by Ian D. Moore
Chris signalled that all was clear and turned to direct the others inside. With a maximum capacity of six people, two journeys up and down would be necessary to transport the group to the facility. They split up with Nathan and Chris taking the first group down. This included Evie, the C.O., one of the engineers, and one of the medical staff. The second group would be Hobbs, Lewis, Sergeant Wilkes, two further medical staff, and a second engineer.
The first team would wait for the second group at the facility foyer’s entrance area. With full protective kit, it was a tight squeeze inside the lift, and Chris entered last, as he would be the first out when the doors opened at the bottom, followed by Nathan and the second rifle.
There were just two buttons on the panel inside the lift, marked ML and SA. Evie pressed the ML button, choosing the Main Lab level as opposed to the Storage Area. The pressed button illuminated red, the doors closed, and the lift began to descend. It picked up speed as the motors applied more power; the low whine became much higher pitched as they descended.
***
It took around three minutes to descend to the Main Lab level. With only the slightest of sensations as the lift slowed to a stop, the mirrored doors parted. Chris and Nathan stepped out cautiously. The emergency purple fluorescent UV lights had been activated, making their bio-suits glow. Chris instructed the others to remain where they were; the lift area would provide cover should anything happen.
With weapons raised, they split left and right, staying close to the walls of the lift foyer. They advanced towards a desk set towards the back of the room, behind a row of metal detector machines. Unable to see behind the desk they each passed through the machines, causing alarms to sound, but no one was there to respond.
Behind the desk, the security guard lay dead, but it wasn’t possible to tell if he had died from injuries sustained in an attack by an infected deadhead or had simply died from the side effects of the virus. Nathan turned away, moving back towards the lift, scanning the other doors, and keeping a close eye on the buttons of the panels. He looked back at Chris, gave the thumbs-up signal, and then waited for the same response to indicate that it was safe for the others to move.
Chris looked at the huge round blast door directly behind the security desk. The red light flashing above it indicated that the emergency lockdown procedure had been activated. To the left, a panel also flashed up a brightly lit red warning, but Chris wasn't aware of its significance. He signalled the all clear to Nathan and the others left the lift.
The group stood fast awaiting the arrival of the second lift journey, which swiftly followed. With the whole group now assembled, Nathan moved towards Evie.
“Evelyn, there’s one body, a security guard behind the desk. Looks like he’s been dead a couple of days at least. You might want to take a look. It’s hard to tell what killed him. Other than that, it’s clear. That’s a mighty tough-looking door there. I hope you’ve got a key,” Nathan said.
He walked her to the body of the man. As Evie checked over the corpse, Nathan took the opportunity to get a closer examination of the massive blast door.
“The blast door is three-feet thick, Nate, solid, hardened steel, and weighs several tons. It is hinged at the top and can only be operated from this side once the emergency lockdown protocol is activated. It basically makes the facility the world’s largest tomb. Only three people in the world can open it without destroying it, and they are the facility chief scientific officer, the facility commanding officer, and the secretary of state. Fortunately, I fall into the first category,” she said.
“Impressive,” Nathan said, turning to face the team of now luminescent specialists.
“Stand well back from the door. We’re about to try to gain access to the main lab facility now,” Nathan instructed.
The group took a few steps backwards, staying behind Hobbs and Lewis who shouldered their weapons ready. The C.O. had drawn his standard issue Colt .45 auto, holding it rigidly out in front of him between the two paratroopers.
Evie stepped towards the flashing panel. Knowing that the UV lights would have killed any viral infection on this side of the door, she removed her glove and placed her hand upon the surface of the reader. The red light scanner whizzed top to bottom, and the light changed from red to green. The panel then asked for her unique ID number. Replacing her glove, she entered the code and stood back, waiting—one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and then ten seconds—for one horrifying moment, she thought that nothing would happen.
