Ghost Hope

by Ripley Patton

  Samantha and Passion were still looking at me, expectantly.

  “Then,” I said, my voice gaining confidence, “we separate the truth from all the lies they’ve been spreading for years. We uncover everything we can about PSS and our powers, and we blast that information all over the internet.”

  “It’s a good plan,” Samantha said, smiling, just as a few small lights and the red exit sign over the bay door flickered on, bathing the room in a soft glow.

  “Woo-hoo!” T-dog called from across the room. “That’s the emergency lighting, which should give us a few hours of visibility to figure out how to restore the entire system.”

  “How are there any lights in this place?” Passion asked, looking at me. “Did you displace the entire power grid along with the building?”

  “The whole compound is solar-powered,” Pete said, pulling his surgical mask off as he walked up to us. He still looked pale, but maybe it was just the weird lighting. “This place was designed to be off the grid. I was actually trying to figure out how to get the power back on when I heard your vehicles pull up outside.”

  Grant came up beside Pete, and I peered between them, trying to catch sight of my mom.

  “I got the bullet out and, thankfully, it didn’t hit her femoral artery,” Pete assured me. “I’m giving her pain meds and fluids by IV. She’s stable but she’ll be out for a while. Do you want to see her?”

  “Sure, and thank—”

  Pete’s eyes started to roll back in his head, and he stumbled sideways into Grant, who was already shoving an office chair under the big guy’s ass.

  “Get some water,” I said.

  “I’ve got some in my bag in the van,” Passion said, running for it.

  “I’m okay. Really.” Pete insisted. “I just haven’t stood for that long in a while. When I woke up yesterday, I pretty much stayed in the infirmary and hydrated myself. I was afraid if I got up I’d pass out.”

  “Here’s some water,” Passion said, running up and handing him a water bottle. “When’s the last time you ate?”

  “I don’t know,” he said between sips. “The night we left Kah-Nee-Tah to come here.”

  “That was over a week ago,” Samantha exclaimed. “No wonder you almost passed out.”

  “A week ago?” Pete said, choking on a gulp of water. “I—that can’t be right. I mean, I remember regaining consciousness a few times, but a week? How is that even—what the hell happened and where did everyone go?”

  “Hate to interrupt,” Chase said, joining the group. “But we have an issue.” He looked at me pointedly. “I need you.”

  “Okay,” I said, glancing longingly in the direction of my mom, but Pete had said she was unconscious. I would check on her as soon as I put out this new fire. “Can you guys bring Pete up to speed?” I asked Passion, Samantha, and Grant. “And find him something to eat, while you’re at it.”

  “Yeah, sure,” Grant said and the girls nodded.

  “What’s up?” I asked Chase, as he led me to the van.

  “We have a problem at gate four,” he said, ushering me inside and pointing to a monitor which showed a gate, just like the one we’d entered Umatilla through, hanging wide open in a mangled mess. “It’s the one at the north end of the depot, and he drove right through it.” Chase rewound the feed a few minutes to show me footage of Wade Hermiston ramming his truck through the gate in a shower of sparks and tangled metal. It took him a couple runs to breach it, but he was obviously very determined. “I didn’t notice it until a few minutes ago,” Chase admitted. “I was helping T-dog get the auxiliary power up and running. Not that we could have done anything anyway.”

  “Great,” I said, “After what Pete did, Wade will be convinced we’re one of the lawsuit groups enacting some kind of hostile takeover. He’s going to come back with his people.” How long would it take Wade to get back to Hermiston and raise a mob of angry farmers? The corner of the monitor said it was 3:07 in the morning. God, no wonder I was so tired. “Are you guys into the computers yet?” I asked.

  “No.” Chase shook his head. “We can’t even access them until we restore full power, and then it depends on how difficult the security is. Best case scenario, it will take two or three hours to break into the network, and that’s just on this side. The CAMFer system is completely separate, so it will probably take that long as well. Plus, there’s the issue of getting into that side of the building. We lucked out having Pete open this side for us, but it won’t be that easy getting into the dome or the CAMFer side.”

