Good.” Ash glanced at Chloe. “Check him.”

Chloe stared at the man, not moving.

“You said you wanted to help,” Ash said.

She took a breath, then nodded. She first took the man’s gun from the holster on his belt, then frisked him quickly as if he might explode at any second.

“Just the pistol,” she said when she was done.

“What’s inside?” Ash asked the man.

“Lobby,” he replied.

“Anyone there?”

“No.”

“You’re lying.”

The man hesitated. “Not in the lobby. In the security office next to the lobby. One guy.”

Ash shoved the man toward the reader on the wall, then pulled the guy’s security card from his belt and touched it to the pad.

The latch clicked, and Ash pulled the door open.

“Let’s go.”

• • •

The head of security activated the general alarm then jumped out of his chair. His hand was moving to the gun at his side as he pulled open the door to the lobby.

“On your knees.”

A woman with milk-chocolate skin and fire in her eyes stood just on the other side of the door, a pistol in her hand pointed straight at his chest.

“Now,” she said.

Beyond her, he could see Luke kneeling on the floor. Standing behind him was a man with a bandaged face, and a gun very much like the one the woman was holding.

“This is private property,” the head of security said, buying time. NB7’s security force was small, but more than adequate to handle the man and the woman, even given the fact that twenty percent of his force was out on the road at the moment, looking for the lost car. “I’d advise you to put your guns down and lie on the floor.”

“Your. Knees,” the woman said again.

He moved his hands in front of him, holding them palms out. “Hold on. I don’t think you fully appreciate the situation you’re in. There’s more than just the two of us. It would be best if you’d—”

“Chloe, switch,” the man holding the gun on Luke said. “I’ll deal with him.”

“No,” the woman, Chloe, replied. “I got this.” Her gaze bore into the man’s eyes. “Knees.”

He grinned and started to shake his head. “Now that’s not going to—”

The bullet tore through his leg just above his knee. The pain was so intense he didn’t even realize he’d fallen to the ground.

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” she asked, as she removed the gun from his holster.

• • •

Dr. Karp had just started to drift off when the general alarm began to pulse. In his half-asleep state, it had at first confused him. He reached for the clock he assumed was on the nightstand to turn it off, but there was nothing there. That’s when his eyes popped open and he sat up.

The alarm.

NB7 had always been considered a safe location, its whereabouts known only to a handful of project members. The only reason Dr. Karp and his team were there was because the outbreak in California meant there was a microscope on the state, and the Directors had felt moving the assets—the Ash children—out of state was a good idea. NB7 was the closest and most logical location. Since the doctor had used the facility a few times in the past, he had no problems with the plan.

But now the alarm was going off. Why?

He grabbed the room phone and pushed the number for Security. After the fifth ring, he hung up. His confusion was now turning to concern. He hoped it was just a false alarm, but what if it wasn’t?

He pulled his clothes on as quickly as he could. If this was real, and the facility had somehow been breached, then he knew exactly what he had to do.

The children. He had to dispose of them.

Now.

• • •

“Well, if they didn’t know we were here before, they do now,” Ash said, as the low pulsating alarm droned through speakers in the lobby.

“Here,” Chloe said.

She tossed him a couple of long, plastic strips she’d taken out of a pouch on the wounded man’s belt. They were ties that could be used as handcuffs. As Ash bound his man’s wrists and ankles, Chloe did the same with her guy.

“My leg,” the man pleaded. “I’m going to bleed to death.”

“Yeah,” Chloe said. “You probably will.”

Ash came over and looked at the man’s leg. It was a mess. “You want me to tie that off?” he asked.

“Yes. Yes, please!”

Ash crouched down. “Then tell me where the children are.”

“The…the children?”

Without hesitation, Ash placed the muzzle of his gun against the man’s other leg. “I’m not going to ask again.”

“They’re inside. Bottom level.”

“How many kids?”

“Two,” the man said quickly. “A boy and a girl.”

They’re here, Ash thought. We found them.

He ground the muzzle into the man’s leg. “Where on the bottom level?”

Behind them, a door that led into the rest of the building flew open, and several men poured out, opening fire. Ash was in a poor position with his back to them, so he dove through the doorway into the security office. Chloe had been better situated, and was able to get a couple of shots off before she joined him.

“How many?” he asked her.

“I counted four.”

He was tucked right up against the doorjamb. “Hit any?”

“One down for sure. Maybe two.”

“You’re pretty good with that.”

“Yeah. Bet you’re glad I came along now, aren’t you?”

Instead of answering, he peeked around the edge, his gun ready. Apparently, the men who’d come rushing in hadn’t known exactly in which direction to fire. There was plenty of damage all over the room, not the least of which were the two now dead men Ash and Chloe had just tied up. Wherever the others were, though, they were staying out of sight.

“Here,” Ash said, handing Chloe his gun.

He retrieved the box of little bangs, pulled out four of the gray crackers, and checked their numbers. He then activated the controller.

“You in the office,” a voice called out. “There’s only one way out of that room and we’ve got it covered. Toss your weapons out here, then step out with your hands where we can see them.”

The man had asked for weapons to be tossed out, so that’s exactly what Ash did. He threw the four crackers into the room, trying to arc them around so that they wouldn’t all fall in the same place.

“You have ten seconds to toss your guns out here,” the voice said.

“We’re not going to wait that long,” Ash told him.

He set off the little bangs, mentally crossing his fingers that they did what Pax had promised.

They did, and then some.

Even from behind the wall where he was, the bangs were so loud Ash immediately threw his hands up over his ears. Chloe tried to do the same, but was holding the two SIGs so was less than successful.

“Gun,” he yelled.

She didn’t seem to hear him, so he grabbed his pistol from her and raced through the door.

While the lobby looked basically untouched, the four men who’d been there were all on the ground. Two were unconscious, while one looked like he wanted to be. The fourth guy still had enough wits about him to try to aim his weapon at Ash, but Ash’s bullet hit him in the forehead before the guy had a chance to pull his trigger.

Chloe found some more ties and secured the other three men.

“You all right?” Ash asked her.

She touched her ear. “Ringing. But I can hear you now.”

Ash grabbed a security card off the nearest man’s belt, then used it to open the door to the rest of the building.

• • •

Dr. Karp had just left his room when a loud explosion reverberated down from the ceiling.

“What the hell was that?” someone said.

Several of the doctor’s technicians were in the hallway because of the alarm. Now most looked truly scared. Although their jobs were ultimately concerned with death, they were not interested in putting their own lives on the line.

Neither was the doctor, but he knew he couldn’t show that. There had always been the possibility his life might need to be sacrificed. It was something he understood from the very beginning. It was also expected that in the face of sacrifice, a full project member would still keep the goals of the project in mind, and carry out whatever tasks were necessary to protect it.

So, despite whatever the explosions on the floor above might mean, he knew he still had work to do.

