Running With The Horde (Book 2): Delusions of Monsters (18 page)

“Geez, so based on one old drug addict’s crazy letter you suddenly believe in global mind control technology and an all-powerful over-world Syndicate?” Shipman chuckled. “Maybe you should try to track down our old company shrink.”

“Fuck you, Nolan,” McCloud said as he stood and snatched the file from his old friend’s hand. “What about the Safety First Act? I know you are involved in the land grabs and government contracts on all that construction around the city. Why so many troops? Why do we really need a walled city? I will assume your official position is no comment and your unofficial position is that you will continue to happily line your pockets with Uncle Sam’s money.”

“Hey, calm down, old friend. If I thought this Syndicate group was a legitimate threat to the city, or hell, the world, if this information is to be believed, I would agree it was crazy and would join you on the high horse of civic righteous. Shit, we could storm the capital together. But the fact is I deal with loons all the time so I know one when I see one. Sad to say Chip Fielding was a loon, God bless him. Do yourself a favor and let this go. As far as Safety First goes it might as well be me that makes a little extra money. If not me then someone else would be brokering the deals. This way I can keep an eye on things,” he added with a wink. “I would be glad to cut you in for old-time’s sake.”

“No thanks. Always a laugh riot, Nolan,” McCloud said testily as he tugged his jacket on and made a beeline for the door, “I hope you’re still laughing when all your money is as worthless as the paper it’s printed on.”

“Thanks for dropping by, Billy,” Shipman yelled cheerfully to McCloud’s retreating form. The only response from Bill was a proffered middle finger just before the door slammed shut.

…

Shipman unconsciously hummed a few bars fro
m
You Are My Sunshin
e
as he waited for Bill to leave. When he was confident McCloud was gone, he dug his ‘secret phone’ out of his jacket pocket and selected ‘Command’ from the short list of contacts. A short pause and one ring later a gruff voice answered the call. “Command.”

“McCloud is going to be a problem.”

“How much does he know?”

“Quite a bit actually, though no sane media outlet would ever believe him. He must have received the same package as I did from Chip Fielding.”

“We’ll handle it; you did well to contact us.”

“As if I had a choice.”

“Always good to know where you stand, Mr. Shipman, easier to stay healthy and wealthy that way.”

“Right,” Shipman responded after a nervous swallow. The call hung in the balance of an uncomfortable pause and Nolan almost disconnected before reconsidering. “Wait,” he said.

“Was there something else, Mr. Shipman?”

“Um, will you? When you ‘handle it’ I mean. Will you make it fast? Bill is an old friend.”

“Is that what you want, Mr. Shipman?”

It was in that moment Shipman truly realized he was in way over his head and instantly regretted making this call. He regretted all of it but it was far too late for a change of heart. “You know what? Let’s just forget I said anything. Okay? Hello?” But he was talking to himself, Command had already disconnected.

The Past

Dick was brooding in his Area 51 quarters trying figure out the best way to expedite his exit strategy. They had discovered the coded blankets. By now they had to know Dick was responsible for the breach. He knew at any moment the Syndicate would require the facility go into lockdown. He had to be ready before that happened or he would be locked in his quarters waiting for security to come get him. The fact they hadn’t moved on him already was almost puzzling.

Dr. Penrod was recovering in the infirmary. Not from any physical damage Dick had done to him but from a psychological breakdown he suffered when Dick had shown him the video footage of what had been done to his mother and that goddamn Chip Fielding.

Penrod had gone berserk when he saw the video. A strong sedative had been required to calm him down. Dick was happy to inflict some misery on the little weasel but on the downside, Andrew would be essentially useless until he woke up. Dick needed all hands on deck if he was going to get essential personnel out alive. He needed every last one of them for leverage against the Syndicate.

He still couldn’t believe Andrew’s stepfather had been an operative and somehow everyone had missed it! The man had a history with a supposedly defunct black operations agency that had operated during the latter half of the previous century. On the plus side was the fact that little detail had slipped through the cracks and gone unnoticed by the Syndicate. That proved they weren’t all-knowing. But in the negative column was the knowledge they would blame Dick for the oversight. Shit rolls downhill that’s just the way it goes. Just like it rolled down from Dick to Penrod. While the little asshole was still essential personnel, he had needed to be taught a lesson. Hence Dick had shown him the video archiving the dreadful demise of his folks. He almost felt sorry for the kid but then he thought of those coded blankets and all sympathy went out the window.

Andrew Penrod, that sally, panty-waist, cross-stitching motherfucker. Or crochet or whatever the fuck it was called. It was laughable on one level that the hobby of Midwestern grandmothers had almost brought down Project Simon before it even started.