  “And that’s in-and-out? You guys said you could do this fast.”

  “That is fast.” He glared at me. “For anyone else this would take days.”

  “But it’s not fast enough. Wade is coming back. And what about the broken gate? Is that going to flag anyone’s attention?”

  “It shouldn’t. All the camera and security information feeds directly into this van now, and we’ve created a false loop for anyone monitoring it from the outside. At least, until the van battery runs out. But we should have the full power of the compound to hook into by then.”

  “Good.” I took a deep breath. Wade was going to come back before we could get the job done. I was sure of it. But, we couldn’t just cut our losses and run. After all the trouble we’d gone to, including my mom getting shot, we had to get that data. Besides, she wasn’t in any condition to be moved, and Pete wasn’t in great shape either. And then there was the issue of vehicles. I’d killed the rental van and the Westfalia had two flat tires. Besides, I was pretty sure Chase and T-dog wouldn’t leave their equipment behind. So, we had to stay. “Okay.” I exhaled. “How secure is the building without power? Can we keep people out?”

  “I think I can shed some light on that,” Pete said, coming up to the open van door, accompanied by Grant. Pete’s color was better, probably due to the half-eaten cereal bar in his hand. “The big bay doors, as you know, can be opened, closed, and locked manually, and I think they’d withstand a significant onslaught. But there are other smaller entrances throughout the compound that rely heavily on cameras, alarms, and electronic security deterrents. Without electricity or the manpower to guard them, it wouldn’t take much more than a crowbar and some brute force to get in. That’s another reason I came out, guns blazing, when I heard someone outside. Anyway, the point is, if you’re worried about an exterior assault, it’s an issue, at least until we have full power. Once we have it, though, there are ways to make this place an impenetrable fortress.”

  “Right, but if Wade comes back in force like I think he will,” I said. “How do we get out and past him once we have the data?”

  “What data are you looking for?” Pete asked. Apparently, Passion and Samantha hadn’t explained that part to him. If he worked for Alexander James, what we were trying to do might be a problem for him.

  “All of it,” I said. “Everything we can find about PSS from both sides. We’re going to take it and use it to make The Hold and the CAMFers obsolete.”

  “I see,” he said, nodding. “You really are as tenacious as they say you are.”

  I wasn’t sure who “they” were, but I’d take it.

  “Once we have the files,” Chase said, “we can utilize them from anywhere. The van has its own satellite link, so we can connect to the internet. And I can route us through multiple VPNs so it won’t be traceable. Location isn’t an issue.”

  “Yeah, but we can’t stay here indefinitely,” I pointed out. “This is federal land and, eventually, the government is going to notice what’s going on and remove everyone.”

  “Probably,” Chase said, “but we’ll have the data by then. We might be charged with trespassing, but I doubt anything more severe than that. There’s going to be a lot of confusion with all these people and the mystery of where the dome came from.”

  “Waiting it out shouldn’t be a problem,” Pete said. “This place was made to be self-sustainable for a large population. There are storage rooms full of food and
basic supplies, and staff quarters for a hundred people, plus a full commercial kitchen, a cafeteria, and a hydroponic garden, and that’s just on The Hold side. I don’t know what they have on the CAMFer side.”

  “The accommodations aren’t quite as nice,” I said, dryly. “But yeah, they have a similar set-up.”

  “So, hypothetically, we could stay here indefinitely if we had to,” Chase pointed out. “But not without power. When the compound landed here, the backup power failed to reboot, so all the interior doors, except the infirmary, engaged in an automatic, manual lock down. That means we’re stuck in this area for now. We can get the main power up. That’s not a question. And once it’s up we can get the data and gain access to the entire compound.”

  “Then get it up,” I said. “And do it as fast as you can.”

