Meteorite Strike (19 page)

“I said I wouldn't leave you,” he replied, not taking his eyes from the narrow dirt track they were following. “But there's just one thing…”

Sarah noticed that his voice sounded suddenly very weary, as if he had expended all his energy on the rescue. Looking at Daniel, Sarah saw his eyelids hanging heavy and when he looked at her he seemed to be fighting hard just to keep them open. The virus.

“Oh, no…”

He gave her a weak smile.

“The doc said I wouldn't have much time. Any of you guys know how to drive a truck?”

27

The interior of the HIDRA truck looked a bit like a mobile home, with two seats up front for the driver and passenger and a big open space in the rear with seating and fold-down beds set into the walls. The back was packed with all sorts of scientific equipment, and was clearly designed for research expeditions. Robert and Louise waited in the rear with the sleeping Wei while the older members of the group crowded round the front. The dashboard of the truck was a confusing array of switches and computer read-outs, but Daniel assured Nestor that he didn't have to use most of them. It was much bigger than a normal vehicle, but the principles of driving it were the same.

“This is the brake,” Daniel told him, pointing to the pedal in the middle at his feet. “The clutch is used when you change the gears. That's the accelerator. You steer with the wheel.”

“Thanks, he's not totally stupid,” Sarah said, punching Daniel in the arm.

Daniel laughed, but she could sense the fatigue spreading through him. He didn't have long before the virus took hold fully. He motioned for Nestor to sit in the driver's seat. The boy was tall for his age and his feet easily reached the pedals.

“The important thing to remember is to put the clutch down when you want to change gears,” Daniel instructed, pointing to the pedal on the left.

“Why would I want to change gears?” Nestor asked.

“You change up gears when you want to go faster. Or change down to a lower gear if you're going up a steep dune or hill. And you have to take your foot off the clutch and push down on the accelerator smoothly, or you'll stall the engine.”

Sarah looked out of the windscreen at the darkened desert in front of the truck. They'd parked by the side of the track and turned off the exterior lights in case their pursuers saw them in the distance. Every second they sat there brought Colonel Moss's men closer. Sarah knew as soon as they repaired the dome, they'd be following.

“Why did they make it so difficult to use?” Nestor asked irritably, taking the massive wheel in his hands. “It's impossible.”

Daniel looked to Sarah for some support.

“Nestor, there's no other choice,” she said, laying a hand on the boy's shoulder. “I know you can do this.”

Nestor met her eyes and nodded, seeming to take strength from her encouragement. He reached round and turned the key in the ignition. The truck's engine sprang into noisy life.

“Give it a try,” Daniel said. “Just take it slow, kid.”

Gripping the wheel more firmly, Nestor put his foot down on the clutch like Daniel had shown and pushed the gear stick forward into first. There was a horrible grinding sound as he did it.

“Gently!” Daniel ordered as Nestor began to take his foot off the clutch and step on the accelerator. The truck lurched forward violently and the wheel jerked in his hand, completely out of control. A second later the engine cut out completely.

Nestor looked round at the others apologetically. “I'm sorry I just…”

He stopped short as he saw Daniel leaning against the driver's seat just to keep on his feet. Sarah leaped to his side.

“Robert, help me!” she cried, grabbing Daniel's arm. Together they dragged him to the back of the cab. Louise unfolded a bed from the wall and they laid him down.

“Thanks,” Daniel said weakly. “I'm sorry.”

Sarah looked round at Robert. “Help Nestor get this thing moving.”

Her brother nodded and moved to the front of the truck. Louise handed Sarah a bottle of water which she placed against Daniel's lips. He managed a few sips before having to lay back.

“Try to drink some more,” Sarah said. “You're badly dehydrated.”

Daniel shook his head and pushed the bottle away. He reached inside his shirt and removed something. “I have to give you this…”

“Daniel…” Sarah began to protest, but fell silent when she saw what he was offering her – the bag of diamonds.

