As she turned and left, the bushes in the distance shook as her unseen watcher slowly stood, and with a lot of care, began to follow her.
Hope got back to the base of the ridgeline just as Trip reached the bottom, and she managed to catch him before he fell over from the fast descent he was going through. “Careful there, big guy, we don’t need you getting hurt this close to our objective.” She steadied him to his feet. “We’re almost there, just through that group of trees.” Hope resumed taking point to lead the way.
As they approached a large outcropping of rocks in the hillside, Hope searched for the door she saw open on the satellite image, but there was nothing indicating a door present. “I know it was here. This is the exact spot from the image I saw. I made a mental note, specifically, of this rock here.” She kicked the rock beside her, and immediately there was an echo inside the rock, an echo that shouldn’t have been there, not if the rock was solid.
“Wait, that didn’t sound right,” Hunter said as he walked over to the rock and started tapping on it. “Yeah, this thing is hollow. This has to be it. Everyone come over here and look for something out of place on this rock.”
The other two joined in, with Hunter searching the rock for something that would allow them to get inside, while Hope kept watch.
Hope had noticed that ever since they had arrived at the doorway, the woods had gone silent. There were no birds squawking, no insects chirping, just silence. She also had the strange feeling that something was watching them, but even with her enhanced eyesight, she was finding nothing.
With their backs covered by Hope, the other three continued to search every nook and cranny of the rock until Morgan found a small hole with a button in it, right at ground level, and very well hidden. “I think I have something,” she said as she pushed the button. A loud pop was heard inside the rock followed by the sound of something sliding inside it, before the rock face opened to reveal a door’s edge.
Hope walked over and grabbed a hold of the now-exposed edge and pulled the door open. A rush of stale air with a stench of death in it rushed out to greet Hope. She gagged at the foul air, but continued to pull the door open. The door was almost a foot thick of solid steel, with three large cylinders that slid into the doorframe, indicating it was built to withstand a lot of punishment. The doorway opened into a dark hallway that, even with the light of the fading sun, was much too deep to be illuminated.
“What the hell is this place?” Hope asked as she tried to get the foul air out of her lungs.
“Back when the new Denver airport was under construction, a very secret complex was built underneath it as a sort of survival bunker by Benjy’s secret group.” Hunter poked his head into the dark tunnel. “They apparently built several of these all over the world, so they would have a place to go if the shit ever hit the fan. This was probably one of several escape tunnels they had built if they had to get out, but couldn’t go through the airport. Apparently, Benjy’s kept an eye on this one for a long time, but never really told me what to expect, probably figuring he would be here with me, anyway, if we ever came here. Man, if the conspiracy theory wackos were to see this, they would probably have a heart attack, since they’ve been speculating for years on what was under the airport.”
Hope reached into her backpack and produced a flashlight that she quickly turned on and shined into the darkness inside. She looked over at the others who were also pulling out their flashlights. “Into the unknown, I guess.” Hope took a deep breath of air and entered the tunnel. She shined the light down the long hallway and saw a ladder at the end of it and headed straight to it. The ladder went up about twenty-five-feet and stopped at a bulkhead door, similar to the one you would find on a submarine.
She went up the ladder, completely missing the door that was on the other wall near the ladder. As she got to the metal door at the top of the ladder, she tried to open it, but couldn’t get the handle to budge. She then saw that the door had been welded shut on her side, indicating that nobody was getting in or out through that particular hatch. As she came back down the ladder, she saw the door she had missed on her initial pass, and waited for the others to get to her before she opened it.
They entered the room with guns drawn and found nothing of a threat present. The room was rather large and was completely furnished for a long stay for someone. There were file cabinets and desks cluttered with paperwork all over them, and lab equipment, some of it fairly old, some more recently brought in, at least by the high-tech look of them.
As they searched the room by flashlight, Hunter stumbled on a large electrical panel and decided to give the main breaker a try. The vibration of a generator could be felt, but not heard, and as the vibrations ramped up, the lights in the room started to glow. With the room now fully illuminated, they saw what was giving off the smell of death in the air.
There was a carcass of a deer hung up in the corner that had been eaten down to the skeleton, with only the barest of meat left on it. Walking over to it, Hope could see large teeth marks in the little bit of flesh that was left, indicating that something big had been munching on it.
“Guys, I don’t think we’re alone here. This thing is only a couple of days dead.” She grabbed a blanket and covered the remains, trying to stifle the smell a little.
Hunter had a look of excitement and terror on his face that only Hope had picked up on so far. She slyly walked over and whispered in his ear, “You know something, don’t you?”
Hunter looked at her and tried to not give his worries away before he replied, “I have a hunch. If I’m right, we’ll know soon enough.”
“Well, what’re we looking for here? This looks like a lab of some kind. Where would the cure be?” she asked just as a large growl echoed into the room from the hallway leading to the main door.
“What the hell is that?” Hope asked as she turned to face the sound that was getting closer to the door of the room.
