Project Armageddon

by Michael Stephens

  Abbie snarled. “For what?”

  Daniels’ attitude returned to that of a military leader—no smile, his tone was deliberate and stoic. “Ms. Talbot. Your father created a cure for cancer.”

  Chapter 52

  One of Daniels’ men attached a nozzle to the thick rubber hoses that eventually connected to the large tank of liquid nitrogen. The other man began to adorn himself with various pieces of protective garments.

  Abbie reached the pinnacle of confusion. “Wait. He created what?”

  Daniels answered as he watched his men prepare the nitrogen. “Based on our intel, this briefcase holds the cure for a disease responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of people a year.” Daniels then barked at his men. “How long until we’re ready?”

  “Five minutes, sir,” responded one of the men.

  “Let’s get moving,” the Colonel ordered.

  “You’re full of shit,” Josh said boldly.

  “That’s the information our employer gave us when we took the contract.”

  “A contract to destroy it?” Abbie asked.

  Once again, Daniels spoke deliberately and clearly. “It and anyone or thing that gets in the way.”

  “Why name the cure for a disease that has plagued humans for decades after the end of the world?” Josh asked.

  Daniel’s answered, “Think of every link in the chain of treating and researching cancer—the doctors—the equipment manufacturers—the laboratories— the researchers and the treatment centers.”

  Josh answered sarcastically as he did not like where the answer was heading. “A shit ton, so?”

  “Imagine all that going away overnight because they were no longer needed.”

  Josh countered. “Think of all the people that wouldn’t suffer.”

  Abbie spoke, “An economic disaster.”

  Colonel Daniels nodded.

  Josh remained confused. “I don’t get it.”

  “Stocks would crash. Labs, doctors, and treatment centers would go bankrupt. Last year, the US alone spent over 150 billion dollars in treating cancer.”

  “The balance of power would shift overnight to a single patent owner,” added Daniels. “Demand would be at an all-time high. They could name their price, and people would pay it. Curing cancer would devastate the US economy and severely cripple the world’s economy, with some theories requiring decades before it would recover. Not exactly a pretty picture.”

  “I guess that all depends if you’re dying of cancer,” said Josh with restrained anger. “If I was—the picture is fucking beautiful.”

  “We’re ready,” said Daniels’ man wearing the protective gear.

  Abbie inserts herself between Colonel Daniels and the tank of nitrogen. “I understand what you are saying, sir. I do. A bunch of economists crunched a bunch of numbers on some computer—built a bunch of models and simulations that suggest the world will come to a halt if we cure this disease. But they’re just models.” Abbie's voice had a tone that pleaded reason.

  Abbie continued. “There’s no actual evidence. Look at history. When we cured other diseases—polio, the plague, the list goes on. The world unites when we, humans, can fix a problem that spans all countries and cultures. The humanitarian factor is not accounted for.”

  Daniels countered sternly. “That’s because humans are, by nature, greedy. A greed that has grown in this country since Louis Pasteur cured rabies. I’m a soldier. We get our orders. We follow them. We get paid.”

  “Yea, a shit load, I bet, but let’s not confuse that with greed.” Josh snapped.

  Daniels smirked. “Benefits of being retired.”

  He held an arrogant smile long enough for Abbie to want to knock it off his face. Then, he barked out. “Get that case open.”

  Abbie leaned into Josh for consoling. She squeezed him tight. Josh reciprocated. Abbie could not believe how shallow these men were. “If what he says is true,” she said to Josh, “That would have saved my mom. That would save millions, and they’re going to throw it away like it was nothing…for money.”

  Abbie could not hold back her tears as she watched Daniels’ man in protective gear attempting to freeze open the side of the briefcase. But there was a problem.

  Daniels’ noticed the material was not freezing. He shouted out. “Go after the seam, where the sides meet. That’s the weakest link.”

  Abbie could not look any further. She turned and hid her face in the comfort of Josh’s protective embrace as all she could do was cry.

