“Come on. Give,” he said, a slight smile gracing his face.
“Was just thinking how things could be worse?”
“Oh, really?” Mathis’ eyes shined with mischief. “Please, do tell.”
“We could be trapped with Hoyt.”
Mathis blinked and then he began cackling. “Or Dugger. Can you imagine the kind of shit he’s saying over the radio right now?”
She giggled. “And I’ll bet Glaze is as confused as always.”
“Yeah,” Mathis said. His laughter faded and he seemed to stare at nothing. “Yeah,” he said again. After a moment, his eyes swung back to her. “You think they’re okay?”
No, she wanted to say. They’re dead. Just like the rest of our team. “I’m sure they’re fine,” she lied.
“Right,” Mathis said. He didn’t sound like he believed her. She didn’t blame him. “What are we going to do?”
She shrugged. “Guess we wait for something to happen.”
Mathis frowned. “I don’t like that idea. I’m going to go nuts if I don’t do something.” He pushed himself up off the floor and stood. His suit crinkled. “Seriously. I don’t need this shit.” He unzipped the protective suit and stepped out of it. He nearly lost his balance as he tried to free one of his feet, but managed to use the wall for leverage. With the suit off, the scent of sweat filled the hallway. He dropped the air tank to the ground and took a deep breath. “Better.”
Sighing, she followed his lead. In a moment, she was down to her dark blue jumpsuit. She pushed the rest of it into the puddle of clothes on the floor. The hospital’s cool air felt refreshing. “You’re right,” she said with a smile. “That’s much better. To hell with the video feeds.”
“Yeah,” Mathis said. He popped his back and stared out into the hallway. “Nothing’s changed. How long are we going to stay in here?”
A door opened behind them. Lt. Celianne stepped out of the operating room. Rifle slung over her shoulder, hands at her sides, she looked more like a small woman playing soldier than a SWAT commander.
“Doctors,” she said. “You look more comfortable.”
“We are,” Harrel said. “What’s the plan?”
The lieutenant looked past them to the hallway and seemed to nod to herself. “My team and I need to go over the blueprints for this place.”
“I can help you with that,” Mathis said. “CDC site personnel had to memorize this place. At least most of it.”
An amused smile crossed the SWAT commander’s face. “I’m thinking more of air ducts and possible ingress/egress points.”
“Oh,” Mathis said, crestfallen. “I guess our training didn’t cover that.”
“Don’t worry,” Celianne said, “I’m sure we’ll need whatever you have.” She peered up at the ceiling and Harrel followed her gaze. “Is there a level above here?”
“No,” Mathis said. “The ER and Trauma Ward was built as an adjunct. There’s no second floor, but it connects in the basement to the cafeteria and those areas.”
The SWAT commander pursed her lips. “At least that’s something,” she said.
“What are you thinking?” Harrel asked.
Celianne dropped her eyes to Harrel’s and smiled. “Just making sure I have my bases covered.”
Mathis swallowed hard. “Did that thing go below us?”
“Yes. It did.”
“Fuck,” Mathis said. He locked eyes with Harrel. “It can get to the main hospital area.”
“Wait. What?” Celianne asked. The grim smile that had been on her face disappeared into a worried frown.
“He’s right,” Harrel said. God, this was bad. The headache that had been at the periphery was no longer just a crawling, pulling sensation. Now it was starting to become painful. “When they built the addition, they connected the main hospital basement to this one.”
Celianne cursed. “Is there a partition between the two that security can bring down?”
“No clue,” Harrel said. “You’d have to ask them.”
The SWAT commander tapped her mic. “Epp? Any luck on that landline?”
The radio crackled with static and then a man’s scratchy voice warded it off. “No, Boss. Schneck says there’s one beyond the quarantine partition in the main hospital hallway. But we have no way to get to it without breaking the quarantine.”
“Understood,” Celianne said. “Stand by.”
“Commander?”
