So, despite whatever the explosions on the floor above might mean, he knew he still had work to do.
“Learner, Ramos, I need you to come with me.”
Two of the technicians broke from the crowd and followed the doctor to the elevator.
46
Most everyone at Cryer’s Corner was asleep. The Flu Crew, as the segregated group had come to call themselves, was spread throughout the cafe. The only two who still seemed to be awake were Martina and Ben. They were lying on the floor next to the booth in the back corner.
Understandably, blankets were in short supply. The residences of Cryer’s Corner had been able to scrounge enough so most of the girls had one, but the men had to sleep in jackets and whatever else they could find to wear.
Thankfully, though, the heater in the cafe worked well enough that no one had to dress like they were spending the night in the Arctic.
“Do you think this might be the last night we remember?” Chloe asked.
“God, I hope not. I’m supposed to go to Europe this summer. I hate to think of all those Italian girls I wouldn’t be able to meet.”
“Ha ha. Funny. I’m serious. This flu is supposed to come on quick, and, and…that’s it.”
“Paul’s still around,” Ben said.
“Yeah, but he’s sick.”
“I’ll bet you a glass of orange juice he’s still here in the morning.”
She couldn’t help but smile. Ben had been optimistic since she’d watched him drive into the desert to get Paul. He was always trying to keep things light and put a good spin on what was happening. Too bad he was three years older than she was, and in college. Of course, she’d be in college in the fall…
Well, not of course, she realized. She wasn’t likely to be anywhere in the fall.
“What’s it like being on your own?” she asked.
He glanced at her. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Tell me.”
He looked back at the ceiling. “Well, I’m not as good a cook as my mom. And you get bills every month from all these people for water and electricity and your cell phone and your rent. I don’t like that part.”
“Yeah, but you get to set your own schedule. Stay up as late as you want. Go wherever you’d like.”
“True. That is nice. It’s a balance, like everything else, you know? You just hope the side with the good things is heavier than the side with the bad.”
She snorted. “Seems like the bad side’s pretty heavy right now.”
“It ain’t light, that’s for sure. But there are some good things.”
“Doubtful.”
“You learned how to use a CB. That’s a skill you never had before.”
Despite herself, she laughed.
“You got to climb up on top of a gas station.”
“You saw me?”
“Of course. You got to meet me. That’s gotta count for something.”
She held her tongue, worried she’d say something stupid.
“I promise,” he said. “Tomorrow won’t be the last morning you wake up.”
She looked at him.
“Second to last, maybe. But not the last,” he told her, then smiled.
She knew he was just trying to make her laugh, but suddenly an image of her mom’s face appeared in her mind. Her mom who’d been so proud of her, such a big supporter of everything she did.
Martina couldn’t help the tears that began to flow, nor could she stop them.
Ben immediately moved over to her, putting his arms around her. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m sorry. It was a bad joke.”
“No,” she said, her head tucked in his shoulder. “It was funny. I just…I just started thinking about…home.”
She continued to cry as he stroked her hair, whispering, “Everything’s going to be okay.”
Her strength drained way with her tears, and she could feel sleep taking hold. Maybe it would be all right. Maybe it would all be fine.
She heard a noise right before she fell asleep. It didn’t completely register, but somewhere in the back of her mind she knew what it was.
A cough.
47
Ash was under no illusion that the six men they’d left in the lobby were the entire security contingent at NB7, but he also didn’t want to waste time tracking down the other ones. He’d deal with them as they showed up.
The lower level was where he needed to get to, but how?
The hallway on the other side of the lobby door seemed to run from one end of the building to the other. To the left there were four doors, and to the right, two.
“This way,” he said to Chloe, heading left.
Three of the four doors were on the same side the lobby was on. The first they came to was one of these. Ash tried the knob, expecting it to be locked, but it wasn’t. The space inside was dark. He reached around the jamb, located a light switch, and flipped it on. The room was about twice as wide as the lobby. Set throughout were rows of heavy wide shelves that went all the way to the ceiling, but were all empty.
They checked the other two rooms on the same side and found identical spaces.
They then went to the door on the right. It was locked, but clicked open as he touched the security badge to the pad on the wall.
This time they didn’t find a storage room with empty shelves. They found a spacious warehouse that took up the entire back two-thirds of the building. It was clean and empty, with only half the lights on, probably so that security could walk through without running into anything.
“My God,” Chloe said. “It’s a depot.”
“A depot?” Ash asked.
“Matt said they’re set up all over the place for, you know, after. To store whatever the others think they’re going to need. Probably a good thing it’s not full yet. Humanity’s got a little more time before the plug gets pulled, I guess.”
Ash wasn’t sure what to make of the space, or what Chloe had said, but he’d save that for later. “Do you see a way down?” he asked.