  Chapter 53

  Josh refused to accept this outcome. He understood that most people were selfish. But something like this—of this magnitude—should not be kept from humankind. This cure, if it truly existed, should be a gift for everyone that should not come with a price tag. It would have saved Abbie’s mom. It would save my mom, and thousands of other moms in the world.

  Josh held Abbie tight and whispered in his ear. “I’m not going to let this happen.” Josh thought back to when he had stared at the barrel of Dimitri’s gun. He was going to die to save one girl. It seemed like the right thing to do. But now, this was more important than himself or Abbie. This was literally about saving generations. He was more than okay to eat a bullet in trying to save them. But he knew the odds were stacked against him.

  Josh pushed Abbie aside. He removed Petrov’s pistol from the small of his back and placed it against the temple of the man freezing the case.

  “Turn it off, drop it, and back away slowly.”

  The man in protective gear did as he was instructed.

  “Abbie,” said Josh, “get the case.”

  Abbie slowly approached the briefcase. She knelt, bending at the knees while keeping a keen eye on Daniels and the others standing by the tank of nitrogen, a reasonable distance away from the man using it. She picked up the case, rose, and backed herself toward Josh until she was by his side.

  Josh kept his pistol pointed at the man in protective gear. He was not sure if the bullet would go through it, but he was prepared to pull the trigger if needed.

  “This is the wrong move, son,” warned Daniels. “I told you. We’re soldiers. We get orders, and we follow them. No matter what.” Daniels quickly drew his pistol and put two bullets in the man wearing protective gear.

  Blood splattered over Josh’s face. He couldn’t see clearly. He dove to the ground, taking Abbie with him. He squinted one eye open, aimed the pistol, and pulled the trigger on his gun, sending a 9mm hollow point bullet on an intersecting course for the pressurized tank of liquid nitrogen.

  The bullet ripped through the outer shell of the tank with ease and busted through the inner seal. Oxygen immediately mixed with the nitrogen, causing the liquid nitrogen to evaporate.

  Seconds passed. A large white cloud of nitrogen surrounded Daniels and his other man. Daniels fired blindly into the white vapor in the last know direction of Josh and Abbie. Minutes later, the nitrogen completely evaporated, and the hazy smog thinned returning visibility. Josh and Abbie were gone. So was the briefcase. But several drops of fresh blood decorated the ground. Daniels’ blind shots connected.

  Chapter 54

  Josh pulled Abbie behind him as they both ran between two apartment buildings. His long strides led them into an alley that ran parallel to her apartment complex and a convenience store with gas pumps. Josh practically stepped over a half-height fence that separated the alley from the gas station. He gently picked up Abbie to help her over the fence.

  Abbie held the briefcase tight with both hands. As Josh picked her up, she felt Josh’s right arm momentarily weaken and then strengthen as he stiffened his muscle. He let out a small groan as he gently put Abbie down on his side of the fence.

  “C’mon.” He pulled her behind a bush and then a concrete wall that hid a garbage dumpster that belonged to the gas station. From behind the wall, he peeked at the gas pumps. “We need to get out of here.”

  “You’re not thinking of stealing a car,” asked Abbie.

&nbs
p; “It’s either that or we jump in this smelly dumpster. I’ll let you pick.”

  “Car is good,” fired back Abbie. “I’m good with that.”

  Josh returned his attention to the gas pumps and the parking lot in front of the convenience store. Headlights beamed brightly into his eyes as a vehicle pulled into the station and turned into a parking spot in front of the store.

  Josh overheard the passenger tell the driver of the beat-up Dodge Durango that he would only be a minute. The driver nodded.

  Josh pointed to the beat-up SUV. He whispered to Abbie. “Walk normally to the passenger side. Open the door and get in as if you know the person.”

  “But I don’t know him,” said Abbie.

  “No shit. Can you do that?”

  Abbie nodded.

  She walked from behind the concrete opening that hid the dumpster. She counted her steps and paced herself, hoping she would look like just another customer in the parking lot. She walked behind the Durango. She held her breath as she passed the muffler that spewed grossly smelling smoke. She turned down the passenger side and approached the passenger door.

