Escape The Dark (Book 4): Caught In The Crossfire

by Fawkes, K. M.

  Chapter 6

  Adam sat stunned for a moment, trying to wrap his head around what the general had said. Sovereignty for California? That’s their goal? They want California to secede from the Union?

  He had been struggling with a feeling of having left time behind him ever since the EMP had gone off and stolen all the electricity from the world. Now that feeling was heightened. This wasn’t a conflict Adam had thought to face in his lifetime. The construction of the United States hadn’t changed in decades. Why talk about secession now?

  And for that matter, what good was it going to do anybody? Worrying about who California belonged to seemed so abstract, so conceptual. Adam would have been less shocked if Thompson had told him they were fighting to rename the state “Thompsonville.” This seemed to matter just as little.

  But Thompson had called the secession the primary reason for setting up a base in California. This wasn’t just some strange flight of fancy. This was something he was serious about. He would pursue it with everything he had.

  “What difference does it make?” Adam managed to ask, after a long silence had passed.

  “What do you mean?” Thompson said.

  “You said you’re not in contact with any other military units. Why bother declaring California independent when you’re not talking to anybody else anyway? Who are you declaring your independence to?

  “Our independence,” Thompson corrected.

  Adam didn’t argue. If Thompson wanted to make assumptions about Adam’s allegiance, that was fine by him.

  “We’re thinking forward,” Thompson said. “We’re thinking of the future. I understand that that might be a…shift…for you. We’ve had a few others join us in the last couple of months, and they were all living day to day before they got here. I assume it was much the same with you?”

  “Yes,” Adam admitted.

  Thompson nodded. “One of the most powerful things we’re able to offer members of our unit is a sense of possibility,” he said. “We’re not just thinking of how we’re going to survive today, or this week, or even the next season. We’re thinking years into the future. We’re thinking of what the world is going to look like as we start to rebuild from this catastrophe.”

  Adam opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it.

  What could he possibly say?

  The idea was so tempting.

  Could it be that Thompson and his soldiers really did have a plan to recreate society? Was life going to stabilize and become normal again? And if it did, would Thompson’s militia be the driving force behind that?

  “So you want California to be on its own as you start to rebuild,” Adam said.

  “That’s correct,” Thompson said. “I don’t trust the government to help us, to take us where we need to go. But I can. I can build a world that’ll be safe for the people under my command.”

  “What if they don’t want to be a part of your vision for the future?” Ella asked.

  Adam bit down hard on his lip. What is she thinking? He’s never going to trust us if she keeps asking such revealing questions!

  Thompson’s eyes narrowed. “Why wouldn’t they?” he asked. “Did somebody say something to you?”

  “No,” Ella said. Her voice pitched up slightly, and Adam could tell she was nervous. She was backpedaling. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to question the plan or anything. I just wondered how you convinced the others that it was the right path to follow.”

  “Oh,” Thompson said, his face relaxing a little. “They weren’t very hard to convince, to tell you the truth. Most people, with everything they’ve been through, are pretty eager to follow anyone who’s willing to lead.”

  Ella cut her eyes sideways at Adam.

  Not fair, Adam thought. I’ve been plenty willing to take the lead for a long time now. It’s not like I knuckled under the first time someone challenged me. And even now, I was able to be critical about the situation. Just because I hoped we’d be able to trust these people, that doesn’t mean I fell for their act.

  Still, he had a feeling Ella wasn’t going to let him forget it for a long time.

  “Okay,” Adam said. “So you—we—want independence. It can’t be that hard to get it. I doubt there’s much organization out there. Are there any other fighting forces?”

  “We think there are some,” Thompson said. “We think groups at other bases and in other states probably got together the way we did. And then, we know for a fact that the president was flown to a safe house before the EMP went off. So we suspect that he and some other high-ranking members of the government are probably still alive there.”

  “And you think they’re just going to let California go without a fight?” Adam asked.

  They may not have anything to fight with,” Thompson said. “We only suspect that there are other military forces. We don’t know for sure that there are. And even if those forces do exist, we have no idea if they’re fighting for the president.”

  “But they probably are, right?” Ella said. “What are the odds that everybody defected? Soldiers are generally pretty loyal, aren’t they?”

  Thompson got to his feet. “Why don’t you come with me,” he said. “I’ll show you why they will listen to what we have to say, and why we’re going to get what we want in the end.”

  He led Adam and Ella out of the tent and back across the grounds toward the dome where they had found Julie.

  Adam’s nerves twanged. Was Thompson taking them back to the laboratory? What would happen if he realized that his scientist, the one he’d killed to acquire, was the sister of the new woman in his camp? He’d increase the security around Ella for sure, maybe even separate her from Adam. That would make their escape all but impossible.

  But Thompson led them around to the far side of the dome and opened a door there with a key. The door opened on a flight of stairs leading down into darkness.

  Adam regarded the pit dubiously.

  “Hang on,” Thompson said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small flashlight, flicking it on.

