Timothy eyed the bag, his stomach growling.
“You know… before all this?” Nick said. “Before the monsters, the war… you know what I did?”
You were a drug dealer or an ambulance chaser? Timothy thought.
“I was a dentist with a wife I adored and two kids that would be your age now,” Nick said. “I lost everything. You want to know why?”
Timothy stayed quiet. It was hard to believe this man could be anything but a traitorous animal.
“Because of our corrupt government and some fringe scientists that created the monsters,” Nick said. “So I decided, you know what… why fight them?”
He raised his lip, exposing a rotted tooth.
You sure you were a dentist? Timothy wanted to say.
“Why not use those beasts against the government that created them?” Nick continued. “Why not take down the cog that keeps this war turning?”
“Maybe because the beasts will kill all of us if we don’t stop them,” Timothy said, trying not to sound too sarcastic. He managed his tone. “They aren’t pets to be controlled. They’re apex predators designed for the single purpose of killing.”
Nick snorted. “Figured you’d say that, kid. You’ve got a lot to learn if you want to survive the reign of the New Gods.”
Again, he reached into his pocket.
Nick pulled out a key chain and unlocked the cell. Then he handed Timothy the plastic bag full of mushed food. “Eat and come with me.”
Timothy took it before Nick could change his mind again. They set off down the passage side by side. He was so hungry that he didn’t bother looking at the people in the other cells while he downed what tasted like leathery roast beef and gravy. The lukewarm food filled his gut, and for the first time he felt a flood of relief.
By the time they arrived in the lobby of the prison wing, he had finished off the last of the food and was digging inside with his fingers to get the last drops of gravy.
Two guards sat at a card table with mugs of coffee and eggs over easy. They glared at Timothy while he passed.
The exit door of the lobby opened to a passage lined with closed doors. Nick kept his hand on the grip of a pistol while they walked.
Timothy wanted to ask where they were or what this place was, but he didn’t want to sound like a cop. He let his eyes do the investigative work.
There were no windows. Everything was basically concrete and steel, which told him it might be some sort of old military bunker.
But that didn’t quite explain the first chamber where he was pasted to a wall or the silo where the bats were stored to feed the beasts.
He got another look at that silo a moment later. The hallway came to an intersection. The passage on the right ended with the mesh wire that held back the bats.
This time he didn’t hear any of their fluttering wings.
Nick went left, toward the sound of footsteps. Several guards with slung rifles walked toward them. Both men nodded at Nick who dipped his baseball cap.
Two more intersections later, and he stopped outside a door with a rusted radiation sign on it.
“Go inside,” Nick said, opening the door.
Hanging lights guided the way up a steep ladder of rungs built into the wall. Another radiation sign marked a hatch at the top.
By the time Timothy got to the top he was out of breath.
“Open the hatch,” Nick said.
Timothy hesitated, then twisted the wheel handle until it popped open. Another long hallway greeted them with a single door at the end.
When Timothy turned for orders, Nick had his pistol pulled and pointed at him.
“Walk,” he said in a completely different tone. His features hardened as he pulled the hammer back.
Timothy’s stomach dropped.
“What’s going on?”
“Kid, I see right through you. You think you’re smarter than us. Thought you were smarter than Vin, too.” Nick jabbed the pistol forward. “But I ain’t Vin, now move it.”
Timothy set off down the passage toward the rusted door at the end with a third radiation sign. Each step felt more like his last, and he braced himself for the bullet to the back of the head. He cursed himself for not making a move earlier when he had noticed the gun. It could have been his way out.
But how could he take down Nick with a gun aimed at his head?
There was no way he could fight back. He had to try and talk Nick down.
“I can help you guys,” Timothy said. “You need me.”
Nick didn’t reply, and Timothy kept walking all the way to the door.
“Open it,” Nick said.
“I…”
“Open the goddamn door.”
Timothy grabbed the wheel handle and twisted it, expecting to see a room full of starved Variants that would eat his corpse after a bullet blew out his brains.
But there were no Variants inside.
He walked onto a platform overlooking a massive room with a high ceiling that reminded him of a hangar. Huge banks of lights illuminated the concrete walls ribbed with iron beams.
“Look,” Nick said.
“What?”
“Look below you.”
Timothy drew closer to the platform’s edge. Dozens of tents and other temporary shelters were pitched on the ground below. People, many of them women and children, walked about casually, some of them talking.
At first, he thought the people were prisoners like him, but most seemed happy, and a few even shared smiles as they went about their day. Some ate off plastic plates gathered around crates serving as makeshift tables. Others waited in a line for food outside a shack centered in the large hangar style room.
Nick grabbed the back of Timothy’s neck, forcing his head down over the edge of the platform. Timothy’s palms sweated as he knelt at the platform’s end, his fingers gripping it tightly.
“You see those people?” Nick said.
Timothy nodded.
“I lied before… my family didn’t die during the war,” Nick said. “My family is here, protected from the new corrupt government and military.”
“And you’re not afraid of the Variants?”
