Dead Force Rising (12 page)

“Great, I want to know what this
asshole's interest with me is,” Thorn grunted, tossing her file on the desk.

****

John flipped through the phone log
for the past month for the second time, gradually eliminating one number after
another. One number continued to pop up. It appeared to originate somewhere
near base however the extension dialed was a small office off the dayroom, not
the lab or doctors quarters.

The uneasiness in his gut from
earlier returned with a vengeance. Something was hiding here just below the
surface, taunting John to discover it.
 
John
looked at his team mates scattered about the room. All seemed buried in their
task, all that was but one.

Beamer had a strange half smirk on
his face as he flipped through a surveillance log he was suppose to be examining.
Every now and then, he’d check his watch and the slight grin would get a bit
larger. Something was definitely off. John motioned for Hark who stopped what
he was doing and came over, taking the seat to his right.

“I want you to go the control room and
have them pull the images for the team office for these days and times,” John
said low, sliding the highlighted paper toward the other man. “If I’m right we
have a fox in the hen house,” he said, shooting a glance across the room to
reveal his suspicion.

“You go it,” Hark replied quietly
before standing and heading out.

John wondered if Thorn and Miss
Williams had found anything of interest yet. He was glad
she
 
wasn't
here, knowing she was safely out
of the area if his qualms were to be confirmed. The last thing he wanted was
for her to become a target because of anger directed at him. Still, he longed
to have her at his side. H sighed with realization. He loved the woman, even if
they’d only truly known each other a short while.

Hark reappeared a cross look on his
face telling the results before he could speak.

“What are we going to do?” he asked
as John surveyed the room and considered the next step.

“Lock the door. It’s time for some
answers.”

John stood, shooting Bell a silent
command to flank Beamer as Hark clicked the deadbolt into place. The resonating
click caused Beamer to raise his head, his eyes going wide as he realized the
entire team now stalked toward him. They had him cut off, nowhere to go, no one
to call.

“I want some answers,” John growled
as he felt his beast vibrate through him, ready for a battle it knew would
come.

“I don’t know what you’re talking
about,” came Beamers snarling response as he stood, knocking his chair over in
his haste.

“Then perhaps you can explain these
or why you keep checking your watch. What are you waiting for?” Rose countered,
tossing the pile of papers he’d been examining across the table.

“You have no idea,” Beamer shrieked,
his body shaking in rage. “None of you're half of him and he wants her. What he
wants he gets!”

“What have you done, worm?” Bell
asked as he moved to close the space separating them.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Thorn gathered her entire file up
along with several things Karen printed from the doctor’s computer and began to
follow the woman out, intent on rejoining the guys in the dayroom. This was a
lot to absorb. She’d been thinking that her run in with the creature while at
work was just a case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. However, with
these new revelations she was no longer so certain. Could she really be a
target of some sort? She was no one of real importance in these matters.

She waited as Karen punched in the
code, which would open the door back to the corridor, her arms loaded down and
her mind on the hope John might have found something as well. The large metal
entries slid apart and Thorn felt her heart nearly burst from her chest as she
looked into the face of her brother Thomas standing before her.
 
She tried to speak, but could form no words
as she stared at him, the papers she carried falling forgotten to the floor.

“Hello sis.”

“H
..H..how
?”
She finally managed, still standing unmoved.

“He’s one of them,” Karen said, looking
between them, pale and obviously frightened.

It was then Thorn noticed the peeking
fangs and amber color to his eyes. Could
It
be
possible that Thomas was the unknown subject from the first of Dr. Hough’s
little experiments? It was the only explanation that fit.

“What are you doing here?” Thorn
asked as Karen began to ease back toward a call box.

“I’m here for you,” Thomas said as he
shot his hand out and seized Karen by the neck, lifting her completely off the
floor. “I have big plans for our family.”

Thorn leapt forward, attempting to
pull his arm down as Karen struggled to get free as he continued to squeeze her
neck until the woman began turning blue.

“Let her go. You’re hurting her,
Thomas.” Thorn pleaded as he pushed her away with his free hand and laughed.

“Why Thorn?
She’s nothing but another sheep,” he
chuckled.

“I said let her go!” Thorn screeched
,
throwing a hard kick into the back of his knee, knowing
her friend couldn't survive much longer if she failed to act.

Thomas tossed Karen against the wall
as Thorn's foot connected and his knee buckled slightly, not adequate to bring
him down but obviously enough to get his attention. Thorn considered making a
run for it, however that would leave an unconscious Karen unprotected and
despite his current state, she still couldn't come to grips with her brother
being anything other than the man she’d known.

“Nice to know you still have some
spunk,” Thomas growled as he slapped her so hard she flew backward, skidding
across the tile.
“Though I must say your manners suck.”

Thorn stared up at the man she’d once
known. He might look and sound like Thomas but
he
 
wasn't
her brother any longer. The man
she’d known would never act in such a way. This was wrong, he was wrong and for
the first time in her life, she feared him. Panic gripped her and Thorn looked
about wildly for anything she could use as a weapon against him.

“What’s wrong, sis? You don’t seem
happy to have me back,” Thomas snarled, stalking toward her, an evil grin
twisting his pale, thin lips.

****

John ran as fast as his beast could,
flashing
through the halls with Hark and Bell close behind, a
mixture of panic and rage driving him forward. He had to find Thorn. They’d
left Beamer a broken, bloody mess locked into one of the specimen holding
cells. The asshole was lucky the kid had kept him or Hark from killing his
sorry ass once they discover the bastard was playing both sides. To think one
of their own, along with the doctor, had let Thomas inside was unbelievable.
Then again, the knowledge that his former best friend was now the enemy he
hunted wasn’t any easier to swallow.