  Adam stared. How long had it been since he’d seen an artificial light source? “I guess you had flashlights in your bunker too?”

  “Only a couple of them,” Thompson said. “Not enough for everybody here to have one or anything. We use them sparingly. But we need them to get down here and have a real look around.” He paused. “Don’t touch anything, all right?”

  “What’s down there?” Ella asked.

  Thompson didn’t answer. He just turned and began to descend the steps.

  Adam supposed they already knew what was down there, really. He felt for Ella’s hand, gripped it, and headed down behind the general.

  At the bottom of the stairs, they made their way down a narrow corridor, and then Thompson unlocked another door. We’re under the tower now, Adam thought, not exactly sure how he knew, but certain he was correct.

  The door closed heavily behind them. Thompson pressed the flashlight into Adam’s hand, and Adam shone it around, taking in the contents of the room.

  Ella shuddered against him.

  It took a moment for their eyes to adjust, even with the light. Adam couldn’t quite make out what was around him. It seemed strange and alien, structures he didn’t recognize. Long rods, bound together in clusters, and grouped around a circular hole…

  “This is a nuclear reactor,” Ella said quietly.

  “That’s right.” Thompson’s voice seemed to come out of nowhere. Adam wasn’t exactly sure where the man was standing, and he felt haunted and frightened.

  “But it doesn’t work,” Ella said. “We would need some kind of protection to stand here if it was active.”

  “Right again,” Thompson said, and now he stepped close enough to them that Adam could see the glint of his glasses. “And you would feel the change in the air, as well. It’s not pleasant to stand next to an active nuclear reactor.”

  It’s not pleasant to stand next to this one, either. Adam didn’t w
ant to admit it, but he was afraid of the strange device. He was anxious to leave the facility as soon as possible.

  “Why are you showing this to us?” he asked Thompson. “We already knew it was here.”

  “Because of these.” Thompson took hold of Adam’s wrist and gently guided his arm to aim the light on several cylindrical objects.

  They weren’t an organic part of the reactor, Adam knew—they’d been added to it. But it took him a moment to understand what he was seeing.

  Then he got it, and it felt like the breath had been punched out of his lungs.

  “Are those explosives?” he whispered.

  “That’s correct.” Thompson’s voice was deadly serious.

  “You’re going to blow it up.”

  “I’m hoping we don’t have to do that,” Thompson said.

  “But if you set off these explosives this close to the reactor…” Adam’s mind was racing. “I’m not a scientist, but isn’t that basically going to turn this facility into a nuclear bomb?”

  “Something like that,” Thompson said. “It would activate the potential of the reactor in the explosion.”

  “You’re talking about setting off a nuclear bomb.” Adam was shaking now, suddenly desperate to get out of this tower. He wanted to turn and run, and yet he didn’t dare.

  “We would be foolish not to take full advantage of all the resources at our disposal,” Thompson said quietly.

  This was it, then. This was the secret Julie hadn’t wanted to tell them. This was there reason the militia had established their base of operations in such a strange and dangerous place. They had come here to take control of the nuclear reactor—and to create a makeshift bomb.

  But how could anybody want to do such a thing?

  How did this help them achieve their goals?

  “There’s a bomb,” Adam said, thinking out loud, trying to make sense of the general’s plan. “But there’s no rocket launcher. There’s no way of getting the bomb to travel.”

  The general waited quietly.

  “You’re not going to set it off somewhere else,” Adam realized, horror taking root in the pit of his stomach.

  “No,” Thompson said.

  “You’re going to set it off here.”

  “As I said, I’m hoping not to,” Thompson said. “That would be the very last resort.”

  “But you’re considering it,” Adam breathed. He couldn’t believe it. This man who had seemed so paternal, so concerned with the safety and happiness of all the people on his base…could he really be thinking of doing this heinous thing? What would it possibly gain him? Everyone here would be killed. Even Thompson himself would be killed.

  He’s crazy, Adam realized. He’s got to be. That’s the only possible explanation.

  Thompson was walking around the perimeter of the reactor in long strides, touching it in various places. Adam shone the light on the man’s hand and watched as his fingers grazed a bundle of explosives.

  “This weapon we’ve made is a powerful one,” Thompson said. “If used, it has the power to do more than just blow up our base. Everyone here would die, yes, and that would be a terrible sacrifice to make. I know that’s what you’re thinking. I can see it on your faces.”

  “Of course that’s what I’m thinking,” Adam said. “How could that possibly be worth it? What would it gain anybody? So many have died already.”

  “I have to think about this from a military perspective,” Thompson said. “I have to take every possible asset into consideration. And I have to leverage those assets to get myself the things I need.”

  “Okay, so what does this get you?” Adam asked, trying to keep himself from shouting.

  “If the weapon is detonated,” Thompson said, “it’s powerful enough to destroy the entire West Coast. More than that. The inland states as well. And we think that that’s probably where the remains of the US government are located right now.”

  Adam connected the dots. “You’re saying you want to use this weapon to threaten the president?”