“Learner, Ramos, I need you to come with me.”

Two of the technicians broke from the crowd and followed the doctor to the elevator.

 

 

46

 

Most everyone at Cryer’s Corner was asleep. The Flu Crew, as the segregated group had come to call themselves, was spread throughout the café. The only two who still seemed to be awake were Martina and Ben. They were lying on the floor next to the booth in the back corner.

Understandably, blankets were in short supply. The residences of Cryer’s Corner had been able to scrounge enough so most of the girls had one, but the men had to sleep in jackets and whatever else they could find to wear.

Thankfully, though, the heater in the café worked well enough that no one had to dress like they were spending the night in the Arctic.

“Do you think this might be the last night we remember?” Chloe asked.

“God, I hope not. I’m supposed to go to Europe this summer. I hate to think of all those Italian girls I wouldn’t be able to meet.”

“Ha ha. Funny. I’m serious. This flu is supposed to come on quick, and, and…that’s it.”

“Paul’s still around,” Ben said.

“Yeah, but he’s sick.”

“I’ll bet you a glass of orange juice he’s still here in the morning.”

She couldn’t help but smile. Ben had been optimistic since she’d watched him drive into the desert to get Paul. He was always trying to keep things light and put a good spin on what was happening. Too bad he was three years older than she was, and in college. Of course, she’d be in college in the fall…

Well, not of course, she realized. She wasn’t likely to be anywhere in the fall.

“What’s it like being on your own?” she asked.

He glanced at her. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

“Tell me.”

He looked back at the ceiling. “Well, I’m not as good a cook as my mom. And you get bills every month from all these people for water and electricity and your cell phone and your rent. I don’t like that part.”

“Yeah, but you get to set your own schedule. Stay up as late as you want. Go wherever you’d like.”

“True. That is nice. It’s a balance, like everything else, you know? You just hope the side with the good things is heavier than the side with the bad.”

She snorted. “Seems like the bad side’s pretty heavy right now.”

“It ain’t light, that’s for sure. But there are some good things.”

“Doubtful.”

“You learned how to use a CB. That’s a skill you never had before.”

Despite herself, she laughed.

“You got to climb up on top of a gas station.”

“You saw me?”

“Of course. You got to meet me. That’s gotta count for something.”

She held her tongue, worried she’d say something stupid.

“I promise,” he said. “Tomorrow won’t be the last morning you wake up.”

She looked at him.

“Second to last, maybe. But not the last,” he told her, then smiled.

She knew he was just trying to make her laugh, but suddenly an image of her mom’s face appeared in her mind. Her mom who’d been so proud of her, such a big supporter of everything she did.

Martina couldn’t help the tears that began to flow, nor could she stop them.

Ben immediately moved over to her, putting his arms around her. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m sorry. It was a bad joke.”

“No,” she said, her head tucked in his shoulder. “It was funny. I just…I just started thinking about…home.”

She continued to cry as he stroked her hair, whispering, “Everything’s going to be okay.”

Her strength drained way with her tears, and she could feel sleep taking hold. Maybe it would be all right. Maybe it would all be fine.

She heard a noise right before she fell asleep. It didn’t completely register, but somewhere in the back of her mind she knew what it was.

A cough.

 

 

47

 

Ash was under no illusion that the six men they’d left in the lobby were the entire security contingent at NB7, but he also didn’t want to waste time tracking down the other ones. He’d deal with them as they showed up.

The lower level was where he needed to get to, but how?

The hallway on the other side of the lobby door seemed to run from one end of the building to the other. To the left there were four doors, and to the right, two.

“This way,” he said to Chloe, heading left.

Three of the four doors were on the same side the lobby was on. The first they came to was one of these. Ash tried the knob, expecting it to be locked, but it wasn’t. The space inside was dark. He reached around the jamb, located a light switch, and flipped it on. The room was about twice as wide as the lobby. Set throughout were rows of heavy wide shelves that went all the way to the ceiling, but were all empty.

They checked the other two rooms on the same side and found identical spaces.

They then went to the door on the right. It was locked, but clicked open as he touched the security badge to the pad on the wall.

This time they didn’t find a storage room with empty shelves. They found a spacious warehouse that took up the entire back two-thirds of the building. It was clean and empty, with only half the lights on, probably so that security could walk through without running into anything.

“My God,” Chloe said. “It’s a depot.”

“A depot?” Ash asked.

“Matt said they’re set up all over the place for, you know, after. To store whatever the others think they’re going to need. Probably a good thing it’s not full yet. Humanity’s got a little more time before the plug gets pulled, I guess.”

Ash wasn’t sure what to make of the space, or what Chloe had said, but he’d save that for later. “Do you see a way down?” he asked.

They both scanned the warehouse.

“What’s that?” she asked, pointing across the room.

There was another one of the security pads mounted on the wall, but there didn’t seem to be any doors in the vicinity.

“I don’t know.”

They ran over to it, then Ash touched the ID to the pad. Nothing happened. He touched it again. Still nothing.

“Whatever it’s for, I don’t think it can help us,” he said. “There’s got to be a way down some—”

The sound of an electronic motor caused Ash to whip his head around. The floor just to the right of the ID pad lifted into the air like a blast door. It was thick and heavy, and had fitted so seamlessly into the floor that neither Ash nor Chloe had noticed it.

He stepped over, getting there before the door was halfway up, then smiled.

Below it was a set of stairs.

• • •

Dr. Karp and the two technicians, Learner and Ramos, took the elevator to level four, the lowest level of the facility.

Since their arrival the previous afternoon, Dr. Karp had requested that two security guards be stationed on level four at all times. He really didn’t think there would be a problem, but with the escape of the children’s father from Barker Flats, and the earlier experience a colleague had had with Lauren Scott’s disappearance, he didn’t want to take any chances.

The two security men were standing just outside the elevator, guns drawn, when the door opened. As soon as they recognized the doctor, they dropped their weapons to their side.

“Do you know what’s going on?” the doctor asked as he stepped out of the elevator car.

“No, sir,” one of the guards said. “No word from up top yet. They’re probably busy dealing with whatever the situation is.”

“Did you hear the explosion?”

The men glanced at each other.

“What explosion, sir?”

“Maybe three or four minutes ago, on the top floor.”

“Do you think one of us should go up and check?” the second guard asked.

“I’d rather you both stay here,” the doctor said, which made it an order.

“Yes, sir.” The first guard paused for a moment, then said, “With your permission, sir?”

“Yes?”

“When the alarm went off, per procedure we stationed ourselves here. But if it’s okay with you, one of us could go to the substation down the hall, and bring up the security cameras so we can determine what’s going on.”

The doctor thought for a moment, then nodded. “Good idea. Report to me as soon as you know. I’ll be with the subjects.”

“Yes, sir.”

