Sick pe-1

by Brett Battles

  “Go where?” Lisa asked.

  Paul glanced at Nick.

  Nick shook his head, then leaned toward his brother and whispered, “Dad doesn’t want anyone to know we left, remember?”

  “She won’t tell,” Paul said, not bothering to lower his voice.

  “Tell what?” Lisa asked.

  Paul hesitated only a moment before he spilled the whole plan to her. If he couldn’t trust Lisa, whom could he trust?

  As soon as he finished, she said, “I’m coming with you.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s going to be dangerous.”

  “As dangerous as hanging around here waiting for the Sage Flu to get me?”

  Nick stood silently by his bike, saying nothing, but the look on his face clearly showed he didn’t think Lisa coming along was a good idea.

  “What about your parents?” Paul asked.

  “Dad’s not even here. Got stuck in L.A. when this thing happened.” She tilted her head toward the house. “Mom doesn’t have to go to work at the motel tonight, so she’s been drunk off her ass all day. Finally passed out thirty minutes ago. She won’t notice.” She looked over at Nick. “I don’t want to stay here. I don’t want to die.”

  Nick frowned, but then he nodded and said, “Okay.”

  Five minutes later, as the three of them were walking down the road toward the highway, Lisa’s mother, still passed out on the couch, coughed.

  26

  Ash woke thirty minutes before dawn. In the bathroom, he peeled off most of the bandages that covered his head. His face was still swollen, though much less so than it had been the previous day. Bruises still encircled his eyes and covered his cheeks. Those, he knew, would be with him long after the swelling disappeared.

  He studied himself in the mirror, trying to figure out what he would look like once trauma caused by the surgery had passed, but his imagination failed him. He’d have two eyes, two ears, a nose, and a mouth. Ultimately, that was all that was important.

  After shooting practice the previous day, Pax had given him an extensive tour of the subterranean facility, and set him up with access to the computer room and the well-equipped gym.

  The gym was where he headed as he exited his room at 5:45 a.m.

  He was surprised to find someone else already there. It was the woman from the day before, the one he’d seen in the cafeteria but hadn’t met yet.

  She’d been doing stomach crunches as he walked in, but the second she heard him her head whipped around like he’d scared her.

  “Sorry,” he said. He took a few steps in her direction. “I’m Ash.”

  As she got off the bench, he thought she was going to walk over and shake his hand, but instead, she headed quickly to the wall, made her way around him in as wide an arc as she could, then exited the room without saying a word.

  He stared after her, confused, but ultimately she wasn’t important. There was work to do.

  He had to be selective in what exercises he did so he wouldn’t rupture the stitches that seemed to cover his head, but he was still able to get in a good workout.

  After a shower, he went back to the firing range and spent two hours working with the SIG. His groupings had gotten to the point where they were consistent from set to set.

  His next stop was the cafeteria for breakfast. Bobbi was in the kitchen, apparently on temporary assignment from upstairs. She made him an omelet with bacon and toast on the side. As he was finishing up, Pax arrived, holding a sweatshirt in his hand.

  “Just took a look at your work on the range,” Pax said. “We’re going to have to offer you a place on our target shooting team.”

  Ash glanced at him, then returned his attention to his food.

  “Bobbi, you got some more eggs back there?” Pax called out.

  “You already had your breakfast upstairs,” she told him.

  “Doesn’t mean I’m not still hungry.”

  “Doesn’t mean I have to cook for you again, either.”

  Pax made a sour face toward the kitchen. “It’s not like I have time to eat anymore anyway.” He looked at Ash’s plate. “You done?”

  “Why? You want this?”

  There was still half a piece of uneaten toast, but Pax shook his head.

  “No. I need to take you up to see Matt.”

  As they walked toward the stairs, Pax handed the sweatshirt to Ash. “Put this on.”

  The sweatshirt was zip-up style with a hood. Ash figured it must be a little cold topside, so he did as Pax instructed.

