The Ark Series (Book 3): The Ark of Alliance

by Kotrous, Scott

  After jogging a while, he looks over at Peter, who’s not even breaking a sweat. He slows down even more and turns slightly toward Peter. “Give me your rifle and go ahead without me. I’ll just slow you down.”

  Peter looks like he attempts to nod his head, but then just unslings his rifle, hands it to him, and then runs off with Dusty right behind.

  John slings it over his shoulder and cradles it next to his. He picks up the pace, but only to about a jog—instantly regretting taking the other rifle.

  Before he knows it, he’s inside the holding area and he slows to a walk, but then has to bend over to try and catch his breath, which isn’t coming easily. He finally catches his breath and makes his way to where Peter should be and soon hears him talking on the phone.

  John walks up and Peter stops talking and then hands over the handset. “They won’t open it.”

  John takes it. “Adam?”

  “Yes, John, it’s Adam. Now, as I was just telling the guy is—”

  “Do we have power to the gate control?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “Then open the gates, Adam, no questions asked.”

  “Now, you know I can’t do that, John. We’ll be putting a lot of people’s lives at risk by letting them in and—”

  “Just open the fuckin’ gates, Adam; that’s an order!” John starts to get agitated.

  “John! Now let’s just talk about this, dammit! I just can’t authorize that until I know all the facts—”

  “The fuck are you talkin’ about! Open the fuckin’ gates, now! If you could do your job and get us in the fuckin’ Ark, then everyone would be fine! But in the meantime, we’ll be holed up in my house ready to hold down the fort for a few days until you do get the blast doors open. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Fine, John, but it’s your ass if people die, dammit!”

  “Then just get us in the fucking Ark, for fuck’s sake!” John slams the phone on the hanger, almost breaking it. “Fuckin’ asshole! What’s wrong with people!” He spits on the ground and starts to walk backwards. “Let’s go, double-time back to where everyone is heading . . . my shack.”

  He hands the rifle back and then turns and heads toward the tunnels with Peter and Dusty right behind him. They enter the tunnel marked ‘Angelite house.’

  They eventually get to the house’s escape hatch and John climbs the ladder and then waits for Peter to hand up Dusty. As soon as he takes the weight of the dog, he feels his back go out, and he almost drops the animal. “Ah—fuck! My back! Take him, take him!”

  Peter takes the dog and then yells up, “Are you alright, man?”

  John painfully backs away from the hole, rolls onto his back, and lets out a loud exhale. Oh, fuck, no . . . not my fucking back . . . please tell me my back just didn’t go out on me, not fucking now! He turns his head and sees Peter climbing topside and then rushing over to him.

  “Hey, are you okay? My dad has a bad back, so I know what you’re going through. Is there anything I can do?”

  John lies there for a little while before answering. “Well—not really . . . just go check on everyone else and get someone to help with your dog.”

  Peter says nothing before darting off upstairs and out of sight.

  He closes his eyes and lies there trying not to move a muscle . . . focusing on relaxing his back. His eyes jolt open from the sound of people rushing downstairs.

  “Uncle John, are you alright? What happened?” Maggie bends down over him.

  “I’m fine, sweetie. Just give me a minute to stretch and I’ll be fine.”

  “Well, let me know if I can do anything.”

  “Just help the guys out and hold down the fort until I can get up there. Is everyone alright and safely inside?”

  “They are. Any word on when we can get in the Ark?” Maggie stands up.

  “Hopefully in a few days, but try not to worry . . . I’ve got it all under control from down here.” He smiles up at his niece and chuckles a little.

  She grins just as Dusty licks John’s face when he walks by, and Peter escorts him upstairs; Maggie soon follows them out.

  John again closes his eyes and tries to relax his back. After a few minutes, he bends his knees to one side and then the other and can feel his back pop a little. He slowly sits up, stretches to one side and then the other, and again feels some vertebra pop until he’s able to stand and walk upstairs.

