Capital Falling Trilogy Box Set [Books 1-3]

by Winkless, Lance

  We all secure our lockers with the zip ties, then file out of the room to be patted down thoroughly at the doorway.

  Again, we are led by two soldiers who take us through a door on the opposite side of the central area. This leads into quite a large warehouse which has pallet racking running down each side of it. The racks are full of pallets containing various stocks wrapped onto them. Many are indistinct, but I do see pallets containing bottled water, tinned food and toilet rolls. We walk straight across the warehouse towards large double doors big enough to get a forklift through. As we reach the doors, one of the leading soldiers presses a button positioned on the wall beside them and the doors start to open automatically.

  The opening doors reveal the security cages that the sergeant mentioned; they run down the right hand side. At least ten feet high and constructed of thick silver wire mesh, they are different widths, and some have single wired doors built into the fronts and some have double doors. Each is separated from the next by a breeze block wall running down the centre inside.

  As the soldiers lead us in, we see that the cages are in the main cavernous cargo area of this building, stacks of pallets and pallet racking everywhere, and away to the left are the large loading bay doors where the lorries back up, to either be loaded or unloaded.

  The secure cages run down the back of this large cargo area, and opposite each cage, a guard is stationed; they are fully armed and ready to deal with any problems, including people who show visible signs of having the virus. There are a few empty cages, but most are occupied with all types of different people in various numbers. Some cages have two or three people inside, others are quite full. I’m not sure how they are working it, but my guess is if they arrive together, they are quarantined together. There are many military uniforms on the people inside which makes sense. We get some looks from the inside the cages but on the whole, everybody seems indifferent to us. I suppose everyone has had an unbelievably shocking day and their batteries are drained. Nobody here thought they would be locked in a cage at Heathrow airport when they woke this morning, including us.

  I’m getting very anxious to see Emily and, I find, to see Catherine. Seeing Stacey is going to be difficult; I’ve got to tell her news that is going to be very hard for her to hear. I’m so fond of Stacey, I’m going to hate telling her, but she has to know what we saw, and it has to come from me; as far as I am concerned, she is a part of our family, more so now than ever.

  We move down the row of cages looking into each one in the hope of seeing them, but the two soldiers in front keep going forward. I haven’t seen any children in here yet and I suddenly have a fear they aren’t here at all.

  The soldiers in front come to a stop and turn towards us outside one of the larger cages. I can’t see inside, though, because of the internal wall running down the middle. The inside comes into view as we get closer, and then I see Stan sat with his back against the wall opposite; his head is back and his eyes are closed. Next to Stan is Lindsay, lying on her side on the floor, her knees bent up towards her and her head resting on a makeshift pillow. Her eyes are closed too.

  As I reach the door of the cage, I see them, resting against the opposite wall. Stacey is lying farthest away in the same sleeping position as Lindsay. Catherine is sat up with her back against the wall with her arm around Emily, who is in the middle and is snuggled into Catherine’s right side.

  Catherine as if somehow sensing us arrive, opens her eyes and turns her head. She looks at me and for a moment, she is silent and just smiles at me, her eyes blinking as if to make sure it is me.

  “Emily,” Catherine says soothingly, “Emily, look who is here,” she says looking down at Emily and shaking her gently.

  Emily slowly lifts her head and opens her eyes. She looks up at Catherine and then her head moves and she sees me.

  “Dad,” she says almost to herself before it sinks in properly.

  “Daddy!” Emily shouts, she then pauses and refocuses her gaze to my side, “Josh….Josh!”

  I am smiling from ear to ear but tears still roll down my face as my little girl realises both Josh and I are here. She almost jumps up from Catherine and runs over to the cage door; she too is crying while she calls out Josh’s name.

  The sergeant tells the guard for this cage to open the door.

  Stacey is now awake, sitting up and looking at us. I see the disappointment on her face as she sees that her parents are not with us, and I can’t help but feel for her.

  “Move back now Emily and stay inside, while we open the door,” the sergeant says.

  Emily steps slightly back and the guard moves in front of us with the key ready and unlocks the cage door. As the guard swings the door open, however, Emily can’t contain herself and she runs out of the open door and jumps into Josh’s arms. Josh picks her up and quickly walks inside the cage before anyone can do anything. The rest of us follow them in and the door is shut and locked behind us.

  “Thank you, Sergeant,” I say through the wire.

  “My pleasure, Captain, see you again.”

  With that, he and his team turn to go, leaving us in the hands of our guard.

  “Dad,” Emily shouts from Josh’s arms, holding out her own arm.

  I go and put my arms around my two children. Catherine gets up, comes over and I pull her in too.

  “Stacey,” I call.

  Stacey gets up and joins us. My hand reaches around and I rest it on the top of Stacey’s head, thinking how lucky I am.

  Over the next hour or so, we all catch up with each other, Emily eager to hear how we found Josh and also to find out who Alice is. She seems to be taken with Alice’s American accent. We tell our story, which everyone listens to intently, but we leave out the last part about when we went looking for Stacey’s parents.

