by Lee Bradford
Suddenly the lightbulb went off in Paul’s head. He looked at Ava, who was staring up at them, waiting for everything to click into place. “What about all the radiation?” he asked, dreading the answer he was sure was about to come.
She shook her head. “The radioactive cloud missed us by about a hundred and fifty miles.”
Buck’s jaw dropped. “You’ve got to be kidding me. This whole time they were lying through their teeth.”
“They have, but as you’ll see it was a lie with a purpose. Inside this compound there is only one other person I can trust. It’s someone you know and I’ve asked them to find Susan and Autumn and bring them here.”
“Autumn ran away,” Buck told her. “At this point she and Brett could be hiding in one of a million places.”
Ava pulled up a black screen with the words ID SEARCH: next to a dialogue box. She typed in Autumn Edwards and hit enter. A three-dimensional cutaway of the complex appeared showing a flashing red dot on the third floor of Ark Three.
“How’d you do that?” Buck asked.
“Each of you has been tracked since the moment you arrived. We knew about your visit to the restricted waste management area, which was one of the reasons it became too difficult to protect you any longer.”
Buck’s hand dropped to his right buttock. “That first shot…”
“… wasn’t a shot at all,” Ava explained. “It was a chip implant and if you want to stay hidden, we need to remove them right away.”
Paul and Buck exchanged an awkward glance.
The old man took a deep breath. “Something tells me I’m not gonna like this one bit.”
Chapter 35
When Susan arrived, Buck was bent over the back of a chair with his pants down while Paul was behind him wielding a steel laparoscopic grasper.
She shielded her eyes. “Oh, my goodness.”
Paul and Buck straightened right away.
“It’s not what you think,” Paul stammered, waving the grasper in the air.
Buck reached down to raise his pants, which had fallen around his ankles.
“He’s removing a chip,” Buck struggled to explain.
Susan nodded. “If you say so.”
Ava was stifling a giggle.
Paul turned, searching desperately for support. “Will you tell her?”
Ava’s face grew serious as she crossed the room and began explaining the situation. By Susan’s side was Craig, Ava’s trusted confidant. Paul watched the rollercoaster of emotion as she was filled in. When they were done, he asked about Autumn.
“She’s in a restricted area of Ark Three. I couldn’t get to her without raising suspicion,” Craig said. “Once those chips of yours are out, I’m gonna head back and try again.”
“Find Brett Stephens,” Susan said. “He’s a good boy, I’m sure you’ll be able to talk some sense into him.”
Ava touched her shoulder. “Brett may be one of them. His orders come from commanding officers who are ultimately loyal to Van Buren. He can’t be trusted.”
Paul’s lingering hope that he would ever see his daughter again was beginning to dwindle. With a heavy heart, he returned to the task at hand.
After the distasteful and somewhat bloody act of removing the tracking devices from each of them was done, Ava placed Buck’s and Susan’s into a sealed plastic bag and handed it to Craig.
“Drop these in different locations. Might keep them guessing for a while if they begin to search.”
“What about mine?” Paul asked.
“The director wants a celebration and the president has asked you to perform.” She held up the tiny silver tracking device, no larger than a grain of rice. “We’re gonna sew this into your tunic for now. If you need to disappear, simply pull the thread and throw it away.”
Buck sat down with a wince of pain. “You still haven’t told us about the second phase of Genesis.”
“The details are still murky,” Ava said, “even for me, but his plan has something to do with the inoculations he’s been giving you.”
“They were placebos,” Susan said, explaining what she’d discovered the day Wendy was taken.
Ava nodded, scratching her chin.
“But then today I was called away to load the vaccine fridge with the inoculations for tomorrow morning and I saw those ones weren’t placebos at all, but something called simian hemorrhagic fever.”
“Simian hemorrhagic fever?” Paul said, suddenly more terrified than before. “That doesn’t sound good at all.”
