‘Thanks for the concern,’ she said, glaring.
‘I don’t want you gettin’ the wrong idea. I don’t give a donkey’s dick what happens to you, but if you don’t shake yourself out of this funk, when you’re supposed to be backing me up, that’s my ass.’ Salty walked over to the car, reaching inside to release the brake. ‘Maybe I should ask Mommy Graham to cover me next time.’
She didn’t say another word. She just slung the rifle strap over her shoulder and helped him to push the bloodied wreck to the side of the road.
Vincent jumped from the truck and edged cautiously to the cabin, meeting Salty as he made his way back.
‘What did I say, Vinnie?’
‘I heard a struggle. It sounded serious,’ Vincent said.
‘Which is exactly why I told you to stay in the truck.’
‘How much longer is it going to take? Emily’s feeling a little sick with all the bumping around back there.’
‘Jesus, has that kid got something wrong with her immune system or somethin’?’
Vincent rolled his eyes at Salty. ‘I guess it’s just the way she has been brought up. That’s pretty much what you were thinking.’
Salty paused to smile, and before he could respond, Vincent continued. ‘I know we aren’t exactly adapting outside the confines of our comfortable lifestyle, but we’re doing the best we can. We didn’t have a choice when we were all thrown together.’
‘No argument from me on all those counts. You don’t need to do any of my thinking for me there, Vin. I may look stupid, but you’d be surprised.’
Unimpressed, Vincent was about to return to his family.
‘Why don’t you tell your wife you’re gonna come sit up front with me? You can even bring the rugrat with you if you like. There’s less bumping around in the cabin.’
‘Why?’
‘’Cause Grace Jones in there is only fun to be around if you’re in the mood for a staring competition. Besides, we’re almost there.’
2
Soon after Vincent went to sit up front with Emily on his lap, the vehicle left the main road and turned onto an unmarked stretch. Eventually, the road ended and they started bumping over the rocks and dirt of a beaten trail.
‘Sorry about this, Emily,’ Salty said.
‘That’s OK,’ she said with a smile. Her father pressed her back against his chest to try to keep her still.
Any trace of suburbia was soon replaced by dense oaks, ashes and hickories, which engulfed the trail. The way ahead became narrow. The overhanging branches were almost touching the truck. Vincent half-expected to hear the sound of the side mirrors cracking as they were taken out by the long reach of the forest. The windows were rolled down, and the sweet scent of blossoming flowers and the calming fragrance of damp earth filled the cabin. Civilisation in general may have been dying and rotten, but this particular section of the natural world was still thriving.
Vincent glanced over to Raine, who was sitting right against the passenger door. She looked out to the forest and he could feel the distinct chill of her isolation. In contrast, their driver and guide looked almost smug behind the wheel, enjoying the intermittent rays of sun that kissed his face as they flashed through the tree cover.
‘Isn’t this more than a little risky? How do we turn around if we meet something coming the other way?’ Vincent said.
‘Don’t sweat it, Graham. This won’t last for much longer.’ Salty was completely right. As they plunged even deeper into the woodland, the trail ended and the bumping stopped. They had hit a smooth piece of road again.
Vincent noticed its surface was almost white, free of any tyre tracks. The centre line had been marked with fresh paint. There was ample space on either side of them too – it was wide enough for two trucks.
‘What is this?’ Vincent said.
‘It’s the scenic route to our destination. My former employer had this road built from scratch. He regretted having to lay so much of it, but he needed the access to transport in what was needed.’
‘Your employer?’
‘Damon Warrington.’ An even broader smile came over Salty’s craggy face when he said the name.
‘That sounds familiar.’
‘It should. He was the previous owner of Uridium Technologies – a company that heavily invested in green energy and preservation about fifteen years ago. At 41, Damon decided to sell his business and retire. It fetched a little over 350 million dollars.’
‘I know. I read about it,’ Vincent said.
‘Not too shabby for a retirement fund, eh?’ Salty said.
