“I understand your concern,” Kinsey said, only the slightest hint of defeat in his voice. “The idea that there might be a second deployment of the Oni Agent has crossed my mind—which is why we need to secure our cities and borders as soon as we can.”
“Right,” Meredith said. “But this is why we need more research to combat the Agent on a biological level.”
“Your Dr. Lauren Winters has come up with a way to eliminate the nanobacteria. So it sounds to me like we can already treat people if there is another outbreak.”
“True, but the nanobacteria are only a vehicle, a vector, for the prions,” Meredith said. “And if the technology to produce the Agent still exists, whoever created it could find a new way to infect people. Maybe a different bacteria, a virus, or something completely manmade.”
“Then we’re back to square one,” Dom said, “forced to kill more of our citizens when a new outbreak from a new biological weapon based on these prions tears through whoever is left after your military operation.”
“And according to your assessment of our dwindling resources, we can’t handle another outbreak,” Commander Shepherd said. “Sir, I understand your need to withdraw forces and concentrate what firepower we have left. But at least grant us enough protection to do our due diligence at Detrick. Let us do what we do best. Let us do the research that will complement your military action and ensure the threat of the Oni Agent is wiped from the face of the earth.”
***
Lauren looked up from her computer when she heard the sound of approaching footsteps.
“How’s the research going?” Glenn Walsh asked. Her heart skipped a beat at the sound of his deep voice, and she felt like a lovesick teenager as she admired the muscles rippling along his arms. His large frame took up most of the doorway to the lab. Thomas Hampton, the Huntress’s second-in-command, sidled up beside Glenn. Lauren forced herself to remember her and Glenn’s commitment to prevent their once-passionate relationship from interfering with their duties aboard the Huntress.
“The research? It’s going...somewhere.” She stepped away from the computer monitor. “But I think we’re going to need more help than even Detrick can provide.”
Glenn folded his arms across his considerable chest. “You mean help from other labs? Like universities and hospitals?”
Lauren nodded. “If any still exist.”
“I’d lead a rescue party if we find anyone who can lend a hand,” Glenn said.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Thomas said. “I appreciate the enthusiasm, but we’ll have to clear any missions like that with Dom.”
Lauren gestured to the rest of her medical team. Divya, Sean, and Peter were working beyond the acrylic partition that marked the BSL4 area of the lab. “I take it you two didn’t come to enlist as lab assistants.”
“I’m afraid this old dog can’t learn many more tricks,” Thomas said with a smile. The expression quickly vanished. “We just received word from Dom and Meredith that General Kinsey wants to withdraw all forces from Detrick.”
“What?” Lauren backed away from the computer terminal. “And does he have some other bioweapons defense group somewhere I don’t know about working against the Oni Agent?”
“Apparently medical science wasn’t a priority of his,” Glenn said.
“But Dom and Meredith sweet-talked the General into keeping Fort Detrick active for another few weeks,” Thomas said. “Maybe longer, if they can show progress on finding a cure.”
“Is he mad?” Lauren asked. “Does he really think it will take a couple of weeks to come up with a cure that’s eluded scientists for decades?”
“Mad or not, that’s what we’ve got to work with,” Thomas said. “Dom wanted us to pass along the message and see if there was anything we could do to help expedite the work.”
“God, I don’t even know how to begin making Kinsey happy on that kind of timetable.” Lauren watched as Peter bent over a microscope. Divya and Sean manipulated plastic dishes full of cell samples in a biosafety cabinet. Though her team was working around the clock, Lauren didn’t think they’d make enough progress in the next two weeks to satisfy Kinsey. She locked eyes with Glenn. “The only way to realistically speed up our work is if I take you up on your offer.”
“Just tell me where to pick up our new scientist friends, and I’ll be happy to arrange a ride with Dom,” Glenn said.
“I appreciate it,” Lauren said. “The only problem is finding researchers that are still alive.”
“We’ve got some work to do, huh?” Thomas asked as he moved toward the exit with Glenn.