Though Dick had to hand it to the man. The blankets were a stroke of genius. In a facility as secure as Area 51, Andrew had found the one possible loophole that existed. That was Dick himself, Andrew’s only connection to the outside world. He cursed himself again for allowing the little turd to do to him what Dick had done to countless others using the careful art of manipulation. Andrew had almost ruined everything. Not that it mattered anymore.

The thing that did matter was that because of Andrew’s coded message, the Syndicate would be on high alert. He was sure they were moments from terminating him and having someone else oversee Project Simon for the remainder of the pilot. Dick wasn’t going to give them that chance. It was earlier than he planned but it was time to blow the whole thing up. He was going to get out or die trying.

Firing off a quick instant message through the Area 51 network he called for an immediate emergency meeting of the department heads in Dr. Reynolds’s lab. Attendance was mandatory and the subject was contingency planning for the Penrod Blanket Breach which was already common knowledge throughout the facility thanks to office gossip. Then he went to his closet and pulled a shoebox from the top shelf. Inside was his well-oiled Sig Sauer P220, four magazines, his shoulder holster and the remote detonator for the charges he had planted. He put the holster on as fast as he could and slipped the detonator in his jacket pocket in case they were already monitoring him on the cameras hidden throughout the room.

Dick dressed in clothes suitable for hiking, slung his bag of supplies over his back and headed out the door.

His first stop was the infirmary where he found Andrew Penrod asleep on a hospital bed under the care of the night nurse. “Wake him up,” he ordered.

“I don’t think I can, sir, he was pretty heavily sedated,” the frightened nurse replied.

“Fine I’ll do it. Get some smelling salts immediately. Dr. Penrod has some questions to answer.” When the nurse didn’t move right away Dick screamed at her and she hustled to a nearby supply cabinet to find what he needed. Dick saw a wheelchair in the corner of the room and pushed it beside the bed.

“Here you go,” the nurse said and handed him a small paper bag.

“Help me get him in the chair,” Dick said gruffly and the two of them wrestled Andrew’s drooling form into the chair while Andrew uttered unintelligible words of protest.

“Where are you taking him?” the nurse asked.

Dick let his irritation show on his face. He wasn’t used to anyone inside of Area 51 questioning his orders. “Tell you what,” he said. “When you are appointed director of this facility that is when I will start answering your questions. Now help me get him down to the tech lab.”

The nurse did the pushing as they made their way down the hall. Dick was trying to look casual and not move too quickly as they passed a handful of people milling about the commons area in front of the gym and cafeteria. In spite of this, the odd trio received quite a few confused looks which made Dick nervous. He breathed a sigh of relief when they made it to John’s lab and he could shut the doors.

“Wheel him over to the corner please and then you can leave,” he told the nurse before turning to address John, Todd, Dharmesh, Sarah and Savannah who were already in the room.

“What’s this all about, Dick?” John said. “Why did you bring Andrew in here? Isn’t he supposed to be in lockdown?”

“Listen, I don’t have a lot of time to explain so I just need you all to trust me and do exactly as I say. The facility has come under attack and I need to get you all out of here as quickly as possible.”

The group shared a few looks of confusion and dismay except for Todd who already knew what was happening. He just giggled. John looked like he was about to object when Dick cut him off. “I’m not fucking around here people. John, I want you to collect all your tech from Project Simon. That includes any data you have stored as well. Stick it all into anything we can divide up and carry out of here. The rest of you help John, you have five minutes.”

They still looked confused but knew better than to question Dick. If the man said the building was under attack then it was under attack.

“Todd, did you bring everything?” Dick asked and Todd nodded, “Good, you are on now on Andrew duty. When it’s time to move you are pushing him. Don’t give me that look. If he dies, you die, got it? Let’s go people!”

“We are not going to be able to carry all this stuff,” John said.

Dick looked around until he spotted the nurse still cowering by the door. “You!” he yelled. “Change of plans, grab a crate. It’s your lucky day, you’re coming with us.”

The nurse looked terrified but compliant as she grabbed some of the gear.

A few moments later the group of disheveled scientists, engineers and one nurse were gathered behind Dick who stood waiting by the doors with his hands on the levers. “Okay, we are going to walk out of here and head to room 113. Do not talk to anyone. I will be right behind you.”

He opened the doors and they moved out just as the siren started humming over the facility-wide PA system
.
“
Area 51 will be in lockdown in approximately 5 minutes. All personnel must return to quarters immediately
.
”
A robotic voice began a countdown and provided an ominous feel to the rapidly emptying hallway.

“What’s going on, Dick?” Sarah asked from behind him.

