Apocalypse Island

by Hall, Mark Edward

  “Jesus,” Laura said. “They’re going to destroy something they don’t even understand.”

  “What’s new?” Jennings said with a shrug. “These are human beings we’re taking about.”

  “It’s okay,” Wolf said to Laura. “It wants us to go. It wants us to be safe.”

  Jennings asked Eli if he could close the door as easily as he’d opened it.

  Eli stepped back up on the chair, crossed some wires and the door closed.

  As they were leaving the room, a huge explosion somewhere in the facility rocked the floor they were standing on. The room heaved dangerously. Cracks crawled across the concrete floor as dust fell from above, filling the air.

  “They’re making sure we never get out of here,” said Tall Tech.

  “We’ll see about that,” Jennings said. “I heard choppers earlier. I asked my assistant to call in reinforcements if she didn’t hear from me. Come on, let’s move.”

  “Where do you suppose these reinforcements are going to come from?” asked Laura. “We know the feds are dirty, and so’s half the force, including the chief.”

  Jennings frowned shaking his head. “Don’t have a clue.”

  Leading the way, Jennings made his way along the corridor toward the stairs. Halfway there he knew it was hopeless. Dust filled the air. The corridor was clogged with rubble, the stairs impossible to get to. He eyed the elevator and the doors were bulging outward even as dust belched from vents. He turned around and gave a helpless look.

  “Eli,” Wolf said. “You told me you knew some clever ways in and out of this place.”

  “There’s a storm drain in the lower half comes out on the leeward side of the island,” Eli said. “Follow me.” Five minutes later Eli was removing screws from an air conditioning vent.

  “I thought you said it was a storm drain?” Jennings said.

  “The only way to get to the storm drain is through this duct. It comes out into a maintenance room one story down. From there we can take the storm drain out.”

  “Wait a minute,” Wolf said. “Sam’s never going to fit inside that vent.”

  The giant began to sign. “What’s he saying?” Wolf asked.

  Eli was watching Sam carefully. “He’s says don’t worry about him. Save yourselves.”

  “No way,” Wolf said. “I just found him. I’m not going to abandon him now.”

  “There is one other way, but it’s risky,” said Eli. “You have to go all the way back and up through the orphanage. I’m not sure there’s enough time.”

  “That’s the way I got in,” Wolf said. “It’s worth the risk. I’ll take Sam and the rest of you get out through the vent.”

  “Wait a minute,” Laura said to Wolf. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

  “You stay with Jennings,” Wolf said adamantly.

  “You can’t tell me what to do.”

  “But I can,” Jennings said. “You’re going with me.”

  “No I’m not, Rick. I’m a trained police officer. Wolf couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn with that pistol. If he gets in trouble he’ll need my help.”

  Jennings started to protest but Laura said, “Not negotiable. I’m going with Danny and that’s final.” She took Wolf’s arm and looked in his face with admiration. “I thought I lost him once. I’m not going to lose him again. You take Eli and the two tech guys and we’ll meet you on the outside.”

  “I don’t like it,” Jennings said.

  “Time’s a wasting,” Short Tech said, looking at his watch. “We’ve got thirty minutes left.”

  Jennings knew it was a lost cause. Laura was a stubborn little bitch. She always had been and she always would be.

  “All right. Eli,” he said with resignation. “Lead the way.” He hugged Laura and again told her he didn’t like this arrangement in the least, shook Wolf’s hand and climbed into the vent behind Eli and the two techs.

  Chapter 135

  Wolf was in the lead, Laura second with Sam bringing up the rear. They’d made it through the great room to just where it began to narrow into the offset archways when Wolf heard a dull thud.

  He stopped. “What the hell...?” He sucked breath between his clenched teeth, producing a thin whistle of alarm. At the exact same moment, the entire facility rocked with a tremendous concussion.

  “Jesus, God,” he said. “That’s what the military’s doing here. They didn’t come to save us. They’re blowing the facility.”

  “You don’t know that.” Laura said.