  Abbie stopped right before the door handle. She took a deep breath and exhaled. She opened the door and got into the vehicle. It took the driver a few seconds to realize that Abbie was not his friend that had entered the store.

  Before the driver could complain or ask a question, Abbie watched his door open. A huge hand reached into the SUV, grabbed the driver by the shirt, and quickly yanked him out of the running vehicle like he was a bag of cheeseburgers. Abbie heard one loud thud… and then another that rocked the SUV.

  Seconds later, Josh was in the driver’s seat. He threw the Dodge into reverse, hit the gas hard, and then slammed the brakes. He turned the wheel, threw the SUV into drive, peeled out of the parking lot, and sped away from Colonel Daniels and his men.

  “Did you hit that man?” Abbie asked.

  “Not at all,” said Josh as he adjusted the rearview mirror. “I said, ‘please’.”

  “I heard a thump like you hit him.”

  “It’s a new form of sign language.”

  Abbie was appalled by Josh. “I can’t believe you hit him.”

  “Did you honestly think he was going to just hand over his car?”

  Abbie could not believe what he had done. His actions repulsed her. She was ready to yell at him some more, but that’s when she noticed the large, wet crimson stain on his right shoulder that dripped down his arm.

  “You’ve been shot?”

  “A little bit.”

  “We need to get you to a hospital.”

  “No!” Josh said adamantly. “Hospitals ask questions about G-S-Ws.”

  “G-S What?”

  “Gunshot wounds.” Josh glanced at Abbie in disbelief. “You really don’t watch TV, do you?”

  “Not much.”

  Josh used his right arm to turn right. Abbie saw the pain come to the surface as he winced and grit his teeth. Josh pushed the steering wheel the rest of the way with his left hand, to compensate.

  “We need somewhere to lay low. I need to process everything that happened back there,” said Josh.

  Abbie could not take her eyes off the blood that leaked profusely from his shoulder. “We need to stop that bleeding, or you’re not going to process anything.”

  “Buying a crap-load of first aid supplies is going to look a bit conspicuous, and that is if our faces aren’t already on the news from the cafe.”

  “We’ll go to Emma’s.”

  “Who?”

  “The woman that was shot yesterday when we met,” said Abbie.

  “That’s a crime scene.”

  “Who would think to look for us at a crime scene? I have a key. She’s a doctor,” Abbie paused, realizing that she spoke of Emma as if she was still alive. She was not. Emma was gone. “She was a doctor.”

  Josh was steering exclusively with his left hand. He could no longer keep his right arm up on the steering wheel. His arm had a crimson glow to it as the overhead streetlamps reflected off it as they passed by… one-by-one. The light gave Abbie enough vision to know that Josh was still losing blood. There was too much blood on his shirt and arm to tell if it slowed. But every mile he drove was a risk to both of them.

  Abbie searched around the inside of the vehicle until she found an old, partially ripped shirt that was used as a rag. It was not as clean as she wanted, but given the circumstances, it would do.

  “What are you doing?” Josh asked.

  Abbie found a rip in the shirt and pulled with all her might. The tear continued until the material separated, leaving her a long strand of material—long enough tie off Josh’s arm.

  “Making you a tourniquet,” said Abbie as she scooted close to him. She fed the material under his arm and over his shoulder.

  Josh’s nose wrinkled at the smell of the material. He looked at it. “Get that thing off me, its gross. You want to give me an infection?”

  “You want to kill us both by passing out while driving because you lost too much blood.” Abbie was serious, and her tone of voice and facial expression reflected it.

  “That can happen?” Josh asked with a small look of fear on his face.

  “Haven’t you seen it on TV?”

  Josh’s eyes opened wide. “Oh Shit. Is this going to hurt?”

  Abbie was quickly learning how to communicate effectively with Josh.

  “Not as much as the bullet did. Just try not to wreck us when I pull this tight.”