She turned in despair, looking at Nathan with a mixture of fear and bewilderment before there was a loud hiss. Evie jumped backwards, and Nathan rushed for her, pulling her away further. With five weapons trained on it, the enormous blast door began to lift, slowly tilting on its edge, pushed up by massive gas rams and held by an enormous cylindrical hinge.
Partially mesmerised by the operation, the whole team stood, unable to break their gaze as the size and thickness of the blast door became evident. After what seemed like minutes, the final hiss came as the gas rams sealed once more, holding the immense weight in a horizontal position. Behind was a circular corridor that stretched as far as the eye could see in the dimmed UV light. It must have been a hundred feet wide and carved through the bedrock of the Earth itself, Nathan surmised.
Nobody and nothing moved within, despite the noise of the door being opened. The UV lights in the facility seemed to be working; potentially it was safe to remove the bio-suits but nobody did. Nathan, Chris, and Susan formed a line in front of the group as they edged slowly over the threshold of the blast door, seeing flashing red lights spaced out down the ceiling of the tunnel.
“To the left, there is bio lab one, and to the right, bio lab two. In all, there are fifty laboratories along the almost four-mile corridor. Each would have had its own team working had it been daylight when the explosion occurred. Thankfully, only a fraction of the facility’s complement of staff would have been working; at least ninety people were here,” said Evie as they approached labs three and four.
She stopped dead, as did everyone else, behind the three front guards. Nathan, Chris, and Susan dropped to one knee, each targeting a white-coated, bespectacled man that had come from lab three. He was clearly preoccupied by what he had been doing and hadn’t even noticed the bright, white-suited invaders, yet.
“Stand still!” shouted Chris through the suit mask, and then added, “Do not move until you are told to do so and you will not be harmed.”
“I, I, I’m Dr. Jenkins. Just exactly who are you people?” He began to tremble as he spoke.
“Army, we’re here to get you out. Nate, cover me, please.” Chris said. He took off his facemask hood to enable him to speak to the man more clearly.
“You got in from the surface? Is Dr. Shepherd with you? Oh Jesus, we’re safe, we’re finally safe. Come, come, you must come and see the others,” he babbled, very excited as he began to walk back towards his lab.
“Sir, stand still, please,” Chris reminded him.
He glanced at his colleagues to emphasise the point that he had a lot of weapons pointed his way still. Chris turned to address the white-suited figures behind him.
“Dr. Shepherd, Ma’am, do you recognise this man?”
Evie stepped from behind the C.O. and walked towards them.
“Yes, Staff Sergeant, it is Dr. Mathew Jenkins, he’s one of my team. Matt, are you okay? Are the others alright? It’s so good to see you,” she said.
She took off her bio-suit mask and walked to the doctor with an outstretched, still gloved hand.
“Dr. Shepherd, we thought you were dead. Come, you must see the others because we’ve been worried sick. We thought we would end up locked in here forever. This way, this way,” he said while smiling broadly and escorting her.
“It’s okay, he’s one of mine. You can take your bio-suits off now as this area has its own filtered air system. Follow me please, Sir, this way,” Evie said, addressing the C.O.
They took off the bio-suits before following the two chattering doctors farther along the huge circular corridor.
They stopped by what looked like an electric golf buggy, only longer. It had room for six people with another parked behind it, plugged into an electric charging socket on the wall. Down the centre of the tunnel were lanes for people and the mobile electric carriers, and directional arrows indicated the way to labs branching off either side.
Huge, reinforced glass sliding doors, with an airlock entry and exit system, concealed each lab. The inner glass was the two-way kind that lets light in one way but appears as a mirror on the other side; people inside could see out, but those on the outside could not see in.
Some of the work here was so secret that even those employed here were not allowed knowledge of it. Below them, another quarter of a mile down, was the storage facility, which spanned the entire area beneath the town of Salby, almost five square miles.
“Get in please, everyone. Find a place and use this one too,” Dr. Jenkins said.
