The Beginning of the End (20 page)

Chevy went right for
the back and pulled the fifty-caliber sniper rifle off the wall
again. He held the rifle up, “Now can we take it?” I thought
about it for a second, “Yeah, I have a new plan, and that’s part
of it.” We loaded the fifty-caliber in the back of the truck along
with a hundred rounds of ammo. We also grabbed a couple of
semi-automatic hand guns and HK416. It’s basically the German
version of the AR-15 that was stolen from me.

All loaded up. We were
off again in search of the Humvee.

“Which direction?”
Chevy asked. “Let’s head back to Cornelia Street. This time we’ll
try a little further west.” We passed by the dealership, reminding
me of what had happened this morning and what they may be doing to
Sidara right now. I felt my stomach knotting up, “Keep heading
west.” I said. Further up the road, I saw something that just
didn’t seem right, “Stop the truck up there!” Chevy pulled over
and we hopped out. “Take a look at this.” I pointed to the
headless corpse in the middle of the road that had caught my
attention, “Look at how clean that cut is. I only know one thing
that could cut like that.” Chevy bent down and examined the severed
head, “A Ronin sword!” he exclaimed. “Yeah, they were stopped
here and killed this guy with my sword. They must have been heading
back to their base.”

“There’s nothing
out here except hotels, then the road leads out of town.” Chevy
said as he looked to the west. I joined him in his stare. “Well,
we’re not going to find them just standing here.”

We started back for the
truck when Chevy asked, “What’s that puddle?” He was pointing
to a small spill a few feet from the severed head. I examined it and
bent down dragging two fingers through the slick spot. I rubbed my
thumb across my fingers feeling the viscosity of the liquid and
brought it up to my nose, “It’s diesel!”

Chevy kneeled down next
to me and examined the diesel, “You think it’s from the Humvee?”
I looked up the road, following the path of diesel drips heading to
the west. I wiped the residual fluid on my pant leg, “I guess we’ll
find out soon enough.”

October 12th 7:00am

Fifteen minutes later,
the three met up at the lab door. Dr. Marcil had the box of EMapp,
and Sophie was dragging a camping cooler, and her arms were full of
blankets, “I’ve got enough food and drinks for a couple of days.”

“Good thinking,
Sophie.” Bob said. Sophie looked at his hands, “Is that stuff
going to work?” Bob looked discouraged, “I have to admit. It’s
not much. I found a steak knife in the kitchenette. I used the knife
to sharpen this mop handle.” Bob held up a wooden mop handle that
had been sharpened to a point on one side, “And this!” Sophie
looked, not able to figure out what he was holding. “What is that?”

Bob held up the long
curved blade with a handle on the end. “I think it’s called a
guillotine. I ripped it off the paper cutter!” Bob swung it through
the air, “It feels like its solid steel, so it should hold up
pretty well.”

“Do you really think
we’re going to need such a thing?” Sophie asked.

“God, I hope not!”

Bob looked up at the
speaker in the ceiling, “MARIA!” “Yes, Colonel.” “I guess
this is going to be goodbye. I want to leave you with some final
instructions. If anyone seeks sanctuary here, let them into the inner
door, but keep the rest of the lab secure. Pass on that we have found
a cure, and if they need the serum we will be at the CDC in Atlanta.”

“In thirty seconds, I
want you to open the outer door and lock it behind us.”

“I understand
Colonel, and may I say, it’s been a pleasure working with all of
you.”

Bob paused, “MARIA
it’s been a pleasure working with you too. And thanks for saving my
ass last night!”

The steel door opened,
as they ran out Bob was sure he heard, “You’re welcome,” from
MARIA.

Bob popped open the
back of the Jeep. Sophie threw in the blankets while he loaded the
cooler, “Get in the back seat, Sophie!” She ran around to the
side door of the jeep as Bob felt the wind being knocked out of him.
He fell to the ground and tried to look back at Dr. Marcil.

The Doctor was wedged
between the back of the jeep and a dead man. The man took a large
bite from Dr. Marcil’s neck. Blood sprayed across Bob’s face. Dr.
Marcil dropped the box of EMapp, and it landed at Bob’s feet. The
dead man pulled the doctor to the ground and buried his face in his
chest. Blood pooled on the ground so fast, Bob could barely escape
it. He made it to his feet and snatched the box. Dr. Marcil was
already dead.