“That we do.” Lauren nodded a goodbye but thought better of it. “Glenn, could you stick around?”
“Sure thing, Doc.”
Lauren started rifling through a drawer. “You haven’t had any more luck with Amir, have you?”
Amir was the mechanic they had rescued from the IBSL. The man spoke Farsi, and Glenn was the only crewmember on the Huntress who could communicate with him. Amir claimed to have been nothing more than an indentured servant, but they had put him in the ship’s brig until they could figure out what to do with him.
“Amir hasn’t been very helpful,” Glenn said. “Still claims he never knew the Oni Agent even existed until the Skulls started taking over the rig. He seems to be telling the truth, but he’s been pretty shady about why he got on that rig in the first place. I’m still working on him.”
“Good. I know it’s silly, but I keep hoping something will come out of his mouth that leads to the magic cure or a vaccine—or maybe to the group responsible for the Agent.” She pulled out an individually wrapped sterile syringe and started to undo the packaging. “Mind if we try something?”
Glenn arched one dark eyebrow. “And what are we trying, Doc?” He pulled up a stool and sat next to Lauren.
“When we first treated you for exposure to the Oni Agent, we didn’t go over all the side effects of the chelation therapy.” Glenn reeled back, and Lauren placed her hand over his broad fingers. The touch of his rough skin against hers sent a tingle through her, and the surprised expression on his faced melted into one of familiar comfort. The momentary intimacy threatened to fluster Lauren, reminding her of everything they’d shared and hadn’t quite forgotten, so she rushed to continue. “I’m sure you’re fine. I mean, the side effects are rare.”
“But?” Glenn asked.
“But there’s a possibility you could suffer anything from bone density loss to kidney failure and internal bleeding. I want to start following up with anyone we treated to track any potential side effects.”
“Understood.” Glenn gestured to the syringe. “And that’s for a blood sample?”
“Right.” Lauren dabbed at a spot on Glenn’s forearm with a cotton swab doused in sterilizing alcohol. “I need to isolate a serum sample from your blood.” She inserted the needle through Glenn’s skin into a vessel. “I’m looking for biomarkers—different biochemical molecules that I can use to determine your rate of bone loss to estimate your bone mineral density, or BMD.”
“And what happens if you find my BMD is too low?”
Lauren pulled back the plunger on the syringe, and the small plastic cylinder turned red as it filled. “If it’s too low, it indicates you’re at an abnormally high risk of bone fracture or breakage.”
“Weak bones isn’t a good trait for a Hunter.”
“No, unfortunately, it isn’t.” She withdrew the needle. “A broken bone in a fight against the Skulls could be a death sentence.”
-8-
Kara leaned forward against her harness to see out the fuselage window of the chopper as it rose above Frederick. Smoke from the historic downtown billowed up in gray puffs. It seemed like ants crawled through the city streets, over the wrecked and stalled vehicles.
But she knew the creatures moving through the city blocks were nothing as innocuous as insects. The Skulls now inhabited the place where she’d grown up. The Oni Agent had taken hold over the
city and crushed it. The memories of getting soft serve at Froggy’s Ice Cream, her first hikes through nearby Gambrill State Park with her family, and the thrill of finally being old enough to bike from her house to the riverside walkways downtown felt like stories from a book she’d read long ago. Like something so foreign now, so distant that she could never imagine actually living them.
And the Oni Agent hadn’t just taken her hometown. It had also claimed her mother. She imagined her, now a Skull and still trapped in their home’s basement, locked up until they returned.
If they ever returned.
They passed over dark green trees, following the highway toward Baltimore. Kara turned to her sister, who’d been silent since Dom had told them they were leaving Fort Detrick. Sadie interlaced her fingers with Kara’s as they raced eastward toward the coast. Toward where their father had told them he really worked. The Huntress.
Dom wanted to rendezvous with his crew and see if there was any possible way for them to help civilians in the surrounding area while Dr. Winters worked with Fort Detrick on their research. He had told his daughters and crew members he wanted to do what the government wasn’t able to: protect those who couldn’t protect themselves.