  10

  OLIVIA

  Sleep. Sometimes, if I was exhausted enough to forgo the nightmares, it was a wonderful thing, even draped between two computer chairs in a giant abandoned compound under threat of attack. It had probably helped that my mom had finally come to, insisted she wasn’t going to die, and ordered me to get some decent rest somewhere other than the chair by her bedside. And that had been fine with me. I’d just been glad she was alive and in mom mode again.

  But restful sleep, like all good things, must come to an end.

  “Olivia,” Chase said, and I opened my eyes to find him standing over me. “Wade is back.”

  I sat up, noticing I wasn’t the only one who’d crashed. Passion and Samantha were curled up on top of a desk together. Grant was sleeping on two chairs like I was. And Pete had found another hospital gurney and parked in it just outside the infirmary, probably to be close to his patient. He wasn’t asleep, though. I saw him turn his head our way as Chase woke me.

  “Do we have power?” I asked groggily, realizing the stupidity of my question even as I asked it. The compound was still dark, the computers off and quiet.

  “Almost,” Chase said. “I finally found the problem, and T-Dog is working on it right now.”

  “And how close is Wade?”

  “I think you should come see,” he said, quietly, cautiously. There was something he didn’t want the others to hear.

  “Okay.” I got up and followed him to the van.

  As we stepped inside he said, “After you told me you thought Wade would come back, I set up an online alert for anything related to Umatilla and the lawsuit. A few hours ago hits started to ramp up on a couple of obscure forums and social media groups. T-dog and I didn’t see it, at first; we were both so focused on the power issue.”

  “What does that mean? What are you talking about?”

  “It means we have more to worry about than Wade and his people from Hermiston,” Chase said. “Somehow, the other groups got word that he was mustering his people. They must have thought he was making a move for the depot, and it acted like a domino effect. As soon as we realized what was happening, we sent some of the drones out on a surveillance circuit.”

  “Other groups? How many?” Fuck. Fuckity fuck fuck.

  “Take a look.” He pointed at the monitors.

  On one screen, by the dim light of dawn, Wade’s pick-up was barreling across the depot, followed by a stream of farm trucks, dusty station wagons, and rusty RVs. There were maybe twenty vehicles, most of them packed to the nines, so maybe a hundred people or more.

  However, there were three more screens feeding from three more drones, all showing armies of vehicles headed in our direction.

  “They broke through the other gates,” Chase explained. “And the electricity on the fence is completely down now. I’m assuming these are the preppers.” He pointed to the screen with a neat convoy of about fifty Humvees and retired military vehicles streaming across it. “And these are the environmentalist.” He indicated a smaller group of hybrid and electric cars and minivans, very much out of place on the dusty desert roads. “So, this must be the tribes.” He gestured to the smallest group of vehicles making their way confidently across the depot toward us.

  “How long until they get here?”

  “Ten minutes max. Maybe a little sooner. Wade’s group is ahead of the rest.”

  “Then what are you doing standing here?” I practically shoved Chase out of the van. “Get me that power up now.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said, turning and running off in the direction of the power grid panel they’d been working on for hours.

  “What’s going on?” Pete asked, sticking his head into the van. “We got trouble?”

  “Yes, we have trouble,” I groaned, as Grant and the girls joined Pete at the van’s sliding door. “I seem to have displaced this compound to the one piece of dessert everyone and their mother has a claim to.” I pointed at the screens.

  “Holy shit,” Grant said. “What are they going to do when they get here?”

  “I don’t know.” I shook my head. “The preppers probably have weapons. And I’m sure Wade’s group does, considering what happened the last time he was here.”

  “Again, I’m sorry about that,” Pete said. “I had no idea one bad decision would come back to bite me in the ass with such a vengeance.”

  “What about the gun you had?” Grant asked Pete. “We have at least one weapon.”

  “Except it’s out of ammunition,” Pete said, cringing. “I’m a medic, okay? I had no idea how to use that thing.”

  “But where’d you get it?” Grant asked.

  “I found it just inside the bay door on the floor,” Pete answered.

  “Someone probably dropped it when they got displaced,” Samantha said.