He motioned towards the second cart, before pulling the charging cable clear of the socket and flicking a switch on the dashboard.
“You just twist and go. Brake pedal is in the middle, down there, handbrake to the side. Like a standard car,” he added, pointing to the nominated driver, Susan.
“It’s quite a distance. These labs here have been sealed. We left them that way as luckily, there were no staff working at the time the facility went into lockdown. Do you know what caused it, Evelyn?”
“You have no idea of what has happened? You’ve no communications at all? No outside signals? I’m afraid you’re in for a bit of a shock, Mathew.”
Nobody spoke for the remainder of the ride down the vast tunnel. Finally, coming to rest just before a sign that designated Lab Six left and Lab Seven right, they pulled up next to a charging port designated for the cart. Bio-suits hung in glass emergency cabinets fixed to the walls at regular intervals. Doctor Jenkins offered a hand as Evie stepped from the cart and then he addressed the group.
“Ladies and gentlemen, oh pardon me, Dr. Shepherd, would you like to do the honours?” Mathew said, and then corrected himself, remembering that his boss was back.
“It’s okay, but thank you, Matt. Everyone please, welcome to Lab Six of the Salby facility. Here we specialise in bio-chemical agents, antiviral immunisation, and micro-biological warfare—and a few less dramatic assignments,” she announced.
“Let’s get inside. They will be pleased to see you, Evelyn. I’ll introduce your friends and take them around the lab, just so they know what is safe to touch,” Mathew said.
He placed his palm on the reader to open the glass door, which hissed, allowing them access to the airlock chamber.
“It’s only designed for four, I’m afraid, so I’ll get you through first and come back for the others. Doctor, if you would like to go first with the Lieutenant Colonel and two more, please?” Mathew said.
He was unsure of the order that protocol demanded. The C.O. stepped into the airlock chamber, followed by Evelyn, then their armed guards, Nathan and Chris.
“Dr. Shepherd will guide you once you have access,” Dr. Jenkins added.
The doors hissed closed with a mechanical click as the display light turned from green back to red. A few seconds later, the internal doors of the chamber slid open, allowing the four occupants to walk into the open-plan laboratory foyer.
As the mirrored glass doors closed behind them, Nathan, Chris, and the C.O. stared wide-eyed at the spectacle before them. Never in their lives had they seen such a sight.
It's like a Bond movie; just like something out of a film.
*******
The Lab
Finally, everyone was through the airlock. The lab was immense, easily the size of four football pitches and separated into areas. Glass panels with more airlock doors divided each working area and almost everything was white, with the exception of some of the larger electronic equipment pieces.
Numerous scientists in pristine white medical coats worked diligently. There was bright lighting within the lab, necessary to provide optimum illumination for the often-delicate work. They passed a bank of robotic arms, encased in airtight glass boxes, accessed via a drawer-type system. Small vials of liquid could be seen as the arm moved automatically, dropping minute quantities of something into each one.
There were desks strewn with laptops, files, and papers, and scientists with bowed heads, buried in equations and formulae as they tried to make advances in their field. The whole place had an air of clinical efficiency, professionalism, and purpose; no voices rose, except during the snippets of debates between colleagues.
Dr. Jenkins approached a small desk area, just inside the main airlock doors and flicked a switch on the internal comms system, allowing him to speak to the whole lab simultaneously.
“Your attention, my esteemed colleagues, I have good news. Dr. Shepherd is alive and well. Would you please suspend your activities for a few minutes and join us in the conference room, thank you.”
The microphone clicked as he placed it back on the desk, turning off the feed. An audible cheer resounded from the labs as the small entourage made their way to the conference room. By the time they arrived, most of the medical lab staff were already seated, waiting expectantly.
As Evelyn entered, they stood and clapped as a mark of their respect. She took position at the front desk with the C.O. to her right and Nathan and Chris to her left. They waited for the room to fill, the air buzzing with excited chatter and curiosity at the new arrivals. Evie called the meeting to order.
