The Survival Chronicles (Book 7): Hard Mercy

by Nally, Fergal F.

  Game over. We won. How come it doesn’t feel like we won? Rose? Flynn? Tawny?

  Mercy’s eyes flicked to the dead alpha on the counter. She frowned.

  That’s a flashing LED—

  Mercy clambered up and ran her finger over the LED under the alpha’s skin.

  The lab guy said the queen was GPS tagged. The NSA know where they are at all times. We can track them. We can find Rose—

  Mercy’s head snapped up, “Barnes, look.” She pointed at the flashing LED in the alpha’s body. “If we find a tracking device back in the lab we can follow that alpha bitch and her pack. We can hunt them down and find Rose—”

  Barnes grunted, “You sure are one tough sonofabitch yourself. You could even be SEAL material. That there… what you said, that’s the forty percent rule in action—”

  Mercy raised an eyebrow, “Forty percent rule?”

  Barnes heaved himself up and rubbed his neck, “Yeah, when your mind’s telling you you’re finished, you’re only really forty percent finished. You’ve still got sixty percent left in the tank… that’s SEAL mentality—”

  Mercy picked up her M16 and handed it to Barnes. “Forty percent rule? I like that. Come on, let’s tool up and get back to that lab. The guy Rose tied up, he’ll know about the GPS tracking devices—”

  Sixty percent left in the tank? Rose, we’re coming to get you—

  Chapter 13

  F&T

  They scavenged ammunition and grenades from the dead NSA soldiers in the corridor outside Mitchell’s quarters. The alarm was still wailing throughout the complex, red warning lights flashed at every turn.

  Where are the other people? Surely this place is full of personnel? Unless they have some sort of evacuation protocol in place for this kind of breach—

  They ran down the final section of corridor and found six bloody corpses; three soldiers and three lab staff. All had their throats ripped out and their faces destroyed.

  These lab alphas, they’re like a whirlwind. It looks as if they left the way we came in. We just need a tracking device to follow them. I hope this guy is still alive—

  Mercy pushed open the glass doors and entered the laboratory. Most of glass tanks were shattered. Pools of green fluid glistened in the dim light.

  That alpha bitch was stirred up by seeing Rose. She figured a way out, broke her pack out too. Clever—

  Mercy picked her way through the broken glass towards the back of the laboratory. Three tanks in the furthest corner were still intact. She frowned.

  OK… so why are those three not broken—?

  Mercy stopped and pointed the three intact tanks out to Barnes, “I’m just gonna check those out, you go and see if our friend is still alive. Ask him about a GPS tracking device. I’ll be with you in a minute—”

  Barnes grunted and continued to the rear of the laboratory. Mercy crossed the wet floor and reached the three remaining tanks. She peered into the nearest one, trying to see through the murky green fluid inside. She placed her hand on the cool glass.

  Maybe the ones in here didn’t make it—

  A hand reached out from the murk and pressed against the glass beneath Mercy’s fingers. Mercy flinched and pulled away.

  Jesus, a live one—

  Mercy raised her pistol and pointed it at the glass tank. She examined the hand on the other side of the glass and frowned.

  Shit. Looks in good condition, no decay—

  The hand twitched and the green liquid swirled, illuminated by lights beneath. A swirl of hair appeared out of the liquid, followed by a young woman’s face. Mercy cried out in shock as recognition coursed through her.

  Tawny. My god. It’s… Tawny—

  Tawny’s chest and head were covered in wires. Tubes infested her body. Columns of bubbles streamed upwards, shimmering in the molten light.

  It’s like a fish tank. My god, what have they done to her? Hang on, maybe, maybe—

  Mercy moved to the next tank and placed her hand on the glass. The murky fluid was a darker green. She tapped the glass.

  Nothing. No response—

  She looked down. A decayed foot was just visible in what looked like thick sediment at the bottom of the tank.

  Oh… no—

  Mercy moved to the last tank and placed both hands on the glass. She waited, every muscle in her body tense.

  Are you? Are you here?

  A fist struck the tank from inside. Mercy watched as it opened and pressed against the glass beneath her hand.

  Movement. Sediment swirling up from below.

  A magnified face appeared on the other side of the glass. Mercy’s legs buckled. She fell to the ground.

