The Hive (Rasper Book 2)

by Kathleen Groger

  Zombie gave Kalis a sideways glance. Kalis gave a nod so slight if I hadn’t been watching for it, I wouldn’t have spotted the movement.

  “There are ten trains that crisscross all over—under—the country. A few don’t work anymore due to cave-ins from the earthquakes.” Zombie shrugged.

  Good.

  “Is there ammo in these bunkers?” Adam asked to no one in particular.

  “Yes,” Bowie said in a clipped tone.

  “How do you guys know which one to go to?”

  Bowie stopped and looked at Adam. “Look, each bunker holds a certain amount. The contents are either listed on a sign on the outside or it could be inside the bunker.” Bowie scanned the area. “Hawthorne is, was, the country’s largest ammunition depot, so you need to know where you are going or you could be searching for days.”

  The landscape was still charred and devoid of every living thing. It was like a charcoal pencil had drawn this part of the earth, then smudged when it failed to be erased. Burnt and broken skeletal trees littered the landscape. In the world before the Great Discovery, this could have passed for a cool yet scary Halloween scene. The smell reminded me of a campfire and brought back happy memories with my parents sitting out on the patio, Dad with his guitar singing to what he called his two favorite ladies. A tear rolled down my cheek. I wiped it off with my sleeve before anyone could see.

  After walking for around twenty minutes, we finally exited the base grounds and were on the open road. One lone car, a hunk of twisted and torched metal, sat in the middle of the road, announcing we were going to be walking a lot longer. Two of the guys checked to make sure there was nothing hiding behind the sad vehicle. The empty landscape left us exposed, making me twitchy and trigger-happy. I had the Glock aimed at the scrubby bushes that defied the scorched earth on the side of the road, but there honestly wasn’t anyplace for a Rasper to hide.

  “Didn’t Hawthorne have vehicles?” Adam asked.

  “It did. We used all the gas in them a long time ago,” Kalis said in an off-hand way.

  Based on the size of the ammo depot, I would guess the number of vehicles had been large too. So it meant they had used a lot of gas going somewhere. Where? Everything inside me screamed it was time to go. Yet the lure of people, electricity, and the possibility of information on Megan kept me moving forward.

  “Where are we going exactly?” Adam watched the top of the mountains on the opposite side.

  “To Walker Lake—” Kalis brought up his weapon.

  An overpowering stench wafted through the air. “God, what stinks?” Adam made a face while shaking his head.

  Kalis turned to him with narrowed eyes. “Describe what you’re smelling.”

  “It’s a combination of the smell off a hospital, cleaning chemicals, and burnt plastic.” I wrinkled my nose as the scent clung to the inside. It almost reminded me of chlorine, but it smelled off, different.

  “Is anyone else getting the scent?” Kalis asked the soldiers. Everyone, including Rollins, said no.

  Perfect. It was a side effect of the sting. All our senses were heightened. However, it wasn’t always a good thing.

  “Let me know if it changes,” Kalis ordered.

  The way he reacted made me believe he knew exactly where the stench came from. So I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him if it changed. I looked over at Adam, and he gave me the faintest of nods. “Sure.”

  The road rounded a curve. The mountains on the left seemed to loom higher. On the right, I caught the edge of a lake.

  A low hum filled the air. Adam and I each turned to the other. We wouldn’t be asking about the noise.

  “We need to clear the restroom.” Bowie walked toward a scene that stopped me cold.

  The bathroom building was the one I had seen in the vision. The one with the spiders.

  My knees went weak, and I stumbled before regaining my balance.

  “Holy shit. Look at this,” Bowie called.

  The soldiers joined Bowie. I glanced down at the small pebbles on the side of the road. Focused on one small brown rock. One rock amid thousands. One rock to ground me and keep me from totally freaking out.

  “What the hell?”

  “They’re everywhere.”

  “Damn.”

  I didn’t know who said what and it didn’t matter.

  “Val, you okay?” Adam whispered.

