The Death: The Complete Trilogy

by John W. Vance

  Devin and Tess each had a pair of bolt cutters and were quickly clipping away at the chain-link fence. In no time, they had cut an opening five feet tall and four feet wide.

  Just before they slipped through, Devin stopped her. “Remember we said we’d check in before we went ahead with this?”

  “Yes, I remember.”

  “This is that time. Once we go through there, we may not come back. That’s the hornets’ nest right there,” he said, pointing to the ship.

  “I know.”

  “So we’re a go? I’m a go, are you?”

  “Well, if you’re a go, then I’m with you,” she replied.

  He hugged her one last time.

  She returned his embrace and said, “Let’s hope we run into the queen bee, because I’m gonna squash him.”

  Denver International Airport

  Martin and Gomez were waiting at the very end of the underground parking lot next to a parked white van.

  Travis sprinted up to them, his chest heaving and sweat pouring off his flush face. “Where is she?”

  “Down in the lab,” Martin said.

  “Why didn’t you bring her up?” Travis asked, looking in the van. “Who’s that?”

  “That’s our package, patient zero,” Martin said. “Listen, man, you don’t want to go down there.”

  “What do you mean? Is she dead?” Travis asked. A look of panic gripped his face.

  Martin looked at Gomez, but neither answered.

  “Take me to her, now!” Travis urged.

  Martin touched his arm and said, “Look, man, it’s not good. I’m sure you don’t want to see her this way.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about? Take me there now, and if you won’t, tell me how to get there!”

  The loudspeaker sounded again, repeating the base-wide mandatory evacuation notice.

  “You have fifteen minutes, tops; if you’re not back here, we have to leave you. The bomb has been set; it goes off in forty-five minutes. We’re pushing it by waiting for you.”

  “Where is she?”

  “Fuck it, I’ll go with you. Gomez, you got this. If we’re not back in fifteen, go,” Martin ordered, then took off for a door twenty feet away.

  Travis was on his heels. “I thought we had a bird?”

  “Not anymore, just us and that Ford Econoline,” Martin replied.

  They burst into the stairwell, and swiftly they ran down the concrete stairs, skipping several at a time. At the bottom they stopped at a door.

  “On the other side of the door is a hallway, goes left or right. We’re going left, straight down, end of hall and into another set of stairs, then down two more flights.”

  “What are we waiting for?” Travis said as he opened the door, peered both ways and bolted out.

  As they ran, Martin looked at his watch. Almost three minutes had gone by. They’d reach the lab in two more. They had only five minutes in the lab, no more.

  Martin’s timing was correct; at the five-minute mark they had reached the entrance to the lab. Bodies lay strewn and twisted on the floor; the massive steel door was nothing more than a charred piece of metal.

  “Your calling card, I imagine,” Travis joked.

  “Army strong.”

  Stepping over bodies, debris, broken glass and equipment, Travis surveyed the laboratory. “Where is she?”

  Martin pushed by him towards the hall. He stopped just before the second window and put his arm out.

  “Why are you stopping me?”

  “One last time, are you sure you want to see?”

  Travis pushed his arm and Martin aside and walked up to the window. He looked in and was horrified by what he saw.

  Lori had managed to gather her entire family together, including the fetus, around her.

  Eric’s head was resting on her lap, with David leaning against her and the baby in her arms, wrapped in a bloody cloth taken from her hospital gown.

  The handle of the door wouldn’t budge. Travis frantically tried, and when he couldn’t get it to budge, he pushed hard against the door. “Help me!” he ordered Martin.

  Martin was no good; he felt sorry for her and him. He had gone through the same exercise Travis was going through when he first discovered her. It was hard for him, and he knew it would be almost impossible for Travis to come to grips with the reality of the situation.

  Travis found a chair and began to slam it against the glass, but to no avail. Each hit produced the same result, the chair just bounced off the inches-thick safety glass.

  Lori saw Travis. Tears again began to flow from her face. There stood the man she should have been with many years before but never allowed herself to see. In her last moments she had total clarity. While her life had been full of successes, she had never truly loved. Yes, there was the love of her children, but she had never fully known the love of an equal, someone she could share her life with. The moments she and Travis shared, especially the weeks after her escape, had given her a glimpse of a man that would have been that love. Now it was too late, a life squandered on things that now she didn’t think of. All she wanted now was to have her family back and to be in Travis’s arms. So much time wasted, she thought, on such trivial things. Things she thought then brought happiness but didn’t. She remembered an old saying that referenced the truly important things in life, and none of them included money or material items. People…people and the positive and loving relationships with them equaled happiness.

  As she watched Travis bang away on the glass and door, she was saddened that not until now did she have the full understanding of what the world meant. She asked herself why God played tricks on people and only opened their eyes at the end, but she knew that wasn’t true. God had given her the message a long time ago; she had just refused to take it to heart. Was she responsible for all of the carnage around her? No, she thought, but she did own the parts in her life where her actions and reactions resulted in others’ pain. She was sorry for that, but looking at how David reacted to her just before he died told her he had forgiven her.