“Colonel Moss was kind enough to leave these on me,” he said, his voice little more than a whisper. “You have to take them now. They're worth over two million dollars – enough for you and Robert to manage without me for as long as you need to.”

Sarah opened the bag and looked at the precious contents. Inside was also a mobile phone sim card.

“My contact in Melbourne is called Alexei,” Daniel explained. “His number's on the card.”

Sarah shook her head and tried to hand him back the bag. “I can't do this…”

“You can and you will, Sarah,” he said.

“But they're stolen,” she protested.

“Stolen from criminals who didn't own them in the first place,” Daniel assured her. “No one of any worth will miss them. You're stronger than all of us. Just get this truck out of here. Keep heading to Melbourne…”

His eyes began to close.

“Dad!” she cried. It was the first time she'd called him that in eight years and the word seemed to bring him back momentarily.

He smiled as Robert rushed to her side. “You two have to look after yourselves now. Take those diamonds and start a new life.
Do some good with them…”

His voice trailed away and he was gone into a sleep he wouldn't be waking from any time soon. Silence fell in the truck.

Finally, Sarah stepped back, aware of them all looking at her. Daniel was gone – she took a deep breath and wiped a tear from her eye.

“Put your seat belts on,” she ordered. “We've got to get moving again. Are you ready, Nestor?”

In the driver's seat, the Colombian boy nodded. Robert started strapping Daniel in place in the bed while the others took their seats. Sarah gave his shoulder a squeeze.

He's going to be okay. We'll find a cure.

Robert nodded silently as Sarah moved to sit at Nestor's side. Taking a deep breath, he turned the key in the ignition once more and the massive engine roared into life. This time Nestor found the balance between the clutch and the accelerator as the truck moved forwards. The uneven road caused the wheel to jerk first right and then left as the vehicle picked up speed. He almost stalled again when he changed gears so he decided to leave it in second, even though it meant that the truck was crawling along at a fraction of the pace they'd made with Daniel in control. At least they were on their way.

Good work!
Sarah encouraged.
Just keep us moving…

* * *

The desert seemed to stretch on for ever and they travelled another hour before the sandy track turned unexpectedly into a tarmac road. This made the going considerably easier. Although he was clearly exhausted, Nestor pushed the truck onwards. Sarah felt a wave of fatigue spread over her and she had to struggle to keep her own eyes open.

Eventually the truck crawled past the first buildings of a town located on the edge of the desert. The headlamps illuminated a sign on the side of the road.

“Esperinka,” Nestor read as they passed the sign, peering through the windscreen.

“Population 2150,” Sarah added as they moved up the high street.

Nestor pulled the vehicle to a halt. The shops that lined the streets were in complete darkness and there was no evidence of life.

“Then where is everyone?” Robert asked.

Nestor shrugged and turned off the engine, thankful to have some kind of a break from the driving.

“Probably all evacuated,” he said, easing himself out of the driver's seat and moving back to lie on one of the fold-down beds that lined the side of the cab. “Or maybe they're hiding, afraid. They might think we're HIDRA.”

“Yeah,” added Robert. “We're driving one of their trucks.”

Sarah slumped in her seat. Exhaustion swept over her. Towards the rear of the truck she saw that Wei was awake and sitting up while Louise gave him a sip of water from a bottle. Somehow they'd made it out of the base, but how far they'd managed to travel was unclear in the night. It could have been fifty kilometres or only twenty. She looked round to ask Nestor, but saw that he was already deep in sleep.

Her eyes closed involuntarily for a second and she had to fight to stay awake once more, trying to push herself up off the chair. She knew she couldn't afford to sleep. They had to get further away…

Someone placed a blanket over her as she lay on the chair. She tried to protest.

It's okay, Sarah. You rest and we'll keep watch…

It was Robert's voice in her head. She could hear the concern in his tone.

Finally, too tired to argue, she gave in and slept.

28

Rachel stood in the centre of the dome and watched her engineering team trying to shore up the fallen section. Work was progressing quickly and she estimated the dome would be secure again within the hour. She looked in the direction of the building that had housed Sarah and thought of Mandy lying asleep at her station. She wondered how much longer she had before Colonel Moss's spy woke up and raised the alarm.