• • •

The stairs ended in a brightly lit room, approximately fifteen feet square. The only things there were an elevator door and a call button. As soon as Chloe joined him, Ash pushed the button.

Almost immediately, the heavy door at the top of the stairs began swinging down again, closing them in.

“I’m not sure I like that,” Chloe said.

“They’re probably designed so both doors can’t be open at the same time,” he guessed.

“I hope you’re right.”

The door thudded shut.

Chloe stared at the elevator, then glanced nervously at Ash. “I don’t think it’s coming.”

“It’ll be here.”

She began rocking slightly back and forth. “Are you sure? Maybe this is just a trap.”

“Too elaborate for a trap.”

She looked around, her gaze darting from one spot to another.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

She said nothing for a second, then, “I don’t like enclosed spaces.”

“You were fine in those tunnels at the hospital.”

“There was always a way in and out. We’re locked in here.” Her breathing began to increase.

“Are you going to be okay?”

She gave him a single nod, but he could see it was an effort for her. Then, soundlessly, the elevator door opened. With a relieved gasp of breath, she raced in.

“This is an enclosed space, too,” Ash said as he entered.

“Yeah, but it’s going somewhere.”

There was a row of five buttons, and another security pad on the control panel. The top button was lit up. Ash touched the one on the bottom, figuring that would take them to the lowest level, but nothing happened. He tapped the security pad with the badge, then touched the button once more. This time the button flashed red, and the car remained stationary. He used the badge again, then tried the fourth button down. Flashing red, no movement. The third button down received the same response. He did it once more for the second button.

This time it lit up green, and the car began to move.

Great, he thought. He’d taken the badge of someone limited to only the first lower level. He hoped to God he’d find something there that would get him to the bottom.

As the car began to stop, he said, “Move to the side and get ready.”

She went left, and he went right, positioning himself so he could see out but duck quickly for cover if need be. He raised his gun, then tensed as the doors began to slide open.

There were half a dozen people just outside. None, though, was holding a weapon. They froze as a group. All, that was, except one in the back who started running down the hall away from them.

Ash stepped out quickly. “Stop!”

The man skidded to a halt.

“Don’t hurt us!” one of the others shouted.

“Walk back here now, and I won’t shoot you.”

The runner turned around, then began retracing his steps back to the group, his arms in the air.

“Who are you?” a man standing in the middle asked.

Ash moved his gaze quickly over them. “How many of you have access to the bottom level?”

No one moved.

He pointed his gun at the guy who ran. “How many?”

“We…we all do,” the man said.

“Good. You have your badge?”

The man nodded. “Yes.”

“Then you’re coming with us.”

The man’s eyes widened as Ash reached out and grabbed his arm.

“No,” Chloe said.

Everyone looked at her, including Ash.

“I want that one.” She pointed at the man in the middle who’d asked who they were.

“Why me?” he said, sounding frightened.

“Sorry, buddy,” Ash said. He moved over and grabbed Chloe’s choice. “You’re with us.”

• • •

Dr. Karp stood in the entrance to the room, watching the children. The boy had fallen asleep beside his sister, his arm lying protectively over her shoulder.

Such a waste, the doctor thought.

In the morning, he had planned to take sections of their vital organs before their bodies were disposed of, but now there would be no time for that. They needed to disappear to prevent any potential connection to the project.

Like most of the project’s facilities that Dr. Karp used, this one had something that could handle just such a problem. There was a biosafe level-four laboratory on this very floor. It had three specialized chambers for the most delicate work. In the case of an emergency, a code could be entered into the system, and the chamber in question would go through a series of events designed to render whatever was in the room harmless. First, fire would be blasted into the room at temperatures exceeding 2,370º F. Though this would ensure nothing survived, the project Directors didn’t want to take any chances, so next a quick hardening polymer, stronger than most metals, would be pumped into the room, filling it to capacity and sealing away forever anything that was in the room.

The chambers were not meant to serve as tombs, but the doctor knew the Directors would approve of his improvisation.

In the hall outside the patients’ room, he heard two gurneys being rolled in his direction. He moved to the side just as Ramos brought the first one in. Learner followed right behind him with the second.

The doctor watched to make sure the children didn’t wake up while they were being transferred, then said, “I’ll meet you in the lab.”

He had to stop by the medical supply room first to pick up something that would let the children slip away before the first flame licked their skin.

Such a waste.

 

 

48

 

As soon as the elevator doors closed, Ash said, “Take us all the way down.”

“No problem,” the man said.

He touched his card to the pad, then pressed the button for the bottom floor.

Ash shoved the man against the wall. “Where are the children?”

“Your kids are in one of the rooms in back. I can take you there.”

It took Ash a second to realize the man had not said “the kids,” but “your kids.”

“You know who I am?” he said, pressing his gun against the man’s stomach.

“You’re Daniel Ash, right?” The man shot a quick look at Chloe. “You got my note.”

Note? Ash took a step back.

“Yes,” Chloe said. “Thank you.”

Ash stared at the man. “You’re the guy who—”

“Why do you think I picked him?” Chloe said.

Ash dropped his gun to his side. “Sorry. I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay. I get it,” the man said.

“What’s your name?”

The man hesitated for a moment, then said, “Winger.”

“Thank you, Winger.”

Matt’s inside man nodded uncomfortably, then glanced over at Chloe. “They did a good job on you. But I still recognized you. It’s your eyes. They can’t change that.”

Chloe said nothing.

“Are my kids all right?” Ash asked.

“Last I saw them, yes. But Dr. Karp headed down here when the alarm went off. I don’t know what he’s planning on doing.”

Ash’s anxiety rose as he considered the possibility that he might still be too late.

But before anyone could say anything else, the elevator began to slow.

• • •

On sub-basement four, the arrival of the elevator was always preceded by the soft whoosh of air moving around the car as it reached its lowest point. Unlike when Dr. Karp arrived, there was only one of the security men standing in the elevator lobby, a guy by the name of Montrose. Wyle, his partner, hadn’t returned yet from checking the surveillance footage.

As soon as Montrose heard the whoosh, he drew his gun and tensed. From down the hall he thought he heard footsteps, but his attention was focused on the door, so he paid them little attention.

The elevator settled in place, then paused for half a second before the doors slid open.

Montrose let out a breath and relaxed a little. It was just one of Dr. Karp’s orderlies. He’d probably been called down to give the doctor a hand.

“They’re back with the subjects,” the guard started to say, but the only thing he got out of his mouth was, “They’re back—”

It seemed unnecessary to go on, given the two guns that appeared from either side of the open door, aimed directly at his chest.

• • •

“Gun on the ground,” Ash said softly.

The security guard dropped his pistol by his foot.

“Kick it over here.”

The man seemed reluctant, so Ash wagged the SIG’s barrel to remind the guy who was in charge. The gun skidded across the floor a moment later.

“Now on your knees.”

