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

by Kotrous, Scott

  Everyone hesitates for a second before jetting off to hopefully do what John has asked of them. The Hazmat team quickly starts to set up and soon gets started.

  John pulls Maggie, Kelly, and Nate aside and leads them into another room where no one else is. “Listen, guys, we’ve got a problem on our hands and need to figure out a solution real soon. How are we gonna get Pete around this testing? We all know he’s been bit and so it’s gonna cause an obvious problem if they test him. So we need to come up with a plan, and soon. Any ideas?” He looks at the three of them all with blank faces and obviously without an answer. “Alright, well, just think about it and let me know if you come up with anything . . . and hopefully it’s soon.”

  Kelly and Nate leave the room but Maggie stays behind. “Will they not let us in if Peter shows up positive?”

  “Well, at least not him. And since we can’t leave him out here by himself, it could pose a serious problem, but that’s why we need to come up with a good plan. So please let me know if you have any good ideas.”

  She bites her cheek while slowly moving toward the door. “I’ve got nothing.” She puts up her hands and then lets them fall and loudly slap the sides of her legs. “I don’t know, Uncle John, I just don’t know.” She doesn’t look him in the eye when she passes by him and exits the room.

  They walk around the house, helping out where they can reinforcing all the windows and doors. People rotate in and out, going between other projects around the house or getting tested.

  Soon it’s John and Maggie’s turn and it appears they are the last ones to get tested. They finish up quickly and, not a second later, they are hurrying the Hazmat team back to the Ark. Once the team finishes gathering its supplies, they move to the tunnels, escorted by John and Maggie.

  They move down the corridor and soon get to Peter and his team, who are still in position. They quickly confirm that there’s been no movement, or anything of concern coming from the military house.

  John quickly thanks Peter and almost gets the Hazmat team to pass, but then one of them speaks up.

  “We need to test these men as well.” He stops and sets his testing kit down and looks at John.

  “We rotated each of these men one at a time for testing, so they’ve all been seen.” John slightly steps in between the man and Peter.

  The man looks around John and points. “I don’t remember testing that man right there.” He points directly at Peter.

  John turns around and glances at Peter. “He’s been tested; we sent each man up individually during testing . . . so he’s been tested.”

  The man drops his arm and then picks up a few things out of his testing kit. “He has not. So please step aside so we can finish up and be on our way.”

  The man starts to move toward Peter, but John gets in the way. “Listen, you’re already wasting time by re-testing someone who’s already been tested. Now stop fucking around and get moving!”

  “Sir, that man right there has not been tested because I don’t remember testing him! So please move out of the way so I can do my job.” He puts his hands on his hips and stares at John.

  John twists his neck so it cracks and then looks directly at him. “Like I told you, he’s been tested. Now please be on your way.” He puts his hands on his hips to mimic the man’s arrogant posture.

  “If he’s been tested then he won’t mind showing me where we drew blood.”

  John exhales through his nostrils while shaking his head. “You are seriously starting to piss me off, asshole, so—”

  “John, it’s okay . . . I forgot to go up and get tested. I guess I should have said something.” Peter steps forward, pulls up his sleeve, and stretches out his arm.

  John sighs loudly and then steps out of the way, trying not to make eye contact.

  “Interesting. Looks like you were trying to hide someone from the report . . . now I’ll have to note strange behavior toward one of the subjects. Not smart.”

  “Just finish your testing and get outta my sight . . . I clearly made a mistake in thinking he was already tested. No one’s hiding anyone from you, asshole.”

  “We’ll see.” He quickly tests Peter, gathers his gear again, and the Hazmat team moves out.

  Peter turns toward John. “Sorry, John . . . guess I should have hid or something?”

  John shakes his head. “It wouldn’t have mattered. Either way we were fucked. Even if we did get past the testing, they would have done a headcount before we entered the Ark . . . so like I said . . . we were fucked either way.” He turns to look at everyone else standing around. “Back to your posts, men . . . shit’s about to hit the fan.” He gives them a quick nod before he and Maggie go back to the house.

