Sick (35 page)

45

The low tone of the motion sensor alarm suddenly pulsed out of the speaker in the security room right off the lobby at NB7. The head of security had been sitting at the monitoring desk, talking to one of his men. The moment the alarm went off he whirled his chair around and looked back at his computer.

His first thought was that the two men he’d sent out to check for the missing car on the highway had somehow triggered the motion sensors.

By the time he took a good look at the warning screen, six seconds had passed.

Cameras covered the entire grounds, but there was no sense in constantly watching them since the system would alert security to any problems, at which point the video could be reviewed.

Though he immediately saw the others weren’t there, the head of security wasn’t worried. They’d had these alarms in the past, and all had turned out to be animals wandering in from the desert. The beams were supposed to be elevated high enough to cut out this kind of false alarm, but it still happened.

As he tapped the link to the video, he said, “Luke, go out front and check.”

The other man got up from his chair and went into the lobby.

By the time the head of security was looking at the video feed from the west side of the building, ten more seconds had gone by.

There was nothing on the screen but the same monotonous desert he’d been looking at since he’d been assigned to this post. Apparently whatever had triggered the alarm had wandered back out. As he hit the button that would take the video back a full minute, he heard Luke open the front lobby door and go outside. He almost called out to stop him, but realized he was too late.

He shrugged—no big deal.

Eight more seconds passed.

The video started playing again. He watched in real time for several seconds, then tapped on fast-forward, making the footage go at double speed.

Suddenly, he slapped the keyboard, pausing the image. “What the hell?”

Just then, out in the lobby, the front door opened again.

• • •

Ash didn’t have a stopwatch, but he was pretty sure he reached the sidewalk near the front door in less than six seconds. Not as good as he hoped, but good enough. As he stopped, he looked back and saw that Chloe was still right behind him.

The entrance was actually a double metal door that opened outward. It was taller than normal and a little bit wider, obviously designed to accommodate large items. There was a security card reader mounted on the wall next to the door, which was a pretty good sign that the door was locked.

The wear marks indicated the right half of the door was the one used most. Ash moved over to the hinges, then pulled the box of little bangs out of his pocket. His intent was to use one of the white crackers along the edge, and hoped it was enough to blow the door loose. But just as he was lifting the lid off the box, the knob turned and the door swung out.

There was no way Chloe could get out of sight, so she froze in place.

The man who stepped through the doorway saw her immediately, but hesitated for a second, caught off guard. That was all the time Ash needed to put the barrel of his gun against the man’s back.

“Nothing stupid, agreed?” Ash said, giving his gun a nudge.

“You shouldn’t be here,” the guy said.

“Is that a yes or a no?”

“Sure. Nothing stupid.”

“Good.” Ash glanced at Chloe. “Check him.”

Chloe stared at the man, not moving.

“You said you wanted to help,” Ash said.

She took a breath, then nodded. She first took the man’s gun from the holster on his belt, then frisked him quickly as if he might explode at any second.

“Just the pistol,” she said when she was done.

“What’s inside?” Ash asked the man.

“Lobby,” he replied.

“Anyone there?”

“No.”

“You’re lying.”

The man hesitated. “Not in the lobby. In the security office next to the lobby. One guy.”

Ash shoved the man toward the reader on the wall, then pulled the guy’s security card from his belt and touched it to the pad.

The latch clicked, and Ash pulled the door open.

“Let’s go.”

• • •

The head of security activated the general alarm then jumped out of his chair. His hand was moving to the gun at his side as he pulled open the door to the lobby.

“On your knees.”

A woman with milk-chocolate skin and fire in her eyes stood just on the other side of the door, a pistol in her hand pointed straight at his chest.

“Now,” she said.

Beyond her, he could see Luke kneeling on the floor. Standing behind him was a man with a bandaged face, and a gun very much like the one the woman was holding.

“This is private property,” the head of security said, buying time. NB7’s security force was small, but more than adequate to handle the man and the woman, even given the fact that twenty percent of his force was out on the road at the moment, looking for the lost car. “I’d advise you to put your guns down and lie on the floor.”

“Your. Knees,” the woman said again.

He moved his hands in front of him, holding them palms out. “Hold on. I don’t think you fully appreciate the situation you’re in. There’s more than just the two of us. It would be best if you’d—”

“Chloe, switch,” the man holding the gun on Luke said. “I’ll deal with him.”

“No,” the woman, Chloe, replied. “I got this.” Her gaze bore into the man’s eyes. “Knees.”

He grinned and started to shake his head. “Now that’s not going to—”

The bullet tore through his leg just above his knee. The pain was so intense he didn’t even realize he’d fallen to the ground.

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” she asked, as she removed the gun from his holster.

• • •

Dr. Karp had just started to drift off when the general alarm began to pulse. In his half-asleep state, it had at first confused him. He reached for the clock he assumed was on the nightstand to turn it off, but there was nothing there. That’s when his eyes popped open and he sat up.

The alarm.

NB7 had always been considered a safe location, its whereabouts known only to a handful of project members. The only reason Dr. Karp and his team were there was because the outbreak in California meant there was a microscope on the state, and the Directors had felt moving the assets—the Ash children—out of state was a good idea. NB7 was the closest and most logical location. Since the doctor had used the facility a few times in the past, he had no problems with the plan.

