Nuclear Midnight (26 page)

Alex landed back on the desk, springing away again as massive hands groped for him in the dark. He dropped lightly near the door, rolled over and avoided the desk as it was thrown after him across the room. The corporal's footsteps moved towards him, kicking and scraping the floor in a futile search for him.

‘Corporal, have you found him?’ The Major's voice allowed Alex to get a fix on him.

‘No, he's moved. He must be over the other side of the room!’ the corporal shouted.

The Major began shooting wildly into the dark. Alex crept up behind.

‘Hey, what's going on in there?’ came a faint voice from outside.

‘Open the bloody…’

Alex pounced in the direction of the Major’s voice and brought his left arm up under the Major’s throat and gripped his revolver with his right hand.

‘Corporal, he's here!’ the Major croaked.

With a strength born out of desperation, Alex tightened his grip on the revolver and aimed it at the rapidly advancing footsteps.

Two shots rang out.

A short distance away the corporal gasped in pain as the bullets tore through his chest. He staggered for a second and then collapsed onto the floor.

Alex tightened his hold on the Major's throat, completely blocking his windpipe. The revolver clattered to the floor as the Major tried to loosen Alex’s grip. The next moment the door suddenly burst open and the silhouette of the guard appeared in the gap. Alex picked up the revolver shot him twice in the chest, sending him sprawling backward into the corridor.

When he turned back, the Major had nearly reached Elaine. Alex shot him in the side as Elaine attacked him from the front. The Major dropped forward, gasping. Alex grabbed him by the collar and dragged him toward the light from the door.

‘Pull that guard out of the corridor and keep watch,’ he hissed at Elaine.

He pushed his face next to the Major's and rammed the revolver up his nose. The entire colour had fled from the sadist's face.

‘Now,’ Alex snarled, ‘I want you to tell me exactly what the strength of your military forces are, and don’t leave out any details.’

CHAPTER 12

A bullet through the head ended the Major's ignominious career. Seconds later, Alex and Elaine burst out of room eleven, and were running down the corridor. Alex had the Major's revolver and ammunition belt strapped around his waist, and his note pad, papers and maps stuffed in his backpack. Elaine had the guard's automatic rifle and a pocket full of ammunition. At each corner they halted and went on cautiously, but they didn't come across any military until they reached the front office. Alex waved several startled staff into a room and locked them in with their own keys. A man and a woman were taken as hostages.

Alex ordered the woman to run in front and the man behind to act as body shields. Several groups of armed personnel threatened them in the main corridor, but each time Alex ordered them to drop their arms before they ran past. After ten minutes they had reached the lift. Alex's ribs ached from the beating he had received and his nose throbbed painfully, but he still felt strong and alert. Elaine, however, was near the end of her strength. She ran the last fifty metres at a stagger and then immediately collapsed against the wall next to the lift.

The lift arrived and Alex bundled the hostages in, then helped Elaine. Once in the lift, he examined her more closely. Blood was still pouring from her shattered mouth and her eye was now almost completely closed. Tearing off part of his shirt he tried to wipe her face. The hostages, clear white skinned and flabby-cheeked, looked on in horror from the corner of the lift where they huddled together.

Alex only felt contempt for them and a deepening resolve not to let such people wipe the survivors from the face of the land.

‘We don't have those remotes they used to activate the trapdoor.’ Elaine’s voice was distorted as she tried to speak through the pool of blood that was gathering in her mouth.

Alex stared at her for a moment then turned to the hostages. ‘Is there any other way to open the trapdoor?’ he asked harshly.

‘No, you need the remotes,’ the woman replied, shrinking back.

Alex swore. ‘Where does the train go?’ he demanded.

‘Either to the suburbs or the city centre. There's one every fifteen minutes,’ the man explained obediently.

Alex ordered the man to press the button for the level the train line was on.

When the lift doors opened he pushed them out. The platform was empty, although he knew it wouldn't be long before it was swarming with patrols. Removing his belt, he wedged it in the doors, jamming the lift. When the sound of the approaching train could be heard, he ordered the hostages down the escalator and along a gleaming, well-lit tunnel. At the bottom a large digital clock read 20.06.

Directly beneath it, an illuminated sign showed how the train route linked the twenty three residential sectors of the city. The exit to the right was for the train travelling to the central business area and it was from there that the growing roar was coming. Alex directed the hostages through the exit and onto the platform. A large crowd was already gathered, waiting for the train to stop and the air pressure doors to hiss open. No one noticed the strange appearance of Alex and Elaine in the crush to get a seat. The hostages, however, used the opportunity to lose themselves in the crowd. The doors had closed and the train was already moving forward when Alex realised that neither of the hostages were aboard.