Kara glanced at Dom, but he was busy talking with someone over his comm link. Since they’d been reunited, she hadn’t spent much time with him. She wanted to be useful, to help however she could in the fight to contain the Oni Agent, but so far she’d just been told to go here or wait there. Load up in the helicopter, load out. She almost wished she’d gotten to stay at Fort Detrick to help guard the facility or at least help protect the families from another Skull onslaught.
The chopper banked near Baltimore. More smoke, more burned-out buildings and abandoned vehicles. More Skulls swarming over the city streets.
Dom finished his conversation over the comm link and leaned forward to look at Kara and Sadie. “You two doing all right?”
They both nodded.
Miguel, seated in another row, piped up, “And your third daughter’s doing just fine, too.” He patted Maggie’s head, and the golden retriever wiggled while he held her in place. The dog seemed to have taken a special liking to Miguel. Or maybe it’s the other way around, Kara thought, watching Miguel scratch behind Maggie’s ears.
The other Hunters, Meredith included, had their eyes closed, stealing what little sleep they could in the short ride from Frederick to Annapolis. They banked and headed southeast, away from the setting sun.
The chopper shuddered. All the Hunters awoke at once. Sadie gripped Kara’s hand, and Maggie stood, her ears perked and eyes wide. Another jolt shook the cabin. An alarm went off, along with a flashing light at the controls.
The pilot, Frank Battaglia, pulled back on the cyclic. “Sorry, folks, looks like we’re experiencing a bit of engine failure.”
Kara’s jaw dropped. A pit opened in her stomach.
“A bit?” Dom asked. “What the hell’s going on?” Despite the seriousness of his demand, his voice didn’t rise in volume. He was cool and collected in a situation that, to Kara, sounded disastrous.
Frank responded back almost as calmly. “We’re losing rotor speed.”
Kara watched him mess with the controls. His movements were determined and swift but conveyed no sense of nervousness, like he was dealing with nothing more than a bug splattered on the windshield.
“We’re going down,” Frank said dryly. “Got to make a quick pit stop outside Baltimore. I could use a good crab cake.”
Adam clicked on his comm link. His voice was not so calm. “Huntress, this is Adam. The bird is experiencing engine failure. I repeat, the bird’s experiencing engine failure!”
Kara watched him nod as he listened to the incoming transmission. She couldn’t hear the other line without a comm link of her own. The Hunters started to tighten their harnesses and check their weapons, and Kara grew more nervous.
She’d seen what lay beneath them. She instinctively patted the pistol she’d stowed in her waistband. Miguel had refused to take the borrowed handgun back from her. He’d told her she needed something to protect herself and her sister. Now she feared his words were about to be proven true.
***
Lauren scanned the notebook pages of handwritten lists. Each line contained universities, nonprofit research groups, medical companies, and hospitals. Between lab experiments, she and Peter had scoured academic journals and published research conference proceedings to gather names and locations of laboratories that performed prion or neurodegeneration research. They’d tried to narrow down the list to those within reasonable distance from their current location in the Chesapeake Bay outside of Annapolis.
With the notebook under her arm, Lauren left the ship’s medical bay. Her unbuttoned white lab coat billowed out behind her. She prayed someone on that list would, by some stroke of luck, be accessible through telephone or radio or email...anything. She rushed through the passageway and burst into the electronics workshop. Normally the room glowed an ethereal blue as Samantha and Chao worked diligently behind their monitors.
Now, the room buzzed with a sense of urgency. Thomas stood beside Chao, speaking rapidly into his headset. Samantha had left her computer station and leaned over a laptop at Chao’s station. Glenn spoke with Andris and Jenna, two other Hunters, in one corner. It took only a second of examining their expressions to realize something was wrong.
Tentatively, Lauren approached Chao’s side. His computer terminal displayed a map. She recognized the overview of Baltimore. A single flashing dot flew southwest of the city. The chopper, she realized. She caught Chao’s eyes as he listened to a headset of his own. One nod affirmed her darkest suspicions. The notebook full of research institutions in her hand no longer seemed so important.