Again, there was a hesitation, but before Ash could repeat the command, the man complied.

Carefully, both Ash and Chloe came out from the protection of the elevator. Ash motioned for her to bind the man’s hands and legs while he stood back a few feet. Once she was done, he put a foot on the man’s chest and pushed him all the way to the ground.

“Where’s Dr. Karp?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” the man replied.

Ash put his foot on the man’s neck and pointed his gun at the guy’s head.

“I will kill you.”

“He…he said he was going in back. To the holding rooms.”

Ash glanced at Winger. The orderly nodded once, confirming that’s where his children were.

“You here alone?” Ash asked the guard.

“Yes,” the man said quickly.

Ash immediately knew he was lying. He leaned down and put the SIG’s muzzle against the man’s forehead. “Those kids your Dr. Karp has back there? They are my kids.”

The man’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Don’t think for a second I won’t pull this trigger,” Ash continued. “How many other guards are there?”

“One.”

Ash pressed the gun into the man’s skin.

“I swear! Only one.”

“Where is he?”

“He…went with the doctor.”

Ash stood, then looked at Winger. “Which way?”

• • •

Montrose’s partner Wyle heard most of the conversation from just around the corner. Though only one person other than Montrose had done the talking, Wyle could tell there was another person with him.

“Where is he?” the voice said from the elevator lobby.

“He…went with the doctor,” Montrose said.

Wyle couldn’t help but smile. Montrose had held it together, and given him a chance to deal with the situation.

As quietly as possible, Wyle took several steps backward.

“Which way?” the voice said.

“Around and to the left.” This was a new voice, confirming that there was definitely more than one unfriendly.

Wyle raised his Beretta, his finger poised on the trigger.

• • •

Ash walked to the edge of the lobby. Just beyond was a corridor that went left and right. He listened, but the only thing he could hear was a steady hum of the ventilation system.

“How far down?” he asked Winger.

“About thirty feet. Then we take the hall on the right. That’ll get us all the way back.”

“Okay. Stay close behind me.” He glanced at Chloe. “Ready?”

She nodded.

Leading with his gun, Ash ran into the hallway.

He saw the other guard a split second before he heard the double tap of the man’s gun. Just as Ash pulled the trigger of his SIG, searing pain flashed up his arm as a bullet pierced his skin. The hit caused him to twist to the side, sending the shot from his gun well to the left of its intended target.

Not missing a beat, though, Ash pulled his trigger again, moving his arm in an arc and sending five quick shots in the direction of the guard. Chloe, kneeling around the corner from the lobby, fired several rounds at the same time.

The guard was only able to get a single wild shot off before he was caught in the barrage and tumbled back onto the floor.

Ash rushed forward, his gun ready if the man even twitched. But it was unnecessary. The man wasn’t going to move, not now, and not ever again.

Ash allowed himself to look at the wound on his left arm. The bullet had grooved his skin a couple inches below his shoulder. It was painful, but not debilitating. He turned back to the others.

Chloe was helping Winger off the floor. There was blood on the man’s shirt, concentrated mainly on the right side of his abdomen. A gut shot.

“I’m okay,” the man said once he was on his feet. But he clearly wasn’t. His breathing was labored, and he was doing a lousy job of keeping the pain off his face. “Let’s keep moving.”

“Maybe you should stay here,” Chloe suggested.

He shook his head, then locked eyes with Ash. “We need to get to your children. Now.”

Ash moved up next to him, draped Winger’s arm over his shoulder, then put his own carefully around the guy’s waist.

“That hall?” he asked.

“Yes.”

• • •

A series of airtight rooms led into the biosafe level-four lab. Each had a greater and greater negative airflow from the room before it, meaning air would always move toward the lab, not away from it. This would ensure that any accidentally released airborne pathogen would be unable to escape the lab.

It also meant that each door not only sealed the atmosphere in, but it also greatly reduced any noise from the other side. Dr. Karp and his technicians were already two rooms in out of the three. Though there was no need to take the extra precautions they would have had to take if a level-four pathogen had been present in the lab, they still had to close each door before the system would allow them to open the next. So when the gunfight near the elevator took place, they heard nothing.

As they finally entered the lab, Dr. Karp said, “Put them in number three.”

Chamber three was in the corner, and the most logical one to turn unusable.

Ramos wheeled the gurney carrying the Ash girl into the lab first, then Learner tried to follow with the boy. Unfortunately, doing so pretty much clogged up most of the usable space.

“Roll those back into the airlock,” the doctor said impatiently. “Just carry them in.”

As they did this, the doctor set the supplies he’d picked up earlier on the counter. There were two sealed and empty hypodermics, and two small glass bottles, each with more than enough Beta-Somnol to put a grown adult into a final sleep. The children would pass peacefully. Given what would happen in the world soon enough, the doctor couldn’t help but feel he was doing the humane thing, something most would be denied.

He opened one of the hypo kits, stuck the needle into the bottle, then started drawing the drug out.

Yes. Very humane.

• • •

“That door there,” Winger said, his voice weakening. “Those are the subject rooms. They’re in there.”

“I think it’s best if we leave you here,” Ash said. “Do you want to lean on the wall? Or sit on the ground?”

“I…don’t know if I can…stand on my own.”

“Okay, no problem.”

Ash tried to ease the man to the floor as gently as possible, but the orderly still sucked in his breath and winced.

“I’m sorry,” Ash said once the man was down.

“It’s okay.” Winger tried to smile. “Go get your kids.”

Ash gave him a pat on the shoulder, then he and Chloe moved down the hall to the door Winger had pointed out.

“What’s the plan?” she whispered.

“Play it by ear.”

“Oh, okay. So the same plan as before.”

Ash didn’t bother to respond.

He turned the knob until the latch was all the way out, then he inched the door open just enough so that he could see inside. The space appeared to be set up similarly to the wards back at the Palmer Psychiatric Hospital—central corridor and doors off to the sides.

He eased the door open some more. No shouts, no sounds of movement, nothing.

With a quick warning glance at Chloe, he pulled out the door wide enough to get through, then rushed inside. No one was there.

“Check the doors,” he whispered.

They worked from opposite sides, opening each door and looking in. Every room Ash checked had beds, but all the mattresses were bare and appeared unused.

“Ash!” Chloe called out.

She was standing in the doorway of a room near the back wall. He rushed over and looked in.

There were two beds inside. Both had blankets and sheets but were unmade. He moved in quickly, put a hand on one mattress, then the other. The bed on the left still had the warmth of a body.

He ran past Chloe out of the room, through the outer area and back into the hallway.

Winger’s eyes were closed as Ash reached him.

“They’re not there!”

“Wha…what?” Winger said, his eyelids barely peeling apart.

“They’re not there. No one is. Where are they?”

“Not there?” The orderly looked confused. “I don’t…” He stopped, then his eyes opened wider. “No. Oh, God, no.”