  Chapter 16

  Simon sits on the couch staring at the fire, hands bound in front of him. He can hear the Major giving orders to someone in the other room, but he can’t make out what they’re saying. His patience is wearing thin, and he’s tired of being in the dark with what’s going on outside. By the sound of it, the gunfire has moved closer to the house and has greatly picked up in intensity at various times, and he hopes the Infected haven’t breached the main gates.

  He cranes his neck in an attempt to see over the back of the couch, but every time he moves his lower half, pain shoots up his spine and forces him to stop. He’s eventually able to prop himself up with minimal pain on some pillows, and he can finally see over the couch and into the room the Major’s in, where he can see two soldiers quickly leave the room.

  The Major comes to the doorway and peers in Simon’s direction. “How you holding up doctor Timmons? Is there anything you need . . . possibly a toilet break?”

  Simon slumps back into the couch. “It would be nice if you’d cut these flex cuffs and debrief me on the situation.”

  The Major takes a second to respond. “You know I can’t do that since you decided to try and escape once already. Just be thankful they’re not bound behind your back.”

  Right when Simon is about to respond, a group of men enter the living room, barely even glancing in his direction when they walk past and go into the Major’s office and close the door.

  The Major welcomes them into the office and shakes their hands. “Gentlemen, Major Stevens . . . and you are?”

  The two men sit in the two chairs in front of the desk, and one responds. “Well, my name’s Agent Smith, and this here’s Agent Johnson . . . we were formally with the ATF, but since that branch of government no longer exists, we have been absorbed by the United Stated Armed Forces. So I guess we’re the same as you.” He smiles when he looks at the Major and then at his partner.

  The Major looks at them peculiarly while tapping on his chin. “Ah—okay? Oh, right, you’re the so-called Ark expert . . . correct?”

  Agent Smith looks at his partner and then back to the Major. “Ah, yeah . . . in so many words.”

  “So, just out of curiosity, what qualifies you as being an expert on this compound? Seems like we would be privy to the same intel handed down to us, don’t ya think?”

  Agent Smith looks at the blueprints scattered around the desk. “Well, by the looks of it . . . I highly doubt it. I’ve been informed y’all lost power to your vehicles and such, and that all technology has been fried as well . . . so, no, I highly doubt y’all still have the same intel that I bring to the table.”

  “Such as?”

  “Such as why you haven’t used the tunnel system to get closer to the Ark. Seems like that—”

  “Wait . . . tunnel system? What tunnel system?” The Major stands up and begins rifling through the blueprints.

  “You ain’t gonna find any tunnel system schematics on no blueprints. That particular piece of intel wasn’t on any blueprint we were sent over by mister John Angelite. That intel came directly from my guy inside the Ark who’s been there from the get-go. It maps out—”

  “Hold up—what . . . you’ve got an inside man . . . what the fuck are you talking about, and why don’t I know anything
about this either?!” He slams his fists on the desk and looks directly at Agent Smith and then at one of the soldiers by the door.

  “Calm down there, Major; that’s why they sent me in . . . the so-called expert.” He chuckles a bit and then looks at his partner sitting like a statue.

  The Major paces back and forth behind his desk. “Alright . . . alright. It doesn’t matter. Tell me more about this tunnel system.”

  “Sure. We just have to go down to the basement . . . every house has an evacuation point within the house.”

  The Major throws up his hands and looks around the room at nothing in particular. “How the fuck did my men miss that when they cleared the house? How the fuck did that happen?” His anger level clearly rises when he looks at the soldier. “Ah—private. Why the hell was I not informed of an evacuation point connected to a tunnel system when you swept the house? Was it missed. or did you notice it and not decide to inform me of its existence?”

