Extinction Age

by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

  “Your girls doing okay, Big Horn?” Riley asked.

  Horn took a drag on a cigarette and flicked the ash. “Yeah, man. They’re actually doing pretty good, considering. Glad there are other kids here. I’m hoping they can help Bo.”

  “Bo?” Riley asked.

  Horn crushed the spent smoke under his boot and said, “Kid we rescued from Niantic last night. Sounds like they’ve been through hell, but so have Tasha and Jenny. Helps kids deal when they have someone they can relate to.”

  Riley nodded like he understood, when in reality he had no fucking idea what it would be like for a kid growing up in this world. Frankly, he was having a hard time keeping it together himself, and he was trained for this shit.

  “Those Wood’s men?” Horn asked.

  “Yeah,” Chow said. “Saw them take off for the beach first thing this morning. Must be hot as fuck working in those CBR suits.”

  “They’re good at their jobs,” Beckham said. “I’ll give ‘em that. Looks like they’re going to have that fence back up by sundown.”

  Fitz shook his head. Beckham the unwavering optimist—it’s what made him the best leader Riley had ever served under. Earning praise from Beckham had always motivated Riley to push himself to his limits. Now he felt worse than worthless. He couldn’t do anything to help his brothers. Part of him wished they would just cut his legs off and give him blades like Fitz.

  Riley flinched when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He glanced up to see Meg looking down at him, using his shoulder to balance herself. She had her hair pulled back in a ponytail that whipped in the wind. The bruises on her face were starting to fade, and he could see her freckles now.

  “Don’t worry. You’ll be back on your feet in no time,” she said.

  “You must be a mind reader.”

  “Nah, you just look like you’re warming the bench at a football game.”

  Riley let out a sad laugh. “Yeah that about describes it.”

  “How long till you’re out of the chair?”

  “Dr. Hill said six to eight weeks, but with the compound fractures I’m looking at up to a year of rehab after the casts come off,” Riley said, glancing down. “Doc said I might not ever run again.” The words slipped out before Riley could stop them. He hadn’t wanted the other operators to know for fear they would see him as a burden.

  “We all know that isn’t true,” Chow said. “You’re too stubborn.”

  “Clearly that idiot doesn’t know who he’s talking to,” Horn laughed.

  “Don’t worry, kid. You’ll be outrunning all of us again in no time,” Beckham added.

  Riley fought to hold back tears of relief. The support of his brothers meant everything to him, and he cursed himself for doubting their loyalty.

  “What about you?” Riley said, examining Meg’s bandages.

  “Just depends on how fast I heal. Dr. Hill told me that it varies.” She pulled her hand off his shoulder and used it to shield her eyes from the sun as the mechanical chatter of a chopper cut over the cough of the bulldozer on the beach.

  Riley turned to watch a long black Chinook approach. Two Blackhawks trailed the beast. They were still a half-mile out, but Riley could see the troop holds were packed with soldiers.

  “Here comes the cavalry,” Beckham said. There was a dark edge to his voice. Riley understood what it meant. Beckham didn’t trust Wood, and that meant Riley didn’t trust him either. Maybe there was something he could do to help Team Ghost after all. If Wood and his men were a threat, Riley was going to find out. He massaged the handle of his Beretta M9 as the choppers descended over the island.

  -18-

  Kate hustled to prepare for Colonel Wood’s arrival. Ellis was already busy isolating blood samples. By mid-morning, the mice were producing limited antibodies. Her job was to see if the antibodies they got from those samples would attach to the Superman protein. That required a simple test with the Variant bone marrow biopsy they had already extracted.

  Using a transfer pipette, she dropped a sample of antibodies suspended in a saline solution into a plastic tube. Then she used another pipette to add a fluorescent molecule to the mix. Since the antibodies were much too small to see using a light microscope, the fluorescent molecules would allow her to visualize them using a special filter under the scope.

  Now came the real test.

  She transferred the antibodies with their fluorescent cargo to a plastic dish filled with purified bone marrow cells from the Variant they’d biopsied. Each of those cells contained the Superman protein. If her antibodies attached to the cell, then she would be able to see the cell light up with the fluorescent molecules bound to the antibodies.

