by Seth Patrick
Jonah looked up to the ceiling directly above, wondering how long it would hold. He bent and pocketed the card Andreas had left behind.
A deep thump came from somewhere in the building; the lights in the corridor went out, red emergency lighting coming on. Long shadows flickered, cast by the flame.
He stood and put his face close to the glass in the door, looking one last time through the thickening smoke.
Andreas’s face appeared suddenly at the glass, fire dripping from it, his hair gone. The creature was in those eyes, staring at Jonah with defiant fury. Jonah froze. They watched each other for long seconds before Andreas started to hit the doors.
Jonah looked at Andreas and at the fire raging behind him. ‘Burn,’ he said. He began to back away, dragging Tess.
Andreas pounded at the doors in slow, deliberate strikes, packing a terrible force. The doors looked strong, but they shook horribly with each impact. Jonah looked at them, praying they would hold.
The flame was growing behind Andreas as he pounded, surging up the corridor. Jonah kept moving, seeing the doors give a little more each time, sure they would give way completely any moment.
Andreas opened his mouth and roared, the inhuman roar of the victorious beast of the blacklands, growing louder until it drowned out the sound of the doors shaking. They were going to give way. Jonah knew it. They were going to give way.
‘Burn!’ Jonah screamed out.
Then a rush of flame engulfed Andreas. The doors shook again and again, but the roar changed, becoming a cry of despair, of pain. Of defeat.
‘BURN!’
Abruptly the sound ceased. The doors shook to a final blow but did not yield. At the window was only fire.
It was over. Jonah stood, breathless and drained.
A cracking sound from above snapped him out of it. He kept pulling Tess.
Behind him, flame broke through the ceiling. They reached the doors at the far end, and Jonah readied the card. Then he looked at the panel. There were no lights on it. Nothing on the display. He tried the card, tapped in 5972. The door was still locked.
‘No,’ he shouted, turning. The fire was getting closer now, the smoke thickening. He crouched to breathe properly. Nowhere to go. Then the door behind him shook with impact. Jonah spun, terrified, looking through the glass panel. Andreas, he thought, but instead he saw an Irishman wielding a fire axe. Jonah could have cried.
Two more blows and Never managed to get the axe blade deep enough to push hard on the handle and lever a bigger gap.
‘Thought you might need a hand,’ Never said. One more attempt, and the door opened wide.
They got to the stairs, Never carrying Tess, Jonah taking the axe. Both floors they passed showed the glow of fire through their stairwell entrance.
‘We’re going to break out through a window,’ Never said. ‘Tough fuckers but the axe should do it.’
‘Didn’t the security card work?’ Jonah asked.
‘It needed a code. Hannerman’s code.’
‘I have Andreas’s card and his code.’
When they reached the bottom of the stairs they heard a huge crash above them. Jonah glanced up, the stairwell at the top engulfed in flame.
Annabel was waiting. They approached the corridor by the store room. Julia Hannerman’s corpse lay there in a pool of extinguisher foam. Jonah stared at the body.
By the fire exit, Jonah swiped Andreas’s card, then typed in 5972.
‘INVALID’. It took a moment for him to realize it hadn’t worked. He tried again, and the same word came up.
He looked at Never.
‘She’s disabled the exits, mate,’ Never said. ‘Window’s our best chance. This way.’
Back they went, to the room Never and Annabel had found with exterior windows. Setting Tess by the door, Never took the axe and swung back. They all looked away before it hit the window. It thudded into the glass, bouncing back hard, barely scratching it.
Jonah looked through the glass at the cars he could see, at the dark sky with the first signs of dawn. Safety, millimetres away.
Annabel glanced at Jonah in despair as Never swung the axe once more, the roar of the fire getting louder with every second.
‘NO!’ yelled Never, as it bounced off again. He swung a third time, swearing as a small hole appeared in the glass.
With a hiss, part of the ceiling in the far corner of the room burst out into sparks.
Another swing. The hole widened.
Jonah watched the fire as it encroached. He looked at Annabel and could tell she was thinking the same thing – time had run out.