  Once he gets upstairs, he notices everyone scurrying around in what seems like a panic. He’s not sure what everyone’s doing, but he hopes they’re just getting prepared for a possible military breach of the house. He sees Maggie helping out the sick and wounded, and so he goes over to see if he can help.

  She seems relieved once she realizes he’s up and walking around, and the worried look on her face from earlier has vanished. John helps out where he can, but there’s really nothing he can do. Maggie explains that the sick girls have been in and out of consciousness for the past day or so, and that their withdrawal symptoms have started to rear their ugly heads as well. She knows they’re in for what will seem like hell, and that they should all be prepared for anything. She has no idea what all they were addicted to, but she’s pretty sure one of them was heroin, because of the track marks.

  All John can do is shake his head at how tragic their whole situation is and at how horribly bad they must have been treated; but the reality of the situation is that they probably won’t remember much of it.

  John sees Peter out of the corner of his eye and calls him over. They discuss their plan of action and how Peter and others have been directing everyone on things they can do to prepare for the worst. As of now, Peter’s got people barricading doors and windows. Others are going through supplies like food and water as well as guns and ammo.

  John thanks him and then asks where he can help out doing whatever he can. After helping out for a while, John thinks of something, finds Peter, and leads him upstairs to the master bedroom. John goes into a closet and pulls out a pair of binoculars and walks over to a window. He looks through the binoculars for a few and then hands them to Peter.

  “I don’t see your dad out there anymore, which might just be a good thing, or it may not be. I don’t think they would actually harm your dad because they probably realize how valuable he is, considering what you told me about him. So try not to worry, kid, and hopefully they’ll open the gates soon.”

  Peter moves the binoculars from side to side, scanning what seems like the entire area. He’s very systematic with his movements, and almost looks like he’s using a grid. “I don’t see anything either . . . definitely no blood near the gates.” He pulls the binoculars down and looks at John. “And I agree with you that I don’t think they’ll hurt him because they know how much they need him.” He hands the binoculars back to John. “Let’s just hope they get the gate open soon.”

  John nods his head and then places the binoculars against the wall in front of the window. He tells Peter that they should check every hour or so, but that he’s more than welcome to do it more often if he feels the need to. They talk for a little while longer and then both go back downstairs to help out.

  Chapter 10

  Jason, Dave, Martin, and Von move through the snow as fast as possible, taking turns leading the way carving out a path. It doesn’t take long for whoever’s leading to tire quickly, and so they rotate quite frequently. No one’s sure if anyone else is following them, so they try and keep up an accelerated pace just in case.

  Jason’s not sure where they’re going, or if they even have a destination they’re heading toward, but hopes Martin has a plan. They’ve been following the fence line the entire day, and they’re almost on the other side of the mountain.

  Jason stops and drops to the snow. “I gotta take a break, guys; I’m fuckin’ exhausted.”

  Everyone else halts and drops into the snow as well and they all lie in silence. After a few minutes, Dave speaks up. “Where the hell are we going, anyway? Or are we ju
st getting as far away from them as possible?”

  “I was thinking the exact same thing. Where are we going, Martin?” Jason sits up.

  Martin slows his breathing enough to respond. “We’re almost there. Just a few hundred yards to go.”

  “Where is there? Do we actually have a destination point?” Dave sits up and looks at Martin.

  “There’s a hidden passage on the opposite side of the mountain. It’s an emergency tunnel with manual locks and will get us inside the Ark. It was built as an evacuation point in case power was lost and the blast doors would not open . . . it’s kind of a failsafe, and it’s something only a handful of people know about because it’s not on the blueprints.”

  Jason sits up and looks at Martin as well. “We’re only a few hundred yards away from getting to safety . . . then what the hell are we waiting for?”

  Martin continues to lie in the snow looking up at the sky. “You were the one who stopped.”