The trio turned to the back of the hallway. Sharma, his color a little better, had left one of the operating suites. “Yes?” Celianne asked
“We have hardlines in here,” the doctor said and pointed inside the operating room. “Each suite has one.”
“Outstanding,” Celianne said. Then, under her breath, “Wish you’d told me that five minutes ago.”
She walked from the hallway and followed Sharma back into one of the rooms.
“Well, that solves that,” Mathis said.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean,” he said and stretched, “she’s going to call down to security. They can tell her everything she needs to know.”
Harrel nodded and then dropped her eyes to the floor. She had a bad feeling it wasn’t going to be that easy.
Chapter 20
The dead patient lay on a stainless steel table, folded surgical blankets piled near its feet. A number of sheets covered the corpse creating a somewhat unsettling outline. Spots of red stained the sheets near the torso area. Sarah tried not to think of the dead man in the room, but her eyes kept flicking back to the table.
Stop it, she told herself. Before you start thinking that thing moved.
“Over here,” Dr. Sharma said.
Sarah followed him to the wall near the sink. Sure enough, there was a plastic rectangle on the wall with several buttons and a handset atop it. “Can I call security from here?”
“I think so,” Sharma said. “If nothing else, you can get the hospital operator.”
“Yeah,” Sarah said. Operator? Can you please connect me with the monster squad? She did her best to keep a straight face, but a smirk slipped through. She picked up the handset and listened for a dial tone. There wasn’t one. She rolled her eyes and then stabbed one of the buttons on the phone. A “1” lit up and the receiver clicked into a steady tone. She loosed a breathy sigh and then hit “0” on the handset.
After a short pause, the receiver droned in two short tones. The line clicked.
“I don’t have any information,” the woman on the other end of the line snapped in a nearly hysterical voice. “We will make an announcement over the PA as soon as we know something.”
Sarah cleared her throat. “This is HPD SWAT Commander Lt. Sarah Celianne.”
Pause. “Oh, thank God!”
“Can you connect me with—”
“What the hell is going on?” the shrill voice hammered through the receiver. Sarah held the phone a few inches away from her ear while a torrent of questions flowed through the line.
“Ma’am? Ma’am?” The voice ignored her. Sarah narrowed her eyes and then held down the “1” key on the handset. A steady tone roared against the woman’s constant prattle. Finally, the voice shut up. Sarah took a deep breath. “Ma’am? I will update you momentarily. But right now, I really need to speak with security.”
Pause. “You can’t,” the woman said. Sarah frowned. The woman was sobbing.
“Ma’am? What’s your name?”
“Allyson. Allyson Burry.” The operator’s voice jittered with stress.
“You can call me Sarah. I want you to remain calm, okay?”
Allyson took a deep shuddering breath and then exhaled.
“Better?”
“Better.”
“Good. Now,” Sarah said, “what do you mean I can’t talk to security?”
“I’ve tried to call them several times. There was no answer and now I just get a busy signal.”
Busy signal? “Okay. That’s okay. Where are you located?”
“I
n the hospital.”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “Are you on the first floor?”
“Oh.” Sarah could hear the woman’s blush in her voice. “Yes. In the main hall.”
“Is there anyone there with you?”
The woman took a deep breath. “Several of the staff have come down to leave. They’re trapped here with me.”
Sarah’s eyes dropped to the floor. If the thing was in the basement, and it could get to the main building, it would have to come back up to the first floor. “Okay. Here’s what I want you to do. Tell them to get back upstairs. I assume you have breakrooms on each floor?”
“Several,” the woman replied. “But if they’re upstairs, they can’t get out.”
That’s the idea, Sarah thought. “We need them to stay on the upper floors for now. Do you understand?”
The woman sniffled. “Yes. But I don’t—”
“Please, Allyson.” Sarah’s voice dripped with saccharine sweetness. “Do it for me?”
“Okay.” Allyson took another deep breath. “Do you want me up there too?”