They both scanned the warehouse.
“What’s that?” she asked, pointing across the room.
There was another one of the security pads mounted on the wall, but there didn’t seem to be any doors in the vicinity.
“I don’t know.”
They ran over to it, then Ash touched the ID to the pad. Nothing happened. He touched it again. Still nothing.
“Whatever it’s for, I don’t think it can help us,” he said. “There’s got to be a way down some—”
The sound of an electronic motor caused Ash to whip his head around. The floor just to the right of the ID pad lifted into the air like a blast door. It was thick and heavy, and had fitted so seamlessly into the floor that neither Ash nor Chloe had noticed it.
He stepped over, getting there before the door was halfway up, then smiled.
Below it was a set of stairs.
* * *
Dr. Karp and the two technicians, Learner and Ramos, took the elevator to level four, the lowest level of the facility.
Since their arrival the previous afternoon, Dr. Karp had requested that two security guards be stationed on level four at all times. He really didn’t think there would be a problem, but with the escape of the children’s father from Barker Flats, and the earlier experience a colleague had had with Lauren Scott’s disappearance, he didn’t want to take any chances.
The two security men were standing just outside the elevator, guns drawn, when the door opened. As soon as they recognized the doctor, they dropped their weapons to their side.
“Do you know what’s going on?” the doctor asked as he stepped out of the elevator car.
“No, sir,” one of the guards said. “No word from up top yet. They’re probably busy dealing with whatever the situation is.”
“Did you hear the explosion?”
The men glanced at each other.
“What explosion, sir?”
“Maybe three or four minutes ago, on the top floor.�
��
“Do you think one of us should go up and check?” the second guard asked.
“I’d rather you both stay here,” the doctor said, which made it an order.
“Yes, sir.” The first guard paused for a moment, then said, “With your permission, sir?”
“Yes?”
“When the alarm went off, per procedure we stationed ourselves here. But if it’s okay with you, one of us could go to the substation down the hall, and bring up the security cameras so we can determine what’s going on.”
The doctor thought for a moment, then nodded. “Good idea. Report to me as soon as you know. I’ll be with the subjects.”
“Yes, sir.”
* * *
The stairs ended in a brightly lit room, approximately fifteen feet square. The only things there were an elevator door and a call button. As soon as Chloe joined him, Ash pushed the button.
Almost immediately, the heavy door at the top of the stairs began swinging down again, closing them in.
“I’m not sure I like that,” Chloe said.
“They’re probably designed so both doors can’t be open at the same time,” he guessed.
“I hope you’re right.”
The door thudded shut.
Chloe stared at the elevator, then glanced nervously at Ash. “I don’t think it’s coming.”
“It’ll be here.”
She began rocking slightly back and forth. “Are you sure? Maybe this is just a trap.”
“Too elaborate for a trap.”
She looked around, her gaze darting from one spot to another.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
She said nothing for a second, then, “I don’t like enclosed spaces.”
“You were fine in those tunnels at the hospital.”
“There was always a way in and out. We’re locked in here.” Her breathing began to increase.
“Are you going to be okay?”
She gave him a single nod, but he could see it was an effort for her. Then, soundlessly, the elevator door opened. With a relieved gasp of breath, she raced in.
“This is an enclosed space, too,” Ash said as he entered.
“Yeah, but it’s going somewhere.”
There was a row of five buttons, and another security pad on the control panel. The top button was lit up. Ash touched the one on the bottom, figuring that would take them to the lowest level, but nothing happened. He tapped the security pad with the badge, then touched the button once more. This time the button flashed red, and the car remained stationary. He used the badge again, then tried the fourth button down. Flashing red, no movement. The third button down received the same response. He did it once more for the second button.
This time it lit up green, and the car began to move.
Great,he thought. He’d taken the badge of someone limited to only the first lower level. He hoped to God he’d find something there that would get him to the bottom.
As the car began to stop, he said, “Move to the side and get ready.”
She went left, and he went right, positioning himself so he could see out but duck quickly for cover if need be. He raised his gun, then tensed as the doors began to slide open.
There were half a dozen people just outside. None, though, was holding a weapon. They froze as a group. All, that was, except one in the back who started running down the hall away from them.
Ash stepped out quickly. “Stop!”
The man skidded to a halt.
“Don’t hurt us!” one of the others shouted.
“Walk back here now, and I won’t shoot you.”
The runner turned around, then began retracing his steps back to the group, his arms in the air.
“Who are you?” a man standing in the middle asked.
Ash moved his gaze quickly over them. “How many of you have access to the bottom level?”
No one moved.
He pointed his gun at the guy who ran. “How many?”
“We…we all do,” the man said.
“Good. You have your badge?”
