Apocalyptic Visions Super Boxset (260 page)

***

The nurse rolled Todd to his side and checked the bandages on his back. He could feel the tape peeling off his skin and the air brush across the punctures from the hooks. The nurse gave a few approving groans, while he heard Emma gasp, and then the nurse taped the bandages back in place.

“So far so good, Mr. Penn,” the nurse said. “We’ll probably only keep you here another day, and you should be free to go.”

Emma, who hadn’t left his side, gave him a kiss on the cheek as the nurse disappeared. Free to go. It was a simple phrase, one Todd hadn’t heard in a long time.

“How are you feeling?” Emma asked.

“I’m good.”

Todd forced a smile and then kissed Emma’s hand. All of it seemed too surreal. The Coalition was gone, he was alive, his wife was alive, and now they could continue their work, finish what they started and begin the process of rebuilding what they’d lost.

But Todd knew that, unlike the cuts on his back, there were some wounds that would never heal. He was alive, but his daughter wasn’t. Of all his failures, of all his fallacies, that was the one that haunted him most.

“What’s wrong?” Emma asked.

“Nothing. I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not fine. What is it?”

He looked into the face of his wife, searching for the life raft in the endless ocean he was struggling to stay afloat in. In those eyes he’d always found solace.

“It took me too long,” Todd said, his lips quivering and his face twitching in anticipation of the tears trying to make their way down his cheeks.

“What did?”

“To save our daughter.”

Emma wrapped her arms around Todd, and he buried his face into her shoulder. His hands dug into her back and hung on for dear life as wave after wave of sobs escaped him. Three years of grief poured out of him, anguish-filled moments he’d kept to himself in private filled the small hospital room, where the one person who understood and felt the same type of pain was with him.

It wasn’t fair. That was a phrase he hadn’t let himself utter in all the time since the beginning of the journey he set himself on. With everything he needed to accomplish, there wasn’t any room for self-pity. But now, sitting at the end of the road, his resolve had finally broken.

It wasn’t fair that their daughter died. It wasn’t fair that they couldn’t mourn properly. It wasn’t fair that all of their work had been taken from them. It wasn’t fair that they had suffered so much. It wasn’t fair that they had to experience so much pain.

Todd cried into Emma’s shoulder until the well ran dry. Once he was done, he wiped his tears until the red, puffy eyes were the only pieces of evidence that remained of his sobbing.

Emma placed one hand on each of his cheeks and looked him dead in the eyes to make sure he heard her. “You did not fail.”

Todd grabbed hold of that life raft, and he felt his body relax. That’s how the two of them had made it this far. Whenever one of them needed the pillar of strength to grab hold of, the stronger partner allowed them to hang on. Neither of them would have survived if they didn’t have each other. He didn’t have to struggle against the ocean currents alone.

A knock at the door broke their embrace, and Todd gave a smile as Nelson, and Luis walked into the room. “Hey, guys.”

“How are you feeling?” Nelson asked.

“Better. I’m glad you guys made it out all right. How’s everyone else back at the community doing?”

“Good,” Nelson said. “It was only another day before Luis showed up after you were taken. Ray’s still in surgery, but the doctors say he’ll make it out all right.”

“It’s good to see you alive and well, Todd,” Luis said, shaking Todd’s hand.

“I can’t thank you enough, Luis. We couldn’t have done this without you.”

“Hey, I’m just the muscle. You’re the brains. You just tell me where to show up, and I’m there.”

Another knock at the door turned the rest of their heads, and Admiral Frizen filled the doorframe. Luis immediately saluted, and Frizen waved him off. “At ease, Commander.” Frizen walked over to Todd’s bed and extended his hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you in person, Professor Penn.”

“I suppose it’s you I have to thank for all of this,” Todd said, gesturing around the private hospital room.

“Well, I wanted to make sure the greatest mind in the country had plenty of time to rest. And I see you’re making good use of it,” Frizen replied, smiling to the others in the room. “But I’m afraid this isn’t a social call, Professor. I had something I needed to discuss with you. We didn’t capture Gordon Reath during the raid in Topeka. We have people working on locating him now. But he did manage to erase all of your data, and he took a scientist with him who had been working on recreating your solution.”

“Where does he think he can go?” Luis asked.

“Our intelligence informed us that he has had several meetings with the Chinese president. We believe he’s going to exchange the professor’s work for amnesty in their country. Professor, I need to know the likelihood that the Chinese will be able to replicate your data into a viable solution.”

“Gordon has everything he needs. All it would take would be someone who had a solid background in biochemistry, and they’ll have what they want,” Todd answered.

“What’s the timeline we’re looking at?” Luis asked.

“NORAD is tracking any flights around the country, so we think he’s driving to the West Coast, where he’ll rendezvous with a Chinese group in twenty-four hours.”

“The West Coast is a big place,” Alex said. The entire room turned to look at him, and Luis had to grab Emma before she punched Alex in the face. “I think you’ll need all the help you can get.”