The sound of Thorn's frightened
scream filled the air, nearly causing his beast to break free of the thin
thread of control he held. John needed to reach her, his sanity depended on it.
Reaching the last door way, he pounded the pass code into the small key board
as both his companions looked at the door blocking their way as though at his
word hey would tear it away. Sucking in a breath, he stared at the chaos
revealed when the door opened.

Thorn was nowhere in sight, only a
semiconscious Karen who leaned against the wall, large welting finger marks
visible on the pale flesh of her neck. Papers and images lay strewn about the
floor, photos of Thorn sitting in her car outside a club where she’d watched
him, ones through the windows of her home, and even one taken at Arlington.
They’d been watching her, planning this.

Bell moved to Karen’s side gently
helping her to sit up as John focused on the next door. Evidently, Thomas knew
they would try to follow. He’d managed to destroy the control box, blocking
their attempt to reach him before he exited the Nest.

“Bell, take Karen to the infirmary
and call the General. Tell him what’s going down then meet us in the armory.
Where going to find my girl and put her brother back in the grave,” John
ordered as he took out his K-bar knife and used it to pry the fried panel from
the wall. If Thomas was collecting family members then he had an idea where
they could find him next. With a bit of luck they could be waiting on him
before he could get Thorn stashed and get there. John hoped to God he hadn’t
yet hurt her.

It took several agonizing minutes and
several choice words before John was finally able to override the mechanics of
the doors and slide them open. Heading for the armory, he ran through a
checklist in his head of all the things they would need. Luckily there were a
few weapon modifications made in the past few weeks that the good doctor and
even Beamer were not privy too. Things that were about to get their first live
test.

“So do you have a plan or are we just
going to run in and kill everything?” Hark asked as they entered the
experimental weaponry lab.

“That thought had crossed my mind,”
John admitted with a shit-eating grin as he ran his clearance card to open one
of the lockers. “But I don’t plan on being so reckless. My gut tells me he’ll
stash Thorn somewhere and attempt to grab his wife and daughter as well.”

“So are we actually going to let that
monster get his hands on some kid whether she’s his or not?” Hark asked
concerned.

“No, I plan to head him off and force
him to tell me where to find Thorn.”

“Well I hope he follows the plan,”
Hark told him, grabbing the large weapon that looked like it was straight from
a science fiction movie off the holder. “Now this is what I call a weapon.”

“Damn boss, you got one of those for
me?” Bell asked, walking through the door.

“Here you go kid,” John said, tossing
a similar weapon to the youngest team member before grabbing one for
himself
. “What did the General have to say?”

“He said he wasn’t going to tell you
not to do this, because you wouldn’t listen anyway. So he wished you luck and
said he’d find a way to handle the shit storm he thinks is coming,” Bell
informed John while grabbing an armload of special ammunition.

“Is Miss Williams all right?” Hark
asked with a slight grin.

“Susan is good. A little battered and
frightened,” Bell replied with a bit of blush painting his young face.

“Well, let's go end her fears then,”
John barked low and menacing as the three headed for the door.

****

Thorn awoke slowly, her head
throbbing and the stench of filth and decay burning her nose. Her shoulders
ached, twisted around behind her, allowing her hands to cross around what felt
like an old metal pipe, tied securely. The sound of something scuttling nearby
drew her attention making her squint to see through the darkness. Taking a deep
breath, she focused, drawing strength from something deep inside, something living
just beneath her surface. Instantly her vision shifted. The darkness dissipated
away as easily as if someone had flipped on a light switch.

A scrawny looking man scurried in the
corner moving about on his hands and feet like a rat or mouse looking for a
stray crumb of cheese. His head was bald, his clothes tattered and torn. He
looked up at her, perhaps realizing she was watching him. The strange little
man was one of those creatures she’d seen inside the specimen cells at the
Nest. Thorn had heard them referred to as zombies but she thought they were
more like some sub-creature than what Hollywood portrayed to be the undead.

“Master said no touch, never touch,
will hurt if touch,” the creature mumbled nearly incoherently.

Looking around, Thorn took in the
rest of her surroundings. She was in some sort of abandoned factory, rotting
wood pallets lay scattered around large rusted pieces of metal, which most
likely were the heartbeat of this long dead place.
 

Thomas wasn't
around,
neither did she feel anything other than her creepy friend occupied the
building. Thorn couldn’t put her finger on it, but something in her felt
different. Other than the fact she was stilling trying to process the fact her
dead brother was no longer dead and no longer the hero she remembered.

“You come here and untie me now,” she
screeched at the creature that scurried back into the corner at the sound of
her voice.

“The Master said not to touch, the Master
would hurt.” It babbled from a position that resembled a dog
who’d
been beaten.

Sighing, she realized that thing
would be of no use. Instead, she focused her attentions on trying to work loose
the ties holding her wrists. Throwing her head back, she struck it onto the
metal pipe holding her, listening to the echo as it filled the room. Anger
began to rumble through her. Anger that the brother she loved and mourned was a
monster who man handled her and left her bound in such a place. Anger over the
fact her friend was most likely dead from her inability to protect her, and
anger that the man she loved most likely was heading for a showdown with
Thomas. Thorn felt the rage pulsate through her, her every breath more ragged
than the last, and the thing now living beneath her skin rippled through her
muscles, popping the bindings that held her with a simple flex.