  The private stiffens his posture. “Sir, we never came across any evacuation point during our sweep. But we were just looking for hostiles and may have overlooked it, sir.”

  “Overlooked it . . . as in you fucking missed it!”

  “Sir. I’m not exactly sure what—”

  “Just get out of my fucking sight, private, and locate the fucking evac point, ASAP!”

  The soldier salutes the Major and leaves the room as quickly as possible.

  The Major looks at Agent Smith and smiles. “Well, let’s say we go find this evac point, shall we.” He walks out of the room with both men following close behind.

  They follow the Major, who soon meets up with the private, who informs him that they’ve found a hatch hidden behind some boxes.

  He starts down the stairs but then stops and shines his flashlight on numerous black spray-painted arrows on the wall. He exhales loudly while shaking his head when he looks at the soldier, who in turn lowers his head and then looks at the soldier following.

  They continue down the stairs and come upon a hatch with a ladder attached. The Major shines a flashlight into the hole and attempts to look around, and then looks up and shines the light on the private crouched on the other side of the hole.

  “You’re up.”

  The soldier nods before entering the hatch, followed by three other soldiers.

  Shortly after, his captain runs down the stairs and over to him and informs him that they’ve located the house where their target is held up, but the Major just responds with a chuckle and then looks at the hole.

  “Oh, we’ve got a new way in now.”

  Chapter 17

  John moves from window to window, trying to get a better view of outside. The windows are so well boarded up that finding a good vantage point is proving harder then it seems. He races upstairs with Maggie right behind him and runs into his bedroom and stops in front of the tinted window. The scene horrifies him upon sight and that empty pit in his stomach seems to grow larger, expanding with every shallow breath that barely fills his lungs.

  He looks over at Maggie, who looks pale as a ghost, shock evident on her face. He puts his hand on her shoulder but she doesn’t respond or even move. He says her name a few times, but it doesn’t seem to register, and she just continues to stare at the virtual war zone that’s taking place just a couple hundred yards away.

  The undead are flooding the gates and pouring in at an alarming rate. The military has set up a makeshift roadblock on the top of the hill, using the snow on either side of their tire tracks as a funnel, forcing the creatures into the chokepoint where they get mowed down.

  The runners get taken out first as they attempt to move through the pack and get to their prey faster than the rest. Even though there are less of them, they clearly pose the greatest threat, and thus are eliminated as quickly as possible once identified.

  Suddenly, they are both snapped out of their haze of shock when someone bursts into the room.

  “Maggie, John . . . I’m so glad I found you guys.” Peter stops and swallows. “We’ve got contact from the military tunnel.”

  John drops his hands to his side and slowly turns to Maggie, who’s obviously still in shock. He turns back to Peter. “How many? Has weapons fire been exchanged?”

  “Negative. We didn’t get a good look at them. We saw shadows coming down the corridor, but they stopped just out of eyesight. They’ve probably gone back for reinforcements by now, so we need to act quickly.”

  John tries to hide his panicking, but knows he’s not doing a very good job of it. He erratically moves around in a small area while trading glances between Peter and the outside. He finally stops and faces Peter. “Get everyone ready to move out; we’re going to the Ark. Send reinforcements to your post and make sure they’re ready, but remind them to only engage if engaged upon. Now, go.”

  Peter doesn’t hesitate before bolting out of the room.

  John turns to Maggie, but then moves directly in front of her and puts both hands on her shoulders. “You okay, Mags?”

  The only response he gets is a slight shaking of the head, followed by it dropping to her chest.

  He puts his hand on her chin and attempts to raise it, but she only moves it to one side and lets it fall again. “Talk to me, kiddo. You can’t fall apart on me now. I need you, sweetheart. You’ve saved lives by leading your friends to safety, and now more then ever, they, along with myself and everyone else, need you to hang in there. So you need to man up, little lady, and take that bull by the horns, because we’re almost home . . . only a few hundred yards away from sanctuary.”