Before Emma had a chance to unleash whatever wrath coursed through her veins onto Alex’s body, he exited the room and let the rest of them talk it over. Regardless of their decision to include him, he would be tagging along one way or another. But it would be easier for him to find and kill Gordon with the resources of the United States military.

Luis was the first one out of the room, followed by Nelson and Admiral Frizen. All of them were silent, casting their judgments over Alex and of all the things he’d done.

“They want to speak with you alone,” Luis said. Alex stepped forward, and Luis put out his arm to stop him before he passed. “I know why you did what you did. But if I hear one decibel of something I don’t want to hear in that room, I will end you. Do I make myself clear?”

Alex nodded, and Luis lowered his arm to let him pass. Alex walked into the room and shut the door behind him, locking Emma, Todd, and Alex in the room alone together.

It was the first time the three of them had been together since the day Gordon strolled into the Wyoming community and revealed exactly what Alex was doing, without the context of why. Emma still had on the same face Alex remembered. The lines of pain and anguish had yet to diminish.

“You’ve got some nerve coming back here,” Emma said, her voice shaking with anger.

Alex twisted his fingers together, peeling off the dried dirt and blood that was still caked on his skin. He hadn’t changed or showered since the battle, and he hadn’t looked at himself in a mirror in days, so he could only imagine what kind of shape he was in.

“What I did to your family isn’t forgivable. And that’s not why I came here,” Alex said.

“Then what are you doing here?” Emma asked, her tongue slashing each syllable like a knife into his flesh.

“I’m going to kill Gordon. I don’t care how long it takes me or what it costs me. He’s going to die. That’s my promise to you, which is the only form of recompense I can give.”

Alex turned to leave, and when he placed his hand on the door handle, Todd spoke. “The boy from your community. What was his name?”

Alex released his grip on the handle and turned around. “Meeko.”

“I’m not going to thank you for saving me,” Todd said, “but I will thank you for saving that boy’s life.”

With those words, Alex could feel himself losing what small resolve he had left. He could see his own reflection in Emma’s face as she too began to break down. Simple words, yet so impactful. Alex stemmed the tears before they could grow any further, and Emma walked toward Alex and grabbed him by the arms. Her face was a mixture of rage, sorrow, and fear.

“Finish it, Alex,” Emma said. “For good.”

“I will.”

***

The projection of the map across the wall in the briefing room had a red line that started in Topeka then headed north until it reached the Canadian border. Frizen pointed to the final destination, which was a small town off the Canadian West Coast called Victoria.

“This is where our intelligence believes Gordon will meet up with the Chinese,” Frizen said, clicking to another slide with Gordon’s face and his known accomplices. “Now, we know for a fact that Sydney Farnes is travelling with Gordon, along with Gordon’s right hand, Jake Mitchum. In addition to those traveling companions, Gordon also has a team of the best Class 3 sentries his organization had to offer. They are armed to the teeth, gentlemen, and they are trained to draw blood.”

Luis raised his hand. “Have we made any headway with Canadian assistance?”

“No. While the Canadian government has granted us permission to recon, they will not be allocating any resources. They believe this is an American problem and don’t want send any mixed signals to the Chinese.”

Alex could feel the dissent morph through the crowd as Frizen continued his presentation. It felt odd sitting in a war room with soldiers. When Alex was in high school, a recruiter for the Marines showed up and tried talking kids into joining after graduation. He remembered looking over the pamphlet when he got home. His father thought it’d be good for him, but his mother was against it. In the end, he decided not to join. He’d never wanted to put himself in a position where he’d have to kill someone. Now, that was all he wanted to do.

“Every single member of Gordon’s party needs to be brought in. We have no way of knowing if Gordon has duplicated the material to allow for it to make its way into the hands of the Chinese government, or worse,” Frizen said then clicked the projector, which slid back up into the ceiling.

The lights flickered back on, and Alex rubbed his eyes, trying to shake off the exhaustion that had plagued him for the past three years and seemed to have reached a crescendo over the past week. His whole body felt tired. His bones felt like they would snap in half, and his joints cracked and popped as he shifted in his seat. Just a little bit further.

“Gentlemen,” Frizen said, his voice a little louder than before to grab the attention of everyone in the room. “I don’t need to tell you how important this mission is. If the Chinese obtain Professor Penn’s soil data, they’ll use every bit of it to their advantage. We’re on our heels, boys. Everyone in the world can see it. Let’s make sure they don’t add to the growing pile of burden we have on our shoulders. Dismissed.”

The room erupted in activity as everyone started readying themselves for the mission. The weariness in Alex’s body disappeared with the influx of motion, and he found Admiral Frizen speaking with one of his men. “Admiral, I was hoping I could talk to you in private.”

“Of course,” Frizen said, leading Alex away from the rest of the group. “What can I help you with, Alex?”

“I appreciate you letting me be a part of this mission. I know I don’t have the same training as the other soldiers.”