  Kate held in a breath as she moved the plastic dish under the scope. With the twist of a knob, the fluorescent filter clicked into place. Sure enough, the Variant cells lit up like they were on fire. The antibodies were attaching directly to the Superman protein, just as they’d predicted.

  “It works, Ellis!” Kate said, pumping her fist in victory.

  “Excellent,” Ellis said. “But the next part is where things get dicey.”

  That was an understatement. What came next was the most important test, and the result would determine whether her theory was right. She felt confident the antibodies would enable the direct delivery of the drugs into the Variant cells. That, however, required injecting a live specimen with the antibody-drug conjugate.

  If it successfully shut down the Variant’s immune system, they could commit to massive production using their antibody replication facility. In those large drums, they would fuse lymphocytes with a cancer cell line. Combining these two cell lines created a new line—Hybridoma cells. In biology, they were the closest thing to immortal cells, replicating forever, theoretically reproducing into infinity given a viable platform. Each of those cells would churn out the antibodies they needed for their targeted drug delivery.

  Even if they succeeded, they still didn’t have a solid plan for deployment of the weapon on a worldwide level. But that was General Kennor’s headache. Kate’s job was to create the weapon; Kennor’s was to deliver it.

  Kate was so lost in her work she almost didn’t hear the chirp from the lab’s comm link. When she looked up, she saw a half dozen men staring at her from the other side of the observation window.

  “They’re here,” she said.

  Ellis finished his task and set a vial containing blood cultures back into a housing tray. Major Smith and Lieutenant Colonel Jensen were at the back of the room beyond the glass, standing behind Colonel Wood and the twin corporals who had watched over Kate and Ellis’s work the night before.

  “Good morning, Doctors. I’m told you have an update for me,” Wood said.

  Kate smiled, though the expression felt false when directed at Wood. She launched into a brief report on her and Ellis’s findings, assuring them that they were close to a breakthrough.

  Kate watched Wood’s reactions for a read on the man. His pockmarked face remained stiff, his jaw set, and his blue eyes were unnervingly still. His mannerisms reminded her lot of Colonel Gibson.

  “Superman protein?” Wood finally asked, sounding less than amused.

  Ellis jumped in. “Called so because it speeds the Variants’ healing capabilities. We also think we’ve found their Kryptonite, so to speak.”

  “Which would be?”

  “Chemotherapeutics. AKA cancer drugs,” Ellis continued after a pause, “We believe that we can use the antibodies we’re producing for the targeted delivery of generic chemotherapeutics like Paxlitaxel—”

  Wood raised a hand, cutting Ellis off mid-sentence. “You think you can use cancer drugs to kill the Variants?” The hint of a scowl formed on his scarred cheeks.

  “Yes, Colonel,” Kate said. “The chemotherapeutics normally destroy rapidly reproducing cells like cancer. An unintended side effect can be the destruction of immune and bone marrow cells, since these also proliferate at a high rate. The Variants survive and thrive becau
se of their overactive stem cells and immune cells. So if we can take those cells out, we believe we will shut down their immune systems and the Variants will die—slow and painful deaths.”

  “Cut the science jargon and explain this in a way that everyone in this room can understand,” Wood said.

  Kate nodded, but inside she was fuming. “Think of the Superman protein as the exhaust on one of your fighter jets. The antibody we have designed is the heat-seeking sensor of your anti-aircraft missile. The payload of that missile is the chemotherapeutics, and they will blow the damn plane out of the air. If we’re right, the drugs will destroy the targeted cells.”

  “Sounds like a long shot,” Wood replied.

  “The good news is that we can save more lives by using drugs we already have instead of creating and manufacturing something new. Plus, there are enough chemotherapeutics stockpiled in this country to deploy the weapon to the whole world once we determine how to deliver it,” Kate said. After a moment, she added, “Sir.”

  “Don’t worry about deployment,” Wood said. “That’s General Kennor’s arena. I’m sure he already has a plan.”

