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

by Kotrous, Scott

  The Stryker’s take the lead, while the Hummers stay in the middle with a few tanks taking up the rear. They get past the abandoned vehicles and follow the path made by military personnel.

  The first Stryker gets to the entrance to the Ark with soldiers lying dead on either side of the blast doors, along with dead Infected scattered throughout the area.

  Once the entire caravan is in line, it starts to move again, but then a flash of light pulses that again shuts every vehicle down.

  Chapter 28

  John and the rest of the group move through the corridors as quickly as possible, only having to stop for Jason breaking down a few times. Dave’s been helping his brother along the way, but it’s obvious he’s not taking the news of his wife’s death very well.

  They soon get to the control room, where Sasha soon walks over to them once she realizes they’re in the room. “John, how are you? Where are your wife and children?”

  John shakes her hand. “Kate took the children back to the residences to find our family. She should be along shortly. How are you, Sasha?”

  “Fine, John, but things haven’t been so great around here, as you can only imagine.”

  Kate walks in the room, and John turns to look at her. “I have an idea.” He walks away from Sasha, goes right up to Kate, and kisses her so passionately that she almost becomes weak in the knees. They finish kissing, and Kate looks at him and smiles.

  “Well, I’ve missed you too.”

  “That’s something I’ve wanted to do for months now.” He kisses her again. “You’re just my everything, Kate, and I don’t know what I’d ever do without you.”

  They stare at each other for a moment before Sasha interrupts.

  “I know you guys haven’t seen each other in a while, but we’ve got a serious problem on our hands. Not only have Infected breached the Ark’s interior, but so has the military.” She points in the direction of the control room pit with people scrabbling around and underneath the blank monitors overhead. “We’ve again lost all camera feeds because of the same EMP type occurrence that took out our electronics before and left us in the blind. But we do know that one blast door did not close, and the last camera feeds showed that the military have taken up position there, along with an unknown amount of Infected getting in.”

  John moves closer. “So then, how do we get that door closed? Or can it only be accessed manually from the actual door itself?”

  “Precisely, John. And just so you know, the last time it took us days to get the system back online and operational. We sent a group out to attempt a manual close earlier, but we’re not even sure they’re still alive. John, I think we need to get every able body armed and ready to fight, because we have no idea how many of those things got in this place, nor do we know what the military’s intentions are, but I think it’s safe to say they’re not good.”

  John turns his attention to the panic in the control pit, and then back to his wife for a second before turning to Sasha. “I want another team to move out and try and get to that manual door lock.” He turns to Martin. “Take a team to that location and try to get that thing closed before we’re overrun by Infected.” He turns toward Jason and Dave standing apart from everyone and talking to each other. “Dave, Jason . . .” He waits for them to look at him. “Are you up for a mission with Martin to try and get the blast door closed?”

  Dave looks at his brother and then at John. “We’ve decided we’re going after the Major. I’m afraid we won’t be of much use.”

  “That’s perfect, because you’ll probably run into him on the way there. But after you take care of him, if you wouldn’t mind helping out Martin and his team with their mission, I’d be greatly appreciative. I’ve got tons of weaponry to assist you boys in any way, shape, or form.”

  Martin turns away from John and faces them. “It would be an honor for you boys to accompany us, and I will personally assist you in any way in retrieving the Major’s head on a fucking silver platter, if you’d like.”

  Jason turns toward them with a fire in his eyes that makes John take a step back. “Just as long as I’m able to put it on that platter, then we’ve got a deal.”

  “I wouldn’t want it any other way.” He turns to John. “Von should be back soon with a few other men, and at that point we’ll head to the armory, gear up, and then head out.”

  Right when he gets done speaking, Von and a few other men walk into the room. Martin looks at them and then at John. “Good luck, John. We’ll be in touch.”

  John nods his head and then shakes his outstretched hand before Martin joins Von and his men, with Dave and Jason soon to follow. They all hurry out of the room.

  John turns toward Kate, Maggie, Peter, and Sasha, all waiting eagerly for what he’s about to say. “We need to get as many people armed as possible, just like Sasha said.” He directs his attention to Sasha. “Where are most people being held . . . in the residences?”

  “Yes, pretty much. At least that’s where the majority of the Ark’s population is. The others are working on the Ark in any way they can.” Sasha motions toward the control room pit.

  “We don’t want to interrupt anyone trying to get this place back up and running. We’ll head to the residences and recruit people there.” He turns toward Ena and her people. “Ena, will you help us . . . please?”

  “Of course, John. Whatever you need.” Ena smiles.

  “Thank you.”

  He turns to Sasha and asks her to stay behind and lead operations here to get the Ark back and running, along with taking over Adam’s duties as well. She graciously accepts before turning and walking back to the pit floor. He turns to everyone else, and they discuss a quick plan before moving out.

  John starts walking toward the door first, but then stops and takes off his glasses and turns toward Ena. “And what exactly are these glasses? I’ve never seen anything like this. So what are these things?”

