Death and The Divide (18 page)

When the gap widened enough for them to pass, he took the light and led. They entered a round culvert likely made of concrete about ten feet wide. More metal steps led up its side.

“Time to climb again,” he said.

Ria headed up, tugging on the rungs to make sure they would hold her weight. At the top, another round tunnel ended in a grate. On the other side, he made out a basement still in use. Of four rows of lights on the ceiling, one cast a dim glow over the space. The area held machines that ran heating and air-conditioning, but no one was there. At least they had a little light. He breathed a sigh of relief.

“I think I can kick it in,” he said, scooting close. He aimed his feet at the grate and gave it a push.

“Almost,” Ria said. “Keep at it.”

After three tries, one side broke loose. He bent it back enough for them to squeeze past. Now they would move through areas in use. They wouldn’t pass unnoticed. If they made it to this tech guy’s place without being caught, Linc would consider them very lucky.

Up a flight of stairs, they entered a storage space with locked wall units where residents could store items they didn’t need in their apartments. Their footsteps echoed in the long hall between the units. Up another flight of stairs, they made it to the first floor.

“Here we go.” Ria took a deep breath and opened a door. She peered around the edge. “All clear. The lobby is empty.”

“I bet everyone is in their apartments with the doors locked,” he said. “Nothing like a revolution to keep people at home.”

She made a derisive snort. “Unlike us crazy folks trying to escape the one city in the DOA that’s safely shielded from invading cannibals.”

“I’m thinking cannibals might be better than this RD group.”

She cut him a ‘you’ve got to be kidding’ look. “At least the RD won’t eat you alive.”

As they left the stairway and headed across the carpeted open area in the center of the lobby, the lift door opened. A young man and woman came out.

“I just think it would be safer if we had it in the apartment with all this upheaval,” the woman was saying.

“All right. All right. It’s at the back of the storage unit,” her companion replied. “We’ll have to dig it out.”

Linc put an arm around Ria’s shoulder and whispered in her ear. “Act natural. Don’t look at them.”

Her body stiffened under his arm, but she kept going. They reached the glass double doors and stood looking out until the couple left the lobby.

“See anybody out there?” she asked.

“No.” He tilted his head to view the sky. “No drones, either. Let’s go. We can head for that storefront across the street half a block up. It has a recessed entryway where we can hide.”

She nodded and pushed open one of the doors. They ran flat out to the shadowy space, and pressed against a wall. 

“We made it,” she said, her breath coming fast.

“You’ve got this tech guy’s address programed in? Conner gave it to you, right?”

“Yes. I went there once before, but I can’t remember exactly where it is.” She pressed a command on her wristband. “This says we have to travel three blocks west and two blocks north. He has a sign over the door that says Orbit Computer Repairs.”

“We’ll take it in stages.”

As they started to leave the sheltering store front, a military vehicle whizzed past. They ducked into the shadow. A drone buzzed over like a fat, lazy bee. After a last glance up and down the street, he said, “Now.”

They ran to another awning-covered entrance. The progress was slow, but they managed to avoid patrols and overhead surveillance. They encountered other people scurrying along the sides of buildings in the same manner. So, everyone wasn’t sitting at home waiting. Hopefully they made it to a shelter before the RD soldiers caught them.

“There.” He pointed, spotting the sign for Orbit Computer Repairs hung over a small establishment barely wider than its door. Sandwiched between two larger shops, it almost went unnoticed.

“He lives in the basement, Conner said.”

“Let’s hope he lets us in.” Their night would go from bad to worse if he refused and they had to make their way back to Ria’s parents. They might not be so lucky on the return trip.

“I’m not leaving until he does.” She pressed her lips together in a firm line.

Chapter Eighteen

“What the hell? Are you trying to wake up the neighborhood?” Minlo’s pale face scowled at them through the crack in the door. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re under martial law. I don’t need attention from those goons.”

“Min, come on. It’s me, Annaria. Lola’s sister.”

“I know who you are.” His gaze slid to Linc. “Who’s he?”

“A fellow scientist helping me work on the parasite project. You know about that, right?”

“Yeah, it was on the news.” His scowl didn’t lessen.

She glanced over her shoulder to the night shrouded street, nerves on edge. “We need help. Can you let us in?”

“Why should I? I don’t want any of your trouble. I got enough of my own.” He made to close the door.

She jammed her fingers in the opening, hoping he wouldn’t slam them. “Min, these people who took over the government, we found out tonight that they set off the bomb in the plaza. They’re the ones who killed Lola.”

His scowl quivered. After a second, his face crumpled. He allowed the gap to widen and stepped back so they could enter. He slammed the door behind them and hit the lock pad. Without speaking, he turned and headed to the back of his dimly lit store. Not much of a place, it had a counter with shelves behind it stacked with a dozen computer accessories. Two cheap molded chairs sat on one side of the room, and a wall rack of chargers and cases occupied the other wall.