“That may be what we came to find,” Hunter replied as he drew up his gun on the door.
Chapter 35
Benjy stood in his living room, eyeballing the destruction that had recently taken place while wrapping up Renee’s broken ribs. He was also getting the complete run down on everything that had taken place from David and Renee, and he picked up on one missing detail.
“So where are Hope and the others in all this?” Benjy interrupted to ask.
“Well, that’s a whole other story,” David answered, but stopped short of telling it, as he thought about the kids still locked in the bunker. “We’ll catch you up on that in a minute, but first we need to check on the little ones.” He got up and ran past Benjy, with Renee following closely behind.
As they got to the door of the shed where the hidden entrance was located, they found that the door had been opened, and they could see the scratch marks on it around the handle. David’s heart stopped at the sight, and the thought hit hard that maybe one of the monsters had gained access while they were fighting the other ones. He quickly jerked the door open and was startled when something in the darkness started to growl at him.
Renee, who was just catching up, recognized the sound immediately and stopped David from drawing his gun. “Storm, it’s okay girl,” she said as she moved into the shed past David to turn on the lights. As the overheads flickered to life, they found the loyal dog standing guard at the hidden entrance to the bunker, and with teeth bared. As the dog got a good look at Renee, its demeanor instantly changed and she started to wag her tail.
“Oh, thank god you’re safe.” Renee ran up and grabbed the dog by the neck, hugging her while ignoring the pain in her side at that moment.
David breathed a sigh of relief at the sight and moved out of the way as Benjy punched in the code on the keypad to open up the hidden hatch. As the hatch slid open, he found Tori standing at the bottom of the staircase with a rifle. He yelled down to her that everything was okay and that they were coming down. The trio was greeted by the four youngsters as they
got to the bottom of the staircase and were told about all the loud sounds they had heard and how they all figured it was just a big thunderstorm outside. David played along as he led them and Tori back to the room he had set up for them to spend the night in, before he excused himself to go talk to Benjy.
As David arrived in Benjy’s office area, he found Renee was already telling him about the absence of Hope and the others. Benjy questioned everything as he waited for his computer to start up. Just as David started to chime in with what he knew, Benjy stopped him, midsentence.
“This is not good.” He started to see a few screens loading on the laptop. “How did she get access to this?”
David shrugged that he didn’t know and was joined by Renee saying the same.
“Damn that girl. She’s too smart for her own good,” Benjy said as David came around to see what he was looking at. “She telegraphed her destination and your location, because she didn’t have the proper security program running. If they found us here, they’re probably going to meet her there, too.” He put his finger on the screen, pointing to Colorado.
“So, what do we do now? They know where we are since that woman escaped, and we also need to warn Hope, too,” David said as he started to understand the danger they were all in.
“I’ve got to get you out of here. From your description of the woman, it sounded like it was Eva. She’s as bad news as they come. I’ve never felt comfortable around her, and she answers to the leader of the Council, which just means she can do whatever she wants. As far as the one you killed in the house, that sounded like it could’ve been Isac or Claude, but I can’t be sure yet. If it was Isac, his master is not known for being nice, and that means he’ll be coming for us, looking for revenge. I’ve got to get to Colorado as fast as I can, and hope I can get to them before they walk into a trap. If the cure is there, none of them even know what they’re looking for.” Benjy shut his computer down and sat back to think for a second.
“Where the hell are we to go?” David asked. “We can’t go back to Camp H, since it’s not secure anymore, and we don’t have anywhere else that I can think of.”
“I’ve got a place to send you, but it won’t be as comfortable as this place, and the caretaker there might not be the most hospitable, but he owes me. I’ve got a jet stored nearby that will get me to Colorado and back. You need to be packed and long gone by nightfall tomorrow. Eva will return, and this time, she’ll bring more than you can handle. The fact that it was only the two of them shows you their arrogance, but now that we have killed another of them, they will start to take us seriously. You don’t want to be here when they do return, trust me on this. I’ve seen their brutality and lack of concern for human life, and that’s why I have worked so hard to help stop them over the years. If the cure for the zombie plague is in Colorado, and they are heading there to intercept it, they don’t want to use it. They want it so that nobody else can.” Benjy started to gather up supplies for his trip.
“What about Hope? Renee asked. “Did you get the answers you were looking for in Mobile?”
“Somewhat. It turned out the break-in was intentional, and yes, my records were what they were after, and that tells me I was on the right path. They left behind some evidence, and I think I have my answers now. When I get Hope and the others safely back, we will talk about it then.” Benjy took one last look around the bunker. “Damn, I really liked this place, too,” he said as he headed up the ladder and towards the house.
David and Renee got the kids situated before they left them to get started on all the packing they needed to do. It was only a few hours until dawn, and they still had a lot to get done. As they got outside, they found Benjy returning from the house with a couple of backpacks over his shoulders.