  Flynn. Oh my god, Flynn it’s you, you’re alive—

  Flynn’s eyes snapped open, his face was blank. A tube was in his mouth and leads protruded from his chest. Mercy stared at him in shock. She saw the NSA tattoos on his chest.

  NSA flag, bar code, serial number—

  Mercy took a ragged breath.

  Christ… Flynn, what have they done to you? I don’t care. If those alphas smashed their way out… I can get you out—

  Mercy stood up and pointed her HK45 at the glass. Reason prevailed and she lowered the pistol.

  No, I could hit him. Get the lab guy to do it—

  Mercy pressed her face up to the glass, making sure she had eye contact with Flynn. “It’ll be OK Flynn, I’ll get you out, give me two minutes—”

  Mercy turned and ran across the laboratory. She found Barnes standing over Dr Reyes, who was rubbing his wrists and coughing. Barnes gave him a bottle of water from a nearby bench.

  Mercy bent down and snatched the water from Reyes. “You’ve got two of my friends in tanks back there, you bastard. You’re gonna release them right now or else you die. It’s that simple.” She pressed her HK45 to his forehead and stared, unblinking into his eyes.

  Reyes nodded and gasped, “Yes, yes, sure. I can do that. Don’t shoot me. I have family—”

  Barnes took a step back and glanced at Mercy, “He’s got GPS trackers for the alphas, and he knows where there’s a sat phone. It’s like Christmas and New Year all rolled up into one, I nearly wet my pants with the excitement—”

  Mercy handed the water bottle back to the man. She read the name tag on his white coat, remembering it from before: DR DAVID REYES, BIOPATHOLOGY.

  “OK Reyes, let’s go and free my friends. Then you can show my buddy here how to use the GPS tracker. Then you’re going to get some clothes for my friends and get us the hell out of here—”

  Reyes nodded and took a gulp of water. Barnes pulled him up and shoved him towards the three remaining glass tanks.

  This day’s on fire, this day is on fire—

  Chapter 14

  Resurrection

  Reyes switched on the bank of screens at the rear of the laboratory. He logged onto the life support programme for the three remaining tanks. “They’re… incubation tanks, we’re incubating the new biotech in their bodies, allowing it to bed in—”

  Barnes looked at Mercy, she shook her head.

  What the fuck? I’ve got too many questions. Now is not the time, just get Flynn and Tawny free then we can bail—

  Barnes glanced back at the laboratory door, “Where is everyone? Surely there’s more of your people down here?”

  Reyes’s fingers worked the keyboard, “Yeah, there’s loads of staff in this building. They’ll be in lockdown by now, it’s security protocol… when the alarm’s triggered.” He paused and licked his lips.

  “And?” Barnes growled, pulling out his knife and slamming it into the table beside Reyes’s hand.

  Reyes paled. “They’ll be in the safe rooms in the level below here. The AI will sweep the building, find the problem and send in bots to neutralise the threat—”

  Barnes stiffened, “Bots? Yeah, we know all about those critters. Met them in Annapolis. Get a fucking move on before I cut you.” Barnes pulled his knife out of the table and held it to Reyes
’s neck.

  Reyes trembled and punched more commands into the computer. A series of hissing sounds came from the three intact glass tanks. Mercy tore the plastic curtains down from around the autopsy table. She rushed over to Flynn and watched as a curtain of bubbles fizzed up through the green liquid. She pressed her hands against the glass and whispered Flynn’s name.

  Flynn—?

  Valves opened at the base of the tank and the liquid started to drain away. Seconds later the tank was empty. Flynn lay slumped at the bottom. Mercy clutched the plastic curtains she had taken from the autopsy area. She looked across at Tawny, concern etched on her face.

  Incubation, hibernation, whatever… they’ll be cold, hungry, weak. They’ll need to rest up for weeks. I’ll have to leave them again to go find Rose—

  Mercy looked away.

  Stop overthinking dammit, just focus, get them out and away—

  The glass tank disengaged from its metallic base and rose up on hydraulic pistons. Some residual liquid spilled onto the floor at Mercy’s feet. Flynn was naked, his skin covered in a jelly-like substance. Mercy swore, not knowing what to do. She wrapped the plastic curtains around him and embraced him whispering his name over and over.