  “Yeah.” I slowly advanced, but I knew what I’d see. Because I’d already seen it. Spiders. Everywhere. The feeling I was being led somewhere made me sweat despite the cool temperature.

  “Help us.” The two words felt like they were whispered in my right ear. I turned. There wasn’t anyone there. Adam gave me a questioning look, making me realize I was the only one who had heard the request. Goosebumps shot across my arms, and I tried not to shiver. First visions. Now voices. Maybe I was truly going insane.

  Bowie stepped on one of the spiders.

  A sound like the Bug squeal ripped through my eardrums. No one else reacted.

  “Help us.” The words tickled the back of my neck.

  I was definitely going crazy if I believed spiders were communicating with me. But there was no rational reason why I could hear a phantom voice.

  “Who are you?” I asked in my head.

  Nobody, real or imagined, answered me.

  “Think we should burn the suckers?” Zombie pulled out another flare thing.

  “No. Burning them might start a fire we can’t control. Let’s move out. I don’t think one of the Rasper things went past the spiders.” Kalis turned and marched back to the road.

  Before I left, I gave the thousands of spiders a glare. They didn’t seem to be the source of the hum or the smell. Then just like in the vision/dream, they all turned toward me. Shit. I glanced away, then looked back. The spiders were still there, just like the first time I saw them, minding their own business. They weren’t lined up like an arachnid army ready to attack. Damn it, maybe I really was losing it.

  “Val, are you coming?” Adam and the guys were already walking away.

  “Yeah.” I jogged to catch up with them.

  We followed the road, keeping the mountains on our left, the lake on our right.

  I was watching the water when I spotted a black shape in the middle of the lake farther down. The closer we walked, the larger it got, and when we turned a corner, the entire thing came into full focus.

  An invisible vise squeezed my lungs. “What is that?”

  A massive black structure stood partway out of the water. It had a huge rounded center with a smaller oval in the front and eight almost leg-shaped extensions that ran from the structure to the edge of the water. It took me a second, but then the shape came into clear focus. It looked like a building in the shape of a huge-ass spider.

  7

  Between the bigass spider-looking fortress in the center of the lake and the spider swarm at the restroom, I wasn’t sure if it was better to run away screaming or to find a safe place to hide and vomit.

  “What is it?” Adam’s tone told me he didn’t like it either.

  “It’s our sanctuary. Think of it like a secret compound for a military consultant,” Kalis said it as if everyone knew it existed.

  “How has no one mentioned this before?” I said with a little more emotion than I wanted to show. “It’s in the middle of a damn lake.” Dad and I used to stay up late watching those TV shows about the freaky things satellites would take pictures of, and there hadn’t been any whiff of this place.

  “Well, it was completely submerged before the Great Discovery.” Kalis shrugged. “The lake has always been losing a little water, but after all the weather anomalies, it lost half its volume.”

  “Is there power, food, water?” Adam asked.

  “Yes. We even have hot showers.” Bowie gave us a smile. “We can survive here for years.”

  The fact this was the first time I’d seen him smile gave me hope. If they had power, they should have technology, and a
way to locate Megan.

  “What are we waiting for? I’m starving.” I really wanted normal food. I hoped it wasn’t freeze-dried packages. I gave Adam a look that said we’d eat, shower, and then decide our next step from there.

  He nodded.

  “Me too,” Rollins agreed.

  The hum in the air grew louder the closer we got to a rock formation near the water’s edge opposite one of the structure’s spiderlike legs.

  As excited as I was for food and a hot shower, something inside wanted me to run the other way. I rubbed my right forearm. While the ink of the marker had faded, the three rules I had followed to survive were still there like an invisible tattoo. Trust no one. Never go out in the dark. Always have a weapon.