  “Hood, too,” Pax told him.

  “Why?”

  “In case anyone’s watching.”

  “Watching?”

  “You’d be surprised how good surveillance is these days. Can see right through a window from miles away.”

  “That sounds a little paranoid.”

  “Welcome to our world.”

  At Matt’s office, Pax opened the door for Ash, but didn’t go inside with him.

  Matt was the only one there, sitting at his desk and writing something in a hardbound notebook.

  He looked up. “You’re looking better today.”

  “Not as good as I’d like,” Ash said.

  “I can understand that. Have a seat.”

  Matt wrote something else in the notebook, then closed it and leaned back, considering Ash.

  “What?” Ash asked. “Has something happened?”

  Two quiet seconds passed. “The guy who helped you get out of Barker Flats wasn’t our only inside source.” He paused, then put his forearms on the desk and leaned forward. “We got a message this morning from another one of our people that appears to indicate time might be getting short for your kids.”

  “What was the message?” Ash asked quickly.

  “The number four.”

  Ash furrowed his brow.

  “It’s simple code,” Matt went on. “It means danger.”

  “Can you find out what kind of danger?”

  “It doesn’t work that way. This was all he was in a position to tell us.”

  “At the very least, can he give us their location?

  Matt was silent for a moment. “We’re pretty sure we already know where they are.”

  “What? You know?”

  “You’ll leave in three hours.”

  Pushing his chair back and standing, Ash said, “I need to leave now!”

  “That’s as soon as our plane can get back here. If you leave now, you’d still get there quicker if you wait. I know it’s not easy, but we can use the time to finish prepping you as best we can.”

  Matt pressed a button on his desk phone.

  There was a single ring, then Rachel’s voice said, “Are you ready?”

  “Yes. Bring her in.” He hung up, then looked back at Ash. “Sit down. Please. I promise you we’re doing everything we can.”

  It took all of Ash’s effort to lower himself into the seat. Moments after he did, the door opened, and Rachel and the girl from the gym entered.

  The girl’s long black hair had been pulled into a ponytail when she’d been working out, but now, except for a strand she twisted nervously in her fingers, it hung free over her shoulders.

  Rachel had a hand on the woman’s back, urging her across the room. As they neared, Ash stood. Instantly, the woman took a quick step back.

  “It’s all right, Chloe,” Rachel said. “We’ve already talked about this. He’s not one of them.”

  One of what?Ash wanted to ask, but he held it in, not wanting to scare the woman again.

  Finally, Chloe gave Rachel a nod.

  “Good,” Rachel said in a calm voice. “Chloe, this is…” She stopped and looked at Ash. “What do you want to be called? Adam? Cooper?”

  “Ash, if it’s all right by you,” he said.

  She smirked. “Your call.” To Chloe, she said, “His name is Adam Cooper, but he apparently goes by Ash. Ash, this is Chloe White.”

  “Hello,” he said, trying to keep his v
oice gentle.

  Chloe cringed a bit, but didn’t retreat. “Hi.” There was a momentary lull, then she said, “You’renotone of them, are you?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Chloe motioned at Rachel and Matt. “They say you’re in the Army.”

  “Yes…well, I don’t know now. Maybe.”

  “Some of them are in the Army. Not a lot, but some.”

  Ash looked her in the eyes. “I’ve only been in the Army. Nothing else.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Absolutely.”

  She nodded to herself several times. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I just…I don’t want to…go back, you know?”

  “Go back where?” Ash asked.

  “It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to think about it. Please don’t make me think about it.”

  “Come on, Chloe,” Rachel said quickly. “There are a few things we need to take care of before you leave.”

  Chloe allowed herself to be led back to the door. Once there, she turned to Ash and said, “Nice to meet you. I’m sorry. I’m not…I’m not always like this.”

  As soon as she and Rachel were gone, Ash looked at Matt. “What was that all about?”