“I’m taking off now. If I hurry, I can get to my jet by daybreak and be in Colorado before the sun sets. I left you a map on the table of where you’re going, and that’s where I will meet up with you when I return. The people you will find there are a husband and wife named Ken and Brenda. So that he knows you’re for real, tell him I sent you, and give him this password: Worm grunting equals free bait. Get out of here long before sunset, so they can’t follow your scent. I’ll see you in a couple of days.” Benjy turned to leave, but then stopped. “Hey, Renee, you did well in there, kiddo. You can count on one hand the number of humans that have ever killed one of them. That’s a pretty big deal.” And then he broke into a run and disappeared quickly into the early morning darkness.
“Yeah, you heard him, I’m a badass,” Renee said as she strutted away from David. “Come on, loser, we got work to do.”
David stood, still shaking his head as he watched Renee walk away. “I really wish he hadn’t told her that. Now I’ve got a teenager with an ego to deal with,” he said quietly to himself before he took off to join her.
Chapter 36
The growling was getting closer, and Hope looked over to Hunter one more time, hoping he would give her a clue as to what was coming through the door in just a matter of seconds. Hunter just shrugged, as if he really had no clue.
Hope was standing in the middle of the room with her pistol drawn while Hunter was right next to her doing the same. Morgan and Trip had taken up more defensive positions with their rifles behind a couple of the desks flanking each side of the door. As the growls got to the point where they were right outside the door, they suddenly stopped. The quiet lasted for only a few seconds, until the sound of the doorknob turning broke the silence. Hope took one last deep breath as she saw the door start to open.
A large figure appeared in the doorway, filling the entire frame with its enormous size. It stood there at first, making no sound or movement as it surveyed the intruders in its lair.
Hope was the first to make eye contact before it even stepped into the light. She felt her finger start to pull on the trigger; but before she did, she was thrown off by a deafening roar and a burst of movement from the new arrival. She managed to squeeze off one round that completely missed its target before she was hit by one of its massive arms and sent flying backwards across the room.
Hunter was the next one the hulking creature jumped at, and it managed to grab a hold of him and carried him with its momentum across the room before they both slammed into the blanket-covered carcass in the corner. Morgan and Trip both tried to get a bead on the creature, but with Hunter in its clutches, they didn’t want to risk hitting him.
The creature quickly regained its footing and picked Hunter up over its head and was about to throw him, when it caught a glimpse of a tattoo on his right forearm. The creature put him down and grabbed his arm, almost breaking it as it twisted it to get a clearer look. As it saw the mark for what it was, it released him and slowly backed away.
Hunter struggled to his feet and swung the rifle he had over his shoulder to point it at the creature that had taken to a knee and had gone completely docile. As he debated whether or not to fire, anyway, he heard it speak.
“I sorry, master,” the creature said.
Hope, who hadn’t witnessed anything after being knocked across the room, had now made it back to her feet, retrieved her dropped pistol, and was heading for Hunter to help him against the monster when she heard the monster’s words.
“Did it just call you master?” she asked as she arrived at Hunter’s side.
“Yes, I am its master after all,” Hunter replied as he showed her his tattoo.
Hope looked at the calmed creature and noticed severe scarring all over its near-naked body. The only clothes it had on was what looked like a loincloth made from some animal coat, and one sleeve on its arm that looked like a tarp with string tied around it, holding it on. It was very muscular and resembled a large man, but its arms were a little longer than a person of the same size, almost gorilla-like in its posture. At the moment, it was calm, which was a relief after the brief encounter had when it wasn’t. “All right, you have some serious explaining to do right now,” Hope said as she grabbed Hunter
by the arm.
“Stay here,” Hunter said, looking at the creature. “I’ll be right back. Do you understand me?” He then turned to Trip and Morgan and told them to stand down.
The monster nodded yes, and Hunter followed Hope across the room, out of earshot of the creature. Once they were at a safe distance, Hope got in Hunter’s face and was almost ready to explode on him as she felt he was holding back on some pretty big secrets, but Hunter cut her off first.
“Shut up and listen. I’m as confused as you are right now. Benjy gave me this tattoo a long time ago and said it might come in handy one day. He never said how, though. Right now I am happy it’s there. That monster was about to tear me to shreds until it saw it,” Hunter said before he was cut off by Hope.
“That’s all well and good, but what the hell is that thing?”
“Benjy had talked about a mysterious creature he had never seen, as it was created before he was brought into the fold with the other vampires. It was created and used to clean up the zombies during the first outbreak in the 1300s. It’s some kind of zombie-destroying fool from what Benjy was able to learn. He wasn’t sure if it even existed anymore. He called it a juggernaut. I think we just found one. He was looking for a secret journal that would tell him how to make one, but I don’t think he ever thought we would actually find one. Right now, I’m going to play my part and hope it doesn’t realize I’m not its master, or whatever it thinks I am,” Hunter finished as he turned to look at the large creature now sitting on the ground.
Humanity's Hope (Book 2): Juggernaut Page 18