More of the ceiling came down.
‘We have to get out of here,’ Jonah shouted, but Never was ignoring him. Another swing. The axe head went through, but the structure of the pane held. ‘Come on,’ Never cried at it, disbelieving, as he found he couldn’t pull the axe free.
‘Let’s go,’ Annabel cried, dragging Tess through the doorway. ‘Now!’
Beaten, Never let go of the axe. They left the room, shutting the door as the ceiling came down behind it.
Thick black smoke was visible toward the stairwell. There was only one way left to them. Annabel and Never manhandled Tess to the locked fire exit, setting her unconscious body propped against the wall.
‘Where’s Jonah?’ said Annabel, looking back down to the bend in the corridor.
‘He was right behind us,’ said Never, then he shouted, ‘Jonah!’
They ran to the corner and saw a black curtain of smoke advancing, closer now than the store room door. ‘Where the hell is he?’ said Annabel.
Seeing Jonah emerge spluttering out of the smoke, Never ran to help. Jonah was dragging something. When Never saw what it was, he stared. Julia Hannerman’s body.
‘Take her legs,’ said Jonah. ‘Watch it, she’s still hot.’
‘You went back for her?’
Jonah nodded. ‘She’s the only one who knows her code.’
As they reached the fire exit again, the nearby thump of an explosion came.
‘Store room,’ guessed Never. Dark smoke was already thickening at the corner they’d just come round.
From his pocket, Jonah took out the blister pack of his trial revival meds. Each of the eight pills was one fifth of the dose he should take for a revival. He swallowed all eight. The medication would take a few minutes to kick in fully, but there was no time to wait. And the last thing he wanted was this woman resident in his mind.
He knelt beside Julia Hannerman’s body, holding her right hand, the charred skin crackling under his fingers. Everything depended on how deeply burned she was. The odds weren’t in his favour. ‘Be ready, Never. I don’t know if this will work, and whatever happens it’ll be close. Nonvocal, I’ll tell you if I get anything. Wish me luck.’
All three of them had their eyes fixed on the advancing smoke. Tess, lying propped by the door, groaned but was still unconscious. ‘OK,’ said Never. He took Hannerman’s card out of his pocket and held it up. ‘Ready. But do you really think she’ll tell you?’
‘No one else is going to get out this way. Maybe she will. But if she doesn’t, I have options.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You know what I mean,’ said Jonah.
He could do this. He could bring her back quickly, minutes after death. And then, if the choice was between letting his friends die or sacrificing his principles, it was no choice at all.
He tried to block out what was happening around them, to ignore the increasing heat. Underneath the sound of flame, he was sure he could hear more screaming. He tried to ignore all of it. He pushed it away, focusing, knowing Julia Hannerman was close.
He felt heat, a sudden searing pain across his upper body, and fought the reflex to open his eyes to be sure it was from the revival, and not physical. He held his nerve. Within moments she was there.
‘Julia.’
‘Felix?’
‘No. My name is Jonah Miller. You know who I am. We’re
at the fire exit. We need your code. Help me.’
‘No.’
‘We’re not involved, Julia. We’re innocents. No one else will escape this way, there’s too much destruction. Please.’
‘Nobody gets out.’
There was a self-righteousness in her that made Jonah angry. ‘You were going to, though. You’d planned it this way, the last exit that nobody else could reach.’ He sensed her contentment. She was proud. ‘You’d left it open just for you. We need your code.’
‘A number.’ She sounded so pleased with herself, and Jonah had to fight hard to control his anger. ‘One little number and you’d be safe. But you got in the way. It’s your fault I’m dead. So why would I want you to leave?’
‘Because we’re innocent. And Annabel Harker is here. Your brother was responsible for her father’s death. You owe her.’
‘No one escapes. Not today.’
There was a finality to her words, and he realized he couldn’t avoid doing it. Julia Hannerman would say nothing to help them. He thought of the Baseline documents Sam had given them, the ideas he’d been horrified by. He thought of Pritchard, dead in his car, as the memory of his mother’s death took away Jonah’s reason and let him pour all his fears and hatred and rage into the dead man, pouring them in until the man screamed.