  She gently placed Eric’s lifeless head on the floor and with all the care she could muster laid her dead baby in his arms. She stood and staggered to the window.

  Outside, Travis was still attempting to get in, but every attempt was futile.

  The glass was cold to her touch. She laid her hand fully out and spread her fingers.

  He stopped and put his hand on the glass where hers was.

  “I’m not sure you can hear me, but stop, there’s no use!” she yelled.

  Travis could hear her faintly. He replied, “I’ll get you out, okay, just give me a minute.”

  “You only have two left,” Martin reminded him.

  “Travis, I was given the poison. I’m going to die.”

  “No, the magistrate can find a cure.”

  “There is no cure,” Martin blurted out.

  “Would you shut up!” Travis snapped at him.

  “Please go. You have to go.”

  “No, give me another minute. I’ll get you out!” Travis yelled and banged on the glass.

  “I never told you and I should have, I love you. I only wish I could go back to our days at the ranch; I should have told you then.”

  “I love you too, Lori.”

  “Those weeks were special.”

  “Time’s up!” Martin yelled.

  “Travis, I love you, but you need to go. I’m with my family now. Go, leave me to die with them,” she said, then kissed the glass.

  “No, I can’t let you die; no, this is not what happens!” Travis screamed and banged his fist on the glass. Tears freely streamed down his face, as no matter what he said to convince himself of the outcome, he knew it was over for her.

  Lori turned away from the glass and went back to her place on the soiled floor. She picked up the bloody swaddle and held it close to her heart.

  Travis repeatedly banged and banged.

  She took one last look at him, lowered her
head and closed her eyes.

  Charleston, South Carolina

  The diversion had worked. They moved quickly from the fence line to the gangway of the ship without running into anyone.

  With everyone focused on the inferno still raging outside the gates, they slipped onto the ship unnoticed.

  “You know the plan. You go up, I go down,” Tess said once they stepped into the first hatch on the superstructure.

  “No change of plan. We stay together.”

  Tess’s instinct was to disagree but decided now wasn’t the time, and she liked having him by her side. “Then let’s go up.”

  “Ladies first,” Devin joked.

  She turned left, saw a ladder well that went up, and began to climb.

  A man appeared at the top, a thick long beard hung from his grungy face. He looked at Tess, then Devin strangely and asked, “Who the hell are you?”

  Devin raised his rifle and squeezed off two rounds; both hit him in the chest.

  The force of the shots sent him backwards into the passageway above them.

  “Ugh, that was loud,” Tess grunted as she pulled on her ear.

  Devin had fired his rifle just over her shoulder.

  The shots no doubt would bring others; the clock was ticking for them. At the top, they stepped over him and looked both ways. The passageway that went left traveled the width of the ship, another passageway to the right ended after a few feet, then headed towards the bow.

  “This way,” Devin said, motioning to the left.

  “You take the doors on the left; I’ll get the right,” Tess ordered.

  They swiftly and systematically made their way through every room, but nothing, not a soul, not a child.

  At the end another stairwell beckoned for them to go higher.

  Tess moved to the base of it but didn’t get a chance to climb.

  A volley of fire came down on her; one bullet ripped into her left arm.

  Devin grabbed her by the back of her vest and pulled her back just in time as another volley of bullets rained down. Pinned against the wall, he plotted a way out or around.

  “Fuck that hurts,” Tess grunted as she looked at her bleeding arm.

  “This will shut them up,” Devin said as he pulled a pin on a grenade and tossed it up.

  The grenade bounced off a couple walls, and whoever was up there went scrambling, their heavy footfalls running down the upper passageway before the explosion.

  “Think that got them?” Tess asked.

  “Let’s find out.” Devin bolted up to take a look. The white walls were now black from the grenade, and two men lay lifeless on the floor. “Looks clear.”

  Tess came up and stood beside him.

  “Same as below, you left, me right,” Tess said.

  They didn’t take three steps when the hatch at the end of the passageway burst open, and at least a dozen men came funneling through.

  “We’ve got company!” Devin yelled. He raised his rifle and let loose a volley of fire.

  Tess took a knee and did the same.

  The men fell, as there was no place for them to go in the narrow passageway. As the first ones went down, the others tripped over their bodies. But the advantage Renfield’s men had was numbers; as they fell, more came through the hatch.

  Seeing they couldn’t stay put, Tess ordered, “We have to get out of here!”

  “I’ll cover. You go first,” Devin barked.

  The few times she did listen to him, she did as he said. She stood and raced to the ladder well and slid down.

  Devin fired until his magazine emptied. This was his cue to make haste. He came down just as fast as she did.

  “Well, the hive has awakened,” Devin joked, slapping another magazine in his rifle.

  “Just one kid, any kid, I can’t leave without saving one child,” Tess moaned.

  “Tess, I want to see the other kids at home. Let’s get out of here before we’re swarmed,” Devin said and opened the hatch near them. He stuck his head out and saw no one. Over the railing and below the river coursed by. “If we go out this way, we have to make our way around to the dock side.”

  The opposite hatch opened, and men came running in, effectively shutting down other options.