  Flynn, Flynn, Flynn—

  To her surprise Flynn stood up. He pulled the tube from his mouth then the leads from his arms and chest. He wrapped the plastic curtain around him and jerked his head up, glancing over at Tawny. Tawny had removed her tubes and leads. She stepped down and stood, shivering in the dim light. Tawny’s eyes flickered an electric blue colour.

  Flynn nodded, “We’re good Mercy. We’re strong, let’s get out of here. There’s trouble coming.”

  Mercy, Flynn and Tawny joined Barnes and Reyes at the rear of the laboratory.

  “Meet Commander Barnes, Navy SEAL with Constantine’s forces. Barnes, this is Flynn and Tawny, my people from back in New York—”

  Barnes grunted and nodded at Flynn and Tawny. Flynn’s eyes flicked to the screens behind the computer terminal.

  Mercy followed his gaze. She frowned, not understanding what she was seeing. Various camera feeds flashed across the screens relaying images from outside the National Mall’s perimeter wall.

  What’s going on—?

  “Oh my god,” Reyes said, his voice carrying clearly across the room. “They’ve executed the Deadfall Protocol—”

  Mercy looked at Barnes.

  “What the fuck is the Deadfall Protocol?” Barnes spat.

  “They’ve released the enhanced alphas from their pens into the city. The AI will control them via their commander queens.” Reyes’s hands flashed over the keyboard and more camera shots came into view. Image after image of trap doors opening on city streets, filled the screens. All around the capital streams of undead burst forth, released from their underground pens.

  My god, they were everywhere. They were under the streets… we were walking over them the whole time. Constantine’s land forces will be overwhelmed. This was all for nothing—

  One of the monitors flickered and a different sequence of images flashed in a loop. Mercy tilted her head and pointed at the screen, “Reyes, what the hell is that?”

  The answer dropped into her head just as Reyes spoke.

  “That’s the destroyers, they’ve activated the destroyers too. We must be under attack, the Resistance must be close—” Reyes shouted.

  Destroyers?

  Mercy stared at the giant screen. Her eyes narrowed.

  Fuck—

  “Mechs—” Flynn said.

  “They look like fucking dinosaurs,” Tawny said. She walked over and took the other set of curtains from Mercy. She covered herself and looked up, “That Deadfall Protocol is looking pretty intense, we’d better get moving then—”

  Mercy looked up, “But you guys must be tired and hungry? Can you keep up?”

  Flynn glanced at Tawny, “Yeah, we’re good to go, believe me.” He looked across the room at Reyes. “Can that guy get us out of here?”

  Mercy’s jaw hardened, “Yeah, well, he’s not got a choice.”

  Mercy marched over to Reyes, “Right Reyes, you’re still alive. That’s a bonus for you. You’re gonna find us a way out of here avoiding bots, mechs and alphas and all the other shit you’ve got stashed down here. Oh, and you’re gonna come up with some clothes for my friends here before we leave.” She chambered a round and held her HK45 to his forehead, “Any double cross and the last thing that will cross your mind is this 9mm parabellum right here. Understood?”

  Reyes nodded and closed his eyes, “There’s a tunnel to L’Enfant Plaza VRE station. The president has a train there on standby for the Charlottesville redoubt. We can take the tunnel, there’s personnel lockers on the way. We should be able to get some clothes and shoes—”

  Barnes was fiddling with the GPS tracker. His face was illuminated by light from the screen. He frowned and looked up at Mercy.

  Rose—?

  Mercy felt her chest tighten, “Barnes—?”

  Barnes looked down at the screen, “I’ve found the alpha queen.” He held up the tracker’s screen to show Mercy. Twelve red dots flashed on a digital map of the city.

  Mercy stepped forwards and grabbed the tracker. She examined the screen, “They’re outside the wall. How in hell did they get outside do quickly?”

  “Could be they left the same way we came in, maybe found another passage. Who knows? They’re clever bastards. They’re south of the wall, on 12th Street Southwest,” Barnes said. “There’s one of them underground pens opened up under Maryland Avenue Linear Park. Maybe they’re heading there to join up with the other alphas?” He looked up at one of the monitors, his eyes searching. He pointed, “See camera sixteen, that’s labelled Maryland Park. It’s lit up by spotlights from the pen—”

  Mercy examined the monitor. Her face crumpled. “Christ—” she said, her voice a whisper.