  She slowly raises her head and then her eyes soon follow just enough to make slight eye contact with her uncle. “And when they don’t let us in . . . then what? Then what are we going to do, Uncle John, huh? Then what will we do?” She maintains eye contact.

  “We’ll get in, okay? I promise you.” He pulls her toward him and wraps his arms around her limp, lifeless body that doesn’t respond much at all.

  “And if they don’t?”

  He exhales loudly and rests his head on hers. “You haven’t gone and lost your faith or something, have you?” He backs out of the hug and looks her straight in the eye. “Because once you lose that, you’re done for, and may as well just walk out to that herd of Infected and lie down. Because you don’t ever give up in life, Maggie, not ever. No matter how bad it seems, you don’t ever fucking give up or give in. Because you’re not just giving up on yourself, but giving up on everyone who needs you . . . and right now they need you to lead them in our darkest hour, and right in the middle of the valley of death.”

  The tears that were forming in her eyes have now begun to pour off her face. She tries her hardest not to start crying, but it seems inevitable. But after a few short and shallow breaths, she eventually regains her composure and looks at her uncle. “We’re gonna get in? You promise?”

  He smiles just ever so slightly. “You have my word . . . so what do you say we get these people to safety?”

  She doesn’t hesitate very long before looking at him with that same determined look he’s seen in her eyes ever since she was a teenager.

  Maggie nods her head and smiles. “Rock ’n roll, Uncle John!”

  They take one last look outside before moving downstairs and right into the mass hysteria sweeping through the house like a hurricane. They go to the living room, where most of the yelling is coming from, and instantly notice the four sick girls fighting with the medical staff. Maggie runs over to them with John right behind.

  “Tammy, hey, it’s Maggie. Hey, hey, hey . . . calm down, everything’s okay.”

  Tammy looks at her like she’s confused. “Who are you? And where are we? Where’s Lucas? We need our medicine.”

  “Tammy, it’s me, Maggie, your neighbor. You’re safe now.”

  “I don’t know you or anyone else here. Where’s Lucas? He’s supposed to take care of us . . . we need our medicine!”

  Maggie looks back at John and then back to Tammy. “
Lucas isn’t here, and we don’t have any medicine.”

  Tammy looks at her with such a hatred in her eyes that it makes Maggie move back a little. “I need my medicine, bitch, and I need it now!” She starts to move toward Maggie, forcing the medical staff to intervene. “Get your hands off me right now and get me my fucking medicine!”

  “Ma’am, you’re going to need to calm down. You’re having withdrawal symptoms and you need to rest.” The medical staff continue to restrain her.

  “Well, then, find it; find my fucking medicine!” Tammy fights off the medical staff, but now the other girls begin to chime in saying the same thing.

  Maggie gets up and looks at John. “I don’t know what to do. Is there anything in the house we could give them to sedate them? Would Kate have had something set aside for emergencies?”

  John thinks for a second. “Nothing prescription based.” He shakes his head, but then perks up a bit. “But there may be some edibles down in the wine cellar.”

  Maggie looks at him confused. “Edibles?”

  “Yes, cannabis-infused edibles. They could help calm them down.”

  One of the medical staff turns around while continuing to hold one of the girls down. “If they’re Indica based, then, yes, they should help.”

  “Ah—probably? But I’m not sure. I’ll take a look.” He starts to leave, but stops when Maggie says something.

  “Wait, so the plan is to get them stoned?”

  John shrugs his shoulders. “You gotta better idea?”

  She thinks for a moment before responding. “No, not really.”

  “Great. I’ll be back.” He leaves the room and races downstairs to the wine cellar. He enters the cool room and walks to the back and to a freezer he unlocks. He opens the door and sees a bunch of edibles that are labeled Indica. He goes to put them in his pockets, but then stops and looks at the package. The overwhelming urge to eat one . . . or ten, stops all forms of rational thought from flowing through his brain.