  When things have calmed down a bit, I do take Stacey to one side and speak to her about her parents and what we found at their building. She is of course very upset. She refuses to give up hope, however, and even thanks me for trying to find them. She tries to put a brave face on, but it is easy to see how she is feeling, and we all try to be there for her.

  A medical team arrives to take our blood for testing, and they also take our details. I tell them I need to speak to Colonel Reed. They say they can’t help with that, so I ask them to at least try to inform him that I am here. They promise to try but I’m not convinced.

  Thankfully, the food eventually arrives and we four new arrivals devour it quickly. We also eat anything left by the others whose appetites seem to have abandoned them.

  After the food, things start quietening down, I am absolutely shattered, to say the least—as, by the looks of it, most of us are. That’s all apart from Emily who is still so excited to see Josh. She sits with him and keeps talking to him even as his eyes start to close.

  I sit down against the wall next to where Catherine was sitting, in the hope, she will come and sit next to me; she sees me looking at her and she does come over to my side.

  “You look so tired, Andy,” she whispers.

  “I’m drained, I don’t think I’ll be awake for much longer.”

  “There is no need for you to be; we are all safe here, get some sleep.”

  I smile at her. “Okay.”

  She smiles back and then leans in and kisses my lips for a second or two. My eyes close and my head goes back, resting against the wall. Catherine takes my hand in hers and her head rests on my shoulder. The talking fades around me and I drift off to sleep.

  Epilogue

  “Captain Richards.”

  “Captain Richards.” I hear my name again.

  For a second, I’m not sure where I am. My eyes open and the bright light makes me squint, my vision blurred. I look around our cage to see who is calling me, but everyone is asleep.

  “Captain Richards, Sir.”

  The female voice is coming from outside the cage, and my head turns to see one of the medical staff standing the other side of the wire.

&nb
sp; “What time is it?” I ask.

  “04:30, Sir, I have Colonel Reed on the phone for you in the office, Sir.”

  “Aren’t I in quarantine?”

  “Your bloodwork was prioritised under the Colonel’s orders, Sir; you are clear of the virus. Can you come with me please, Sir?”

  The guard is already unlocking the cage door.

  Catherine starts to move beside me, “What’s going on?” She asks.

  “I have a phone call apparently, from Colonel Reed.”

  “Okay,” she says, sleepily.

  “I’ll be back,” I tell her.

  “Okay.”

  The guard opens the door as I get up and all I can think is:

  Here we go again!

  To Be Continued

  CAPITAL FALLING 2 - DENIAL

  Chapter 1

  In a rage, Molly slams her hand down on the door handle and pushes the office door open with a force she barely knew she possessed. She immediately releases the handle, letting the heavy door fly inwards, and it does fly, through 180° until it inevitably crashes into the closest object behind it.

  Doctor Rees’s bicycle absorbs the majority of the door’s kinetic energy; some is transferred to the wall against which the bike was balanced, but the bike absorbs the most. The bike turns that energy into sound in the form of a loud crash, and into motion, by twisting and falling from its perch on the wall and back against the door, pushing it back towards Molly.

  The bike ends up in a heap on the floor with its front wheel jutting out from behind the door and sticking up into the air, its spokes clicking as it revolves—as if they would continue for eternity.

  The door is now half-closed again with the bloody bike stuck behind it, but that doesn’t deter Molly. She again forces the door open further by shoulder-barging both the door and the bike as far as she can, back into the wall.

  “This whole operation is totally unacceptable,” Molly barks, her rage undiminished following her fight with the door and the bike. “We were assured these outside contractors would be fully trained professionals, but they are a bunch of clowns, amateurs, I am sure some of them are fresh out of school!”

  Stephen Rees springs back in his leather chair as his head whips up from the pile of documents on his desk, a pile he is struggling to get through. His eyes were just starting to glaze over but the sudden crash and resulting commotion from Molly bursting through the door has shocked him out of his near slumber.

  “How can you agree with this!” Molly barks again, red-faced.

  “By all means come in, Lieutenant, but you will stand to attention when you address me.” Major Doctor Stephen Rees demands from behind his desk, now wide awake.

  “Yes Sir,” Molly says, immediately standing rigidly to attention in reflex as some of the wind is taken out of her sails.

  “Please continue,” the Major tells Molly, who is red in the face and looks like steam might be about to burst from her ears.

  “Sir, we cannot let this continue. These people clearly don’t know what they are doing or what they are dealing with. They are not taking nearly enough care disassembling the equipment and moving it, and we are about to start preparing the cold storage assemblies ready for transport. I don’t need to tell you what the result could be if even one of those is damaged and containment is lost! This should be a military operation, Sir,” Molly finishes.

  “I understand your concern, Lieutenant, but we have our orders and I expect you and your team to carry them out, to oversee and ensure the safety of this operation.”

  “Sir, I can’t.” The Major cuts her off.