  “I’m saying that because we hold this weapon, the president has to listen to us,” Thompson said. “I’m saying this weapon gives us the power to make our voice heard.”

  “But you said the president had been moved to a safe house,” Ella said. “Won’t that stand up to nuclear attack?”

  “Possibly,” Thompson said. “But the chemicals in our weapon would have the added effect of poisoning the water table. Even if the president is secure, he’s got to be getting his water from somewhere.”

  “So you’d kill him that way,” Adam said. “By taking away access to clean water.”

  “Not just for him, but for everyone,” Ella added. “This isn’t an attack on the president, it’s an attack on the entire world.”

  Adam tried to control himself. He knew he shouldn’t be allowing Thompson to see his reaction to this. He wanted the man to trust him. But this was going too far. If he and Ella ran away, this weapon would still be here, threatening the rest of the world. He had to at least try to make the general see sense about the plans he was making.

  Thompson sighed. “You’re not the first to react this way,” he said. “I know it’s hard for people to understand, especially those without any military background. It’s hard for people to see these things as nothing more than levers that can be used to move pieces on the game board into the positions we want them to be in.”

  “It isn’t a game,” Ella said. “This is going to kill thousands of people. Millions, maybe, if there are millions left. We’re not at a point where we can be cavalier with any human life.”

  Thompson nodded. “We’re banking on the fact that the president will see it the same way,” he said. “We’re hoping that when he realizes what we’re working with, he’ll agree to our terms.”

  “And if he doesn’t?” Adam asked, even though the answer seemed evident now. Surely Thompson couldn’t really mean to set off this terrible weapon. He was using it as a threat, yes, a means of exerting his will over the government. But he wouldn’t really unleash this kind of destruction on the world.

  That would be a monstrous act.

  But Adam thought again about the murders he’d seen, the mutilated bodies.

  It was all too likely that monsters were exactly what he and Ella had fallen in with.

  “Come on,” Thompson said. “There’s no need for us to stay down here. Let’s go back up to my tent, and we can continue this conversation there. Perhaps over dinner?”

  Adam had never felt less hungry in his life, but he knew that when the shock wore off he would be glad to have eaten. He nodded numbly and followed the general out of the tower and back toward the surface.

  Chapter 7

  Adam resumed his seat in General Thompson’s office feeling shaken. A nuclear bomb. Right here beneath our feet. Because that was what it was, really, wasn’t it? Maybe this facility had been used for research once, but it had been warped and twisted. Now it was a death machine.

  Worse still, it was a death machine that couldn’t be sent anywhere.

  If that bomb ever goes off, this is going to be ground zero, he thought. Right here. These people, who trust General Thompson with their lives, are going to be the first to die.

  He wondered how many of them knew about the bomb. It hadn’t seemed like a big secret. Thompson had certainly been all too willing to tell Adam and Ella about it. He had practically been bragging, Adam thought, feeling faintly disgusted. He had indicated over and over that he was only doing what was necessary, making the most of the resources he had been given. He seemed to think he was doing what any other military commander would do under the circumstances.

  But if that’s true, Adam thought, then why isn’t he worried that this is happening all over the world? Why isn’t he assuming that every other military commander left alive has rigged up something like this?

  It’s because he knows, on some level, that you have to be a little crazy to resort to this kind of solution. He k
nows this isn’t normal or right.

  Adam hardly noticed when a man in uniform appeared, balancing three plates. He set them down on Thompson’s desk, then pulled three plastic bottles of water out of a backpack and set those down too.

  “Go ahead,” Thompson urged. “Eat. You look dead on your feet. You must be hungry.”

  The presence of food reminded Adam that he was, in fact, hungry, and he pulled the plate close. The meal was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a pile of French fries, and green beans that looked as if they had come from a can.

  It might as well have been a five-star dinner.

  “Eat,” Thompson said again. “I know you have questions. You’ll think more clearly with a little food in your stomachs.”

  So Adam picked up the sandwich and took a bite.

  The taste of food in his mouth seemed to remind him of just how hungry he really was, and for a moment he forgot to worry about the bomb or General Thompson’s insane plan. All he could think about was the miraculous taste of peanut butter and jelly, transporting him back to his childhood, to a simpler and safer time.

  “How do you have bread?” Ella asked.

  Thompson raised his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

  “Bread should have gone moldy by now,” Ella said. “It’s not like you can freeze it to keep it fresh.”

  “Oh,” Thompson said. “We make our own. We have flour.”

  “Do you have eggs?”

  “We have chickens.”

  Ella blinked. “You’re kidding.”

  Thompson laughed, and the grandfatherly persona was back as if it had never left. “We found them on a farm not too far from here,” he explained. “One of my units is in charge of tending to them and collecting the eggs when they lay. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to procure any cows, so we don’t yet have a reliable source of milk or cheese.”

  Goats, a part of Adam’s mind thought.

  And another part thought, who did he kill to lay claim to those chickens?

  He didn’t verbalize either thought. Instead he said, “Can we talk about your plan for the bomb?”

  “What would you like to know about it?”