The Tide: Breakwater (Tide Series Book 2)

by Melchiorri, Anthony J

  “What now?” Jenna asked.

  Dom searched the office space as if it held the answer to her question. He spotted the windows on the far side. He sprinted to one and smashed through it with the stock of his rifle. Craning his neck out, he scanned the wall. But only the lips of the neighboring window ledges stuck out. There was no easy way to scale the exterior to the roof—and the only way down was a fall.

  Maybe there was something they could use as a makeshift grappling hook and cable. He took one quick glance around the room before realizing the next best escape.

  “Up!” Dom called. He stepped onto one of the desks, still shuddering as the Skulls roiled to get in. He could smell them, the distinct fermentation stink of the nanobacteria chewing through their flesh and remodeling their bones, like a bad batch of home-brewed beer spiced with sediment from a landfill.

  Dom ignored the odor assaulting his nostrils. He reached up and slid a ceiling tile to the side. “Get up!”

  Jenna hopped on the desk first. Dom cupped his hands under one of her feet and boosted her up.

  “Plenty of solid support beams up here!” she said.

  Jenna reached from the ceiling to guide Spencer up next, followed by Owen. Dom strapped his rifle over his back, and the three other Hunters helped hoist him into the space. He replaced the ceiling tile and then pulled out a flashlight to pierce the darkness. The Hunters crouched, their helmets brushing against the rafters. Below, the Skulls’ cries and their banging against the door grew louder.

  “That way!” Dom shone the flashlight toward the other end of the cramped space. It illuminated floating dust motes and a lattice of support beams and crossbeams, punctuated by pipes and ventilation shafts. “Quiet as we can.”

  Jenna, Owen, and Spencer clicked on their flashlights. An enormous crash sounded from below. The splintering of wood and the din of falling bookcases rattled through the ceiling. There was no turning back now.

  They made their way slowly toward the far end of the crawlspace. Dom took measured, crouched steps, ensuring his boots fell only on solid footing. He tried to control his heavy breathing while fighting to catch his breath from their flight. Any mistake now could attract the Skulls.

  The team made their way forward. Cobwebs stuck to Dom’s face. He tried to ignore the mass of writhing creatures separated from him by only a few flimsy ceiling tiles. But it wasn’t an easy task. The wails of the monsters continued.

  Jenna climbed through a V-shaped lattice, carefully guiding herself on the solid support beams. She helped Owen and Spencer over, and Dom followed last. He wiped a bead of sweat from his face and pointed his flashlight toward a metal panel a few yards from their position. It appeared to be in the right location leading to the service elevator.

  The Hunters nodded to acknowledge Dom’s direction, and they started along the rafters again. Something slammed against the wall below them. The impact sent dust falling from rafters. Owen lost his footing, and one boot slipped off a support beam. He flailed his arms and tried to grab a rafter. Jenna leaned forward, one hand outstretched to steady him, and Spencer reached to help. Jenna managed to grab Owen before he fell.

  But Spencer lost his grip on his rifle. The weapon smacked into the ceiling tile. Dom’s heart leapt into his throat as he watched, waiting to see the gun break through the flimsy tile. It held, but the Hunters all froze. Dom didn’t notice any changes in the growls and shrieks of the Skulls below to make him think that they’d heard the gun drop.

  Clamminess coated the insides of his gloves as he pulled his rifle up. Spencer tentatively reached out to retrieve his dropped gun. A massive fist tore through the tile and wrapped its claws around the weapon. The Goliath’s hand drew back, and pieces of the ceiling tile fell away.

  A swathe of Skulls tensed below. Their bloodshot eyes all gazed toward the fresh opening, and their muscles coiled. The Goliath’s deep voice thundered, and the Skulls frenzied, jumping and climbing for the hole in the ceiling.

  “Go, go, go!” Dom yelled.

  The Hunters moved as fast as they could toward the service elevator. A rumbling growl from below preceded another upward punch from the Goliath. This time its claws snagged on Spencer’s fatigues. The Hunter started to fall backward, but Dom grabbed him. Jenna took out a knife and cut the fabric around where the Goliath’s claws had pierced Spencer’s jacket. The fist pulled away with nothing but the scrap of fabric in its grip.