  My hand shook slightly, and I wanted to use both to keep the gun steady, but I didn’t want to show how—scared?—I was. Why the hell was I scared? I was surrounded by weapons and guys trained to use them. They had a mission to complete but decided to help us as well. God, what is wrong with me? I should be the most comfortable I’ve ever been since the Great Discovery. However, for some reason I felt the most unsettled. A swarm of doubt swirled in my stomach, ripping the lining, fighting to get out and threatening to send me into a full-blown panic attack. I took in a few deep breaths. When I inhaled, the foul smell in the air coated my mouth with a metallic taste.

  Kalis led us through a small path in the rocks. Since we were only able to walk single file, I made sure I was right behind him so I could see what we were getting ourselves into. Adam whispered a few times to me to see if I was okay. I dropped my hand back one time and squeezed his. If it wasn’t for him, I don’t know if I would have been strong enough to make it this far.

  We were moving along at a good pace when Kalis stopped suddenly, reached down to the left and jammed his hand into the rock face. A grinding noise temporarily blocked the hum as a hidden door popped open in the rock.

  “Here we go.” Kalis slid to the left and disappeared into the rock.

  The space was even tighter than the path. I pocketed the gun and entered a small tunnel that was just a little wider than two feet. The sharp edges of the rocks grabbed at my clothes and backpack, trying to shred them into pieces. There wasn’t enough room for me to remove the backpack. I glanced back at Zombie. He had moved the “package” to his side, as it would not fit through this space on his back. It amazed me how the soldiers with their broad shoulders and M16s easily navigated the tunnel. There was probably a trick they purposefully neglected to tell me.

  The closed-in feel didn’t quell my anxiety level. It threatened to explode into danger levels. Rocks before me. Next to me. Behind me. One small shift in the ground, the rocks could bury me. Imprison me in a granite tomb.

  What took minutes felt like hours, but soon the rocks opened wide enough for all of us to stand comfortably and breathe properly. A silver metal door that looked more fortified than the weapons vault at Fort Detrick blocked our path.

  Dirk walked over and placed his palm up to a small black box positioned dead center on the door. With a faint whirring sound, a scanner zoomed over his skin. The pad blinked green. Dirk typed a fifteen to twenty digit code into a box next to the door. A device that reminded me of old-time web cameras popped out. Dirk put his eye to the device.

  “Holy shit. What is this? Fort Knox?” Adam whispered so only I could hear.

  Dirk backed up as the door swung open without a sound like it was well oiled and frequently used.

  “That’s a lot of high-tech shit,” Adam said louder than I knew he meant to.

  “Wait until you see inside,” Kalis responded. “Okay. Now let’s move out.”

  I bit my lip. What was this place? The level of electricity needed to run the security and technology was mind-blowing. I had been suffering for months just trying to survive, and here was this place. Full of what life used to be like. What life used to have. I missed it. Missed the normalcy.

  As we stepped through the door, it was as if I was Alice in Wonderland. The contrast between my surroundings now compared to just a few minutes ago sucked every ounce of air out of my lungs. We stood in a white marble tunnel whose walls twinkled like they contained tiny shavings of diamonds sparkling in the blue lighting that shined from no visible source. And there was no noise. No hum of electricity, technology, or people. I spotted something gliding down the tunnel moving toward us. I slid my hand into my pocket and gripped the Glock. I took a few steps back. Adam turned to me with a look of shock.

  No. It was not possible. I blinked. I had to be having another weird vision. There was no other explanation.

  “Hello,” an almost mechanical male voice said.

  It was a robot. A robot. One with the facial features of a man with green eyes, real brown hair, and humanlike arms. It was dressed like a butler with a white shirt and black coat. It would stand about six feet if it had legs, but instead of having feet or legs, the robot was almost cylindrical, gliding noiselessly, hovering above the floor.

  “Hello, Carter.” Kalis held out his right arm to the robot.

  The robot waved his hand over Kalis’s right forearm. A red grid-patterned light danced off his firm, tan muscle. “Welcome back, Kalis. I hope your mission was successful.”