“Thank you! Thank you, all. It’s good to see that you made it through. We had no idea what we would find on accessing the site, and oh boy, there is much to tell you. Firstly, I would like to extend my thanks to Lieutenant Colonel Richard Connell for his assistance and support in getting me here. It is his team and his resolve that has allowed us to be here today,” she said, turning slightly to look at the C.O., who nodded in appreciation.
“Secondly, I’ll update you on the surface status, and then I’ll need you to tell me what has been happening here over the last five days; there will be time for questions shortly.”
Evie took a moment to look at the sea of faces, friends and colleagues alike, before she began.
“In the early hours of Monday morning at a shale gas wellhead site not far from here, an explosion inside one of the boreholes ruptured the main storage tank containing the S.A.L.B.Y strain one virus, which was ejected into the atmosphere over the site. Within a short time, the first victims to be affected by it became apparent, and within hours, the virus had begun to spread.” She paused momentarily to allow the statement to sink in fully.
The room remained in a deathly silence as Evie explained the situation topside, the effect the virus had, the imposed martial law, and the plan to capture live infected.
“At the present time, we are safer down here than we are out there. We have troops covering the surface and they will re-supply the facility. I would ask all who are able to remain here to do so; we’re going to need all the help we can get in the coming days if we are to stop this virus. Now, I need to know the status of the facility and staff, so Dr. Jenkins, if you would be so kind as to update myself and the C.O., that would be appreciated. We can then formulate a plan as to how best to proceed.”
Dr. Jenkins stood next. He was second in command under Evelyn and had assumed responsibility for the facility and the team on shift at the time of the shutdown. In her absence, all personnel reported to him.
“Firstly, on behalf of all of us here, I would like to welcome the return of Dr. Shepherd. You had us all worried for a while, Evelyn. I would also like to extend our thanks to Lieutenant Colonel Connell and everyone who has assisted to this point.”
His statement invoked a round of applause from the medical staff, breaking the sombre mood that had descended.
“Now down to business. You’ll be pleased to hear,
Doctor, that we are only aware of six fatalities so far, though we haven’t attempted to access the storage facility. The explosion shook the complex but this is a tough, purpose-built facility, able to cope with much worse. As expected, the facility went into lockdown, and as you know, this limits the areas we can access. However, having done a head count and checked for injuries, we made certain that all sensitive areas were airtight.” He looked at the officer as he spoke, measuring his reaction to the news before he continued.
“It took a couple of hours for the first signs that anyone had been infected. At that point, we knew that there had been a storage area breach but didn’t know what had caused it. Full chemical and bio emergency status protocols kicked in when the main power failed, reducing us to back-up power source. Since we couldn’t leave, I ordered all scientific personnel to suspend operational duties so that we could concentrate on research and production of an antidote to SALBY strain one. I assumed that it would be the most likely strain, given the proximity.”
Evelyn looked first at Nathan, then at the C.O. with what could have been sorrow in her eyes as the younger doctor continued.
“I mentioned six fatalities. There were maintenance engineers in the lower level lift at the time, and they had been working on the tanks just before the explosion. Eight made it to the lift and came back to this level. They were infected, and the two survivors had already attacked and killed their colleagues, and we think that, when they reached this level, they split up to hunt for more victims. The airlocks on the labs prevented them from gaining access. We could see them wandering around, growing weaker as the days passed.”
Evie buried her face in her hands, clearly finding the account recall upsetting.
“Eventually we didn’t see them, and with a little help from the surviving facility security detail, we managed to locate them both. They were very weak, dehydrated, and unconscious. We put them both into an induced coma and took them to the medical bay secure treatment rooms next door, where we have been keeping them alive. We’re feeding them intravenously as well as with high-protein fluids. However, it is apparent that the virus is now attacking vital organs slowly.”