  Dom let the Hunter move past him and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the white shirt Spencer wore beneath his fatigues was free of blood. The Goliath hadn’t injured him. And now the Hunters were only a yard away from the metal panel, close to the shaft, close to the roof and freedom.

  Dom’s relief was short-lived when the gigantic claw burst through the ceiling again. This time the serrated talons were true to their mark. Owen screamed out in agony. The skeletal appendages tore through his leg. The Goliath’s other hand eviscerated Owen, and a cloud of blood sprayed in the air. Dom fired blindly, desperate to hit the Goliath. Each bullet punctured the tiles. A few Skulls screamed in defeat, but Dom knew it was hopeless.

  The Goliath drew back its arms, pulling Owen through the ceiling and tearing a larger hole between the rafters.

  “No!” Dom yelled. The other two Hunters joined in the desperate barrage of gunfire to take down the huge monster and its cohort anxiously jumping for the fresh prey. Blood poured from Owen’s mouth, his screams coming out in gargles. The Goliath tore him in half and threw the pieces into the crowd of Skulls. The monsters shoved each other to get at Owen’s remains. There would be no way for Dom to ensure every Hunter, dead or alive, made it back to the Huntress now.

  “Let’s go!” Dom said. He grabbed Spencer’s shoulder to get the shocked Hunter moving.

  Jenna was already climbing toward the metal panel again. As she reached to open it, a Skull burst through the ceiling. It reared back, its teeth chattering and the bony plates on its back scraping together as it prepared to attack.

  Dom wouldn’t let the creatures stop them. Not now. Not when they were so close to escape. He shouldered his rifle, and the creature pounced. Without time to aim, Dom let loose a spray of gunfire.

  -31-

  Lauren broke into a jog when she heard the commotion from the electronics workshop. Adam had paged that she was needed immediately, and she’d been lying naked with Glenn in his quarters instead. Something was going on, and she’d done exactly what she’d tried to avoid—let a personal relationship get in the way of duty. She threw open the door to see Thomas next to Adam, standing in front of his comm station. The serious expressions on their faces contrasted sharply with the figurines from Watchmen that Adam had set on the desk.

  At another station, Samantha and Chao were intently staring at a screen displaying a live stream from Dom’s mission. The two specialists didn’t even look up to greet Lauren, and she didn’t blame them as she made her way to Thomas and Adam.

  Thomas had a handset pressed to his ear. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” The wrinkles along his forehead became even sharper when he scowled. “Kinsey isn’t even leaving you with a goddamn Black Hawk?”

  His cheeks were flushed red, and Lauren guessed he was talking to Shepherd about the latest developments at Fort Detrick. She stood behind him with her arms crossed. Adam handed her a handset so she could listen.

  “There’s nothing I can do,” Shepherd said. “I wish I could spare a truck or something to help Captain Holland, but it’s impossible. I’m already risking my people’s lives by staying here. Detrick’s going to be vastly understaffed and unsecure.”

  “Christ.” Thomas slammed a fist on the comm console. A computer monitor shook, and Adam had to steady it. “If there’s nothing you can do, I’m out.” He threw the handset down.

  “Lauren.” Adam adjusted his glasses. “Shepherd’s still on the line, and he said his team found something you might be interested in.”

  Lauren put a hand over the mouthpiece of the handset. “What
the hell’s going on?”

  “Dom’s team is up shit creek, and we can’t get any reinforcements from Detrick.” Thomas said, pulling a cigar from his pocket. “Don’t waste too much time on Shepherd, because I have no doubt we’re going to be keeping your medical team busy once we rendezvous with Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie.”

  “Understood.”

  Thomas stomped away.

  Lauren held the handset up again. “Commander Shepherd, this is Dr. Lauren Winters speaking. You have news for us?”

  “I do. I’m not sure if it’s of any immediate use, but my team sequenced the prion component of the Oni Agent. We can send you our data on its primary structure.”

  “Yes, yes.” Lauren already began running through ideas in her mind. If they knew the primary structure—all the amino acids, the building blocks, making up the prion—they might have a better chance at identifying small molecules or existing drugs that would interact with it. She’d have Sean and Divya start the molecular simulations as soon as possible. “Anything else?”