This was the part of the job she always hated. Her next words could doom Allyson, but she didn’t have a choice. “I need you to stay where you are. My team is doing its best to rectify the situation, but we need you there. You’re the only one we have communications with right now. There are soldiers right outside those main entry doors. You’re as safe as you can be, okay?”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure,” Sarah lied. “Now I need you to do me one more favor. This should be fun.”
“Fun?” Allyson asked, a note of incredulity in her panicked voice.
“I want you to play a game of telephone tag. I want you to call every nurses’ station in the hospital. They are ordered to keep all staff from leaving their current floor. They need to huddle in the breakrooms if they’re not working on their rounds. It’s just a precaution. If there are any security personnel on those floors, I need them to meet at your desk. Okay?”
“At my desk?” Allyson asked.
“Yes. That way you’ll be safe and they can help me if I need them. Okay?”
There was a pause. Sarah closed her eyes, half expecting the woman to freak out or throw a tantrum. Instead, she could hear the smile in Allyson’s voice. “Yes, Sarah. I can do that. Will keep me busy.”
“Yes, it will. Now, I have to go take care of some business, but I’ll have one of my team stand by this phone. If something happens in that hallway, you call me, okay?”
“Okay,” Allyson said. “This job isn’t worth twelve lousy bucks an hour.”
Sarah laughed. “No. No, it’s not. I’ll talk to you soon.” She hung up the phone.
“Is she going to be safe?” Sharma asked.
Sarah turned to him. The slightly-built Indian physician’s color seemed back to normal, but he still looked like the wall was holding him up. “She’ll be safe,” Sarah said. The truth was she didn’t know. She looked down the hall at the two CDC personnel. “Dr. Harrel? Mathis?”
Mathis was still standing at the glass wall separating him from the hallway. He flinched and then turned to her, a sheepish smile on his face. “Yes, ma’am?”
That made Sarah smile. “I want you two and Dr. Sharma here to remain in one of the operating rooms. I need to meet with my team for a few minutes and I don’t want any possible accidents to occur.”
“Accidents?” Mathis asked. “What kind of accidents?”
Her gentle smile turned into a thin line. “The kind where you get shot.”
The man met his colleague’s eyes and then the two of them walked away from the glass partition. Dr. Sharma in tow, they went into the emptier of the two suites.
Satisfied the civilians were nice and safe, she walked out into the main hallway and closed the door behind her. Givens, standing just off to the side, didn’t turn his head to her. The man was still as a statue, his knees slightly bent.
Sarah clicked her mic. “I want all team members to join up near the ER station.” A flood of acknowledgments filled her headset. She tapped Givens on the shoulder. “Let’s go.”
She walked through the hallway following the gentle curve toward the main area. Although she felt his presence behind her, Givens made no sound. Both he and Perkins seemed incapable of making noise unless they were firing their weapons. It was a good thing.
When they reached the foyer, her team was already gathered in a small semi-circle. She stood on one side, making sure the circle could see past her and the direction they faced in case an enemy appeared. For some of the men, this was again very rote. For O’Malley, this was still something he was getting used to. She hated that the rookie had been on the on-call list for the night. She’d have to keep him close no matter what happened.
“Okay, team. Listen up. We are in complete lockdown. We’re cut off from the main area of the hospital and we need to protect the civilians we have. Also, our, um, combatant, seems to be in the basement or subbasement areas.
“I’ve been unable to communicate with the security office in the basement. If I’m right, that’s where we should at least be able to get video feeds of the area and find this thing.” She locked eyes with each of the men in turn. “And kill it.”
“Boss,” Perkins said. “Do we know anything more about it?”
She shook her head. “Eats anything that’s not metal or glass. That’s all.” Perkins’ expression didn’t change in the least. At the same time, though, his eyes hardened. She’d seen that look before. She didn’t even need to look at Givens to know he was doing the same. “Here’s what I want to do. I want Givens and Perkins to recon the basement and hook up with the security team. If they’re still alive, that is.” Perkins and Givens nodded. “The rest of us will stay here and protect the civilians. We can’t afford any more casualties. Understood?”