  “Look out!” Wolf screamed but it was too late. Like a racehorse erupting from its starting gate Ruben Van Horne sprang out from behind one of the columns and went straight at Laura, hitting her like a linebacker and bowling her over. She’d been carrying the rifle but hadn’t had time to even raise it. Now it clattered away across the floor. Wolf was still holding Laura’s nine millimeter but could not get a bead on Van Horn with the two of them rolling together on the floor. Van Horne gripped Laura’s head in his hands and smashed it on the floor and all the fight went out of her.

  With a mighty roar big Sam lunged toward Van Horne. But in a lightening quick movement that was like nothing Wolf had ever seen, Van Horne produced a gun and shot Big Sam twice in the chest. Wolf was so stunned that he could not immediately react. Sam’s eyes opened wide in surprise and his hands went to his chest where blood was already pumping past his splayed fingers.

  “There, you big ape, I’ve wanted to do that for five miserable years,” Van Horne said. “See you in hell.”

  The giant slid slowly to his knees and fell forward onto his face.

  Wolf raised the automatic, which felt like a ton of lead in his hand. He felt the despair of loss even as he reacted, bathed in the cold grip of nightmare. Now his single, burning focus was to kill the bastard who’d just taken the life of the gentle giant of a brother he’d known only in dreams. Wolf pulled the trigger.

  Click!

  He could not believe this was happening. Van Horne raised his gun and in that moment Wolf knew that poetic justice had just bit him in the ass. But then, in a maneuver that stunned Wolf, Van Horne dropped the gun and attacked him in the same manner he’d attacked Laura; like a rabid animal.

  Determined that he would not waste this chance, Wolf fought like a mad man. He punched and clawed and kicked, fighting for his life and for Laura’s, tapping a rage inside him that was nearly epic in its fury.

  But even driven by rage, coupled with a deep and profound sorrow, Wolf was no match for whatever inhuman thing Ruben Van Horne had become.

  Van Horne’s fists landed an avalanche of lightning-fast blows to Wolf’s face and upper body, and no amount of blocking could stem their ferociousness.

  “I used to love you, Danny,” Van Horne spat between blows. “Just like Seph loved you. Just like they all loved you. From the moment you led us out of this godforsaken place you were remembered as a savior. I’ve watched you your whole life, tried to be nice to you. When we were both at Berklee I tried to be your friend, but no. You weren’t interested.” Van Horne grabbed Wolf and slammed him down onto the floor, lifted him up and slammed him down again, bouncing his head off the concrete. His strength was so great that Wolf’s resistance began to collapse. “And when you wanted a record deal I was there, like a brother. But you laughed in my face. Are you fucking kidding me? You should have been groveling on your knees. But no. You had to do it your way, throw it in my face. Treat me like shit. You ungrateful little bastard!”

  Van Horne rose from him, standing above him, looking down on him with complete and utter contempt.

  “Well guess what? I ended up being the successful one and you the loser. But still you wouldn’t give me the time of day.” The angry sneering voice came as if from some demented creature. “You ungrateful little bastard!” Van Horne said again, and with the repetition of those words came the first kick, landing on Wolf’s left side, followed by another and another, until Wolf could only moan in agony.

  The k
icking stopped abruptly.

  Van Horne reached down and lifted Wolf to his feet, and with supernatural strength, threw him against the partition wall. Wolf hit hard and slid down the wall, landing with his legs splayed, all the fight gone from him. He was within reach of the rifle, however. He tried to grasp it but his hand flopped uselessly on the floor.

  “And guess what again?” Van Horne said. “Who do you think killed Siri, huh? Who do you think killed the only woman you’ve ever loved?” Again he laughed, opening his mouth and throwing his head back, roaring like a mad man. “Who do you think sent you to jail, asshole? Jail is where you should have stayed. Jail is where you should have rotted.”

  At the sound of those words something inside Wolf began to awaken. He focused all his attention on the rifle, marshaled all his remaining strength for the task of getting hold of it, willing himself to ignore the ungodly pain in his ribs that was crippling him.