  “No, I’m afraid that’s all we’ve got right now.” He paused. “I’m honestly not sure how long Kinsey is going to let us stick it out at Detrick. Sounds like the Skulls are threatening to overwhelm DC and Fort Bragg already. I don’t know how we’ve survived out here this long.”

  “But if we lose Detrick, we lose access to the research and production facilities that are going to be crucial to manufacturing any cure or vaccine.”

  “Right,” Shepherd said. “You and I both know that. Captain Holland knows it, too, I think. We’ve got a whole host of classified files and encrypted data. And we may not get time to delve into it. So as a safety measure, I’ve opened a remote data transfer with your comm specialists.”

  Adam’s head bobbed, his thick-framed glasses bouncing on his nose to confirm what Shepherd was saying. This didn’t just sound like a safety measure to Lauren; it sounded like the desperate final actions of a man standing before the inevitable fall of Detrick.

  “Your people can try digging up whatever might be of use,” Shepherd continued. “We don’t have many of our good cyber people left, unfortunately, so you all might uncover something we haven’t. Maybe it’ll lead you to whoever started this outbreak. At the very least, I just hope your researchers can find something useful.”

  “Understood,” Lauren said. “Our team will do their best.” Adam gave her a thumbs up. “And I’ll make sure we continue the research, no matter what. You all need to stay strong.”

  Shepherd laughed. It sounded forced and hollow. “Lab techs and scientists don’t make good soldiers, and that’s almost all Kinsey is leaving us with.”

  Lauren soaked in those words for a moment. She thought of the people that had been sheltered at the base. Dom’s neighbors, the kid Dom rescued, and the young couple Meredith found on the Appalachian Trail. “What about all the civilians? Did Kinsey escort them out?”

  “Afraid not. They’re stuck with us.”

  “Good God.” Lauren couldn’t imagine how Shepherd was holding the base together. It made Dom’s mission to establish a safe zone on Kent Island even more urgent. There needed to be somewhere for all these people to go. “Is there anything we can do?”

  For a moment, the line was silent. Lauren realized they both knew her question was nothing more than a kind gesture. There was nothing she could really do now, and Dom and the Hunters were preoccupied at the Naval Academy.

  “Just stay alive, Dr. Winters. That’s all you can do. That’s all we can hope to do.”

  They ended the call, and Lauren joined Thomas. His eyes were now glued to the screen showing the live action streaming from Dom’s helmet-mounted camera. Chao and Samantha each waited in silence, their hands hovering over the keyboards, ready to do whatever they could to support the Hunter teams.

  Lauren gasped when Dom and the team ran into the office space for shelter. She couldn’t see how they’d get themselves out of this mess, especially with no incoming help from the Army.

  Creases formed across Chao’s brow. It appeared he was listening intently to an incoming transmission. He pulled up a set of blueprints and zoomed in on a section of the building called Luce Hall.

  “Elevator’s near the south stairwell,” he said.

  Another beat as Dom’s mounted cam swung around to view the shaking makeshift barricade he and the Hunters had constructed.

  “Negative,” Chao said.

  A shorter pause.

  “Affirmative. Don’t see any other way.”

  Samantha’s face was whiter than normal. Lauren looked to her for an explanation. “They’re trapped. Going to the roof for a rescue.”

  Lauren nodded and watched in rapt attention as the scene unfolded on the screen. The Hunters climbing into the ceiling. Spencer dropping his gun. Massive claws plunging through the ceiling. Owen...torn in half.

  A skilled medical professional, Lauren thought she was prepared for the worst. But nothing could have prepared her for Owen’s grisly death. She turned from the screen, her hand over her mouth, and shuddered. Chao gasped. Samantha cursed. Thomas threw down his cigar, and Adam clenched his eyes closed.

  None of them were ready for what Dom was seeing firsthand.

  Lauren shook herself. “I need to prep the medical team!” She ran from the room, hearing more gasps from the others. But she didn’t have time to figure out what they’d seen now. She only knew she couldn’t be distracted anymore.