Bob tossed the EMapp in
the passenger seat and leapt into the driver seat. He started the
engine, put it in gear and stepped on the gas. The sound of metal
scraping on pavement rung through the vehicle. “What’s that
sound, and where’s Dr. Marcil?” Sophie screamed as she looked out
of the back window, “Oh my god! They’ve got Claude!” Bob hit
the brakes and put the jeep into reverse backing off the bike rack.

“What’s that?”

“It’s nothing.”
Bob replied without looking at Sophie.

The Jeep took off again
through the courtyard and turned onto St. Catherine Street, “What’s
the fastest way out of the city, Sophie?”

“I don’t know! They
got him! He’s dead!” Sophie cried. Bob reached over and grabbed
her shirt collar, “Sophie, you need to focus, if we don’t get out
of here, we’ll be dead too!”

“I’m sorry!”
Sophie screamed back.

“Take a left at Rue
Addington onto Aut Jean-Lasage and then cross Pont Champlain!”

Bob glared back at
Sophie, “What?”

Sophie pointed straight
ahead, “Take a left at those lights up there, and then follow the
signs for the Champlain Bridge!”

Five minutes later,
they were crossing the bridge leaving Montréal behind. Bob looked
back feeling sorry for Dr. Marcil. He reached in his shirt pocket and
pulled out the hard drive, holding it up, “Let’s hope we don’t
need the Doc to decipher this.” Sophie took the hard drive from
Bob’s hand, “I’ve worked with Claude for years. If you can get
me to the facility in Atlanta, I can generate the serum. Where are we
now?”

“I’m not sure.”
Bob answered.

“There’s a sign
coming up. Fifteen miles to the U.S. Border.” Sophie leaned back in
her seat, watching as the fields passed by, “Where is everyone,
Bob?” He had been wondering the same thing, “I don’t know.
Maybe they’re all dead.”

Ten minutes later. They
could see the U.S. Border in the distance. Sophie leaned forward and
put a hand on Bob’s shoulder, “Bob look at the lines of cars.”

He didn’t
acknowledge. He had already taken the problem into consideration and
was looking for a way around them.

“Why are there so
many of them?” Sophie asked. “With the spread of the Ebola,
people panicked. Some may have been trying to get home to their
families while others might have been trying to flee from the city.”
Bob took his foot off the accelerator, approaching cautiously, “Get
up here in the front seat, Sophie! Grab the floor mat and cover that
broken window. I want some sort of barrier between you and the
outside. Just in case we run into any trouble.” Sophie opened the
jeep door, stuck the floor mat in the top and slammed it, securing it
in place over the window. Bob had slowed the jeep to a walking pace,
when he passed the first vehicle. It was a mother and her two
daughters. They all had their faces against the glass, trying to
escape. Sophie looked over, her eyes slowly closed as she shook her
head, “Are they all dead, Bob?” He grabbed onto her hand and
watched as a tear rolled off her cheek, “Dr. Marcil and I did this.
It’s all our fault!” She sobbed. Bob pushed the hair back from
her face, “Hey! Don’t say that! It’s not your fault. It was a
fucked up strain of the Ebola that did all this. You have found a new
cure. You’re going to be the person that saves the world!”

“The world I
destroyed” Sophie howled.

Bob stopped the vehicle
and pointed at a closed gate, “Well, I’ve got some good news for
you, and I’ve got some bad news.” Sophie already knew the answer
to both, “Let me guess. The good news is, that open gate is a way
through. The bad news is, there’s a dead border patrol agent
standing there with a machine gun.” Bob shot a smile at Sophie,
“Close, but the bad news is, I’m going to get that machine gun!”

October 13th 9:00am

Luther came back a few
minutes later, and met up with Tommy. Everyone seemed to scatter
throughout the building, trying to avoid Kane. Tommy was sitting on
the bumper of the Humvee when Luther showed up, “Dude! I thought he
was going to kick your ass after she kicked him in the balls!”