“What?”

• • •

“Okay,” Ramos said as he stepped out of chamber three, where he’d just laid Brandon Ash next to the girl on the floor.

At that very moment, the indicator for the door to the first airlock switched from closed to open on the lab’s computer screen.

Dr. Karp almost missed it. He had just finished activating the controls for chamber three, and had turned away to retrieve the hypos of Beta-Somnol when one of his oldest habits, his need to double-check everything, caused him to look back.

Not for one second did he think whoever had entered was one of the project members there to help him.

This was it. The end. Unless there was some kind of miracle—something he didn’t believe in—his own life would soon be sacrificed.

Before it had been just a possibility. Now, the harsh reality was numbing.

Five seconds passed without him moving at all. Then he remembered his oath, his promise to the project. The job he still had to do.

He grabbed the needles, and was halfway to chamber three before he realized there wouldn’t be enough time. He’d have to start the sequence without administering the drug. Hopefully, the children would remain asleep and feel no pain as the intense heat quickly took their lives. Not quite as humane as he’d hoped, but still better than nothing.

When he got back to the monitor, the indicator for the door between the second and third airlocks was already in the open position. As soon as it closed, the door to the lab would open.

He started punching in the code.

 

 

49

 

Ash pulled the door between the second and third airlocks shut, then jammed down the handle that created the final seal. Already having positioned herself at the door to the lab, Chloe began pulling up its handle the second he finished. Ash got there just in time to grab the edge of the door as it released and yank it open.

“No one move!” he yelled as he and Chloe rushed into the room.

There were three men inside. Two were standing next to a wide window that looked into what appeared to be another room, while the third was at a counter along the right wall in front of a computer. Ash knew this third man. He’d seen a picture of him at the ranch. He was the man responsible for the hell Ash’s family had gone through.

“Dr. Karp, where are my children?”

The doctor’s head tilted slightly to the side, then his eyes narrowed. “Captain…Ash?”

“Where are my children?”

“I’m impressed, Captain. I didn’t know you were this resourceful. Unfortunately, I’m afraid you’re too late.”

“What do you mean?”

“They died in the outbreak at Barker Flats,” the doctor stated matter-of-factly. “You were told that before.”

“We both know that was a lie.”

Dr. Karp lowered his hand, his fingers now resting on the edge of the counter. “Why wouldn’t we have told you the truth?”

Ash took three quick steps forward, closing the gap between them to less than ten feet, and pointed the SIG at the center of the doctor’s face. “Where are they?”

“Seriously, Captain. They’re dead. There’s nothing you can do.”

Dr. Karp’s fingers tapped nervously against the counter.

Without looking at her, Ash signaled Chloe to check the rest of the room. As she moved past Dr. Karp, he eyed her nervously.

“Where are they?” Ash asked the doctor again.

The ends of Dr. Karp’s mouth went up and down in a quick smile. “It doesn’t really matter, you know. You’ll all be dead soon enough. Well, maybe not you, but everyone else. The whole world will be different then.”

“They’re in here!” Chloe yelled.

Ash turned to look. Chloe was standing next to an open door that appeared to lead into the room the window looked in on. Before Ash could react, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye, and turned back just in time to see the doctor hit one of the keys on the keyboard.

Ash wanted to run over to Chloe, but he sprinted to the doctor instead, grabbing the man by his collar.

“What did you do?” Ash demanded.

“It’s closing!” Chloe yelled.

“I told you,” the doctor said. “There’s nothing you can—”

Chloe screamed out in pain. “Stop it! Stop it!”

Ash looked over. She’d put her leg between the door and the jamb, preventing it from sealing shut. But whatever was closing it was keeping the pressure on her.

“Help her!” Ash yelled at the two men cowering by the window. They hesitated a moment, then jumped up when Ash pointed his gun at them, and moved quickly over to Chloe.

“I’m not sure you want them to do that,” the doctor said.

“What are you talking about?”

“Look for yourself.” Dr. Karp nodded toward the window.

Ash wasn’t about to leave the doctor behind, so he manhandled him across the room, then looked through the window. Josie and Brandon were on the floor. While his son looked like he was asleep, Josie was sitting up, her eyelids only half open.

“Oh, that’s too bad,” the doctor said. “The sound must have woken her. I was hoping they’d both just sleep through it.”

Ash turned on him, and leaned in so that their faces were only inches apart. “What did you do?”

“Once that door seals shut, they die. Moving your friend’s leg will make that happen all the sooner.”

“Open it!”

“Sorry.”

Ash jammed the gun into the side of the doctor’s head. “Open it!”

“If you’re going to shoot me, then shoot. It doesn’t change the fact that once the sequence is initiated, I can’t undo it.” He grinned. “Oh, and if the door remains jammed for more than three minutes, this entire lab will be sterilized at a nice toasty 3000 degrees.”

“Three minutes?”

The doctor shrugged. “Sorry I can’t be of more help.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.”

Ash moved the gun from the doctor’s head, and shot the man in the hip. The doctor’s face went slack in surprise. Before he could fall to the ground, Ash caught him and dragged him around to the doorway.

The two men had made no progress in getting Chloe free. The moment they saw Ash they started to back away.

“You’re going to help me, or I swear to God I will shoot both of you, but not kill you. Do you understand what I mean?”

Apparently, they did.

Ash directed them to grab the edge of the door and pull back as hard as they could.

“More!” he said, as he watched the gap.

At first it didn’t grow at all, then suddenly it moved a quarter inch, a half. When it reached three-quarters of an inch wider, instead of pulling Chloe’s leg out, Ash shoved the doctor’s injured leg in.

Dr. Karp screamed in pain, then yelled, “What are you doing?”

Ash felt no need to answer as he then eased Chloe’s leg out. Once it was free, he said to the two other men, “All right. Let go.”

The doctor screamed out again as the door smashed against him.

“You going to be okay?” Ash asked Chloe.

She clenched her teeth, fighting off the pain. “Don’t worry about me.”

He knew her leg was probably broken, the bone perhaps even crushed. But she seemed to be in control. “Cover them,” he said.

“My pleasure.” She pointed her gun at the two men. “Sit down. Both of you.”

Ash didn’t stay to see if they cooperated. He knew if they didn’t, she’d shoot them. He moved back around to the window. It was the only other way in, but it wasn’t something he could just break through with a chair.

He pulled out the little bangs, choosing the four special white squares. These were the ones Pax said did more than just cause noise. He quickly removed the projection sheets off the adhesive backs, and placed the crackers near each corner of the window. He thought about adding a couple of the noisemakers just in case they might help, but decided against it. He pulled out the controller, then moved back around to the side where the door was. As expected, Chloe’s two friends were sitting on the floor.

Ash stepped over the doctor, then said into the gap, “Josie! Josie, can you hear me?”

“D…dad?”

“Yes, sweetie, it’s me.”