  “Well, why didn’t you tell me we were only a few hundred yards away . . . let’s move out!” Jason manages to get himself out of the snow and then reaches his arm out for his brother, who he helps up.

  “Alright, let’s move out.” Martin slowly gets out of the snow and looks at Von, who’s already looking like he’s ready to roll.

  Martin takes the lead and they continue on for a few hundred yards before Martin finally stops at a spot that looks no different from anything else.

  Jason collapses to his knees. “Are we here?” He looks back and forth up and down the fence line. “This all looks the same.”

  Martin moves closer to the fence and starts examining it. He slowly moves down the fence line inspecting the bars and not saying a word.

  “The fuck are you doing? What, is there a secret button that unlocks a secret passage or something?” Jason starts to get agitated.

  Martin continues to inspect the fence and doesn’t look back at anyone. “Well, not exactly. There’s not a secret button, but there is a gate opening somewhere around here and I just need to find it.”

  Dave looks at his brother and then at Martin. “How the hell can you tell we’re at the right spot? The terrain and fence look exactly the same.”

  “Doesn’t matter, but I can assure you we’re in the right place. I just need to find . . . wait, hold on, I think I found it.” He removes his gloves and feels along the fence. “Yep, got it. Come help me dig down. We need to get to the bottom of the fence and unlock the gate.” He drops to his knees and starts digging out the snow and is soon joined by Von.

  Dave looks back at Jason, who just shrugs his shoulders. He then follows Jason’s lead over to the other guys and they help dig.

  After about an hour of digging, they get down about five or six feet and Martin tells everyone to stop for a second so he can search for the latch. He gets to his knees and digs a little further right next to the fence, then starts feeling down into the snow.

  “It’s somewhere around here . . . just a second . . . got it.” He pulls on something and then the fence cracks open about an inch. “Fuck, yeah, boys, we’re in. Just clear away a little more snow and then we’ll try to get this fucker open.”

  They all shovel like crazy, hucking the snow out of the pit like an animal digging a den. After a few minutes, Martin instructs everyone to grab hold of the fence and start pulling it back toward them. They pull as hard as they can while Von continues to move some more snow out of the way. After a few minutes they’re finally able to open it about a foot or two, just enough for a body to squeak through.

  “Grab your gear and toss it in. But before we go, we need to fill this hole up the best we can. Just in case someone is following us, it will give us a little extra time to get into the Ark.” Martin stands in between the fence while everyone hands them gear that he tosses inside.

  He continues to stand in between the gate and the fence so it doesn’t close while everyone else fills in the hole with snow. Once satisfied with how it looks, he squeezes through the opening, followed by Dave, Jason and then Von. Once everyone is inside, he pulls the gate closed. They then proceed to throw more snow on the other side of the fence, filling in the last part of the hole.

  Martin turns toward the mountain, looks up, and then breathes in a deep breath and exhales loudly. “God, I’m glad to be back in this place.” He grabs his gear out of the snow and waits for everyone else to get ready. “Let’s move out. We still need to climb up part of this mountain to reach the evac tunnel.”

  He again takes the lead walking through the snow, but this time at a much slower pace. They trudge up the incline as the pitch gets steeper and the snow gets deeper, making it hard for everyone. After another hour they finally reach an area that Martin stops at and then falls to the snow and lies down, as does everyone else. They’re all breathing heavily and some are still trying to catch their breath and coughing in between gasps of air.

  Martin continues to lie in the snow and tries to speak in between breaths. “We—” He coughs again. “We need to dig out the opening to the tunnel, but—” He again coughs, this time louder and more severely. “Holy fuck . . . I think I’m fuckin’ dyin’ over here . . . anyway, we should all take a break and maybe wait until the morning before we attempt to dig. This could be over ten feet deep, so it’s gonna take a while . . . any objections?” No one objects or says much of anything. “Alright, then. Well, then, we need to get a fire going as soon as possible or we won’t make it through the night. We’re on the other side of the mountain, so the military shouldn’t see any smoke coming from the fire. Let’s take a few and then do our best to track down some firewood, which isn’t going to be easy.”