  Van Horne watched him, confident in Wolf’s inability to take action. “I’ll bet you’re wondering what a strange coincidence this all is, Danny. Why I married her mother. How her little bitch daughter fits into all of this. Well, meeting her mother was purely coincidence. I’ll say that much. We were introduced at a party and when I realized she was the wife of a man I’d killed, well, for the first time in my life I felt like all the stars were in alignment. I felt that my life was finally coming into focus. But then this little bitch got nosy and started to ask questions. She figured I wasn’t spending all my away time on business. And you know what? She was right.”

  “I was here helping Seph. I didn’t always agree with Seph’s motives but I was always loyal. Seph didn’t mind that I’d gotten married. She even encouraged me to go for it. Said it felt right to her, like it was supposed to be this way. And you know, I think she was right. I think everything in my life has led up to this one extraordinary moment.”

  “You’re as crazy as a fucking loon,” Wolf said and was surprised that he had the capacity to speak, even more surprised that Van Horne had heard him and was answering back.

  “You know it, brother,” Van Horne said, followed by another insane laugh. “And now you’re about to see just how crazy.” He reached in his pocket and extracted a knife. At the touch of a button the spring-loaded blade snapped out of the handle. Van Horn turned from Wolf and crouched over Laura. “This little piece of shit has mouthed off to me for the last time,” he said. “It would be a shame to shoot her. No, she deserves to be played with nice and slow.”

  A mighty roar sounded somewhere beneath the facility and the floor lifted, slammed back down then tilted dangerously. At the same time, explosions rocked the earth, causing the lights to flicker and plaster dust to rain from the ceiling. Hunched over Laura, Van Horne seemed not to notice.

  The quaking floor abruptly cracked the width of the room as jagged blocks of concrete and rods of reinforced steel soared skyward. Along that jagged line thin spears of blue light stabbed up from the realm below.

  Mortar crumbled and fell into the burning froth. The fissure in the floor rapidly widened to a foot, two feet, three feet, with the blinding blue light providing a glimpse of the chaos below.

  Whiplashes of blue lightning shot up from the fissure carried to the surface on the blue light until there was nothing but a roiling wall of intense activity between them. The lightning was so angry and menacing that Wolf knew he had to move quickly or he and Laura would both die.

  “See that light, Danny?” Van Horne said, shouting to be heard above the racket. “That’s what I named my record company after. Blue Sapphire. When we were kids in this hell hole, I always imagined there was a great big beautiful blue sapphire down there that knew what we were going through and would shine its light on us. Stupid, huh?”

  “No, Ruben. Not stupid. We all suffered. We all needed something to hold on to, something to give us hope. Sometimes that light was all we had.”

  For a moment Van Horne seemed to contemplate Wolf’s words. But it was short lived, for he raised the knife above his head, preparing to plunge it into Laura’s heart.

  Wolf’s arm responded shakily as it crawled toward the assault rifle. Palsied fingers finally caressed cold steel. Inconceivable as it was, Van Horne seemed not to notice Wolf’s movements. The knife had reached the top of its arc and Van Horne paused. He appeared to be listening to something. Now he’d resumed talking, but there was so much noise Wolf could not hear what he was saying. To Wolf it sounded like a stream of gibberish.

  Then Wolf saw the object of Van Horne’s muse and his heart skipped a beat. Siri Donovan floated above Van Horne near where the fissure in the floor continued to widen at an ever-alarming rate. She seemed to have been born from the blue light, a vision, dressed in white, and as inconceivable as it was she was carrying on a conversation with Van Horne.

  Ruben got up from straddling Laura and began moving toward Siri, the knife still clenched in his fist. Van Horne’s voice rose suddenly and this time Wolf heard what he said: “You’re not real. You can’t make me believe you’re real. I killed you, you bitch. Why didn’t you stay dead?”

  Now Siri seemed to be floating directly over the fissure, immersed in the blue light as if they were one, and she was taunting Van Horne to move closer.