  Shepherd had given her a tremendous gift by providing the prion sequencing results, but she didn’t have time for research or science. In her mind’s eye, she watched Owen ripped to shreds by that humongous Skull once more. There was nothing her team could do for him, but she anticipated—she prayed—the others would be returning. And she needed to be ready to help when they did.

  -32-

  Navid inhaled sharply, afraid of what he was about to propose to the group. “We have to find some way to distract those bastards out there.”

  “That’s pretty damn obvious,” James said.

  Sandra ignored him. “Go on, Navid. You have an idea?”

  He squeezed Abby’s hand. “One of us gets the crazies’ attention and draws them into the conference room while everyone else runs out the office for the stairs.”

  James laughed, resting his arms over his potbelly. “Kid, you’re as crazy as them.”

  “Nah, I think he’s got a point,” Geraldo said.

  “I’m not going to distract those freaks,” James said.

  Sandra shot him an angry look.

  “Look, one of us just needs to open that door and get them to file into the conference room,” Navid said. “Then that person can run to the office, shut this door, and follow the others out to the stairs.”

  “The zombies seem stupid enough to fall for it,” Sandra said. “It might work.”

  “Might work?” Geraldo asked. “Guess we don’t have much of a choice. They’re going to tear that other door down eventually anyway.”

  Sweat dripped down Abby’s forehead, and her face appeared whiter than before. Navid hoped the others still thought the symptoms were from the pain in her ankle injury. He hoped that was what the symptoms were from. But each time he tried to convince her she was going to be okay, he couldn’t shake the image of the tiny scratches on her wrist.

  They didn’t have much time. If Abby stood any chance of getting out alive, they needed to move fast. Maybe someone out there knew how to treat the crazy virus or whatever it was. Either way, Navid knew he was doing Abby no favors by waiting it out in this office.

  “I’ll do it,” he said. “I’ll distract them.”

  “Confirmed. You are one of those crazies,” James said. “But that’s fucking fine by me.” He pointed at Abby. Navid’s blood ran cold. Maybe James knew what was going through Navid’s mind. “I’m not helping her, though.”

  Navid almost breathed a sigh of relief. But he realized if he was the one to distract the crazies and stood any chance of escape, he c
ouldn’t be Abby’s crutch.

  “I’ll do it,” Sandra said. “I’ll help the girl.”

  “Thanks,” Navid said.

  Geraldo put a hand on Navid’s shoulder. “I’ll stay in the office, wait by the door here.” He stomped his foot to indicate exactly where he planned to be. “You just run through this door, and I’ll slam it shut. It’ll be easier than you having to slow down and mess with it. Slide in here like you’re running home on a ground ball, okay?”

  Navid nodded. The reality of what he’d volunteered for started to sink in. He imagined the crazies sinking their claws into him, tearing at his flesh with their teeth, ripping into his gut.

  Abby caressed his hand. “You don’t have to do this.”

  “I do,” Navid said. “We can’t wait here to die. We have to move.”

  James started muttering to himself and tore open a desk drawer. He started pulling water bottles from it and loading them in a backpack.

  Sandra glared. “I thought you said you didn’t have any food or water.”

  “Didn’t want to share if I didn’t have to,” James said without meeting her eyes.

  “Asshole,” Sandra said.

  Navid felt anger flood through him, but he couldn’t let his emotions rule him now. Abby needed him. “Let’s just get this over with.”

  Abby placed her fingers on Navid’s arm. Her touch sent tingles through his skin. “You don’t have to do this,” she repeated. “Please.”

  “You heard the boy. What the hell are we waiting for?” James asked. “Let’s do this before the girl convinces him his plan isn’t going to work.”

  Geraldo picked up his pipe. Sandra helped Abby to her feet and stood by the office door. James waited, backpack on and his hand gripping the doorknob, ready to sprint.

  Shivers snuck down Navid’s spine. He crept toward the conference room door, where the crazies were relentless in their assault. Another bookshelf clattered to the floor. Navid jumped. He took a deep breath then pushed aside one of the desks. He pulled away another bookshelf. It dragged along the floor then toppled, spilling hardcover books.