  “I was hoping he would, sir.”

  Wood nodded. “How long until you know if it works on a live specimen?”

  “Twelve hours,” Kate replied. “Maybe more, maybe less. Hard to say.”

  “I have a call with General Kennor at 2100, but I want to be present for these tests,” Wood said. “I also expect you to be available for that call, Doctors.”

  Kate started to protest that she didn’t have time to waste in a meeting, but Wood cut her off. “That’s an order, not a request.”

  “We’ll be there,” Ellis said.

  The colonel turned to leave but hesitated. “How many of these drugs do you think you’ll you need?”

  “A lot, sir,” Kate said. “And we’ll have to coordinate with all remaining facilities to fuse the antibodies to the drug line before deploying the final weapon.”

  Wood frowned. “Jensen, Smith, prepare the men. I want them ready to go in a moment’s notice. I’ll inform Central Command and plan an operation to secure the drugs. Dismissed.”

  Kate’s heart sank as everyone but Cooper and Berg cleared the room. She was thinking about Beckham and the other soldiers under Jensen’s command being sent on another dangerous mission. She’d known that soldiers would have to raid facilities across the country to collect the drugs she needed to complete her weapon, but she had prayed those stationed at Plum Island might sit this one out.

  She returned to her station with a heavy heart. She still had to encapsulate the chemotherapeutics in a protective polymer coating through microemulsion. Then she could chemically crosslink the antibodies to the encapsulated drugs and add the antibody-drug complexes to a saline solution for a live test. There was still a lot of work to do—hopes and prayers alone weren’t going to save the human race.

  Lieutenant Colonel Jensen and Major Smith followed a group led by Colonel Wood through Building 4. Jensen still didn’t have a read on Corporal Cooper or Corporal Berg, but both men seemed to be extremely loyal to Wood.

  Jensen had led his own men down these very halls just weeks before to study the Variant specimens. No one stopped to examine the prisoners they kept in the dark cells this time. Jensen suspected Wood was used to similar conditions. Having been one of Gibson’s cronies since Vietnam, Wood had likely toured countless top-secret prisons—ones that didn’t follow any laws set forth by the Geneva Conventions.

  The team marched down the corridor, unfaltering even at the hellish sound of a Variant squawking. Jensen was the only one to slow and watch the monster skitter up the wall inside the cell. It hung in the corner, snarling at him from the shadows. Its shrieks, combined with the pounding of boots, attracted the attention of two figures at the end of the narrow corridor.

  Doctor Lovato and Ellis had already arrived. They waited outside the observation window that looked into the main isolation room. Through the glass, Jensen could see a female Variant already strapped to the metal gurney. A wave of déjà vu tingled through him as he remembered the young female Variant who had died on the same table weeks before when his team had injected her with Kate’s first bioweapon, VX9H9.

  “We’re ready,” Kate said. “This is Patient 3.”

  Wood stepped up to the window for a better look.

  “Sergeant Lombardi will inject the specimen with the drug-loaded antibodies,” Kate continued.

  Wood folded his hands behind his back and leaned closer to the window. “Well, let’s get on with it.”

  Kate nodded and hit the comm button under the window. “We’re all set, Sergeant. Please proceed when you are ready.”

  Lombardi entered the isolation room, sporting the riot gear that all of the medical staff used. The naked female Variant twisted on the table and arched her back at the sound of the door closing.

  This was the Variant that had lost an eyeball, and the socket had developed a leathery layer of skin in a matter of days. The bandages that had covered its left arm and right leg had been removed, revealing thick scar tissue. Their healing ability was truly remarkable. It also made them damn hard to kill—something that Jensen found more frightening than impressive.

  As soon as Lombardi approached, the Variant jerked its bald skull in his direction, homing in with the yellow slit of its remaining eyeball. It squirmed against its restraints, wormy blue veins bulging over its stretched flesh.

  Patient 3 let a high-pitched howl fly that intensified into a shrill so loud that several of the soldiers in front of Jensen started to fidget. Jensen reached into his pocket for his chew and wedged a piece between his gums and lip.