  “She’ll be going with you.”

  “Her? Why?”

  “She’s your guide.”

  Ash stared at him. “Did you not just see her?”

  “She’s the only one familiar with the facility your children are in.”

  Ash glanced back at the door. “This girl can really help me?”

  “Yes. She can.” Matt paused. “You need to understand that these people did something to her while she was with them. She used to be strong, uncompromising, but they broke her before we could get to her. Piece by piece she’s putting it back together, but it’s slow. Most of her life…well, let’s just say that it’s like she’s starting out again. Sometimes she slips. Maybe we shouldn’t have told her you were in the Army, but it was better it came out now than later. She’ll be okay.”

  “If she’s taking me to where these people are, isn’t there a danger she’ll slip again?”

  Matt hesitated. “Perhaps. But you were a surprise to her, an unknown. She already knows what to expect where you’re both going.”

  “Are any of the rest of you coming?”

  “I wish we could. This…outbreak has stretched our resources. We’re already working with a skeleton crew here. If any of us leaves, it’ll make it all that more difficult to support the rest of our organization, and many are in just as much danger as you will be.”

  Ash couldn’t help but frown. “I’m having a hard time understanding just what your purpose is.”

  “Do you want to know? Because we’ll tell you if you do. It’s pretty heavy stuff, though.” He paused, thoughtful for a moment. “Your children are your goal right now. Anything we tell you will only distract from that. It’s your choice.”

  Several silent seconds went by.

  Matt was right. Until Josie and Brandon were with him, Ash didn’t need anything else clouding up his mind.

  “Tell me about where they’re keeping my kids.”

  27

  The desert was tricky, even more so in the moonless night with their headlamps off. But Paul, with Lisa sitting behind him, and Nick didn’t have much of a choice. The only thing they could do was keep their speed down, and hope they didn’t hit any of the random holes and ruts too hard.

  At midnight, they found a small canyon and stopped. About fifty feet in was a rock overhang, so they decided to use it as shelter and get a few hours of sleep.

  Because none of them thought to set an alarm on their cell phone, those few hours turned into almost seven. By the time Paul opened his eyes, the sky was blue, and the warmth of the early spring day had already pushed back the cold of the night.

  “Ah, crap!” he yelled, then nudged Lisa, who was sharing his sleeping bag with him. “Hey, baby, we got to get up.”

  She groaned, but didn’t open her eyes.

  “Come on, Lisa. It’s already late.”

  “Just a little longer,” she said, her voice low and raspy.

  He gave her a kiss. “One minute. That’s it.”

  “You’re so generous.”

  He crawled out of the bag without unzipping it, then scrambled over to where Nick was sleeping and shook his shoulder.

  “Time to get up.”

  Nick tried to turn away from him.

  “Come on, Nick. We overslept.”

  His brother opened one eye halfway. “It’s morning already?”

  “We should have been gone four hours ago,” Paul told him.

  Nick grunted and rolled onto his back.

  Now that Paul knew the other two were basically up, he went over to his backpack, took out one of the sandwiches his mom had made, then all but inhaled it. Since their water was limited, he was careful to drink only a few ounces.

  Nick and Lisa were both sitting up now, neither looking particularly eager to get going.

  “Come on,” Paul said. “We’ve got to move!”

  “All right, all right,” Nick said. “I’m up.”

  He unzipped his sleeping bag and rolled out.

  “Me, too,” Lisa said.

  “I don’t want to stop for a while,” Paul told them, “so eat something. I’m going to go see if I can get above the rim and figure out where we are.”

  Nick gave him a halfhearted wave of acknowledgment, then held out a hand to help Lisa out of her bag.

  Paul scanned the canyon. Near the back he saw that part of the wall had crumbled down, creating a difficult but not impossible ramp to the top. He jogged over and carefully climbed up the slope.