  Ena smiles and then shows her palms. “The VR-9 tactical glasses can do just about everything. Even show you a person’s energy force.”

  John looks at them and then at Ena. “What do you mean a person’s energy force?”

  “A person’s light or dark energy force, John, or what you would refer to as a person’s soul or aura.”

  John’s mouth gapes open, and he again looks at the glasses. “The fuck are you talkin’ ’bout . . . they can see a person’s soul? What exactly do you mean by that . . . certainly you don’t mean you can actually see the color of a person’s aura . . . that’s impossible.”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying to you, and you absolutely can see a person’s aura . . . we developed that technology years ago when we discovered how to slow down a video camera to a certain speed that made it possible to pick up certain energy frequencies, such as a person’s life force. If you don’t believe me, feel free to look for yourself. Just return the glasses to your face and use the side of the frame to toggle between capabilities, or just say out loud, ‘energy force active.’”

  John looks at the glasses and then at Kate, who gently shakes her head while shrugging her shoulders. He again looks at the glasses and then slowly puts them on and says the command. The glasses instantly activate with the heads-up display going away, replaced by different meters on either side of each lens. He focuses his attention on his wife and that’s when it happens . . . a white, glowing light starts to form around her body that seems to emanate from within her. He continues to stare at her with a gaped mouth and with everyone asking what he sees.

  He’s unable to speak and is in complete awe at what he’s looking at. He looks at his niece, and the same glow slowly begins to form around her as well. His eyes dart back to Kate as she eagerly waits for his response just like everyone else.

  “This is amazing. You have to see this.” He goes to take off his glasses, but Ena stops him.

  “Those are already calibrated to your eyes; I have others for them.” Ena pulls the pack from her back and then removes thre
e more glasses and proceeds to hand them to Kate, Maggie, and Peter. “Just so you know, these special features only work when you’re around me. If we split up, they’ll no longer be active.”

  Maggie puts on the glasses and then looks at Ena. “How come? Why won’t the special features work?”

  Ena finishes handing out the glasses. “Because if you saw something you didn’t understand, I wouldn’t be there to explain it. So they are programmed to only work in my vicinity.”

  Maggie slightly bobs her head, right before the calibration sequence starts.

  John looks at Peter, but the same white light glow doesn’t form around his body. Instead, a smoky haze forms around him, which is much different from the girls’. “Why does Peter’s look different from Kate ‘n Maggie’s? Theirs were beautiful white light-looking things, and Peter’s isn’t bright at all and kinda looks like smoke.”

  “Your light energy has to do with the purity of your soul, and Peter’s isn’t as pure as the rest of yours.” Ena looks at Peter, who appears to have just gone through the glasses’ calibration process.

  John turns toward Ena and, after a second of staring at her, he jerks his head back. “Wow. Why is yours so much brighter and way more intense than theirs? Yours looks almost two to three times brighter!”

  Everyone stops looking at the person they were looking at and directs their attention to Ena and her people.

  “Our souls are older, and thus, our life forces are stronger than most.” Ena looks at John and smiles.

  Kate turns toward John. “Hers isn’t much brighter than yours is, John. Yours looks almost the same.”

  “John has an exceptional energy force, one of the purest we’ve ever come across in a human being. And it’s part of the reason why we are here. But we should be moving out; we don’t have much time to discuss this right now. Your people are in danger and need our help.” Ena looks at her device and then confirms something with Nye.

  John looks at her device and then at her. “How is your tablet still functioning after the EMP?” He says on his way out the door.

  They all leave the control room and make their way to the hallway.

  Ena turns to John, who’s obviously waiting for a response. “Because my people were the ones who caused it.”

  Chapter 29

  Dave slows down when he sees his brother behind him stumble and fall against the wall. He stops and turns around to help him up just as Martin, Von, and the other three men stop as well.

  Jason regurgitates multiple times, consisting of what appears to be mostly bile with a small amount of food mixed in. He dry heaves a few times before his brother tries to hand him a bottle of water that he pushes away.

  Martin walks up to the two of them and bends down. “Jason, I’m sorry about your wife, and even though I hardly know you, my deepest condolences. I remember when I lost my wife a few years back; it absolutely destroyed me, broke me down to my core. Made me face demons that I never knew existed. But after the hell that followed passed, and I was able to regain my sanity again, it made me realize that if I didn’t do something about it I could never live with myself. So I went out and tracked down the rich little white boy that got off on all charges of driving drunk and running down my wife and my unborn child. I tracked him down, stuck a gun in his throat, and sent his young, dumb, ignorant twenty-one-year-old self straight to hell.” He waits a moment. “And not a day goes by that doesn’t haunt me for what I did and what I can’t take back. See, I didn’t look at the fact that this kid was raised poorly, and his parents were probably never around to teach him right from wrong, all because of his affluent upbringing.”

  Dave looks up, while keeping his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I’m sorry to hear about your wife, but how’s that supposed to help my brother?”