She and Linc exchanged a puzzled glance and she shrugged. She’d always questioned if this was his real business. He used to take Lola out to dinner a lot, and bought expensive presents for Conner. He wasn’t hurting for credits. He did actually fix her computer once when it stopped connecting to SatNet, but this didn’t look like a booming business place.

Min kept walking and took a flight of stairs to the basement, a completely different world from the shoddy storefront above. Beautiful, artistic furniture joined thick colorful carpets, and a variety of art covered the walls - everything from painted masks to intense abstract paintings. This explosion of tastes surely appealed to Lola. In fact, Ria identified one of her sister’s watercolors there. It depicted a lovely scene of Main Park in spring with lots of pastel flowers and a robin’s egg blue sky. She must have been happy when she painted it.

“Have a seat,” he mumbled with a vague wave to a bright red sofa piled with tapestry and animal print covered pillows.

Linc pushed a couple pillows aside and sat, making a place for her as well.

“So what do you want?” Min asked in a flat voice.

Lola’s death must have hit him hard. This demeanor opposed his former happy-go-lucky outlook, always joking and laughing. He flopped into a chair shaped like a hand, his lanky legs sprawling and his gaze focused on the floor.

“The people who took over the government call themselves Radical Democracy,” Linc said. “They’re responsible for the attack on the Triumvirate member as well as the bomb that went off in the Plaza. They want to insure the North and South never unite.”

Min shaded his eyes with one hand. “They murdered Lola.”

“Yes, they did,” Ria said. “And we need to get away from them. They won’t allow us to collaborate anymore, and they plan to keep the cure from the South if we find it.”

“That’s mondo depressing news. So what are you going to do?” Min lowered his hand and met her gaze.

“My boss, Dr. Manson, is the lead on this project. We can’t solve it without him. Apparently, the Triumvirate learned of the impending attack just before it happened and sent him away so he could complete his research at a secret facility.” She nodded to Linc. “Dr. Butler and I need to find him. He called us tonight and wants us to go to Kansas City, but we don’t know how to escape the security and shields.”

Minlo cut his eyes away then back. “What do you think I can do about that?”

She twisted her fingers together, trying to stay calm. Frustration and the need for haste made her want to shake the guy, but she understood he mourned Lola and his subsequent inertia. He’d loved her sister, and she had to give him that.

“Conner thought you might be able to help us. He said you’re a computer genius.”

A slight smile lifted one side of Min’s lips. “Conner, he’s a great kid. I miss him.”

“He misses you, too. If you visit him, it would help both of you deal with my sister’s death.” She lowered her voice to a soothing level. “He said you can hack into programs or something. We’re desperate for anything you can do.”

“Hack?” Min sat straight, a disdainful expression on his Asian features. “I don’t hack. I’m a fucking master of the bot universe. I go darker than anyone has ever gone before in SatNet. I’m tight with cyber world like you have no idea.”

Linc gave him a level stare. “Then you should be able to help us.”

Min hesitated a few moments then lifted his head. “All right. I can get you out of this hole. But then what? You’ll never make it to Kansas City with these goons all over the place. Have you seen the mondo drones in the air?”

“We have to try,” she said. “Do you have any ideas that will make it possible?”

“Yeah,” he said, crossing his arms. “I’m fucking going with you.”

***

“You don’t have to do that,” Linc said.

They didn’t need to put this guy in danger. Enough people had died already. For him and Ria it was different. They had no choice in stopping the infection. They were committed. This poor guy, still mourning his lost love, had no business in this kind of situation.

“I know what I do and don’t have to do.” Min gave him a condescending look. “There’s nothing for me in this jerked up capital with Lola gone. I want to do something to hurt these mondo bastards who blew her up.” His face fell and he let his gaze drift as if looking inside. “I also understand the importance of stopping the parasite.”

Ria moved close to him, softly, as if approaching a frightened kitten. She made a soothing noise and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Min, you could be killed. I can’t stand to have that on my conscious. Please reconsider. If you give us direction, you can help without placing yourself in peril.”

“It’s not your decision to make,” he said, his expression going firm. “Besides, you two would never make it if I don’t help you. If you’re tight about the necessity of defeating this parasite, then you have to take me.”

Linc shared a glance with Ria. He was right. They wouldn’t even make it past the shield wall without his technical knowhow. “All right. You’re in.”

Min’s lips slowly stretched into a grin, his face taking on a shine of determined purpose. He shook Linc’s hand. “Good. I have to pack some scoop that will help us. Then I’ll be ready to go. You guys can raid my kitchen for food to take if you want. There are packs of vitamin water, too.”

  “Are you sure this is the right thing to do?” Ria whispered as she lifted food packs and Nutri-bars from a cabinet. “I feel guilty involving him.”

“Doesn’t seem like we have a choice,” Linc replied, placing some of the silver vitamin water pouches in his bag. “If we don’t let him go, he won’t help us.”

“I’ll feel truly horrible if something happens to him.” She brushed straggling curls from her face.