Raine finally turned from the passenger window and spoke. ‘Fat lot of good it will do him now.’
Salty shrugged, easing the wheel over as they approached the next gradual bend in the road. ‘You’d be surprised.’
About a hundred yards ahead, a pair of antlers emerged from the trees. A buck stepped tentatively onto the asphalt and scanned in all directions, the surface of his tan brown fur glimmering silver in the sunlight.
‘Daddy, look!’ Emily shifted with excitement on Vincent’s lap.
Salty eased down on the brake to give the animal some breathing room. The deer stood around four feet from his shoulders. He stared at the truck, twitching his ears in anticipation of danger. Once certain it was safe to cross, he placed all four hooves onto the hard surface. The doe and her two fawns came out of hiding and followed him.
The doe corralled the two leggy and vulnerable youngsters while the buck examined the way ahead. They only remained in view for a few seconds before disappearing into the treeline on the opposite side, but it was long enough for Vincent to appreciate their bond and the simplicity of their existence. It created a rare moment of stillness in his heart, making him wish that Kristin was sitting up front so she could experience it too.
Emily waved into the forest as the truck accelerated past the spot where the animals had made their exit. ‘Stay safe,’ she said.
‘You ain’t seen nothin’ yet, darlin’,’ Salty said.
‘OK, you have our attention,’ Vincent said. ‘What did Warrington build the road for? Where is it leading us?’
‘As you can guess, Damon was more than a bit of a tree-hugger. He cared a lot more about conservation of the natural world than he did about money – dedicated his life to it. Success kind of fell into his lap on account of what he was good at, but conservation he had to work at. The main reason he retired was to buy up a nature preserve here in Ohio. Ever since then, it’s been closed to the public, and he just kept expanding it until it was the largest in the country – private or otherwise. Has its own water system and off-grid power source – one even an apocalypse can’t screw with.’
‘How do you know all this?’ Vincent said.
‘Like I said, he was my employer. Even though it was privately owned, there were still lots of animals and land to attend to. He hired a full-time skeleton crew of staff to do just that.’
Raine, who had been listening with interest throughout his story, deepened her frown. ‘What the hell did Warrington want with you?’
Salty chuckled. ‘I know what you’re thinkin’. You types take one look at me, the way I talk and dress, and you have me all figured out, right?’
‘Surprise me,’ she said.
‘I know my white tails from my roe for one.’
‘What?’ Vincent said.
‘I know deer. A friend of a friend got me the gig with Warrington two years back. He seemed to like my no-nonsense approach, and he was always good at figuring out if people really knew what they were talkin’ about. He turned down plenty of folks with fancy qualifications. ‘Cause he was self-taught, I guess. Probably the key to his success in the first place. He made me responsible for tracking the deer’s movements within the preserve, controlling their numbers, catching them when they needed medical attention.’
‘You were the park ranger?’
‘You could call it that. Course, he had all kinds of brainiacs on the pa
yroll – sub-contractors mostly: conservation scientists, wildlife biologists, botanists, landscape architects, organic farmers… But with any project like that, you always need someone on site willin’ to get their hands dirty. Just so happens I was that guy. I would have come here right away, but the army didn’t give me the choice.’
‘How do you know someone else hasn’t already claimed this place?’ Raine said.
‘For one, hardly anyone knows it exists. And for another, it’s surrounded by a twelve-foot electric fence. There ain’t much chance of the power being out.’
‘So how do we get in?’ Vincent said.
‘Main gate has a combination key code. Just so happens I know it.’
Salty navigated the truck around the next bend that led to the final stretch of road before the gate. The steel surrounding the perimeter looked untouched, and they could see sections of cable from the electrified fence through the gaps in the trees.
The brakes hissed right on the doorstep of the preserve. Raine jumped out and immediately fixed her glare on the two security cameras perched on the top of the gate, moving back and forth on a motor.