Jonah tried to summon that feeling again. The anger and loss of his mother’s death. The pure, fresh rage of what Felix Hannerman had done to Sam. The fury he shared with Daniel Harker for his needless death. The terror of the heat and smoke and flame around him and his friends.
‘What . .?’ she said. ‘What’s there?’
He wanted a nightmare for Julia Hannerman. He thought of the creature that Will Barlow had summoned, the entity he had first seen a lifetime ago when he revived Alice Decker. The creature that had finally perished in Michael Andreas. He thought of the look in those eyes and of the blackened wastelands. Of the roar of triumph and the stench of evil.
Julia Hannerman was terrified. ‘What is that? One of them? Oh God, Felix, what is that?’ She was disorientated now, just as he’d hoped.
‘Julia, it’s Felix, I’m here,’ said Jonah. ‘It’s one of them. It’s coming for you. It’s coming.’
‘Please, Felix! Help me! It’s so close!’ Jonah pushed hard, a cascade of images and sensations. He could feel the terror building in her.
‘It’s coming for you, Julia. We have to open the door. We have to get out of here.’
‘Felix, I don’t understand…’ she cried.
He pushed again, trying to drown her in the terror. He could feel reason stripping away, feel her become unaware even of her own death. She was in darkness, a terrified child, but her brother was with her. Her brother could show her how to get out. He just needed the number. That was all. Just a number. ‘Please Felix, I’m frightened!’
‘Tell me the number, Julia,’ he said. ‘Tell me the code.’ She told him through her screams.
He could release her now. He should. But his anger had momentum and a purpose: he still had one more question. He sent another barrage: Daniel Harker, tied and blackened. Felix Hannerman, screaming in a burning car. He sent her intense, pure loss.
Pure grief.
He asked the question, and sensed (or imagined – did it matter which?) Daniel Harker, observing, impassive; unable to disapprove, because he wanted to know too.
The answer came in a rush of image and cold truth, shocking him for a moment.
(‘Jonah!’ called Never. ‘Hurry!’)
He was done with Julia Hannerman. He let her go to whatever awaited her, releasing the charred hand and opening his eyes. The smoke around him was thick, the roar of flame overwhelming; he could hardly see or hear.
‘Did you get it?’ Never yelled, pulling him to the card reader.
Jonah took Hannerman’s card from Never, swiped it, and keyed in the number.
The door opened.
They ran through into open air, stumbling as they went, Annabel and Never dragging Tess by the arms as Jonah looked back to see flame bursting through the black smoke now pouring from the door they had just left.
They ran until they felt they were far enough, to the edge of a parking lot at the side of the facility. They fell to their knees.
There were people on the burning roof screaming.
‘Christ,’ croaked Never. ‘Jesus Christ.’
36
The three of them lay down beside Tess, gasping, their smoke-filled lungs barely able to draw enough breath. Feeling a hard lump dig into his back, Never pulled Hannerman’s gun and the original remote detonator from his back pockets. He tossed the gun to one side, and stared at the detonator. Beside him, Tess groaned and began to stir.
‘Can’t we help anyone?’ Never said. ‘Isn’t there anything we can do?’
Jonah, wheezing, stood beside him and watched the horror before him. ‘No,’ he said. He could see that Never was crying. He realized he was crying too.
‘Listen!’ said Annabel, standing. There were sirens. Annabel collapsed in a hail of coughs. Jonah went to help her, wondering if he would ever be able to tell her the answer that Julia Hannerman had given him to that final question. Why did they leave Daniel Harker to die?
He caught a glimpse of movement behind him. He looked. So did Annabel. It was Tess, disorientated, standing. Angry, and in tears. Pointing Hannerman’s gun at Never with shaking hands.
‘What did you do? What did you do?’ she yelled at Never, who was suddenly aware of the remote he was holding. He let it drop to the ground and held up his hands. He glanced at Jonah, then stepped forward. ‘We didn’t do this! It was Hannerman’s sister. It wasn’t us.’