  Maryland Avenue Linear Park was teeming with alphas.

  Flynn edged close to the screen following Mercy’s gaze, “Shit. There must be ten thousand of them at least—”

  And Rose is being dragged into the middle of that shitfest—

  Chapter 15

  L’Enfant Station

  Not on my watch—

  Mercy grabbed Reyes by the shoulder and shoved him across the laboratory, towards the door. “Time to move Dr Death, get us the fuck out of here.”

  They entered the corridor. Flynn and Tawny each took an M4 carbine and a Glock 19 pistol from the dead NSA soldiers outside the laboratory. Reyes led them down the corridor to a locked door. He took a key card from his pocket and opened the electronic lock. Strip lights flickered on as they entered the new corridor. They continued to a set of double doors. A sign on the doors read: ACCESS TO LOWER LEVELS: AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY. Reyes went through the doors. They found a broken elevator and a staircase.

  Mercy checked her watch; 3:19 am.

  It’ll be dark outside. Just concentrate on finding Rose. Flynn and Tawny seem strong enough. We can catch up and regroup once we’re through this next layer of shit—

  Reyes took them down the stairs, two steps at a time. The alarm receded as they descended into the lower levels. Mercy started counting the steps but stopped when she reached sixty.

  A short while later Reyes slowed and stopped beside a new set of double doors. He turned to Mercy, “We’re here. The escape tunnel is just up ahead. There’s a corridor with lockers through here. Some staff use the lockers to store bug-out bags and clothes, so we might be lucky. Follow me—”

  Reyes opened the doors and led them down the sloped floor. Rusting full length lockers stood on either side. The corridor was damp and the floor lights were broken in places. Mercy pulled out her torch and switched it on.

  Reyes began opening random lockers, he let out a cry of triumph at the fifth one he tried. “Here… there’s a coat, hat and a pack.” He pulled out a parka and a waxed cotton trail hat.

  Barnes lifted an old fire e
xtinguisher from the wall. “Stand back,” he ordered. He smashed the locks off six of the lockers with the extinguisher. Tawny opened three of the lockers and let out a whoop on the fourth.

  “Boots, socks, jacket and trousers in here… there’s a shotgun, some shells and a pack,” Tawny scooped out the clothing and began pulling the trousers on.

  Flynn found a stained boiler suit and boots in another locker, “Got me some fancy duds.” He pulled on the boiler suit and struggled with the boots.

  Reyes changed his lab coat for the parka and trail hat.

  Barnes lifted a bloodstained alloy baseball bat from another locker. “This has seen some action, got some miles left in her I’d guess. Light enough… and silent.” He handed it to Tawny, Barnes turned towards Reyes, “Shit, what about the sat phone? Reyes where’s the sat phone?”

  Reyes shook his head, “Comms is based in internal security. That’s back where we came from, near the president’s quarters. We’d have to go back—”

  Barnes pulled a face, “Goddammit—”

  Mercy hefted her M16 and checked her watch; 3:57 am.

  This is all taking too long. We need to speed up for Rose—

  “It’s too late. We’re not going back. Come on, every second counts. Let’s go—” Mercy said. She pointed her M16 at Reyes and waved him on.

  Barnes cursed under his breath.

  Reyes nodded and moved down the corridor. They passed more lockers then came to a set of fire doors.

  “We’re here,” Reyes said. “The tunnel is on the other side, it leads to a siding near L’Enfant Station. I’ll come with you… to show you the way. My family are being held in Charlottesville… in the redoubt, I want to get to them—”

  Without warning the doors behind Reyes burst open. He stopped mid-sentence, his body jerked as a bayonet was thrust into his back. Blood stained his shirt around the blade. A hulking figure in a Hazmat suit appeared in the doorway behind him. Mercy took a step back and raised her M16.

  What the hell—?

  The bayonet disappeared from Reyes’s chest and he slumped to the floor, a glazed look in his eyes. Mercy fired at the Hazmat-suited man, her high velocity 5.56 mm rounds slammed into his chest, stopping him in his tracks. Her rounds passed through the first figure into a second, similarly suited figure behind. The two NSA soldiers collapsed to the floor, dropping their bayonetted M4s.