But now the alarm was going off. Why?

He grabbed the room phone and pushed the number for Security. After the fifth ring, he hung up. His confusion was now turning to concern. He hoped it was just a false alarm, but what if it wasn’t?

He pulled his clothes on as quickly as he could. If this was real, and the facility had somehow been breached, then he knew exactly what he had to do.

The children. He had to dispose of them.

Now.

• • •

“Well, if they didn’t know we were here before, they do now,” Ash said, as the low pulsating alarm droned through speakers in the lobby.

“Here,” Chloe said.

She tossed him a couple of long, plastic strips she’d taken out of a pouch on the wounded man’s belt. They were ties that could be used as handcuffs. As Ash bound his man’s wrists and ankles, Chloe did the same with her guy.

“My leg,” the man pleaded. “I’m going to bleed to death.”

“Yeah,” Chloe said. “You probably will.”

Ash came over and looked at the man’s leg. It was a mess. “You want me to tie that off?” he asked.

“Yes. Yes, please!”

Ash crouched down. “Then tell me where the children are.”

“The…the children?”

Without hesitation, Ash placed the muzzle of his gun against the man’s other leg. “I’m not going to ask again.”

“They’re inside. Bottom level.”

“How many kids?”

“Two,” the man said quickly. “A boy and a girl.”

They’re here,
Ash thought.
We found them.

He ground the muzzle into the man’s leg. “Where on the bottom level?”

Behind them, a door that led into the rest of the building flew open, and several men poured out, opening fire. Ash was in a poor position with his back to them, so he dove through the doorway into the security office. Chloe had been better situated, and was able to get a couple of shots off before she joined him.

“How many?” he asked her.

“I counted four.”

He was tucked right up against the doorjamb. “Hit any?”

“One down for sure. Maybe two.”

“You’re pretty good with that.”

“Yeah. Bet you’re glad I came along now, aren’t you?”

Instead of answering, he peeked around the edge, his gun ready. Apparently, the men who’d come rushing in hadn’t known exactly in which direction to fire. There was plenty of damage all over the room, not the least of which were the two now dead men Ash and Chloe had just tied up. Wherever the others were, though, they were staying out of sight.

“Here,” Ash said, handing Chloe his gun.

He retrieved the box of little bangs, pulled out four of the gray crackers, and checked their numbers. He then activated the controller.

“You in the office,” a voice called out. “There’s only one way out of that room and we’ve got it covered. Toss your weapons out here, then step out with your hands where we can see them.”

The man had asked for weapons to be tossed out, so that’s exactly what Ash did. He threw the four crackers into the room, trying to arc them around so that they wouldn’t all fall in the same place.

“You have ten seconds to toss your guns out here,” the voice said.

“We’re not going to wait that long,” Ash told him.

He set off the little bangs, mentally crossing his fingers that they did what Pax had promised.

They did, and then some.

Even from behind the wall where he was, the bangs were so loud Ash immediately threw his hands up over his ears. Chloe tried to do the same, but was holding the two SIGs so was less than successful.

“Gun,” he yelled.

She didn’t seem to hear him, so he grabbed his pistol from her and raced through the door.

While the lobby looked basically untouched, the four men who’d been there were all on the ground. Two were unconscious, while one looked like he wanted to be. The fourth guy still had enough wits about him to try to aim his weapon at Ash, but Ash’s bullet hit him in the forehead before the guy had a chance to pull his trigger.

Chloe found some more ties and secured the other three men.

“You all right?” Ash asked her.

She touched her ear. “Ringing. But I can hear you now.”

Ash grabbed a security card off the nearest man’s belt, then used it to open the door to the rest of the building.

• • •

Dr. Karp had just left his room when a loud explosion reverberated down from the ceiling.

“What the hell was that?” someone said.

Several of the doctor’s technicians were in the hallway because of the alarm. Now most looked truly scared. Although their jobs were ultimately concerned with death, they were not interested in putting their own lives on the line.

Neither was the doctor, but he knew he couldn’t show that. There had always been the possibility his life might need to be sacrificed. It was something he understood from the very beginning. It was also expected that in the face of sacrifice, a full project member would still keep the goals of the project in mind, and carry out whatever tasks were necessary to protect it.

So, despite whatever the explosions on the floor above might mean, he knew he still had work to do.

“Learner, Ramos, I need you to come with me.”

Two of the technicians broke from the crowd and followed the doctor to the elevator.

46

Most everyone at Cryer’s Corner was asleep. The Flu Crew, as the segregated group had come to call themselves, was spread throughout the café. The only two who still seemed to be awake were Martina and Ben. They were lying on the floor next to the booth in the back corner.

Understandably, blankets were in short supply. The residences of Cryer’s Corner had been able to scrounge enough so most of the girls had one, but the men had to sleep in jackets and whatever else they could find to wear.

Thankfully, though, the heater in the café worked well enough that no one had to dress like they were spending the night in the Arctic.

“Do you think this might be the last night we remember?” Chloe asked.

“God, I hope not. I’m supposed to go to Europe this summer. I hate to think of all those Italian girls I wouldn’t be able to meet.”