‘What have you done?’
Jonah felt a terrible fear crawl across his heart. Tess was confused, distraught. But she’d seen Never holding a remote detonator, and all of Unity was dying. All but her. And she blamed Never.
‘Stop!’ Jonah called. He stepped in front of the gun. ‘Tess? Please. This wasn’t us. Please.’
Tess’s arm lowered just a little. ‘Where’s Michael?’
Jonah shook his head.
‘He could have fought it,’ she said quietly. ‘He could have won. We could have fixed it, couldn’t we?’
Jonah stepped towards her. ‘Please, Tess. Please.’
‘You wanted him dead.’ She said it decisively and raised the gun again. ‘You wanted him dead. You can’t say you didn’t.’
‘Please, Tess.’ He took another step. ‘He did fight it. And he won the only way he could.’
She looked at him, and he saw understanding there. Screams drew her eye to the rooftop. Jonah turned as well. When he turned back, she was running.
He made to follow.
‘Let her go,’ said Never.
Jonah paused for an instant, but for all her faults, he and Tess shared a bond. He had been lost and alone once, and she had been there to help him. Now, it was his turn to help her. ‘I want to make sure she knows she’s not alone,’ he said, and he went after her.
She was heading through the rows of vehicles in the parking lot, towards the road. Jonah was a few rows back, just about keeping her in sight as she weaved. The lot was broken up by strips of vegetation, young trees and bushy foliage. Tess disappeared through the middle of one, and Jonah froze as he got close and saw her stop and turn to see something on her right, raising the gun again. She was speaking. He crept close enough to hear, ducking by the front of a four-by-four for extra cover. A gap in the greenery gave him line of sight.
‘… son of a bitch,’ she said.
A man in a dark suit came in to view, his back to Jonah. Tess kept the gun trained on him, but from his stance Jonah could tell he was aiming a weapon right back at her.
‘Come with me, Tess,’ said the man.
‘Keep away from me.’
‘We’ve been watching you. Keeping an eye on things. Wanting to know exactly what the hell you people are up to. Don’t tell me you’re surprised. We official
ly have you pegged as delusional, but believe me, Tess, contact with unknowns is a national security issue like no other.’
‘Did you make this happen?’
‘The fire? Christ, no. We had enough coverage on Andreas to know something big was going down, that whatever he’d been planning all this time was finally under way. I knew I had to be here, but right now I have no idea what’s gone on tonight, just that you’re one of the only people to come out of it. Now please, come with me. We’ll protect you. We’re the only ones you can trust.’
The man slowly moved his hands up, opening them and letting the gun hang loose. He took it by the barrel with his left hand and set it on the ground.
Jonah watched Tess’s face. She was considering the offer. No, he thought. If Tess went with him, Jonah knew the kind of protection they meant. Under lock and key.
Tess started to lower her gun. Jonah knew he could give her a chance, if he wanted. Indecision, but only for a moment. He knew what Never’s opinion would have been: hell of a risk to take for a woman who’d treated you like shit.
He thought back to when he’d taken down Felix Hannerman, the momentum of his charge being all that was needed. He started to run, pushing hard to get his speed up, keeping as quiet as he could. The man only started to turn as he reached him, the shock of recognition on both their faces as Jonah’s arms clamped tightly around him. Kendrick hit the asphalt, hard.
‘Run, Tess,’ Jonah shouted, and Tess was away, the gate to the road visible ahead. He caught movement to his right, and suddenly realized that another man had been there all along, twenty feet away, hidden from his view while he’d been watching Tess and Kendrick face each other down.
The man was reaching for his gun, bringing it up, aiming …
Jonah leapt to his feet and stood in the way, holding out a hand, palm up. ‘No,’ he shouted.
There was a sound, a crack. He took a breath and it hurt.
The other man lowered his gun, shaking his head, irritated.
Jonah turned to see Tess reach the gate, run across light traffic. Disappear through a thin line of people who had formed, watching the fire engulf the facility.