‘Like I said, power’s still workin’,’ Salty swaggered to the back and slapped the flat of his hand on the truck’s body to alert the others.
Adam got down and helped Kristin. Ethan exited the truck, rubbing the stiffness from the back of his neck.
Salty headed over to the chrome intercom panel and pushed the button to talk into it. ‘It’s Jake Masterson. Doctor Anders? Julia? Anyone else make it?’ He waited for a response, but nothing came back through the speakers except for the whine of static. He stepped away from the panel and approached the keypad secured to the right side of the gate.
‘Maybe Warrington changed the pass code,’ Vincent said as he placed Emily on the ground and Kristin joined them.
Salty grabbed the bill of his cap and tilted it to get more air to his forehead. ‘Before the shit-show, he travelled to the Antarctic with some of his buddies. They liked to climb in the cold for some goddamn reason.’ He paused to think about what he’d said and smiled. ‘Maybe it wasn’t so crazy after all. Bet those son-of-a-bitches are safer than any of us. Anyway, he wanted me to come back here to do some more work after I’d visited my ex-wife.’
Everyone gathered in front of the truck and watched him place his hand on the keypad. Despite all his bravado about their potential sanctuary, he ran his fingers over the keys for a few seconds before he started to push them.
The escape and subsequent journey had taken a lot out of the group. They stood round-shouldered, staring dead ahead, like they were about to witness the opening of Pandora’s box. Salty pressed down on the first key with his index finger. After hitting the sixth digit, he hesitated again, and then pushed two more. He drew his hand away from the panel, letting the others know the sequence had been completed.
He stared down at the red light, clenching his right hand into a fist. Just as he thought something was wrong, the red light winked out, replaced by a green one and a hollow buzz that rattled through the structure’s metal. Almost silently, the door started to shift and open inwards.
Vincent felt Kristin’s fingers interlocking with his. He met her smile and glanced down to their daughter, who was clutching her favourite stuffed bunny. In that moment, he felt like the luckiest man alive. That was a genuine possibility now.
Salty moved to the opening and turned to face the rest, wearing the goofiest grin you could wish to see. ‘Ladies and Germs, welcome to Jurassic Park.’
The laughter that followed sounded more like a collective sigh of relief.
‘OK, folks. If you’d like to resume your seats, I’ll give you the guided tour of the facility.’
This time, they retired to the truck with their chests out and renewed energy.
‘Woah.’ Emily’s eyes couldn’t widen enough to take it all in. The preserve rolled out in front of them – acre after acre of lush green grass and plant-life. In the distance, they could see several towers, large bodies of water and modern buildings.
They passed various nature trails leading into the woodlands, and Salty hit the brakes on the truck again. To their right, huge rectangular panels tilted up to the sky, each one mounted on a tower. Everyone in the cabin shielded their eyes from the glare reflected from the panels.
‘This right here is the heart that pumps the site with its blood,’ Salty said. ‘Our solar farm produces over one hundred megawatts of electricity. The grid runs right beneath us, powering everything from the water supply to energisers for the perimeter fence.’
Vincent gazed out of the window like an awestruck child. ‘When you said you knew a place, you really knew a place,’ he said.
‘It just moved.’ Emily pointed to one of the towers, looking at Salty to confirm she hadn’t imagined it.
‘That’s right, kid. The towers are motorised, which allows the panels to track the sun so they have the highest output. Each one is made from cadmium telluride. Funny name, huh? It’s a thin, state-of-the-art semi-conductor designed to absorb and convert sunlight.’ Salty seemed pleased with himself, as if it was something he’d learned by heart and which he had been dying to repeat to someone. ‘It delivers the smallest carbon footprint possible, the lowest amount of water usage and the shortest energy payback time. Unless these assholes find a way to block out the sun, we should do alright. Come on, let’s get to the Management Centre and have a proper look-see at the rest of the facility.’
Salty stepped on the accelerator, and Vincent, Emily and Raine felt the glow of the redirected light on their skin for what they knew was the last time for a while.