  Martin slumps down and puts one knee on the ground. “Because it made me realize that I wasn’t mad at only the kid, but the entire situation of circumstances we as a society have made for the rich and powerful. See, the kid was raised poorly, probably by his nanny, and probably saw his dad or mom drink on a daily basis. So he watches his parents and friends, along with other family members, drink and drive on a regular basis, because, like most wealthy, they don’t care about anyone but themselves, and they know their lawyer will get them off. So I realized that the entire system has failed every citizen on every level possible. See, if his parents had been better role models and had taught him he should never drink and drive, or if his friends and frat buddies hadn’t all done the same thing, my wife would still be here. And if the court system hadn’t failed me by letting the kid off, then he would still be here.”

  “What are you getting at? Yeah, the system sucks . . . that’s obvious. But how does that help my brother right now?”

  “Because you can blame the Major all you want. You can say he caused your wife’s death by . . . however it happened. But you and I both know that he was just following orders, or whoever it was that did actually end her life, was also just following orders. So—”

  Jason springs up from the floor and grabs Martin’s vest before he’s able to react. “So what the fuck are you trying to say . . . I should let this piece of shit cocksucker go just because he was following orders, huh?! That doesn’t bring by wife back now, does it?” He stares right in Martin’s eyes.

  “What I’m saying is that killing the Major isn’t going to bring your wife back either, and you’re just going to hate yourself for the rest of your life because now you killed someone who was in essence just a victim of circumstance, nothing more, nothing less.”

  Jason gets closer to his face. “But that piece of shit will still be dead! He won’t be able to take anymore innocent lives again, now, will he?! Maybe that piece of shit who killed your wife would have gone on and killed more wives in the future if you hadn’t ended his life.”

  Martin lowers his head and looks away while bobbing his head. “You’re absolutely right; I can’t argue with that. And that’s exactly how I looked at it when I put a bullet in his head. But it didn’t end the pain. It only created a hatred and darkness that will probably torment me for eternity, and that’s something you’ll have to live with as well.” He looks up and around and then back to Jason. “See, the only thing that helped me heal from my wife’s death was this place. It, in my eyes, was hope. Hope to build a better life and better world for others. I knew that couldn’t happen out there, so this place became my hope. It’s something this country believed in a long time ago . . . the freedom to be able to change the system when needed, creating an equal playing field for all its players and not just for the ones who have more money.”

  Jason steps back while lowering his head and takes a moment before responding. “I’m still gonna kill ’em, but I appreciate the pep talk.” He picks up his rifle and pulls the slide back with a dead look in his eyes.

  Martin drops his head and shakes it while Jason and Dave both walk past him.

  They continue moving through the hallways as they follow Martin in the direction of the main blast door. Once they get to the main garage, one of his men whispers “contact ahead,” pointing in the direction of the huge ramp leading out of the garage, and they all take cover behind various cars.

  Suddenly, a cacophony of footsteps echoes down the ramp, quickly followed by a group of Infected running away from something. Gunshots soon echo that take down a few of the fleeing Infected.

  Martin yells out along with everyone, and they open fire on the Infected who have now spread out into the room. Gunfire from every angle shreds the Incipients who didn’t find cover amongst the cars. They all cease firing on the pile, and some direct their attention to the ones that have scattered, while others keep their rifles trained on the ramp.

  Martin and Dave both move to the left side of the ramp with their rifles trained on the group of cars lined up on the wall. They sidestep down the line of cars while they search in between them for Infected.

  Martin slows his pace when he hears so
mething moving in between the next set of cars. He crouches down behind the Tesla roadster and can see someone hiding behind the front bumper. He bends around the corner, but right as he aims his rifle, gunshots coming from behind him spook the Incipient into darting across to another car, and Martin only hits the back wall.

  Dave quickly moves around him and gets up behind the next car before turning the corner and firing his weapon in two short bursts, right when more gunfire erupts in the background. Martin can see the blood splatter spray the back wall, and then Dave moves toward it.

  Martin leaves the back bumper and goes to turn the corner to follow Dave, when something leaps over a car and jumps on Dave’s back, sending them both to the ground.

  He goes to move toward them, but something catches the corner of his eye, and he turns just in time to take down an attacking Incipient with a quick trigger pull. Once he’s sure it’s dead, he moves forward and sees Dave stab a knife directly into the beast’s temple, rendering it motionless.

  Dave quickly rolls it off of him and then instantly points his handgun at Martin, but holsters it before getting up and grabbing his rifle off the ground. They both turn their attention to the rest of the cars along the wall, but simultaneously look toward the gunfire at the situation before moving forward to clear the rest of the cars.

  They quickly clear the cars and then look back toward the group involved in a heavy firefight with someone from up the ramp.

  Chapter 30

  John leads the group into the residences where everyone is panicking; they’re scrambling around in the common area, obviously unsure of what they should do.

  John looks at his wife with a furrowed brow. “Were they like this when you dropped off the kids?”

  Kate seems equally as puzzled, with the same look on her face. “Not at all; something must be up.” She grabs a passerby who’s someone she recognizes, but is unsure of her name. “Hey, what’s going on? Why is everyone panicking?”