Elaine clung to him, burying her head in his chest. For the first time since their escape Alex had a moment to take stock. The hostages even now would be warning the authorities. Very soon the train would be pinpointed and the game would be up. They had to exit quickly and disappear into one of the sectors.

The people in the carriage were beginning to wake up to the presence of strangers in their midst. As each in turn noticed them, or was alerted, conversation died. Alex became aware of their many startled, gaping faces. People like this would have been two a penny on any train or bus before the war; now he found their smooth faces and neat clothes almost as repulsive as they must have found him. Most were casually dressed, some had suits and others wore the same hooded tracksuits he had seen on the surface. Even the children, chubby and unblemished, stared open-mouthed as they clung close to their parents. Nothing much was said and nobody seemed to know quite what to do.

Alex felt a fresh trickle of blood seep down from his nose and he cuffed it away with his sleeve. The sudden movement riveted all eyes on him. Then the train slowed bringing them to a station, and several people near the door shuffled out quickly. The incoming passengers turned round to look at Alex and Elaine in astonishment.

The train lurched forward again.

‘ATTENTION, PLEASE, THIS IS AN OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT,’ the speaker system on the train blurted. ‘TWO MUTANTS HAVE ESCAPED FROM THE SECURITY SECTION. THEY ARE ARMED AND VERY DANGEROUS. DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT APPROACH, BUT REPORT ANY SIGHTINGS IMMEDIATELY TO THE NEAREST MILITARY POST.’

The atmosphere in the carriage became electric. Some people screamed, while others started a mad push to distance themselves from the pair. Several of the men stood up, and began moving menacingly forward. Alex instantly drew his revolver and stopped the advance.

‘Now listen, all of you!’ he yelled. ‘We won't harm you if you don't cause any trouble!’ His voice came across as a raucous, half hysterical scream that pierced every corner of the carriage.

Elaine unslung her rifle and levelled it in one quick movement. The sudden exposure of her battered face sent a wave of gasps around the carriage.

Alex ordered two of the passengers who were wearing loose fitting hooded pullovers to strip, and, as the train pulled into another station he and Elaine clambered into the clothes and pulled the hoods over their heads.

While they waited for the doors to open, Alex took one last look around the carriage. No one had moved a muscle since they had seen Elaine. The same horrified but vaguely fascinated expression was on all their faces at this revelation of a world beyond their own. The doors opened and Alex and Elaine pushed out through a surge of impatient people. Moments later the station was emptying and the train sped on its way.

They began walking quickly through the corridors of the fourteenth sector, soon becoming lost in a maze of glossy tiled tunnels. After a few minutes they reached quieter corridors with brick walls and coarse grey carpets. The walls were punctuated at regular intervals with wooden doors, inscribed with family names. Elaine was starting to flag again. Alex put his arm around her and propped her up, examining her face hurriedly. One of her top teeth was missing and several others were loose. She was coughing up so much blood that he couldn't tell whether it was coming from her lungs or her mouth. Gently he eased her arms away from her chest and unbuttoned her shirt. Her ribs were badly bruised; that could explain why her breathing was so shallow.

The plate on the nearest door read ‘Dr. F. Harris’. He knocked hard and impatiently, but there was no answer. Hurrying to the next, he tried again, without result. But the third door, labelled ‘Dr. M. Crean’, suddenly opened at his knock and a tall, dark haired woman came forward inquiringly. She stopped short when she saw Alex, first astonished, then shocked, then horrified by this apparition. She tried to retreat, but Alex jammed his foot in the door and quickly dragged Elaine inside.

He laid her at once on a large sofa, near at hand, ignoring the woman who had rushed to scoop up a little girl sitting at the table. Mother and girl backed away as Alex looked up.

‘Are you alone?’

She nodded, looking very frightened.

‘My friend here is badly hurt. Do you know first aid?’

Elaine had rolled over on her side and was choking and spitting out more blood onto the carpet.

‘Please!’ he appealed to the woman, who still hung back. ‘She could be bleeding internally.’

The woman put the child down and came over. Alex knelt down beside Elaine and examined her.

‘There doesn't seem to be anything broken,’ the woman said after a quick inspection. ‘The blood she is coughing up has probably run down from her mouth.’