“If it weren’t for you, Alex, I don’t think we would have gotten to Todd in time. I know Luis was grateful for your help.”

Alex reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded up piece of paper. “I was hoping you could deliver this to a friend of mine, if I don’t make it back.”

Alex knew the admiral had probably received hundreds of these requests from men in similar positions, bestowing the onus of the last request upon his shoulders. Frizen must have had good relationships with many men whom he would have agreed to the noble task of helping, but Alex wasn’t sure if he would be one of them.

“I don’t really have anyone else I could give it to,” Alex said.

The piece of paper had one name written on it. Meeko. Frizen took the paper from Alex’s hand and folded it gently into his pocket. “Hopefully I’ll just be able to return it to you when this is over.”

“Thank you, Admiral.”

“What you had to do,” Frizen said, stopping Alex from leaving, “wasn’t easy.”

“I try not to use it as an excuse.”

“Good men never do.”

Frizen left Alex, leaving him alone in the empty makeshift conference room, which had now gone quiet. Alex took a good look at the room around him, absorbing the solitude. Even though he was still in his home state of Kansas, he never felt farther away from home in his life.

The marina in Victoria was modest. A few dozen fishing boats lined piers and docks that jutted from the side of the beach into the Pacific. The waves lapped lightly onto the side of the hulls, bumping the boats into the cushioned buoys on the pillars that kept the docks from sinking into the ocean below.

The moon was out, and the lack of unnatural light from the town inland allowed for the stars to shine bright in the dark, cloudless sky above. Gordon was nestled in the middle of his armed escort, with both Jake and Sydney on either side of him.

The wood panels creaked under the boots of the Class 3s, marching down the dock. Their uniforms and guns blended into the darkness around them as they cut through the night.

“It should be at the end of the dock,” Gordon said.

“I hope these chinks deliver, Gordy,” Kriken said. “Because if they leave us stranded here, you’re going to have a very big problem on your hands.”

Gordon could feel a chill crawl up his spine that he chose to blame on the cool night air. Sheng had told Gordon the boat would be marked with an orange light, glowing from the inside of the cabin. He kept his eyes peeled, searching left and right, trying to locate the boat that would grant them their freedom.

The boats grew larger the farther they walked out on the dock. Jake kept looking around nervously, his hand hovering just outside his jacket for his pistol.

“Will you calm down?” Gordon asked. “Christ. You’re making me nervous.”

“I don’t like this,” Jake said. “We’re too exposed. If we get ambushed here, the only way out is on one of these boats, and I don’t know how to swim.”

“Then don’t fall out.”

Finally, Gordon saw the distinct orange glow coming through the cracks of one of the doors of a cabin. “Wait. Here,” Gordon said, pointing to the ship’s deck.

Kriken and the rest of the Class 3s aimed their rifles at the boat and slowly boarded. The moment Gordon let his foot hit the side of the boat’s hull, a man dressed in a business suit stepped out of the cabin, and the orange light flicked off.

“Mr. Reath,” the man said. “My name is Lu Feng. I’ve been instructed to walk you through the negotiations of your deal with President Sheng.”

Lu was escorted by a few armed guards himself, all of which were wielding automatic weapons. Gordon motioned for the sentries to lower their weapons, which they did so slowly and reluctantly.

“I hope Sheng didn’t think he could change the terms of our agreement at the last second, because it seems to me that I brought more guns than you did,” Gordon said.

“I’m simply here to confirm a reasonable amount of your soil data to ensure that President Sheng isn’t wasting resources on something that doesn’t exist. Do you have the sample?” Lu asked.

Gordon nudged Sydney, who extended a small thumb drive. “There should be enough gene sequences on there for you to see that we’re not bluffing. We’ve discovered a way to enhance the soil to a level with triple to quadruple the soil’s natural properties,” Sydney said.

Lu inserted the drive into a laptop, and the entire boat was silent, rocking gently back and forth, as the data was analyzed. Despite the cool demeanor, Gordon was losing control of his internal functions as he had trouble trying to breathe. Lu removed the drive from the laptop and extended it back to Sydney. “Most impressive. As agreed we will receive the full data upon your arrival in Bejing.”

“So now what?” Gordon asked. “I hope we’re not swimming to China.”

“The boats will take us just north of the city, upon where we’ll make landfall on the peninsula. We have a jet waiting for you,” Lu said.

“Well, I hope it’s a bigass jet,” Kriken said.

“I was unaware you would have so many… associates joining you,” Lu replied.

The boat rocked as Kricken’s men grew uneasy, and he stepped forward between Gordon and Lu. “What the fuck is going on here, Gordy?”

“We’ll make sure there is room,” Gordon said, his mouth suddenly drying. He could see Jake reaching for his pistol. The sentries had a mix of guns pointed at Lu and his men, Gordon, Jake, and Sydney.

“These three boats are here for our disposal,” Lu said. “One of my men will be escorting you on each boat.”