  “Molly,” the Major says calmingly, “I totally understand what you are saying and I’ll be honest with you; I completely agree. I had a long video call with the General and his assistant at 0630 and told him the same, but the General didn’t agree and gave me a direct order to continue with the operation and get it complete with the resources allocated. Now we both know it’s wrong and that the budget shouldn’t outweigh the safety but I’m afraid it does, so let’s get this done with what we have. Once complete, at least it will mean those vials will be either destroyed or stored in the new facility and out of this old place. They should never have been here in the first place.”

  “But Sir,” Molly tries again.

  “You have your orders, Lieutenant.”

  Molly’s head drops slightly as she says, “Yes Sir,” rather sheepishly.

  “Carry on, Lieutenant, oh and remember, as I said in this morning's briefing, if I am needed in the lab to oversee any part of the operation, don’t hesitate to inform me.” Major Reese says, quickly adding, “My door is always open.”

  The joke brings the slightest hint of a smile across Molly's face as her stand to attention hardens again. She salutes her superior officer, colleague and friend. She then turns to re-engage her fight with the bike. This time, however, she fumbles to get the bike back upright and back into its space, balanced against the wall behind the door.

  As peace breaks out between Molly and the bike, she hears, “Thank you, Lieutenant,” from the Major whose head is already down, returned to his mountain of paperwork as she leaves the office, closing the door behind her.

  The door clicks shut, and Molly moves across the sterile hospital-like corridor to the wall opposite, where she places her forehead against the wall, resting it while she gathers herself.

  Budget-cutting and saving money has been an integral part of her experience in her six years in the British Army, but it just seems to be getting worse and worse. Budgets get tighter, corners are cut, manpower diminishes, equipment gets older and no matter who or how loudly they protest, nobody listens. That is until something goes seriously wrong and even then, action is only usually taken if the media picks up on the incident and some politicians career might be in jeopardy.

  Sighing to herself, Molly is positive that the Major is just as frustrated as she is; she has known him long enough, and he knows the dangers of this operation at least as well as she does, but no matter how much shouting and screaming she does, his hands are tied, just as hers are.

  Molly lifts her head off the wall, straightens her back, then turns and marches down the brightly lit corridor back towards the laboratory and storage facility.

  The ten-minute walk goes in a flash, her mind working as she deliberates the operational plan and safety measures that she and the Major have put in place. Almost surprised to find herself at the security entrance, she presses her thumb onto the security pad, the magnetic locks release and Molly pushes through the hissing doors and back into her domain.

  Chapter 2

  The cold storage facility situated next to the laboratory seems strangely unfamiliar to Molly now, even though she has spent an inordinate amount of time here over the last four and a half years. She is used to it being a quiet area, where only she and a very select few of her colleges have access.

  Soft blue lighting and a cold atmosphere always gave her the feeling, she was somehow in the arctic and the usual stillness and silence certainly gave you pause to imagine you were there.

  A crunching noise puts pay to any remaining reminiscing, as the three-wheeler electric forklift’s solid black tyre crushes something it shouldn’t into the concrete floor before the driver slammed on its brakes.

  “BE CAREFUL!” Molly again shouts at the top of her voice, for what seems like the hundredth time in the last hour. Not that she is sure if the driver or any of the other contractors listen to her now, or on any of the other ninety-nine times she has shouted it into the bubble helmet of her Biohazard suit. They are all probably sick of her shouting it and bawling other orders at them; for all she knows, they have turned the volume down on their radio earpieces to get her voice out of their heads.

  Second Lieutenant Brian Simms, Molly’s assistant whom she can see and hear through her earpiece is having the same running battle on the opposite side of the facility to her. Oh God, let this be over, she thinks.

  The temperat
ure inside her suit seems to be rising by the minute, the suit’s built-in temperature control is struggling to cope, only adding to her frustration and bad temper. The only slight relief is the small amount of cool air entering the suit from the pipe attached to the back it, which is in turn connected to the air supply on the wall behind her.

  The suit is struggling to regulate the temperature probably because of Molly’s raised heartbeat and body temperature but mainly because this normally cool, secure storage facility has had a large hole cut into the wall away to her left. The hole is where the loading of the transport trucks is taking place.

  The new loading bay is sealed airtight with two airtight thick plastic sections; the trucks reverse up to the outer opening and the back of the truck is sealed into the opening. And only when it is completely sealed into the opening, the second section’s seal is broken and is opened to allow the forklift access to the back of the truck to load. Even though the opening is airtight, it doesn’t stop the majority of the heat from the hot day outside getting in. This gets worse when the back doors of the truck are opened up, the sun beating down onto the roofs of the trucks and the heat seems to billow out of them and into the storage facility. When the truck is full and all the refrigerated storage assemblies are plugged into the on-board power source, the truck doors are closed, and an air conditioner kicks in to cool the truck for its journey.

  Molly still finds it surprising that the hole was cut into the wall of this area for the temporary loading bay, which is the most sensitive and secure area of the whole facility. She wasn’t consulted about this part of the moving plan and was only informed of this hairbrained idea two days before the work actually began and the wall cutting started. The only consolation to this security breach is that there is now a company of heavily armed soldiers from the London Regiment now stationed in the area on the other side of the wall twenty-four hours a day until the operation is complete.