  Abbie continued to attend to Josh while he drove them to Emma’s apartment. She hoped that returning there was a safe move. A move that no one expected.

  Chapter 55

  Abbie and Josh reached Emma’s apartment well into the evening. The darkness eased their entrance, giving them the cover needed not to be seen. Emma’s apartment was the last one on the end—secluded from most of the other units, which also helped them with making an inconspicuous entrance.

  Josh could walk, but his strength was fading. Abbie propped him against the outside wall as she used her key to unlock the door. She slowly pushed the door open. She struggled to help Josh under the crime scene tape but managed to do so without showing any sign that it had been disturbed.

  Abbie raised her hand to turn on the lights. Josh weakly intercepted it.

  “Don’t,” he said. “It’ll look weird if the apartment of two dead people has lights on.”

  Abbie did not like the sound of dead people. But that was the fact—David and Emma were gone. She had seen a lot of death in the last two days, too much. And now Josh was shot. She needed to assess the wound. More importantly, she needed to keep him alive. Abbie was honest with herself. I would have never made it this far without him.

  “I need to see. You can barely walk, and I can’t carry you.”

  “Get me to the kitchen. We can use the light from the refrigerator. It’s not too bright.”

  “Stay here.”

  Abbie felt her way to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door. Light poured into the dark apartment, giving enough ambient light to identify the walls. When Abbie turned the corner to get Josh, he was halfway to the kitchen. She helped him the rest of the way and sat him down on the floor, his back against the wall and the refrigerator door wide open, shining adequate light on his blood-stained shoulder.

  Abbie needed to get to Emma’s and David’s bedroom, they kept ample medical supplies under the sink, freebies from the various companies that wanted them to use their products. If that was not enough, there was a full first aid kit there, as well.

  Abbie opened the cabinet under the kitchen sink, where Emma kept a flashlight. She ventured away from the kitchen towards Emma’s bedroom. She turned the flashlight on low and used it to guide her way. She stopped at the door jam and worked up the courage to enter her deceased friends’ room.

  Abbie shined the light into the room to navigate around the bedroom furniture. Light found the splatter of dried blood on the wall and
headboard, which had turned dark brown after sitting for so long.

  She entered the master bath. The shower was empty, but she could still see the image of David’s lifeless body hanging from it. His wide brown eyes staring blankly back at her. Abbie's stomach turned. She needed to leave the room, but not before she grabbed the first aid kit and the additional supplies from under the bathroom sink.

  Abbie returned to the kitchen where she left Josh. He had not moved from the position.

  “What’s cooking good looking,” he said in a dazed weak voice.

  Abbie smiled. She had been around Josh long enough to know that it was the loss of blood responsible for removing his typical verbal filter. Also, if he were his usual self, he would be bitching about the annoying dinging that was coming from the refrigerator door being left open.

  Abbie sat in front of Josh. She placed the supplies on the floor beside her. Abbie silenced the irritating noise coming from the refrigerator with a piece of medical tape.

  She moved close to Josh’s side. “I need to get your shirt off so I can look at the wound.”

  Josh leaned forward, crossed his arms to pull off his shirt, but the pain in his shoulder stopped him quickly.

  “Not gonna happen,” said Josh.

  “That’s why they make these,” said Abbie. She raised a pair of scissors and cut the air a few times. She leaned Josh forward, cut the back of his shirt beginning at the neck, and continuing down the length of the shirt. Then, she cut both sleeves horizontally until they were no longer connected to the shoulders.

  Abbie pulled the left side of his shirt over Josh’s shoulder and brought it to the front. She used the scissors to cut away the left side of the shirt.

  With Josh leaning forward, Abbie gently reached around to his right side and carefully pulled what remained of his shirt over his shoulder—the back of his shoulder was clean.

  Abbie cut what remained of the shirt away, leaving a large patch of blood-stained fabric that covered Josh’s right shoulder. The material clotted to the wound when Abbie successfully stopped the bleeding with her makeshift tourniquet