The truck came to a halt again right on the doorstep of the hexagonal-shaped Management Centre. A four-pronged antenna rose up from its roof and artificial lights could be seen within.
Everyone got out. Adam immediately bent over, almost touching his knees with his head, stretching the back of his calves in the process. Emily rushed over to where he was standing and copied him, cheating by bending her knees and peering between her legs to smile back at Vincent, the ends of her pigtails trailing on the grass.
Vincent smiled at her and Kristin joined him. It was the first time they’d seen their daughter relaxed outside since the outbreak. The colour had returned to her bubblegum cheeks after the tooth abscess had made her so sick. Vincent turned to his wife and kissed her. ‘Did you see the solar farm on the drive in?’
‘I did,’ she said.
‘This place is astounding.’
Far to the south, Vincent spotted a huge section of dense forest situated inside the facility.
‘Mommy, Daddy! Sailing ships!’ Emily was standing on tiptoes to gawp at the lake about a quarter of a mile to the south. Sure enough, tied up at the jetty, a few rowing boats and two cutters were bobbing around in the water. ‘Can we go see them please?’ The young child clasped her hands together in expectation.
‘Maybe later, sweetheart, but we have to make sure everywhere is safe first,’ Kristin said.
‘Awww.’ Emily frowned and flung her hands apart.
‘I know. Mommy’s a spoil-sport,’ Vincent said.
‘You’re so good at always coming out as the good guy,’ Kristin said.
‘That’s ‘cause I am.’
They continued to observe their daughter’s excitement while Adam pointed out a flock of birds coming to rest on the lake’s surface.
‘OK, folks. Let’s not get too distracted.’ Salty started to back towards the Management Centre and waved everyone in his direction. ‘You, where I can see you,’ he said, gesturing to Ethan, who was lurking at the back of the group as usual.
The weary young man shook his head and approached. ‘Can you see me well enough from here?’
Salty took another moment to examine his face. ‘Yeah, that’ll do.’ His attention was drawn by Raine, as she walked past him purposefully, the soldier’s rifle over her shoulder. She was heading away from the Management Centre in the direction o
f the aviary. ‘Where in the hell do ya think you’re goin’?’
‘Don’t know. What does it look like?’ Raine snapped.
‘First off, you ain’t goin’ anywhere until we have checked to see if the fences have been compromised.’
‘Compromised. Big word for you.’
‘Second, if you don’t plan on usin’ that, you may as well leave it with me.’
‘Fine.’ She took the rifle from her arm and tossed it to him.
He caught it, stepping back to absorb its weight. Raine remained outside and Salty led the rest of the group to the door of the Management Centre. He tried the handle; as he had expected, it was unlocked.
When the group moved inside, they were immediately struck by the cooling sensation of the air conditioning. Because they had either been out in the heat or cooped up in the truck, the cool air felt like a baptism. The building smelled of sanitised nothingness as they climbed down the set of stairs to the main room.
Salty held the assault rifle out in front of him and called, ‘anyone home?’
The only response he received was his own smoky voice echoing back. All of the halogen strip lighting fitted around the circumference of the ceiling was fully operational. The banks of computer rigs still whirred beneath each desk, and the deer-head emblem of the Warrington Preserve was bouncing around the confines of each monitor like a stray bubble. Everything appeared to be primed for the beginning of a new day.
Salty ventured further into the building, passing the banks of desks, and the rest followed. He reached a large control panel. Above it, a wall of monitors displayed every camera feed on the entire site. There was a camera for each designated area and various numbered fence checkpoints on the perimeter. He handed the rifle to Vincent and sat down behind the controls.
The group crowded around the monitors and watched Salty scroll through each one: the solar farm, nature trails, both lakes, the aviary, power station, visitor centre, parking lot, Observation Towers 1 and 2, the bathroom block, clinic, picnic area, campsite, the lodge, and finally, the golf course and deer park.
Everything Dies [Season One] Page 12