  They take about an hour break before Martin and Jason branch off in search of wood suitable for burning, while the other two stay behind to dig out a snow cave for them to sleep in, and also to make a flat area for the fire. Dave and Von do their best to dig out a large enough cave for the four of them, while the sound of breaking branches can be heard, followed by trips made to the campsite with various branches and twigs thrown to where the fire will be. They first lay down a large amount of evergreen on the ground before resting the kindling on top, in hopes that it will help with the snow melt underneath.

  Once they feel they have a good start, Martin takes out his fire starter and a small amount of jute. He balls the jute into a wad and then proceeds to strike the rod against the plate, which makes sparks fly. He strikes it a few more times and then picks up the ball of jute and blows on it. The jute begins to smoke and soon a small flame ignites and quickly grows. He gently places the ball of jute under the sticks and twigs and then gets down low to the ground and blows on it some more. It doesn’t take long for the kindling to get going and soon a large flame is produced, much to everyone’s relief.

  They add more and more kindling to the fire and soon a campfire is steadily burning and producing heat that slowly starts to melt the snow underneath. They’re not sure how long the fire will last, or if it’ll get buried by snow once it melts down too far. Martin and Von pull out some MREs and hand some to Jason and Dave. Martin then pulls out a flask and takes a drink, and then hands it to Von, who does the same. They pass it around the campfire a few times while they eat their food and try to get warm.

  Jason takes another pull off the flask and then hands it back to Martin. “What’s in that thing? Tastes like gasoline.”

  “It’s kind of my own homemade version of moonshine . . . it’s brutal, but gets the job done.” Martin takes another swig and then puts it back in his pack.

  “Don’t get me wrong, I ain’t hatin’ it, just curious.” Jason takes another bite and then washes it down with some water and lies down. “By the way, has anyone ever seen a storm cloud hang over a mountain like this before? Doesn’t seem quite normal.”

  Everyone looks up at the sky and soon appear confused and dumbfounded.

  Martin nods his head. “Yeah, I noticed that shortly after the bright flash of light that—”

  J
ason interrupts. “Wait, what flash of light—what’re you talkin’ about?”

  “Ahh . . . I take it you guys didn’t see that crazy bright light?”

  “Fuck, no!” Dave shakes his head with his palms up.

  “Holy shit, I knew I saw some kind of flash right before the EMP. I just figured it was some military light, that’s all.” Dave continues to stare at the sky.

  Both Martin and Von look at Jason until Martin speaks up just before Von’s about to say something. “I’m sorry, did you say EMP? Did I hear you correctly?”

  “Must have been . . . like, the military wouldn’t tell us exactly what it was, so we just figured it was an EMP from the Ark.” Dave looks at Jason for confirmation and Jason nods.

  “That’s not possible. The Ark doesn’t have EMP capabilities. It had to have come from the military.” Martin opens his hands and shows his palms while looking confused.

  “Why the hell would the military disable their own equipment? They’re sometimes dumb, but not that dumb!” Jason laughs a little, but then joins those still staring at the cloud.

  They discuss the possibilities as the sun goes down along with the temperature as well as the fire, which is melting its way further into the snow that they have to constantly dig out. They sit around the campfire for a few more hours, not saying much before going into the snow cave all looking either deep in thought or intoxicated. They rotate one person to stay awake and tend to the campfire and keep watch.

  Chapter 11

  Simon waits next to the Humvee, the cold snow feeling good on the leg. The Major hasn’t thrown him to the undead yet, so he hopes they’re in the process of getting into the gates.

  Right when his eyes close and he almost falls asleep, two men grab him by the vest and pull him up, shooting pain up his spine that rocks his central nervous system. The cuffs are cut and he pulls his arms back around and rubs his wrists.