“You all hang on,” Thomas said. He glanced at Glenn, Jenna, and Andris. “You’ve got Hunters standing by. Just tell us where to send them.”
A canyon of wrinkles formed across Thomas’s brow. Chao handed Lauren a headset.
“—not send anyone out to us.” Dom’s voice.
“Can’t follow that order, Captain,” Thomas said. “We can have a squad of Hunters—”
“It’s hell on earth out here,” Dom responded. “You can’t send any Hunters by land to meet us. There’s far too much resistance for one squad to handle a Skull swarm. We barely made it to Detrick as it was, and I won’t have anyone losing their lives in a useless effort to save our asses.”
“Sir, with all due respect, we can handle ourselves,” Glenn said. Jenna and Andris nodded in agreement. “We’ve seen the Skulls.”
“Not like this. Not out here,” Dom said. “Listen—” He stopped. The frantic sound of voices on the chopper carried through the line. “We’re going to get this bird back up in the air as soon as possible. Night’s falling. You don’t have any air transport, and you’re not making it to our location on foot. Sit tight and help the doctor find a cure.”
Thomas audibly exhaled. “Dom, you remember what I told you before you left the ship?”
“I haven’t forgotten,” Dom said.
“Well, I have no intention of becoming captain of the Huntress, and I will get the hell out there myself and haul your ass back if I have to.”
“Duly noted,” Dom said. “Likewise, I don’t want to have to drag your ass back to the ship, so save me the work and keep it there.”
The readout from the chopper’s instrument panel displayed on the bottom of Chao’s computer monitor. Chao pointed to the altitude. He put a hand over his microphone and spoke to Lauren. “They’re in a controlled descent. All Frank’s got is their forward momentum and autorotation of the blades to glide the chopper to a landing.”
“Where’s he going to put it down without landing in a nest of Skulls?”
Chao pointed to a spot on the map south of Baltimore. “Right about here.”
Lauren squinted at the area. “Patapsco State Park.” She saw the open parking lot leading to hiking trails through the surr
ounding forest. How many Skulls were lurking under those trees? She dropped the notebook on Chao’s desk. It wouldn’t matter if there were any scientists out there waiting for them if they didn’t save Dom first.
***
Navid tiptoed down the stairs. Flashes of red emergency lights illuminated the stairs enough to guide him and Abby down toward the first floor of the hospital building. He nudged open a door with his right hand while holding Abby’s hand with his left.
No shadows danced across the walls, but the sterile smell of the hospital had been replaced by one of musty neglect and rot. He strained his ears. No footsteps. No yells. Only the sound of water dripping somewhere unseen.
He nudged the door open wider to reveal a broad hall. An empty gurney speckled with stains lay against one wall. Pieces of crumpled paper and shredded bed sheets lay strewn over the tiled floor.
At the end of the hallway was a set of doors. Splatters of something dark mottled the letters CAFETERIA on the placard above the door. Navid shuddered as the emergency lights flashing in the hallway revealed the same stains all over the floors and wall. He led Abby into the hall, and his suspicions were confirmed when the coppery scent of blood overwhelmed the mustiness he’d smelled from the stairwell.
Navid turned to Abby. He raised his eyebrows and mouthed, You okay? With her nose scrunched, she nodded back. Neither said a word while they crept toward the cafeteria’s entrance. It struck him as odd that no one else was there. Maybe it was easier for the other survivors to loot the smaller conveniences stores and restaurants lining the streets. Or maybe the cafeteria had already been ransacked. Navid hoped not. It had been frightening enough creeping through the halls between the laboratories and hospital corridors—he didn’t want to have to search somewhere else.
He took another step forward. Abby squeezed his hand and pulled him backward. He almost lost his balance, and his heart thudded against ribcage. Abby caught him and pointed at the floor where he had been about to step.
The Tide: Breakwater (Tide Series Book 2) Page 5