“Something could happen to all of us.” In fact, it probably would. Their chances of surviving a trip to Kansas City were low. If they weren’t captured trying to escape the shield, they’d likely be found along the way. He gritted his teeth. It didn’t matter. They had to try.

They finished emptying the kitchen of portable food and returned to the living room. Ria picked up a vid-frame that showed a clip over and over of Min and Lola sliding down one of the tubes at the water park, laughing as water splashed around them. Their faces were so bright and happy. She brushed away a tear and returned it to the table, facing away.

After about thirty minutes, Minlo appeared. He’d changed into dark green canvas pants with numerous pockets and pouches along with a black knit tunic with a hood and long sleeves. He slung a backpack over one shoulder and handed a clear square chit to Linc. “This is a Northern ID for you. Might come in handy.”

Ria frowned. “Won’t we need some sort of special I.D.’s to leave the city?”

He shook his head. “That’s not how we’re getting out. That would never work with these goons, anyway. They’re not going to let anyone out or in until they think they have the city completely cowed into submission.”

Linc slipped the I.D. into his sealed shirt pocket. “You’re probably right. So what’s the plan?”

“I’ll have to find a vulnerable area of the shield and drop a grid large enough for us to pass through.” He took a palm-sized device and pressed some buttons.

“Drop a what?” Linc asked, completely confused.

Min waved a hand, staring at the device’s screen. “Don’t worry about it. Pack your scoop and follow me.”

***

“This way,” Min whispered, as he ran across the street to one of the city’s power conduit buildings.

“We’ll never get in there,” Ria said, racing after him. After an hour of dodging soldiers and drones, they’d reached the edge of Omaha and she could see the silver sheen of the shield ahead behind one last row of structures.

Linc plowed into her back as Min abruptly stopped then ducked under a metal tank protruding from the side of the ten-story building. She grunted at the impact but kept her feet.

“Under here,” Min called in a low voice.

She and Linc went to their knees and crawled into the two-foot high space. The buzz of a drone passing above had her holding her breath until quiet again claimed the night.

“What are you doing?” Linc asked Min who held a pen-like device with a light on one end close to the building wall.

“I looked up the plans for this place. It used to be a biohazard filtration plant. Once all the waste from the War was dealt with, they converted it to a housing for a digitizer conduit.”

Ria turned to Linc and mouthed, “Biohazards, great.”

“There are some extraneous parts of the structure that were closed off in the remodel. We’re going to make use of them.” A panel of metal loosened where he worked and he returned the pen to one of his pockets and pulled the piece free. “We should be able to squeeze through here.”

He disappeared into the dark square hole that appeared.

“I hope he knows what he’s doing,” she said and crawled in after him.

They continued through this unlit literal crawl space until Min stopped and used his pen to open another hole. When that panel came free, a blue light filtered in along with a whirring mechanical sound.

Min scrambled through the opening. She and Linc followed, emerging into a small room glowing with blue lights on panels that lined the walls. Some of them blinked and some alternated with white lights. Small levers interspersed the lights.

“This is the bypass circuit control room,” Min said softly. “From here we need to reach the digitizer in the main conduit area.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, so just go,” she said. His technical mumbo jumbo made her head hurt.

He exited this area through a door that led to a hall. Overhead lights made her squint after traveling in the darkness. Footsteps ahead caused her to freeze. The sound faded and she released the breath she’d held. This was nuts. They were going to be caught. Her heart pounded so loud she was sure someone would hear it and find them.

Min had moved ahead and turned down a side hall. She hurried after him. He’d already gone through another door that opened to a larger room of equipment she couldn’t identify. Light here was lower than the hall and cool air brushed her face bringing with it a whiff of silicone and oil.

Linc closed the door softly behind them as Min continued ahead. “This must be the main housing of the conduit.”

“Hey, you can’t be in here,” a man shouted at Min and advanced toward him. He wore an orange utility worker’s tunic and pants.

Linc pulled Ria behind a piece of equipment and raised a finger to his lips. The man hadn’t seen them.

“I’m, uh, from the new government, um, expecting the facilities,” Min said, taking a step backward.

“That’s bullshit, you little twerp. Stop right there.” The beefy man hastened his pace as Min ran, dodging behind one of the numerous pieces of machinery.

“Damn it,” Linc muttered. “Stay here.”

He ran from their cover to overtake the worker. She squeezed her hands into tight fists of anxiety and followed. No way she was going to hide while they were in trouble.

Min and the orange-clad man darted from machine to machine with the beefy guy swearing and panting. Min was thin and quick, but eventually he became cornered.

“Who are you and how did you get in here? This place is closed to civilians.” The man advanced, arms out, ready to grab her friend who pressed against a wall, eyes wide in alarm, and breathing hard.

As the worker lunged, Linc shot from behind a metal support beam to the side and whacked the guy over the head with a piece of heavy rubber tubing. The heavy man crumpled to a heap.