  “It should take at least a few hours to see any results, but the Variants show a strong resilience to infection. That’s why we’re using the chemotherapeutics. The antibodies enable the targeted delivery of the drugs straight to the Variant’s bone marrow stem cells, which should drastically reduce their immune and healing capabilities.”

  “In English, Dr. Lovato,” Wood said, sounding bored.

  “They’ll die,” Kate said. “Fast, I hope.”

  Wood seemed more interested in the creature’s behavior than the doctor’s explanation. He stepped closer to the glass. “You ever seen one of these things talk?”

  Kate raised a brow. “Talk?”

  “Yes, Doctor. Talk.”

  Shaking her head, Kate said, “Soldiers in the field have reported some of the Variants exhibiting traits that imply higher intelligence. And there was the case of Lieutenant Brett, of course. A soldier injected with VX-99 back in Vietnam.”

  “Of course,” Wood replied smoothly.

  Kate froze, her features tensing as she glared at the colonel. “You’re familiar with Brett?”

  “Doctor, I’m here to protect our national security and save our country and its people. Do you really think there’s anything about the current threat that I don’t know?”

  The colonel’s voice was cutting, but his words sounded like something he had memorized. Jensen had heard it all before. It was the same rhetoric powerful men throughout history had used. Not much different than the words Colonel Gibson had spoken himself, in fact.

  The Variant screeched as Lombardi inserted a needle into its arm, but Wood continued talking. “I’m here to see to it that the government uses your weapon properly, and also to ensure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. Most importantly, I’m here to make sure this wasn’t all for nothing.”

  “Wrong hands, sir?” Kate asked.

  Wood looked away from the glass, suddenly uninterested in the test. “Yes, Doctor. And before you ask, I decide whose hands are the right ones.”

  Kate’s face turned red, but she held her tongue. Smart girl, Jensen thought. Like Beckham and the others on Jensen’s side, she understood the need for keeping a low profile while they all bided their time.

  “Let me know the moment you get the results of your test.” Wood jerked his chin toward the e
xit. “Let’s go.”

  Jensen exchanged a glance with Kate on his way out. He could only think of one person worse than Wood to control her weapon, and that man was already buried in an unmarked grave on the beach.

  Apollo darted after the stick Beckham had tossed onto the lawn outside Building 1. Fitz snatched it up and tossed it to Riley, who wheeled down the path. Riley reached down to get it, but Apollo beat him there, grabbing the stick loosely in his jaws. Riley bent down to wrestle it away when the dog suddenly backed up.

  “Crap!” Riley said, losing his balance and toppling over.

  Horn’s daughters chuckled from the landing of Building 1, but their father bolted down the steps. Beckham heard Meg gently chide the girls for laughing as he rushed to Riley’s side.

  “You okay, kid?” Beckham asked.

  Riley lay on his back, looking up at the sky, surrounded by his friends. “Yeah, I’m okay. Everything but my pride, that is.”

  “This coming from a guy who danced onstage at the Bing in his underwear,” Horn said with a laugh.

  “What’s the Bing?” Fitz asked.

  A grin broke across Riley’s face, and Beckham realized then the kid was fine. The only thing bruised was his ego.

  “The Bing is a strip club in the Florida Keys, and one of the best places on Earth,” Riley said. He reached up, and Horn grabbed him under both arms. Beckham picked up his legs, and together they hoisted him into the air.

  The front door to Building 1 creaked open as they carefully put Riley back into his chair. Beckham turned to see Colonel Wood, Major Smith, Lieutenant Colonel Jensen, and four other men step onto the landing. Meg moved to the side to make room, herding Tasha and Jenny out of the way.

  “Come here, girls,” Horn shouted.

  They ran to their father, and he wrapped his thick arms around them. Beckham steadied his breathing as Wood stopped on the front step and scanned the lawn. Families were camped on the lush green grass. Red, Donna, and Bo were enjoying a picnic of MREs under a tree not too far from Beckham and his men.