“Boss!” the men responded.
Sarah smiled. “Then let’s get to it. Beta? Cover the entrance to the hallway. Charlie? I want you guys covering the room where that thing went down into the basement.” She looked at O’Malley. “Delta is going to stay with the civvies for now. Go. Alpha? Stay a minute.”
The men paired up into their teams and moved to their assignments except for Perkins and Givens. The two men regarded her with hard eyes. “I know you already understand what’s at stake and what’s probably down there. But here’s the thing. There may be more civilians down there besides the security team. If so, your primary mission is to get them to a safe place. The security team, if they’re still alive, may have some ideas about that.” She pointed to a fire door. “O’Malley. Check the door.”
He moved with fluid grace, but when compared to the rest of the team, he might as well have been a lanky, awkward teenager. O’Malley reached the door and tried the knob. It didn’t budge.
“Locked, Boss.”
“Big surprise,” she said. She flicked her eyes back to Givens and Perkins. “We’ve got two choices. We either spend the time to smash the door down, or you two go rappelling. My preference is for the second option. Thoughts?”
The two men exchanged a glance. Givens’ lips twitched upward in an amused smile, but then it was gone as if it had never been there. “We’re fine with that, Boss.”
“Good,” Sarah said with a grim smile. “Get to it. Move your asses.”
Chapter 21
The hole was wide, but ragged. They didn’t have access to the SWAT van outside where the real gear was, but they always carried at least one rope bag for situations like this. Bradfisch was linking up the ropes while Alpha prepared.
Givens checked his sidearm to ensure it was ready. He did the same with the rifle and even the tanto in his belt. This wasn’t anything special, of course. Checking his gear before entering unknown territory was automatic. He didn’t have to look up to know that his partner was doing the same.
The two Rangers, just like their boss, had spent three tours in the sandbox. Three tours of prowling through bombed-out cities, kicki
ng in doors, and flushing out caves. And three tours of getting shot at and watching team members die.
Givens owed his life to Sarah Celianne. So did Perkins. She was a newly minted sergeant on their first tour. By the time they came back for their first leave, she was in command of the unit. When their first lieutenant was shot and killed outside of a no-name village on the Iranian/Iraq border, she had kept the entire team alive. She took two bullets for her trouble, but never lost control, and every decision she made was the right one.
Givens and Perkins threatened to muster out at the end of their tours if they weren’t put back on Celianne’s fire team. The Rangers had no quibble with putting a good squad back together again. And so it went, until the third tour.
Six months in, a new commander visited the area. The last thing that son of a bitch wanted was a black woman in charge of a Ranger team. A few weeks later, when they returned back to base, Celianne was given a desk job, her team split up, and that was the end of her combat tour. She retired soon after.
Givens and Perkins, blood brothers since they had arrived in the Middle East, mustered out and followed Celianne to her hometown of Houston. When she entered the police force, so did they. In no time at all, the three of them were in SWAT and Celianne was the first female commander in Houston history.
Neither Givens nor his friend had any interest in rising through the ranks. They lived for the job and that was all. SWAT in Houston wasn’t exactly active on a daily or even weekly basis. When they weren’t in the field, they were regular officers, although usually put into the worst areas. It was a nice break from getting shot at, dealing with hostage situations, or covering for a bomb squad, but it didn’t hold the same adrenaline rush as jumping into the unknown. Givens looked forward to hearing his phone roaring Flight of the Valkyries at top volume. It meant it was time to get on the stick, put on the SWAT gear, and head into a situation that could get him killed. Just the way he liked it.
He clipped the rope on to his carabiner and glanced over at Perkins. The taller man was already clipped in and rechecking his gear. Givens paused. When Perkins was through, he looked up at his partner with slightly raised eyebrows. Givens nodded to him.
The Black: Outbreak Page 9