“Dad? But…but…they told us—”

“Josie, I don’t care what they told you. I’m here and I’m going to get you out.”

“Dad!” She crawled toward the door. “Dad! Oh, my God!”

“Sweetie, you need to listen to me. This is very important. We don’t have any time, okay?”

“Dad. Please get us out of here.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do. Now, listen, I need you to grab your brother and take him against the wall that the window’s on. But in the corner, off to the side. Not in front of the window. Do you understand?”

“Um...uh…I think so.”

“Please, baby. If you don’t do it, none of us are getting out.”

“Okay, Dad. I can do it.”

“Excellent. Do it now. And be ready. There’s going to be a loud bang.”

He moved back around, and watched Josie through the window as she pulled Brandon into the front corner. Once they were there, he returned to the door.

“Cover your head,” he said.

He didn’t look to see if Chloe and the others did the same; he just hit the button.

• • •

The two security men who’d been sent out to check for the missing car came back after fifteen minutes. They’d found the car ten minutes earlier, abandoned at the side of the highway not far from the road to NB7, but when they called it in, no one had answered. After being unable to reach anyone for five minutes, they decided to come back.

Everything looked the same out front as it had when they’d left, so they were starting to think their boss had just gone on a bathroom break without feeling the need to have anyone fill in for him. That was, until Collins, the younger of the two, opened the front door.

“Oh, Jesus,” he said.

His partner, Edwards, started to push by him, but pulled up short when he caught sight of the scene inside. “What the hell?”

The lobby was riddled with bullet holes. And there were five bodies that they could see. The two men moved in and checked for pulses. Two of their colleagues were still alive, their hands and ankles cuffed with the same ties the security team used.

“What happened?” Collins asked.

Edwards shook his head, then headed over to the security room. That’s where he found their boss sprawled across the threshold, cuffed and dead.

“Do…do you think whoever did this is still in the building?” Collins asked.

“I have no idea.”

The younger man hesitated, as if he didn’t want to say what was about to come from his lips. “Should we check?”

Edwards looked down at his boss, then at the other men strewn across the lobby. “I’m not sure that would be a good idea.”

Four minutes later, with the pair of unconscious men slumped in the back seat, Edwards and Collins pulled out of the compound then headed south on the highway as fast as they could go.

• • •

Even though Ash had covered his ears, the noise was deafening. Debris flew across the room, smashing into the wall where the counter was, and destroying the monitor the doctor had been using.

Ash immediately jumped back to his feet and returned to the window. However strong the glass had been, it wasn’t strong enough to stand up to the little white squares. He climbed through the opening and went to the corner where Brandon, awake now, clung to his sister.

Ash couldn’t believe it. He was looking at his kids. They were alive.

He grinned broadly and held his arms out, but instead of hugging him, they drew back.

“Who are you?” Josie asked, sounding scared.

“It’s me, baby. Dad.”

“You’re not my dad,” she said.

The bandages. The surgery. Even the contacts. He must look like a stranger to them.

“It’s me. I swear. I’ve just had…an accident. We can talk about it later. We need to get out now.”

Reluctantly, they let him guide them out of the room.

He had no idea how much time they had left, but he knew it was probably less than a minute.

“You see that door?” He pointed at the airlock.

They nodded.

“Go in there. I’ll be right behind you. I just have to help my friend.”

They both looked over at Chloe, then back at their father, more confused than ever.

“Go!” he said.

That got them moving.

He knelt down next to Chloe. “Put your arm around me,” he told her.

Once she did, he started to lift her, but then remembered there was one more thing he had to do. He moved over to the doctor.

“I hope you enjoy your trip to hell.”

The doctor forced a smile. “You can’t stop anything, you know that. Your kids would have been better off to go now instead of being alive to witness the world they know melt into nothing.”

“I have a feeling you’re the only one who’ll be doing any melting in the near future.”

“Humor’s not one of your best traits, I’m guessing.”

Ignoring him, Ash said, “Before I go, I have a message for you from an old friend.”

The doctor looked at him, a smirk on his face.

“Olivia says hi,” Ash said. “I got the feeling from her she wasn’t too happy you left her to die. Pointed out something about the irony that you’ll be dead before she is.”

“Olivia? But she’s—”

“Goodbye, Doctor.”

Ash lifted Chloe off the floor and headed for the airlock. Just before he passed through the door, he yelled to the other two men, “Once we clear this airlock, I suggest you get in it, if there’s still time.”

It turned out there wasn’t.

 

 

50

 

It wasn’t the starting of the truck that woke Tamara and Bobby. It was the pothole they hit sometime later. According to the clock on the camera, it was 7:12 a.m.

“Do you think whoever’s driving knows we’re back here?” Tamara asked.

“I don’t know,” Bobby replied. “I would think so, though. Wouldn’t you?”

The world seemed to have flipped on its end, so she didn’t know what to think anymore.

“I wonder where we’re going,” Bobby said several minutes later.

“Can’t be far.” The quarantine would prevent any long travels.

But either they drove around in circles or she was wrong, because six hours passed before the engine was turned off for the first time. After a few moments, they could both hear fuel flowing into the tanks.

“Maybe we should get out now,” she suggested.

“We haven’t heard the knock.”

“Maybe there’s not going to be a knock. We’re not on the base any more.”

But neither of them made a move to open the door, and soon they were on the road again. Nearly seven more hours passed before the engine cut out once more. This time, though, there was no sound of tanks being filled. In fact, except for the opening and closing of the cab door, there wasn’t much sound at all.

After thirty minutes of not moving, Tamara said, “I’ll bet we’re in another parking lot.”

“If nothing else, we’re going to get a great story out of this,” Bobby said.

“If we have a job.”

Bobby was quiet for a second, then, “Do you…do you really think Joe is dead?”

She was silent for a moment. “They killed Gavin, didn’t they? And those kids in the desert. So…”

A few silent minutes passed.

“How far do you think we’ve come?” she asked.

“Impossible to know.”

They broke out some food, and had a dinner consisting of apples, bread, and some kind of deli meat. As she’d done all day, Tamara only took a couple sips of water. Even though it was dark in their hiding space, the idea of peeing in front of Bobby had zero appeal to her.

Tap-tap. Tap.

The knock had been on the side of the truck, right behind her head. Tamara nearly leaped forward in surprise.

Tap-tap. Tap.

She wanted to scream, “We’re here! We’re here!” But she held her tongue.

She could hear Bobby already working the door latch. As he opened the door, they could see that the back of the truck was still open, and outside it was night.

“You wait here. I’ll check,” Bobby said.

“Hell, no. You wait here. I’ll check.”

She pushed past him and walked stiffly to the back of the truck. It was cool out, much cooler, in fact, than it had been when she and Bobby entered their sanctuary, making her realize that the box had actually been heated. She crossed her arms and ran her hands up and down her biceps as she stepped onto the back bumper, and then hopped to the ground.