  “But there must be more where that came from,” Grant pointed out. “A place like this has to have an armory, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Peter nodded. “There’s one on the lower levels, which we can’t get to until the power is back on.”

  “Maybe when they get here, they’ll all just fight each other,” Passion said hopefully.

  “I doubt it,” Samantha said. “We’ve provided them with a common enemy.”

  “Then what are we going to do?” Passion asked, her voice filled with fear.

  “We keep them out until the guys get the power up,” I said, looking to Pete. “You know the building. Where are we most vulnerable?”

  “There are three smaller access points to this room,” he said, pointing to the dim glow of several exits signs. “We could barricade them with desks and chairs.”

  “Okay, do it,” I told them. “But be careful with the computers. We need them intact. And don’t let him overdo it,” I said to Grant, indicating Pete. “The rest of you do the heavy lifting.” I turned back to the screens. They were getting closer. All those cars filled with hostile people.

  Behind me, I could hear the frantic scrape of desks and the noise of heavy furniture being moved.

  On the monitors, the four convoys converged on the compound. Of course, Wade led them right to our big bay door.

  Wade jumped out of his truck, rifle in hand. Other people were getting out too, a few from the lead vehicles of each group. Some had guns. Most didn’t. They were yelling at each other and gesturing at the dome, a mob of confused humanity. The drones didn’t have audio so it was a bit like watching a silent movie, except from the air. Thankfully, the group was focused on the big door. They hadn’t noticed the smaller entrances, but they would. Once they tried battering the bay door without success, they’d look elsewhere.

  “We got it. We got it!” Chase called, and I turned to see him running toward me. At the same moment, there was a surge of sound and light and energy as every electronic device and system in the building turned back on. The central heating whooshed to life. The computers hummed, their screens flickering, and finally the overhead lights flared, blinding us with their radiance. There were sounds I didn’t recognize, things beeping and flashing and alarms wailing down distant and empty corridors.

  I stepped out of the van, moving to meet Chase, planning to cong
ratulate him on his perfect but terrifyingly close timing. Maybe even give him a hug.

  But he wasn’t looking at me anymore. He was glancing to the right, the elation on his face turned to horror.

  I followed his gaze and saw the bay door opening slowly and mechanically, all on its own. A puff of dust gusted under the expanding opening, and I thought I caught a glimpse of Wade Hermiston’s boots, the cries of the mob ringing in my ears.

  “Get out of the way,” Chase yelled, shoving me aside as he climbed into the van and threw himself at one of the keyboards.

  “The door is opening,” I cried, as I crawled in after him. “Why is it opening?”

  “I don’t know,” he snapped, typing frantically. “The power reboot engaged the entire security system, and I can’t stop it because we haven’t actually accessed it yet.”

  “What do you mean you can’t stop it? You have to. We cannot have that door open. We cannot let those people in. Do you understand?”

  “Yeah.” He nodded numbly. “Let me do it.”

  “Okay.” I jumped out of the van, scanning the room. Pete, Grant, and Samantha were at the manual door lock, trying to engage it, but it obviously wasn’t working. The gap had increased, widening by inches. Any moment it was going to be high enough for those people outside to crawl under. There was no sign of Passion. Maybe she was back in the infirmary with my mom. The cacophony of sound and light washed over me. I tried to focus, to think of some way to help, but this room, this moment washed over me, a crashing wave of everything I’d experienced since I’d left Greenfield. There was no hiding. No escape. No safe place I could barricade myself into—not even my own head. There would always be people coming after me, no matter where I went. They would always find a way. The fear would come. The pain. The lies. The hate. Who was I to think I could stand against it? Change any of it? I was only a girl with a ghost hand.

  “Olivia,” a voice said, muffled. Grant was bending over me, touching my arm gently. “Are you all right?”

  I was on the ground outside the van, curled into a ball, my hands pressed over my ears. My face was wet and my body was shaking. “The door?” I asked, trying to look past him, but there were too many people in the way. Chase and T-Dog. Passion, Pete, and Samantha too—all of them standing over me.