  He was just nearing the top when a rhythmic noise began, echoing through the canyon. He looked around, trying to spot the source, but though it kept getting louder and louder, he couldn’t see anything that might be causing it.

  Nick stepped out from under the overhang, looked up at Paul, then lifted his shoulders and held out his hands, silently asking what was making the noise. Paul, having no answer, repeated the gesture back.

  He was about ten feet from the top of the ramp, and thought maybe he could see whatever it was from up there. But the moment he started to climb again, two helicopters streaked low across the sky just beyond the edge of the canyon. As soon as they passed the open end, they turned and descended to the ground.

  There was no question in Paul’s mind why they were here.

  “Hide!” he yelled down at Lisa and Nick.

  There was no way they could hear him above the whirl of the helicopters, but they’d obviously had the same thought. They began running through the canyon toward the crumbled ramp.

  Paul looked quickly around, then slipped into a crack between two large clumps of dirt, keeping his head elevated just enough so he could see over the top.

  Six men piled out of the helicopters, three from each, and began running into the canyon. Paul wasn’t sure what was scarier: their rifles, or the full bio-protective suits they were wearing.

  He looked down the ramp for Lisa and his brother, but it was too uneven, so while he could hear them scrambling on the slope, he couldn’t see them.

  Two of the armed men stopped near the bikes by the overhang, while the other four continued toward the back of the canyon.

  “Stop!” one of them yelled, his voice distorted by his suit.

  Paul heard Lisa and Nick stop climbing, and knew they’d been caught.

  Dammit!Sarge was not going to be happy.

  He watched the men, expecting them to move in and herd Lisa and Nick away, but instead, two of them raised their rifles.

  No! No! No!They’ve stopped! They’ve stopped!

  Paul started to open his mouth to yell exactly that, but before the words could even reach his lips, the men fired. The double boom ricocheted off the canyon walls, but what Pauldidn’thear was more upsetting. Neither Lisa nor his brother yelled out.

  As the
men lowered their guns, Paul felt as if the earth had just swallowed him up. He watched all four men walk over to the ramp, then pass out of his line of sight. He could hear them moving around and talking quietly amongst themselves. When they reappeared on the canyon floor, two had Nick slung between them, and two had Lisa.

  His brother.

  His girlfriend.

  Both of them clearly dead.

  Paul stared down at them, hardly able to process what he was seeing.

  No one was going to believe this. No one would ever believe helicopters had found them in the middle of the desert and—

  His hand snapped down to his pants pocket, and he pulled out his cell phone. He turned it on, and worried for a moment the people would disappear before it started up. But he was in luck, if you could call it that. They set the bodies down near the base of the ramp, while one of the two who’d stayed near the motorcycles ran back to the helicopters. The man returned a few moments later with a clump of black plastic.

  As soon as Paul’s phone was ready, he accessed the camera, flipped it to movie mode, and began recording.

  The man with the plastic gave half to the guys standing near Lisa, and the other half to the ones next to Nick. As they unfolded their pieces, Paul realized they were bags — body bags — just like ones he’d seen in some of the Military Channel documentaries Sarge liked to watch.

  He had zero doubt this had been a killing operation from the beginning. There had been absolutely no intention of simply bringing any of them in. Why else would they have the bags with them?

  “That’s my brother, and my girlfriend,” he whispered next to the camera, hoping that the suits the people below were wearing would make it hard for them to hear anything. “Those…those men shot them. We weren’t doing anything, but they shot them.” He opened his mouth to say more, but decided he’d already pressed his luck enough.

  Once the bodies were sealed up, the men started carrying them out of the canyon. They all stopped for a moment near the motorcycles and seemed to have a quick conference. When they were through, the two men not carrying the bodies picked up the backpacks and sleeping bags, and carried them to the helicopters.

  As soon as everything was aboard, the helicopters rose into the air and flew off in the direction from which they’d come, the thumping of the blades fading until silence descended on the canyon.