“Fear isn’t the word I would use to describe it,” Nick said. “You were right, kid. The monsters will take over everything if we don’t join them.”
He eased the gun back a little. “The New Gods want the same thing as us. To end the very government responsible for their miserable existence, and I’m one of the warriors that will help them achieve victory on the battlefield. You can be too…”
Footsteps sounded behind Timothy and Nick lowered the gun.
“There you are,” someone called out.
Timothy turned as two men with weapons slung over their shoulders walked through the hatch out onto the platform.
“Want to tell me why you brought him up here?” asked Pete. “We’ve got a briefing to get to.”
Alfred stood next to him, staring at Timothy and sizing him up.
“I wanted him to see the truth,” Nick said.
“You sure he’s ready?” Alfred asked.
“I’m the one that gets to make that determination,” Pete said.
Nick fidgeted, like he had done something wrong.
Timothy already knew Pete was the leader, and Nick seemed to be the second in command. Alfred… Timothy wasn’t sure what the hell his job was. He acted like a religious freak the way he’d offered Timothy that strange blessing the night before.
After a moment of silence Pete shrugged. “Guess now is as good a time as any to introduce Vin’s replacement to the others.”
Nick pushed Timothy toward a ladder leading to the ground.
Once they were on the ground-level with the tents, the three collaborators flanked Timothy. Women and children watched them go, and one kid no older than eight waved.
The kid actually looked happy.
Nick stopped and rustled the kid’s hair, and then reached into his pocket and pulled out a cho
colate bar. The kid grabbed it, a grin spreading across his face.
Timothy tried staring straight ahead until they got to a door that opened to another vast room like the one with the tents. Inside, were all sorts of vehicles and equipment, but most of them looked old, maybe Cold War era.
Only a few lights glowed over the space, but it was enough to see they were heading toward another door.
Two guards waited there, cradling rifles. Both came to attention.
The next room was smaller with a flag hanging over an entire wall. A symbol resembling a misshapen skull was emblazoned on it.
It looked almost alien.
Metal tables furnished the center of the room and lockers lined a wall. About twenty men wearing military-style clothing sat in chairs facing a podium.
Pete walked in front of them and they all abruptly stood. Their eyes flitted to Timothy; scrutinizing him, some sneering, others with clenched jaws.
“Everyone, I want you to meet Timothy,” Pete said. “He’s going to help us get back into Outpost Portland.”
— 16 —
Four Outpost Manchester soldiers headed toward a red-brick building that had been converted into apartments long before the war. Behind them, trailed Kate and her family, along with Horn and his girls.
“Don’t give them too much leash,” Horn kept saying.
Tasha and Jenny tugged against Ginger and Spark as the dogs pulled on their leashes, sniffing the new ground curiously.
The entire area was guarded by men wearing uniforms. Kate noticed a white Raven stitched onto the breast of each uniform, the symbol of the outpost. Few outposts had made the effort to give themselves an identity people could unite under. That kind of tactic, though seemingly minimal, was a surefire way to give people a sense of belonging and stoke their loyalty.
Sometimes winning hearts and minds was just as powerful as providing people with weapons.
Of course weapons were crucial, and Manchester had plenty.
Razor wire fences surrounded the streets. Armored vehicles passed by with soldiers in the turrets. Outpost Manchester was the most protected place Kate had seen yet, which was another reason why it was selected for researching the mastermind.
The soldiers were taking them to the new home they’d all been promised. It stood a little way down from a similar building that housed the laboratory Kate would be working in.
“This is it,” the security guard said. “I’ll take you in.”
The other guards stopped outside as the guard took Kate, Beckham, Horn, and their children inside.
Their footsteps echoed eerily down empty, tiled hallways to a set of creaky wood stairs. They climbed these to a landing in a dimly lit hallway with antique sconces glowing over exposed brick walls.
“I don’t like this building,” Javier said.
Ginger and Spark both stopped, letting out low growls.
“Apparently they don’t either,” Kate said.
“This place is definitely on the creepy-side,” Tasha said. “I wish Timothy was here; when is he going to join us?”
Kate and Beckham shared a quick look. They still hadn’t told the kids what had happened.
“I don’t know,” Horn replied when Beckham and Kate didn’t.
Jenny stopped to look at a cobweb. “I’d be surprised if it isn’t infested with roaches,” she said.
“Spiders aren’t cockroaches,” Javier said. “But I agree, this place is nasty.”
“We’re not going to be here that long, but at least we’re going to be together,” Beckham said. “Try to make the best of that, okay, buddy?”
Javier shrugged.
Kate was glad to have them together again, but she dreaded telling the kids about everything that had happened. She and Reed had decided to wait until they could all have some quiet time together. And that hadn’t happened since the rush of packing and leaving the USS George Johnson to travel here.
In truth, she wasn’t sure when they would ever find enough downtime to have those tough conversations. They had arrived only an hour earlier, and as soon as they got settled, she would be off to the lab to see the beast Team Ghost had captured.
“This is it,” said the security guard. He pulled out a key and unlocked the door. “I’ll wait in the hallway for you, Doctor Lovato.”