  Kalis didn’t respond. He just stepped aside as the robot moved on to the other members of his team, repeating the same ritual. As the robot approached Rollins, he stuck his arm out just as the others had done.

  “Welcome back, Scythe. It has been a long time.”

  Welcome back? Rollins had been here before? What the hell?

  The robot glided to me. “Hello. My name is Carter. I need to scan your arm please.”

  I turned to Adam. His face mirrored what I was feeling, suspicion and fear. I moved my neck forward in a what-should-I-do gesture. He gave a small shrug.

  “I need your arm, please,” Carter said again.

  “Why?” I wasn’t sure if I was pushing my luck. What the hell was this for anyhow? The only thing on my right arm was the faded words I had once retraced daily.

  Kalis cut in, “He is mapping the veins in your arm. Think of it as your ID. Without it, you will not be permitted to enter.”

  “Okay. What the hell, why not.” I held out my right arm. The beam from Carter’s hand felt like a damp cloth caressing my skin.

  Carter nodded. “Thank you. What designation do you prefer?”

  “Um, designation?”

  “He wants to know what name you prefer to be called,” Kalis said in a bored tone.

  “Oh, Val. You can call me Val.”

  “Very well, Val. Welcome.” Carter glided over to Adam and the same sequence was repeated.

  Once he was done, Carter announced, “Once again, it is my pleasure to welcome you all to this facility. If you would be so kind as to follow me.” Carter turned and glided back down the long hallway.

  The tension the guys had been emanating like bad BO disappeared. They felt safe here.

  “Let’s go see what this place is all about,” Adam whispered so low I was the only one who heard him.

  I sighed and followed along like an obedient dog. I was still on guard, but I had to admit this seemed like a great place to recharge so we could locate Megan.

  The hum I had heard outside wasn’t audible inside, and the weird smell had vanished. The place made me think of one of those clean room laboratories. I couldn’t even pick up a whir or gear shift in Carter’s movements. He was seriously high-tech artificial intelligence.

  We continued down the gleaming white marble corridor. The contrast between the white wall and blue light gave the whole place a creepy sci-fi vibe. I pictured what I had seen of the structure from the outside. We had to be in one of the spider legs heading toward the main section.

  After traveling about the length of two football fields, Carter stopped at another door that looked more interesting than the previous one. It was about the size of a barn door. However, instead of being made of wood, it was made of some mov
ing multi-shaded blue liquid that swirled in an almost hypnotic way. This door was like art. While the liquid moved, it was clear the door would be hard to the touch.

  Carter reached out his hand and made what looked like a random pattern onto the door with his finger. The door evaporated in a mist of lilac-scented smoke. I looked over at Adam, whose face looked as if he had just seen a miracle happen. This technology was off the charts. Once we all filed through where the door had been, I looked back, and it was there again. The door had reappeared looking just as majestic as it had before.

  All my senses tingled with excess energy as I took in the new massive space. It was circular with the same mystic-style doors leading out to what I guessed were the other “legs” and probably other places too, since there were more than eight. A ramp went down, which I assumed was to allow Carter the ability to change levels. The entire floor was more white marble, and the ceiling was a dome that had a depiction of the night sky and stars slowly shifting like the building was a planet in orbit. Below the dome, a grayish metal track ran all the way around the circular space. The walls were all a grayish metal, and one wall had a large black square painted on it. Inside the square was a white letter Z with an anchor hanging off the end. The image made my skin crawl with imaginary insects.

  One of the far doors vanished, and a woman in a black pantsuit walked through. The clack of her heels echoed through the round room. I couldn’t take my eyes off her face. Bile rose up and scorched my throat. I took a step back. Adam glanced from the woman to me. All the color had drained from his face.

  “Let me present XA115, who prefers to go by the designation Val, and XH254, who prefers to go by the designation Adam.” Carter announced us like we were royalty.

  My heart exploded as my mind raced to make the connections. That was the subject number Zigotgen had assigned me when they started experimenting on me as a child.