“Don’t panic, everyone, just do as instructed, this is all part of procedure, we have to protect Project Simon at all costs,” he said and paused in the hallway. The others hurried past him shouldering their burdens in a variety of satchels and crates. Dick pulled his gun from his holster and began to harangue the group to pick up the pace. “C’mon hustle, people, keep it moving.”

They were almost to 113 when the countdown paused at two minutes forty six seconds. The voice that spoke over the speaker system was eerily clear in the almost empty hallway. It made Dick freeze momentarily in anticipation of a gut-wrenching headache. “What do you think you will accomplish with this little display of rebellion, Dick?”

The headache never came so Tom was obviously not nearby.

“What’s going on, Dick?” a very nervous John asked over the scared mumbling of his colleagues gathered in front of room 113.

“Nothing, don’t listen to it, stand aside so I can open the door.”

They cleared a path, staring at each other in wide-eyed fear.

“Dick is finished,” the voice continued. “But there is still time for the rest of you. A security team is en route as we speak. Go back to the technology lab with all your gear and we will be with you shortly.”

“Nobody is going anywhere!” Dick shouted as he struggled with the door. It wouldn’t open to his card. “Stand back,” he said and showed them the gun, “If anyone feels the urge to listen to the voice and go back to the lab now is your chance.”

The nurse looked around wildly, dropped her crate and made a break for it. Dick let her take a few panicky strides before he shot her in the back. The group let out a surprised shout almost in unison as the nurse grunted and dropped to the floor, her body convulsing as she died.  As one they turned to look at Dick in stark terror.

Dick said, “Anyone else want to go back to the lab?”

Nobody did.

With the matter apparently settled he turned his attention to the door and fired two shots into the locking mechanism. With the lock broken, the door flew open after a series of swift kicks. The lights came up automatically as Dick practically pushed everyone inside.

The elevator down the hall announced the arrival of the promised security team. He glanced down the hallway to see armed men and women pouring out of the elevator and racing in their direction.

Ducking inside and slamming the door he screamed at Todd and John to push a couple of large cabinets in front of it. “Everybody take cover,” he said as he fished the detonator out of his pocket. He gave them all a moment to cower before depressing the switch.

In the hallway the security team arrived outside of 113 just as the C4 charges began to detonate. Inside the room it sounded like giants were hammering on the door loud enough to shake the walls and plunge the room into darkness.

“What’s going on?” someone screamed.

“It’s an earthquake!” another person yelled.

“Shut up, you fucking idiots!” Dick bellowed. “I set off a series of explosives to buy some time.”

That proclamation silenced the room just as emergency recessed lighting brought the room from total darkness to a dull red glow. Dick was caught in profile under the bulb by the door. He knew he looked like a madman with ceiling debris on his head and a gun in his hand. “You can save your questions for later. Right now we need to get out of here. We don’t have a lot of time.”

“Where are we going to go, Dick, you’ve trapped us in this room,” Sarah said. “What is this, a storage room?”

“As I said, no questions,” Dick said. He pushed through the group and walked to the closet at the rear of the room. “Help me clear this shit out of here.”

Soon the closet was empty and Dick stood in front of the back wall. He felt along the surface until he found the lever he knew would be there. He pulled it and the wall split in two revealing a hidden passage.

“What is this, Dick?” someone asked behind him.

“It’s our way out of here,” he replied. He fished a powerful flashlight out of his bag and aimed it into the passage. It continued straight for a few feet and then appeared to end in a dark drop off.

…

Dr. Andrew Penrod was deeply confused standing on unsteady feet at the dank smelling entrance to the tunnel. He watched Dick redistribute the samples, equipment and supplies to the small group. When he got to Andrew he shoved a large, heavy backpack into his arms. “Put it on and keep up,” he said gruffly.

Andrew stood holding the pack as the others followed Dick into the tunnel until John stopped and helped him put it on. “We need to do what he says,” John whispered. “I saw him shoot your nurse in cold blood a few minutes ago. I think he’s cracked.”

“What nurse?” Andrew asked but John had already taken off after Dick.

He took one last look up at the small landing from which they’d climbed down. Smoke was still billowing out of the open door leading back into the Area 51 facility
.
What the hell had happened
?

He had regained consciousness to the startling sensation of being manhandled down a ladder in almost complete darkness. The only light was the soft hazy glow of amber colored emergency lights pulsing in rhythm to the low blare of the facilities alarm.

Andrew’s immediate reaction was to start flailing but Dick managed to knee him in the groin which took all the fight out of him for the remaining ten feet of their descent. He had been drugged, of that much he was certain but prior to that the last thing he remembered was Dick barging into his quarters with a nasty look on his face and a tablet in his hands. Dick had slapped him, sat him on his bed and was getting ready show him a video on the tablet. After that, everything until the ladder was a blank.