They seemed to be parked on a small grass clearing in the middle of an evergreen forest. Pine trees encircled the part of the clearing she could see. One thing was for sure—they were certainly not in the Mojave Desert any more.

She looked over her shoulder as Bobby stepped down to join her.

“Where the hell are we?” he asked.

She was about to say she had no clue when a voice from near the front of the truck called out, “Hello?”

Tamara and Bobby exchanged a look, then walked over and peeked around the side.

Standing by the cab were a smiling man and woman.

“Oh, good,” the man said, taking a couple steps forward. “I was afraid you guys might have wandered off. I wasn’t looking forward to hunting you down.”

“Hunting?” Tamara said.

“Oh, no, no, no,” the man said with a chuckle. “Bad choice of words. Searching is more what I meant. Come on. You probably want to get out of here.”

Still leery, Tamara and Bobby stepped around the side and walked halfway up to the cab.

“Who are you, exactly?” Tamara asked.

“Me? I’m Mike.” The man closed the distance between them and extended his hand.

Bobby shook it automatically, while Tamara did so with more reluctance.

“And that’s my wife, Janice.”

Janice waved, but didn’t come closer. She looked as cold as Tamara felt.

“So what are you doing here?” Tamara asked.

Mike shrugged. “Offering you a ride.”

“I hope you don’t mind,” Janice called out. “I’m going back inside. It’s too cold out here.” She started walking around the front of the truck. “Coffee should be ready by now, so whenever you’re ready.”

“Coffee?” Bobby said.

Mike smiled. “Sure. Janice makes the best on the highway.”

When Bobby gave him an odd look, Mike smiled and motioned for them to follow him to the front of the truck. From there, they could see an old Winnebago RV parked fifty feet away.

Bobby glanced at Tamara. “Come on. They’re obviously here to help us.”

Tamara looked at the Winnebago. “Do you have a bathroom in that thing?”

“We do,” Mike said with a smile.

She could feel her tension ease. “Then a cup of coffee sounds great.”

“Excellent,” Mike told her. “After you.”

 

 

51

 

It was a struggle for Martina to open her eyes. When she did, the brightness of the new day made her shut them almost immediately. She could feel the congestion in her nose, and the rawness in her throat. When she’d fallen asleep, she’d felt fine. Now, not so much.

Her last morning. She was sure of it.

She worked her eyes open again, then rolled over and looked at the spot where Ben had been sleeping. He wasn’t there.

Probably decided to move when he realized I was sick, she thought.

She raised herself up on her elbows. She could hear sniffling elsewhere in the dining area, and even a couple of coughs, her friends all dying with her.

“You’re up.”

She looked over her shoulder. Ben was standing behind her. He must have been in the kitchen. Though he was smiling, she could tell by his red nose that he was sick, too. That depressed her even more. She liked him, and had been hoping that maybe he’d be the one to survive.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re all sour face.”

She lay her head back down. “I guess I was kind of hoping we wouldn’t get it.”

“Right,” he said, his smile widening. “You’ve been asleep.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Come on. I’ll show you.”

With more than just a bit of effort, Ben helped Martina to her feet, then led her to the front of the café. Most of the others were there, all but one or two showing signs of the flu. The TV on the counter was on, tuned to PCN. At the bottom of the screen was a banner that read: Quarantine Partially Lifted.

“Lifted?” Martina said. “But we’re all sick here.”

“Yeah, and we’re still in the quarantine zone, but not for long,” Ben told her.

“What are you talking about?”

“Maybe he can tell you,” he said, nodding at the next booth over.

She turned and saw Paul sitting on the end of the bench seat. He looked tired—exhausted, actually—but what other signs of the illness he’d had seemed to be gone.

“You owe me a glass of orange juice,” Ben said. “I believe that was our bet.”

“He’s all right?” she asked quietly.

“He’s recovering from the illness, but I don’t think he’d say he’s all right.”

Of course. His brother and his girlfriend.

“They’re saying on the news that there have been over five hundred new cases in the last thirty-six hours, but most haven’t resulted in death. People are being asked to voluntarily stay home until the flu has disappeared, but the quarantine is expected to be fully lifted by tomorrow night.”

“So…what? It just stopped killing people?”

“Apparently.”

She couldn’t believe it. “We’re going to live?”

Ben smiled again. “Didn’t I tell you this wasn’t going to be your last morning?”

 

 

52

 

“Would you like me to play it again?” the Director of Preparation asked.

There were head shakes all around the table.

“Do you really think she’s alive?” the Director of Facilities asked.

“How would Captain Ash have known her name otherwise?”

They had just watched Ash and an unidentified woman rescue his children from NB7. The video had lasted right up to the point when the flames flared up. Ash had clearly stated the name Olivia and mentioned she’d been left for dead.

At the end of the table, the Principal Director leaned forward. “I think it would be unwise to assume Olivia is still alive based solely on a single brief conversation. But I also think it would be unwise not to try to find out more.”

“Yes, sir,” the DOP said. “I’ll get a team right on it.”

“There are several things, though,” the Principal Director went on, “that concern me more at the moment, lapses of security on this operation that were totally unacceptable. The loss of the NB7 facility, in particular, does not make me happy.”

“Yes, sir,” the DOP said. “I agree with you one hundred percent. Though it should have been unnecessary, we will definitely learn from these mistakes. To that end, if I may…” He glanced at the Principal Director, who gave him a nod. “Bring up channel four, please.”

The monitor came back to life, this time showing what looked like a conference room.

Sitting on one side of the table was Mr. Shell, and on the other, the soon-to-be former Director of Recovery. Ostensibly, the meeting was for the DOR to critique Shell’s performance during the outbreak. That in itself was highly unusual, given that project members almost never met face to face with the Directors, but it was not entirely unprecedented. Given the gravity of what had just played out over the last several days, neither man questioned its necessity.

The DOP used the remote to turn up the volume.

“…more. You must understand that,” the DOR said. “These kinds of slips are completely unacceptable.”

“Yes, sir,” Mr. Shell said. “I understand. There were problems that were unforeseen.”

“Nothing should be unforeseen!”

The DOP couldn’t resist the opening. He touched the button for the microphone that was clipped to his collar. “You’re absolutely correct. Nothing should be unforeseen.”

Both men on the screen looked up toward where the voice must have been coming from.

“The Directorate would like to thank the Director of Recovery and Mr. Shell for their contributions to the project,” the DOP went on. “It is our unanimous decision that neither of your services will be further required.”

“What?” the Director of Recovery said. “Wait. You can’t—”

The DOP hit the mute button. “Terminate,” he said.

He waited until the two men in the other room started choking as the air to their room was cut off, then had the monitor turned off. He looked back at the group.