“A weapon his biomed corporation’s been working on,” Ava informed them, swinging around in her chair, her hands flying over the keyboard. A file came up by the same name along with research results.
Paul scanned over her shoulder. “A three-day incubation period with a sixty-percent mortality rate. I have to say this isn’t nearly as deadly as it sounded at first.”
“Maybe not,” Buck shot back. “But sixty percent of three hundred and thirty million still adds up to a lot of dead people.”
“Perhaps the purpose isn’t to kill everyone,” Paul theorized. “Maybe they just wanna thin the population. Make it harder for everyone to rise up and fight back when the New World Order is put into place.”
Buck looked surprised by Paul’s insight. “And what better way to keep folks from banding together than filling them with fear about being exposed to a deadly virus?”
“But how exactly do we fit in?” Susan wondered.
Ava looked at each of them. “That part is devilishly simple, I’m afraid. Get the civilians within Ark One accustomed to receiving shots. Then introduce the virus and release them back into the world to spread the virus. It would certainly explain the long incubation period.”
Paul ran a sweaty hand through his hair. “So you’re saying that in a few days from now, hundreds of human time bombs will be spreading out across the country.”
“If that virus gets out,” Ava told them, “there won’t be a country left.”
Chapter 36
Not far from the monitoring station, Ava led Paul, Buck and Susan to what looked like a utility closet. Ten by twenty feet long and lined with three rows of metal shelves, it was a room the two men had become familiar with during their rounds as maintenance workers, a place where they stored extra cleaning supplies, mop heads, buckets and anything else a janitor might need to fulfill his duties. The three of them couldn’t help wondering why Ava had brought them here. That was until she yanked one of the shelves away from the wall near the back, spilling bottles of detergent onto the ground as she did so.
A section of gyprock two feet in diameter had been cut and meticulously replaced. She removed the loose piece, set it aside and reached into the dark hole, emerging with a heavy sports bag. Buck moved in to help her, noticing the familiar clanks as they pulled it free from the opening.
Leaning over the bag, Ava unzipped it, revealing an assortment of weapons. Tactical shotguns, M4s, 9mm pistols, even a few MP5 submachine guns.
The concern on Paul’s face contrasted with the look of elation on Buck’s.
“Where’d a little lady like you get all this sweet firepower?” the old man asked her.
“One piece at a time,” she replied. Reaching into the hole, she came out with another bag filled with ammo.
“I’m not sure I like where this is heading,” Susan said, cupping her elbows.
“What are you, crazy?” Buck said. “How else do you expect us to blast our way out of here?”
Even Ava was surprised by this.
“You wanna run away?” Paul asked, wondering whether he heard the old man right.
The derisive look on Buck’s face made it clear what he was saying. “We didn’t start this mess. I’m sure you know where I stand. It’s every man for himself in this world.”
“Really?” Susan challenged him. “If that were true then where would we be if Ava hadn’t been watching our backs?”
Buck’s gaze moved to Ava and the disappointed look
crinkling her soft features.
“I’ll be the first to admit I’d like nothing more than to grab Autumn and get out of here,” Paul said. “But this virus business, it changes everything.”
Ava’s voice was measured. “They’re right. Even if you manage to break out, which I doubt, you’d never really be safe. If it wasn’t from the fear of simian hemorrhagic fever finding you, then it would be the Gestapo-style police under Van Buren’s totalitarian regime.”
Buck pulled a Benelli shotgun from the pile and stroked the steel-reinforced polymer. There was a fierce debate going on within the old man and it wasn’t clear at all which side was winning. At last he replaced the weapon and rose to his feet.
“I didn’t come here to be a hero,” Buck said. “I got in this mess ’cause I set out to save my family. If they wanna risk their lives on a doomed mission, then so be it, but the first chance I get, I’m outta here.”
“Well, that isn’t a big surprise,” Paul shouted. “You still think of yourself as some kinda lone wolf who doesn’t need anyone. What are you gonna do when you get back to your barn and find it’s been burned to the ground?”