“Thanks…” Kate said.
“Oh, and ma’am, I don’t mean to rush you, but I’ve been ordered to get you to the lab as soon as possible,” said the guard.
“She’ll be just a few minutes,” Beckham said.
The man nodded and said, “Yes, sir.” He stood against the hallway wall while Kate followed her family and Horn’s inside. The dogs took off, probing the place with their noses and taking in all the new scents.
Kate followed Jenny and Tasha through while Horn and Beckham rested their cleared rifles against the wall.
The apartment was covered in dust. Cobwebs clung to the corners. A wide kitchen opened into what had been a plush living space. Panes of sunlight filtered in through windows to illuminate the dust motes floating in the air.
“This place has to be haunted,” Javier said. “I mean, look at it!”
He swiped a hand through one of the cobwebs.
“It’s not haunted,” Beckham said. “This used to be the penthouse suite of the whole building. Five bedrooms, more than enough to go around. Just needs some cleaning up. I’d say we’re pretty lucky.”
Ginger and Spark barked at a corner and then jumped back as a cockroach skittered away.
“Gross!” Tasha yelled.
“What did I tell you?” Jenny said, turning around toward Horn.
Horn smashed the insect with a boot, then picked it up and dropped it into a trash can while the dogs sniffed the ground.
“Ain’t haunted, just got a few bugs,” Horn said.
Jenny wrinkle her nose. She sneezed and wiped her face with her sleeve. “Dad, I really wish we could just go home.”
“Yeah, when do you think we can go back home?” Tasha asked. “I really miss Timothy and all our other friends.”
Horn winced at the question. That was another thing they hadn’t told the kids about. Kate still couldn’t believe the collaborators had destroyed their houses.
She pushed aside the depressing thoughts and toured the apartment. Back when this place was new, it probably cost nearly a million dollars. The expensive furniture was now coated in dust, but at least the place didn’t smell moldy like so many other abandoned homes.
The kids all moved to the windows with the dogs to look at the Merrimack River, but Beckham directed them to get back.
Kate recalled the bats from Outpost Portland, and suddenly didn’t feel safe at all.
“Exactly how long do we have to stay here? One week? One month? A year?” Tasha asked, looking back at her dad.
“We won’t be here that long,” Kate said.
“All that matters is we’re together again,” Horn said.
Jenny hugged her dad’s side. “I missed you, Dad.”
Javier plopped down on a couch, dust puffing out.
“Well that’s just great,” Beckham said.
“Sorry…” Javier said.
Kate pulled Beckham aside into the kitchen. “I’ve got to get to the lab, and I know you have a meeting with the outpost commander. Who’s going to stay with the kids?”
Beckham gestured for Horn.
“You’re on babysitting duty first, Big Horn,” Beckham said. “Keep the kids away from the windows, okay?”
“Why?” Javier asked.
“Just do what I say, please,” Beckham said.
Tasha looked to him and then Kate.
“You’re leaving already?” she asked.
“Kate and I have work to do,” Beckham said.
“Horn, see if you can find some cleaning supplies in the closest,” Kate said. “Girls, Javier, maybe you can help him?”
They groaned, and Horn grumbled.
Kate and Beckham said their goodby
es. He grabbed his rifle and opened the door. The guard led them down the hall and stairwell back to the ground level.
It felt almost odd being with her husband again. Kate wanted to take his hand in her own, but he was distracted. Probably with the same worries and heartaches about everything they had lost and everything that was still at stake.
“Let’s try to meet up for dinner,” Kate said.
Beckham nodded. “Nothing short of a Variant attack is going to stop me from sharing a meal with the family. Let’s plan on eight o’clock.”
They headed outside where they were greeted by the growls of vehicle engines and barking orders of soldiers rushing to reinforce the barricades and weapons around the wall protecting the outpost.
People in civilian clothes walked around, but there weren’t many of them. The biggest group was a line gathered outside a building where recruits were being processed for the military.
Weeks ago, there might have been a farmer’s market set up there. Kate could almost picture the smiles, the laughs, and the peace of mind. The Allied States of America under the Ringgold Administration had been, for a while, a place of hope.
So much had changed in such a short amount of time.
“Captain, command is that building,” said the guard, pointing. “Doctor, if you would follow me, I’ll take you to the lab.”
“Sure you’ll be all right?” Beckham asked Kate.
“There are plenty of people to keep the lab secure,” she replied. “You go meet with the commander.”
He nodded and planted a kiss on her lips. Then he pulled her into a tight hug, and she lingered there for a second, wishing they could stay like that longer, letting the world around them fade.
But duty called. For both of them.
She let Beckham go and then followed the guard. They navigated through the busy groups of mostly uniformed men and women working to set up defenses and help refugees move into their new homes.
Kate followed the guard toward a long parking lot between all the converted, red-bricked buildings that lined the river. They didn’t stop until they reached a sign that read, Organ Innovation Technologies.
That company had disappeared during the war, but the facility remained standing.
Extinction Cycle: Dark Age Box Set | Books 1-4 Page 51