“Even with these unfortunate incidents, there is much good news. From Dr. Karp’s own calculations, we know that the effectiveness of KV-27a exceeds our hopes. Even the safeguard that he encoded into the virus of turning it into a simple flu after the fifth or sixth host worked perfectly. And with the discovery of the Ash family’s immunity, we should have a working vaccine within weeks. It is unfortunate that the doctor isn’t with us anymore, but his work still goes on. I think we can safely designate stage one of the delivery agent complete. That is, unless anyone has any objections?” He looked around the table, but no one said a word. “We will concentrate on stage two now, which is already well on its way. At this time, I see no threat at all to the implementation timetable.”

The Principal Director leaned forward again. “What about Captain Ash? He’s still on the loose.”

“He is, sir. But I don’t believe he’s any kind of problem. He only wanted his children.”

“And these missing journalists?”

“We believe they were scared off, sir, and will resurface soon. When that occurs, they will be dealt with.”

“Yes, but who is helping these people? They couldn’t have done this all on their own. And if Olivia is alive, where is she?”

“We’re looking into all of that, sir, but, again, we don’t think any of it is a serious threat. The boulder is running downhill. It’s too late for anyone to stop it.”

 

 

53

 

As they sped away from NB7, Chloe called Matt, requesting a safe house and a doctor. They were directed to the home of an elderly woman in a small, Western Idaho town. Despite the fact the sun had yet to come up when they arrived, she smiled at the children and told everyone to make themselves at home, then disappeared into a room in the back.

Ash hunted down some aspirin for Chloe, then found a couple of bedrooms upstairs and told Josie and Brandon they could use them. But instead of separating, they chose to share a room. He could tell they were still unsure if it was really him, but he didn’t want to push himself on them.

After they were settled, he cleaned out his wound again. The first time he’d done it had been in a gas station restroom, not exactly the most sterile of places. This time he found some rubbing alcohol in the medicine cabinet, and poured it into the groove on his arm. It burned worse than when he’d actually been hit, but he knew he had to do it, and dumped nearly half the bottle over the wound before he stopped.

When he returned downstairs, he found Chloe propped up on the couch.

“Why don’t you get some sleep,” he suggested.

“I tried, but this isn’t going to let me,” she told him, touching her leg.

He wished he could do something more for her. The pain seemed to be hitting her in waves. She’d be fine for a bit, then, with no warning, would close her eyes tight and cringe.

Just short of an hour after they arrived, there was a knock on the door. It was Pax and Billy. Billy quickly checked both patients, then gave Chloe a sedative that allowed her to fall asleep. As soon as she was out, he dealt with Ash’s wound.

“Clean this yourself?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Remind me not to use you as a nurse.”

More burning, then a bandage to cover the gash. When he was through, Billy examined Ash’s face, looking at the scars of the surgery from what seemed so long ago.

With a simple “It looks like nothing’s going to fall off,” Billy went to see what he could do about Chloe’s leg.

“You got ‘em,” Pax said, once he and Ash were alone.

“Yeah, I did.” Ash knew he should be happy, but the worry he’d had for his kids’ safety had turned into worry for their mental well-being. Sometimes being a parent sucked. “Thanks for your help. Those mini-explosives you gave me, I couldn’t have done it without them.”

“Don’t even worry about it.”

They talked a little longer, but at some point Ash fell asleep. How Pax and Billy got him into a bed upstairs, he had no idea. But that’s where he woke to an afternoon sun shining through the window.

He showered, put on the new clothes someone had laid out for him, and headed downstairs. He found Pax and the old woman in the kitchen, laughing and having a cup of coffee.

“Where’s Josie and Brandon?” he asked, alarmed.

“Your kids are fine,” the old woman said. “They’re out back, playing with the dog.”

Ash walked over to the open back door and looked out the screen. Josie was sitting on a picnic bench, petting the head of a golden retriever while Brandon was trying to coax the dog away with a ball. It seemed so…normal.

“And Chloe?” Ash asked.

“Billy took her back to the ranch,” Pax said. “Said she needs surgery on the leg, but that she should be fine.”

Ash hadn’t told her thank you. He should have done it already, but he’d been too drained to even think about it.

“Can I get you a cup of coffee?” the woman asked.

Ash shook his head. “Not right now, thanks.”

He opened the screen door and stepped into the backyard. Both his kids looked over and stared at him. He wondered if their uncertainty would ever go away, if they’d ever truly believe he was their dad.

As he walked toward them, the golden retriever ran to him. Ash knelt down and petted the dog’s head. “Hey, buddy.” He looked over at his children. “What’s his name?”

Neither of them said anything for a moment, then Brandon took a step forward. “Strider.”

“Hello there, Strider,” Ash said to the dog.

Strider wagged his tail and licked Ash’s hand.

“He likes to play catch,” Brandon said.

Ash stood up. “You have a ball?”

Brandon nodded and showed him the tennis ball in his hand.

“Throw it for him,” Ash said.

Brandon tossed the ball across the yard, and Strider took off after it. As the dog was bringing the ball back to the boy, Ash casually walked over.

“Can I try?” he asked.

“Sure,” Brandon said, handing him the ball.

They played toss with the dog for several minutes, alternating turns, with neither of them really saying anything. While they did this, Josie sat quietly on the bench watching them.

As Ash was about to throw the ball again, Josie said, “Why did they tell us you were dead?”

Ash paused for a moment, then let the ball fly. “I don’t know, sweetheart. Because they weren’t very nice, I guess. They told me you were both dead, too.”

“They did?” Brandon said.

Ash nodded.

Strider returned with the ball and dropped it at Brandon’s feet, but the boy didn’t seem to notice. Brandon looked at his father for a moment, then glanced at his sister and whispered something just low enough so Ash couldn’t hear it.

Josie seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, then looked up at their dad. “Is…Mom alive, too?”

Ash could feel his heart suddenly break. He sank down to his knees so he was closer to their height, tears forming in his eyes. “No, sweetie. She’s not.”

“But you’re here, and they said you were dead,” she countered.

Ash could hear Brandon’s breath become ragged as he fought his own tears. “I know, Josie. But your mom was gone before they even took us out of the house.”

“But…but…are you sure?”

He nodded.

Brandon was the first to fall into his embrace, sobbing into Ash’s shoulder, but Josie wasn’t far behind him.

“I love you guys,” Ash said, then repeated “I love you” over and over.

“I love you, too, Dad,” Josie said, once her tears had finally lost their strength.

“Me, too,” Brandon added.

The hug that followed seemed to last for hours.

__________________________________

 

 

Want to know what happens next?

The second Project Eden Thriller

EXIT NINE

is only months away.

Look for it early Fall, 2011

 

 

BONUS MATERIAL

Keep going to read the first chapter to

LITTLE GIRL GONE

A Logan Harper Thriller

By Brett Battles

 

 

• • • • • • •

 

 

LITTLE GIRL GONE