  Tess fired a few rounds at them before jumping through the open hatch.

  Devin slammed it shut and said, “This way.” He ran at full speed and came to a set of stairs that led down. It was then he noticed Tess was not with him. He turned to see her standing where they had exited. She was facing the aft of the ship with her arms out.

  “Little boy, come here. I’m here to save you.”

  The boy wasn’t more than twelve. He stood like a statue, frozen to the spot. The gunfire and shouting had drawn him out. Curiosity had gotten the better of him, and now he was standing face-to-face with who he thought was the enemy.

  “My name is Tess; I’m here to help you. I’ll take you away from these bad men,” Tess said softly, her arms still outstretched.

  Devin began to make his way back to help her when the boy raised his right arm.

  “No! I’m here to help you. Put the gun down!” Tess ordered in a subdued tone.

  The butt of Devin’s rifle found its way to his shoulder as he marched towards Tess.

  Crouched down and her arms still out, showing she meant no harm, Tess took three steps towards the boy. “My name is Tess; I’m here to save you.”

  “Tess, back away. I don’t trust this kid,” Devin said. He was a foot behind her now.

  “Devin, be quiet. He’s just a boy.”

  The small pistol shook in the boy’s grip as he processed just how to deal with the strangers before him.

  Tess took a few more steps.

  Three shots rang out.

  Tess stumbled backwards and fell down; one of the bullets had hit her in the chest.

  Devin, in shock, lowered his rifle and went to her aid.

  The boy yelled out, “They’re over here! They’re over here!”

  Devin grabbed her under the arm and brought her to her feet. “Tess, you okay? Please tell me you’re okay.”

  “Um, the little fucker shot me,” Tess said, a look of surprise on her face.

  Another series of shots rang out; one hit Devin in his left shoulder. The other hit Tess, but the bullet ripped through her right arm.

  She grunted loudly and fell back against the railing.

  The shot that hit Devin made him spin and lose his grasp on her.

  The boy walked a few feet closer to Tess. He took aim on her.

  On wobbly feet she took a step, looked at him and asked, “Why? I’m one of the good ones. I’m here to help save you.”

  The boy cocked his head, confused by her comment, and pulled the trigger again. The bullet hit her center mass. The force of this impact slammed her back against the rail and over.

  “No, Tess!” Devin cried out as he watched the bullet slam into her. He lunged for her but just missed grabbing her. He watched her disappear into the darkness then into the black of the water below.

  “Hey, mister,” the boy said, walking up to him.

  Devin, distraught after losing Tess, looked at the boy.

  The boy grinned devilishly and pulled the trigger.

  Denver International Airport

  It took everything to pull Travis from the lab and back up to the van. They were two minutes late, and fortunately for them, Gomez had decided to give them another five.

  Pushing him inside, Martin yelled, “You damn fool, you’re lucky Gomez gave us more time.”

  Gomez didn’t wait for Martin’s door to close; he hit the accelerator and sped off. Each turn through the parking structure put stress on the tires, causing them to squeal with every quick left. They weren’t the only ones moving rapidly to flee. When they came out of the darkened garage and onto the tarmac, they saw hundreds of people making their way to their evacuation stations.

  The reverberating sounds of propellers drowned out volumes of peop
le racing, yelling and screaming as they hastily made for their transportation out of the airport. The blinking lights from Ospreys and helicopters that were airborne lit the night sky like the twinkling lights on a Christmas tree. Their destination was Dulce, New Mexico, a secret base used by the military and virtually an unknown location to most people.

  Travis was in a fog as he sat in the back of the van next to patient zero. He could hear Martin and Gomez talking, but their voices sounded like he was listening to them underwater. The reality of what had just happened was too hard for him to fathom. His memory raced to the day he first met Lori in the cafeteria. The first thing he noticed about her was her backside. He wasn’t a pervert, he claimed, he was just being a guy. As she made her way through the chow line, he kept a close eye on her. He saw his moment when she stood looking for a place to sit in the crowded space. Using this as his in, he had called her over. For him personality was critical for him to have lasting feelings for anyone. He was attracted to a strong woman, not because he lacked in his own masculinity but because he respected a woman who had strength but maintained beauty. His intention initially wasn’t to fall for her but to flirt. The rest was history, and now he was a man who had lost everything. He had lost so much over the past seven months; now he could add losing someone he had fallen in love with, a woman that could have been the only one who could replace the loss of Tess.

  Gomez put the van to the test and drove as fast as it could go north.

  Martin kept his eyes glued to his watch as the seconds melted into minutes and grew closer to the detonation.

  Lost in his sorrow, Travis had his head buried in his hands. A tap on his head brought him out of his haze. He looked up and saw a small delicate hand. Thinking it had just slipped off the gurney because of the turbulent driving, he softly laid it back on her stomach and went back to sulking.

  Another tap on his head.

  He looked, but this time patient zero was looking at him, her eyes half open and her hand beckoning him to come closer.

  “Guys, she’s awake,” Travis advised. He sat up and leaned in closer to hear the whispers coming from her mouth.