  Van Horne laughed. “No way,” he said, keeping his distance. “I may be crazy, but I’m not stupid.”

  Wolf raised the weapon, the pain in his side searing as he did so. He had but one chance and needed to make it good. Siri’s presence had renewed him. Over the past month or so he had begun to doubt she was even real. Now those doubts were dispelled. He aimed the gun at Van Horne and began to squeeze the trigger. In a flash Sam was on his feet and barreling toward Van Horne like a locomotive. Van Horne’s attention was on Siri and he didn’t see Sam coming from behind. Wolf saw the blood on the front of Sam’s t-shirt and wondered how he was even alive. Then he realized what Sam was about to do, and cried, “Nooo!” Too late, Sam tackled Van Horne, his massive weight carrying both men over the edge of the fissure where they disappeared in a haze of blue light.

  The rumble beneath the ground grew louder as if in acknowledgment of its offering.

  Siri floated toward Wolf and settled on the floor in front of him. She looked at him with eyes Wolf could not believe belonged to a dead woman.

  “I’m sorry I lost you,” he said.

  “It’s all right,” Siri replied. “I’m in an okay place. Not perfect, but okay.” She pointed at the ever widening fissure in the floor. “You need to move, Danny. Not much time left.” She reached down and caressed his cheek. In that moment of contact Wolf felt something enter his body, and the pain was gone. He touched his ribcage where just moments ago he’d been certain his ribs were broken, and felt nothing. “Remember, I will always love you,” Siri said and vanished. Wolf somehow knew that it would be the last time he’d ever see her. He rose, still amazed that he was painless, leapt over the fissure and picked Laura up in his arms. As he did so she stirred.

  “What are you doing?” she asked crossly.

  “Shut the hell up. I’m saving your life for the second time tonight.”

  Chapter 136

  By the time they reached the stairs that would take them up and into the orphanage Laura was able to motivate on her own. When they passed Dr. Hardwick’s plastic-shrouded body Wolf said, “Don’t ask. I have no idea who killed him or why.”

  Evidently that was good enough for Laura because she didn’t say a word.

  There was activity outside. Several helicopters flew in the night sky above the island but as far as Wolf could see they weren’t shooting at anything. The rain had stopped, a warm breeze was blowing, and the sky was rapidly clearing.

  Skip Johnson stood outside the orphanage gate with a small group of people, one of them a priest.

  “I see you got her,” Skip Johnson said with a smile as he vigorously shook Wolf’s hand. “Was our little friend helpful?”

  “Yes,” Wolf said looking curiously at Johnso
n. “Very helpful indeed. Listen, Skip, these people need to get back. There’s going to be an explosion below ground any second and I don’t know how bad it will be.”

  “We already know about it,” Johnson said. “We were just waiting for you. If you hadn’t come out when you did we were coming in after you.”

  “What? Thank you,” Wolf said confused.

  “Just follow me,” Johnson said. He turned to the group of islanders. “Time to go.” They all made their way down the hill toward the docks and the general store where there was a bustle of activity.

  Jennings, Eli, the two techs, and both news people from Channel 12 were there waiting. Jennings explained that after getting out they’d gone back around and released the two captives from the closet.

  Standing with the group was a hunched old man who appeared barely able to motivate.

  “Nice to see you again, Mr. Richey,” Laura said taking his hand.

  “I warned you to leave it alone,” the old man said sternly, then smiled. “Guess it’s a good thing you didn’t listen to me.”

  “This is my father,” Eli said, introducing Wolf. “After you got us out I went home to live. From there I learned how to get in and out of the facility. I owe him a lot. I owe you both a lot.”

  “Ten minutes left,” Tall Tech said, looking at his watch.

  Men and women in uniform were helping people board boats, and dozens of water craft of every stripe, filled to the gunwales with people and pets were already in the water heading away from the island.

  “I made a call when we got out,” Jennings said, “but emergency management people were already here. They got an anonymous call before we even entered the facility. All the islanders—at least all they could find—are either here boarding boats or have already left.”