The man nodded. “Yes.”
“Then you’re coming with us.”
The man’s eyes widened as Ash reached out and grabbed his arm.
“No,” Chloe said.
Everyone looked at her, including Ash.
“I want that one.” She pointed at the man in the middle who’d asked who they were.
“Why me?” he said, sounding frightened.
“Sorry, buddy,” Ash said. He moved over and grabbed Chloe’s choice. “You’re with us.”
* * *
Dr. Karp stood in the entrance to the room, watching the children. The boy had fallen asleep beside his sister, his arm lying protectively over her shoulder.
Such a waste,the doctor thought.
In the morning, he had planned to take sections of their vital organs before their bodies were disposed of, but now there would be no time for that. They needed to disappear to prevent any potential connection to the project.
Like most of the project’s facilities that Dr. Karp used, this one had something that could handle just such a problem. There was a biosafe level-four laboratory on this very floor. It had three specialized chambers for the most delicate work. In the case of an emergency, a code could be entered into the system, and the chamber in question would go through a series of events designed to render whatever was in the room harmless. First, fire would be blasted into the room at temperatures exceeding 2,370? F. Though this would ensure nothing survived, the project Directors didn’t want to take any chances, so next a quick hardening polymer, stronger than most metals, would be pumped into the room, filling it to capacity and sealing away forever anything that was in the room.
The chambers were not meant to serve as tombs, but the doctor knew the Directors would approve of his improvisation.
In the hall outside the patients’ room, he heard two gurneys being rolled in his direction. He moved to the side just as Ramos brought the first one in. Learner followed right behind him with the second.
The doctor watched to make sure the children didn’t wake up while they were being transferred, then said, “I’ll meet you in the lab.”
He had to stop by the medical supply room first to pick up something that would let the children slip away before the first flame licked their skin.
Such a waste.
48
As soon as the elevator doors closed, Ash said, “Take us all the way down.”
“No problem,” the man said.
He touched his card to the pad, then pressed the button for the bottom floor.
Ash shoved the man against the wall. “Where are the children?”
“Your kids are in one of the rooms in back. I can take you there.”
It took Ash a second to realize the man had not said “the kids,” but “your kids.”
“You know who I am?” he said, pressing his gun against the man’s stomach.
“You’re Daniel Ash, right?” The man shot a quick look at Chloe. “You got my note.”
Note?Ash took a step back.
“Yes,” Chloe said. “Thank you.”
Ash stared at the man. “You’re the guy who—”
“Why do you think I picked him?” Chloe said.
Ash dropped his gun to his side. “Sorry. I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay. I get it,” the man said.
“What’s your name?”
The man hesitated for a moment, then said, “Winger.”
“Thank you, Winger.”
Matt’s inside man nodded uncomfortably, then glanced over at Chloe. “They did a good job on you. But I still recognized you. It’s your eyes. They can’t change that.”
Chloe said nothing.
“Are my kids all right?” Ash asked.
“Last I saw them, yes. But Dr. Karp headed down here when the alarm went off. I don’t know what he’s planning on doing.”
Ash’s anxiety rose as he considered the p
ossibility that he might still be too late.
But before anyone could say anything else, the elevator began to slow.
* * *
On sub-basement four, the arrival of the elevator was always preceded by the soft whoosh of air moving around the car as it reached its lowest point. Unlike when Dr. Karp arrived, there was only one of the security men standing in the elevator lobby, a guy by the name of Montrose. Wyle, his partner, hadn’t returned yet from checking the surveillance footage.
As soon as Montrose heard the whoosh, he drew his gun and tensed. From down the hall he thought he heard footsteps, but his attention was focused on the door, so he paid them little attention.
The elevator settled in place, then paused for half a second before the doors slid open.
Montrose let out a breath and relaxed a little. It was just one of Dr. Karp’s orderlies. He’d probably been called down to give the doctor a hand.
“They’re back with the subjects,” the guard started to say, but the only thing he got out of his mouth was, “They’re back—”
It seemed unnecessary to go on, given the two guns that appeared from either side of the open door, aimed directly at his chest.
* * *
“Gun on the ground,” Ash said softly.
The security guard dropped his pistol by his foot.
“Kick it over here.”
The man seemed reluctant, so Ash wagged the SIG’s barrel to remind the guy who was in charge. The gun skidded across the floor a moment later.
“Now on your knees.”
Again, there was a hesitation, but before Ash could repeat the command, the man complied.
Carefully, both Ash and Chloe came out from the protection of the elevator. Ash motioned for her to bind the man’s hands and legs while he stood back a few feet. Once she was done, he put a foot on the man’s chest and pushed him all the way to the ground.
“Where’s Dr. Karp?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” the man replied.
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