A warning siren seemed to answer her question, except it came from the direction of the lab. What now? It was the building containing Major Bright. She set off towards the sound of the siren at a run.

When Rachel reached the lab, she found that most of it was gone. The observation window had been broken and the equipment smashed. The dentist's chair was nowhere to be seen and the back wall was missing, as were the other scientists who had been assisting with the experiment. Rachel hoped they'd made it to safety before the lab was damaged, but she had a bad feeling not much had escaped the destruction. Colonel Moss stood in the entrance, looking at Major Bright, who was motionless in the centre of the room, staring straight ahead, a strange half-smile on his face.

Colonel Moss grabbed her arm as she entered.

“He destroyed the lab!” he hissed, pulling her close. “He looks weird.”

Rachel freed herself from his grip and took a cautious step into the ruined laboratory.

“Major Bright, can you hear me?” she asked, eyeing the nearest exit as she did so – she knew there was no predicting what was going to happen next.

Bright's eyes snapped into focus and he turned to face her. Rachel had the strangest feeling that he was seeing straight into her thoughts. It wasn't a nice sensation.

“You were with them…” he said softly. “I can see it… You helped Daniel Williams and the children escape… You've drugged two of our people…”

Rachel backed away as Colonel Moss stepped into the room.

“Well, it looks like it's going to be a whole lot harder to keep secrets from now on, Dr. Andersen,” he said with grim satisfaction. He beckoned over two of his soldiers. “Put her in a cell. I'll question her later.”

“Major Bright is unstable,” she protested as the soldiers grabbed her arms. “You can't control him Colonel…”

“Get this traitor out of my sight,” Moss spat in response.

As Rachel was led away, Colonel Moss turned back to Major Bright.

“Where are they?” he demanded. “Can you see them?”

Bright closed his eyes and swayed on the spot for a moment.

“To the east,” he said finally. “Less than forty klicks. Hiding in a town.”

A grin split Colonel Moss's face for the first time in days.

“How do you feel, Major?” he asked.

Bright opened his eyes and stared into the distance.

“Like I could take on the world, Colonel.”

* * *

They'd come to a ghost town.

If Esperinka ever really had a population of 2150, it was gone now. Every building, every shop was deserted. The doors of businesses on the high street stood open, as if the people had left before they had time to lock up.

“Where do you think everyone went?” Sarah asked as she stood next to Nestor in the middle of the road, looking around the spookily quiet scene.

“Maybe they were evacuated,” he replied, sounding unconvinced. “Or…”

“Or what?” Sarah pressed as his voice trailed away. Robert appeared from the truck and started running up and down the street, peering in shop windows.

Thousands of sleepers have passed through the HIDRA base since the meteorite hit,
Nestor replied, directing his thoughts to Sarah alone, mainly so Robert couldn't hear.
But there were too many even for Moss's men to handle. I've seen sleepers packed into huge storage crates, like large versions of the caskets. I've seen the inside of one of those crates. It's scary. People kept in racks like tins of food. Waiting to be relocated by Moss.

Sarah felt a shiver run down her spine, despite the warmth of the day. She thought about Daniel, lying asleep in the truck. She wouldn't let HIDRA put him in storage like a piece of meat.

“We should get out of here,” she said, walking back to the truck.

Using the vehicle's onboard GPS system, she managed to work out that they were still about sixty kilometres west of the border with Victoria – the neighbouring state. The edge of the quarantine zone was marked there as a thick red line across the map. It didn't look too far, but they were still in the HIDRA-controlled area. She turned on the radio and found static on every station save one: a recorded message that played over and over again.

“You are in a quarantine zone. If it is safe to do so, make your way to the nearest HIDRA checkpoint for aid and medical assistance. Otherwise, stay in your home and await evacuation. For your own safety, do not try to leave the quarantine zone. Repeat, do not leave the quarantine zone. This is an official HIDRA broadcast. You are in a quarantine zone…”