“I know right! I
think I shit myself a little.” Luther laughed, pulling his pants
away from his ass crack. “So where did you guys find that chick?
She’s pretty hot!” Tommy asked. Luther motioned to Kane’s
office, “He got all pissy last night, and freaked out on us. Cowboy
asked me if I’d drive, and I figured, anything to get out of here
for a while. Cowboy told us if we came back empty handed, Kane would
kick our asses, so we just kept driving around. I had to take a piss
and pulled in behind a building. I was figuring maybe I could get a
little shuteye too, while Cowboy came up with a plan. So I’m
standing there peeing, and see three kids pull into an old car
dealership. Cowboy wanted to snatch the girl after they fell asleep.
Once it got dark out, I snuck over and peeked through a window. They
were all passed out on a couch. Stupid kids. We kicked in the door
and snatched the bitch!” Tommy was wide-eyed listing to the story.
“So did ya smoke the other two?” Tommy probed, as he put his
finger to his head like it was a gun. “Na… Cowboy just used the
tranquilizer darts. We shot all three. They went out like a light,
never even knew we were there, at least not until they woke up
hog-tied. They’re probably waking up right about now wondering what
the fuck happened.”

“Ha! Ha! That’s
funny shit. I wish I could have been there to see that.” Tommy
cheered.

Luther took a seat on
the Humvee bumper next to Tommy, “Yeah, good times man.” Luther
caught a whiff of something and moved his head around, with his nose
leading the way, “Do you smell that?” Luther asked. Tommy joined
in the search, “Yeah, it smells like diesel.” Luther got down on
his knees and looked under the Humvee, “Shit! We’re losing fuel.
We must have hit something. Kane’s gonna be pissed.”

Tommy crawled under and
checked out the damage to the undercarriage. “Don’t bother
telling him Luther. It’s a small puncture. I can plug it, no
problem.” Luther was bent over talking to Tommy, who was still
laying under the Humvee, “Thanks buddy! I owe you one, I didn’t
want to have to tell Kane. I don’t have any more ass for him to
chew off.”

Kane walked into his
office where Sidara was chained to the ceiling. He flipped on the
lights and took a seat behind his desk, “I bet you think that was
pretty funny, what you did to me out there in front of my men. Maybe
I should make an example of you.” Sidara twisted on the chain. “I
don’t give a fuck what you do to me. Do you think I’m afraid of
you, you blonde-haired little fuck? Why don’t you come over here
and teach me a lesson?" Sidara screamed and pulled on her chain
lifting her feet into the air, swinging them wildly. “Well, are you
coming over here, you little pussy?” Kane calmly got up from his
chair and walked over to Sidara, just out of the range of her feet,
afraid to get any closer. Kane reached to the back of his belt and
pulled out his cane knife, “Not so tough now, are you?” Sidara
took a step back, as he moved in extending the knife toward her
throat, “I could end you if I wanted, but I have other plans for
y-”

Kane was interrupted by
Sidara’s foot striking his balls again. He fell to his knees and
looked up in time to see Sidara’s other foot connecting with his
nose. Kane fell to his back reaching for his nose, which was now
laying on the side of his face. “It looks like I broke that shit!”
Sidara taunted. “Cowboy!” Kane hollered. “That’s right! Call
your little minion, you sick bastard!” Cowboy came running into the
room, “Boss, are you okay?” “No, I’m not okay! She broke my
fucking nose!” Kane screamed. “Do you want me to find the
first-aid kit, Boss?”

“No, I want you to
get her out of my office and lock her up with the other bitches! I’ll
deal with you later!” Kane yelled, as he stormed out of the room.
Cowboy left Sidara chained up and left the room. He came back a few
seconds later with a strange-looking pistol. He pointed it at
Sidara’s head, “Listen. I’m just trying to do a job here. I’ve
got to lock you in the room with the other women. You can either walk
with me nice and easy, or I’ll shoot you in the neck with this
tranquilizer gun. That pounding in your head, that’s from the
tranquilizer dart I shot in you earlier. Trust me, you don’t want
to get hit with this again. It will be ten times worse when you wake
up.” Sidara’s head was already pounding, if it worsened, it'd be
unbearable. Cowboy motioned with the gun, “So do you want it
again?” Sidara shook her head “no,”

“I’ll be nice.”
she said with a raise of one eyebrow. Cowboy moved in cautiously and
removed the lock from the office chain. Cowboy grabbed the end that
was still connected to Sidara’s neck and motioned for her to move
along, “Keep going straight. We’re going through that door by the
table.” As they passed the table, Sidara noticed that it was
covered with dried blood, and each of the metal legs supported a pair
of handcuffs with an extended chain, “What’s that for?” Sidara
asked.

Without looking at the
table Cowboy said, “You’ll be lucky if you never find out.”

Cowboy gave a yank on
Sidara’s chain, forcing her to stop walking, “Put your face
against that wall with your feet as far apart as you can.”