Buck straightened his shoulders. “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. No sense worrying about a theoretical event that may never happen.” He turned to Ava. “You stuck your neck out for us and for that you have my gratitude. But I didn’t cause this mess so I sure as heck ain’t gonna clean it up.”
And with that Buck spun on his heel and walked away.
“He’ll be back,” Susan said with a touch of fear and desperation. “The old coot’s just being stubborn.” Her pleading eyes found Paul. “Right?”
Paul nodded half-heartedly as his father-in-law turned the corner and disappeared. He wanted to offer his wife a glimmer of hope, but something inside told him Buck was gone for good.
Chapter 37
With heavy hearts, they left the utility room a short time later. Paul and Susan each took a Beretta M9A3 pistol along with two additional magazines, hiding them under the waistband of their Ark-issued outfits. The plan for dealing with Van Buren and his objective of infecting the civilians in Ark One was simple. The concert Paul was set to headline this evening would offer a distraction while Susan destroyed the virus being stored at the infirmary and Ava set fire to the biolabs in Ark Two. Of course on paper it sounded fine, but even Ava had to admit that without the explosives her fellow agents were supposed to have provided, she was still unsure how to blow up the labs. Especially since they were the means by which Van Buren could produce more of the virus. A lot of things had to go right for this to work and there wasn’t nearly enough time to plan for every eventuality. And now that Buck had fled the coop, the situation had quickly gone from bad to worse.
The three worked their way down the corridor and toward the elevator.
Once inside, Paul pulled Susan into a tight hug.
“Be careful,” he told her, pushing a length of red hair behind her ear.
“I’m not the one about to get on stage to perform for the first time in decades.”
The butterflies in his belly stirred. “Good point.”
The doors opened and the three of them went in different directions.
Distinctly aware of the pistol under the waistband of his pants, Paul headed for the mess hall. As he drew closer, he caught the sound of musical instruments being sound-checked. Soon, he saw that the entire dining area had been transformed. Tables had been folded in half and pushed up against the walls, which only made his anxiety grow. An improvised stage had been set up. Already civilians and Ark employees alike were beginning to flood in. Within thirty minutes, the mess hall would be packed to the rafters with people who’d been cooped up for days, all eager for an outlet.
“You’re late,” the guy in a suit barked from on stage. “You practically missed sound check.” He flipped through a checklist on his clipboard. “I’m sure I don’t need to tell you just about everyone in the Ark will be here tonight.”
Paul winked as he walked past him, feeling that old cockiness coming back. “Believe me, I’m counting on it.”
As Paul was tuning up his guitar before a growing crowd, Buck was descending into the depths of Ark Three to find Jeb and Allan. The MEP room—mechanical, engineering, plumbing—was a particularly impressive array of pipes, levers, valves and boilers. Workers in a mixture of coveralls were busy adjusting, tweaking or in a few cases simply monitoring various gauges. For all of its high-tech beauty, even the guts of a futuristic place like the Ark came down to lengths of copper pipe, boilers and the men who made sure all of it was kept running smoothly. Past this area, Buck came to the generator room and the men who maintained it.
The racket from inside was near deafening as the huge diesel generators worked to provide power.
“It’s not a good time, Buck,” Jeb said when he saw him. “We lost power from the grid about an hour ago and we’ve been running off of backup generators.”
“Greers Ferry Dam went down?”
“Ain’t sure. The juice has come and gone over the last couple days,” Jeb yelled over the noise. “I’m sure it’ll be back, but the number four generator’s been acting up and we’re about to shut it down for repairs.”
“Believe me, I wouldn’t bother you if this wasn’t an emergency. But we need to talk.”
Jeb bit his lip. “I can give you five minutes.”
“That should do. Where’s Allan? We’ll need him too.”
The three men entered a small disheveled office and shut the door. Hanging from a thumbtack on the wall was a calendar of nude women.