‘Are you sure?’

The woman looked up. ‘I’m not a doctor, but I've done nursing,’ she said, ‘and I don't think there's anything worse than severe bruising.’

‘If you're not a doctor, then who is Dr Crean?’

‘My husband. He has a PhD in Biochemistry.’

‘And where is he?’

‘Still at work.’

The clock at the train station had shown 20.06, Alex recalled. ‘He's a bit late, isn't he?’

She shook her head firmly. ‘He works late most nights. He'll be home around nine o'clock.’

Now that they were talking, the woman seemed to have lost her immediate fear of him, although much unease still remained. But he detected no trace of disgust and contempt, which had been so prevalent among the guards.

‘The military will probably be searching this area very shortly. Do you have a place we can hide?’

She stared at him for a moment, evidently not expecting this. ‘Yes,’ she said at length, seeming as though she had come to a decision. ‘There's a ventilation shaft in the hallway that leads to part of the old tunnel system. If you took that grid off, you might be able to squeeze through. I'll show you.’

She led the way into a corridor at the back of her flat. A large fly wire grid, blasting out warm air, covered part of the ceiling. The woman found a stool and a screw-driver and Alex quickly unscrewed the grid.

‘It leads to a large shaft,’ the woman explained. ‘There are manholes along the shaft which open out into the tunnels.’

‘And where do the tunnels lead to?’

She shrugged. ‘Everywhere. The whole region is honey-combed with them. The guards would never find you once you reached the tunnels.’

He looked down at her anxious face and knew she hoped that they would reach the tunnels and keep on going. He couldn't blame her. Then she would be able to tell the soldiers where they had gone with a clear conscience without further danger to her family or herself. But Elaine was in no condition to run anywhere. She needed food and rest.

There was only one way to ensure that the woman wouldn't inform on them. Alex jumped off the stool and crossed to the living room where he had left Elaine. She was sitting up, the girl watching her wide eyed at a distance. Without warning, he strode over to the child and grabbed her arm. The woman gave a scream and rushed forward, but he drew his revolver and barred the way. ‘We're taking her into the ventilation shaft with us,’ he said flatly.

The woman suddenly lost all control, wailing, imploring, beseeching; it wrung Alex's heart. Seeing her mother in such distress the girl also began to cry. Alex assured the woman that if she denied seeing them, her daughter would be perfectly safe. But it was Elaine who finally managed to calm her down enough to listen to reason. Eventually the little girl stopped crying and meekly went with them into the vent.

A few minutes later the woman's husband arrived home. Alex could hear the fevered rush of voices as she explained the situation. Soon afterwards the security guards burst in. Both of them denied loudly seeing or hearing anything strange as the rooms were hurriedly searched.

When all was quiet again, the husband unscrewed the grid and they slid out.

He was a small, balding man, with blunt, ruddy features and a curiously pointed nose. His eyes widened when he saw the condition that Alex and Elaine were in. Alex drew his revolver and handed it to Elaine, then lifted the daughter down. She ran to her father, who swept her up protectively and hugged her to his chest.

‘Did Security do that to you?’ he asked.

‘Yes,’ Alex said coldly. ‘Routine procedure, I understand. All mutants receive a good, thorough interrogation.’

The bitterness in his voice drew the couple closer together.

‘Now look here,’ said the man in a trembling voice. ‘Don't think we have anything to do with the military.’

‘We,’ snorted Alex. ‘Who's we?’

‘The scientists. This whole sector houses the scientific community of the city. We are a completely independent entity and have no say over the military's policies or actions.’

‘And I suppose you'll tell me that they have no control over you?’ Alex asked sarcastically.

The man ran his fingers through his thinning hair. ‘No, not exactly. What I mean is that they run the city and leave us to our own research without any interference.’

‘So, you have no idea what the plans of the military are?’

Dr. Crean shook his head.

Alex glanced at Elaine.

‘I'm not lying,’ the man continued. ‘They administer the city and also act as security police. I'm sorry they've been so rough with you.’

‘Who directs your research projects?’ Alex asked.

‘All the work we are currently engaged upon was already well under way before the war.’

‘Here?’ Alex stabbed his finger towards the floor. ‘You worked down here before the war?’

‘The research was with secret government funded projects on the surface,’ Dr. Crean said defensively. ‘We were invited down here before the holocaust.’

‘And you have no inkling of what happened on the surface once the bombs started falling?’