Over the course of the next few minutes, Buck laid out exactly what he’d learned. Both men sat in awed silence.
“Are you absolutely sure about this virus business?” Jeb said, rubbing his grease-stained hands together.
Buck nodded. “Would I waste your time coming here if I wasn’t?”
“Oh, brother,” Allan said. “It’s so much worse than we thought.”
“So why am I getting the impression you ain’t sticking around?” Jeb asked.
“For the simple reason that this mess ain’t mine.”
The wheels were clearly turning in the back of Allan’s head. “There sure are a lot of folks who are gonna die if we do nothing.”
“I suggest the two of you take what you need and be ready to hightail it out of here. This is a dog-eat-dog world, gentlemen. You gotta look out for number one.”
They didn’t seem convinced. “If you say so,” Allan said, turning away.
“Hey, if you wanna be heroes then I suggest you go find Craig and offer him your services. You’re gonna have to move though, ’cause the situation’s about to heat up real soon.”
“We just took you for a better man than that,” Allan said, not falling for Buck’s attempts at misdirection.
Buck’s temperature began to rise. “I came out of my way to give you boys a heads-up and this is how you repay me? You may not agree, but I certainly don’t need to explain myself to you.”
“No, you certainly don’t,” Jeb said, backing down a little. “What about your family? They going with you?”
Buck shook his head. “I can’t help it if they’ve decided to stick their necks out for a bunch of strangers.” His eyes fell so he wouldn’t have to see the disappointment in their faces. “Anyway, there’s another reason I came. I heard there’s a reservoir filled with diesel around here somewhere.”
Jeb nodded. “There is. It’s what we use to power the generators. Why?”
“Think you can spare some?” Buck asked, not entirely sure they’d still be willing to accommodate his request, not after all this.
“How much you need?” Jeb asked, looking uncertain.
“About enough to fill the tank of a Hummer.”
Chapter 38
Approaching the infirmary, Susan did her best to ignore the anxiety building up in her fingers and toes, a feeling that migrated up her spine and drew her scalp tight against th
e top of her head once she was inside. One of the few nurses left on duty was bandaging a child’s foot.
“How come you’re not at the concert?” the nurse asked with a touch of incredulity.
Susan tried to laugh and could only hope it didn’t sound too forced. “I forgot something.”
The nurse nodded and smiled, but something about the way her eyes traced Susan’s path toward the back of the infirmary made Susan even more uneasy.
She still wasn’t clear how to destroy the vials of simian hemorrhagic fever, especially without exposing herself to the deadly pathogen. Unlike other hospitals, the infirmary didn’t have an incinerator where old medication and biohazardous materials could be disposed of. No, that would have made her life far too easy. She also couldn’t exactly pack the vials up and cart them off, not without being spotted and arrested, or worse.
In the infirmary’s tiny lunch room next to the coffee machine was a metal trash bin. Susan removed the trash bag and carried the metal can to the refrigeration area. If she couldn’t bring the virus to an incinerator, then she’d just have to bring the incinerator to the virus. Along the way, she opened up a cupboard the nurses used to store tongue depressors and bandages and scooped out four bottles of rubbing alcohol. In a lower cupboard was a pack of matches nurses kept for relieving the pressure from smashed fingers. In particularly bad cases blood tended to collect beneath the nail and the only way to relieve the pain was to heat a paperclip and burn through the nail itself.
Armed with these items, she hurried into the refrigeration room, careful not to be seen. Although she hadn’t spotted anyone else, it wasn’t unthinkable that at least one other nurse might be on duty. She began by opening each of the fridge doors, grabbing handfuls of vials and depositing them into the trash can. The fire would surely trigger an alarm, but by then she hoped to be long gone. After the third and final fridge was empty, Susan opened each of the bottles of rubbing alcohol and poured them over the vials. She was on her last bottle when a knock came at the door.
