Pandemic (The Extinction Files Book 1)

by A. G. Riddle

  “What’s happening now isn’t courage, Yuri. It’s mass murder. You made the world sick.”

  “The world was already sick. It just didn’t know it. I’ve seen that sickness in a way few have. During the war, you were spared the horror; they evacuated you to the English countryside for tea and playtime. Death and misery were on every doorstep where I grew up. I’m saving future generations from that. Soon, our solution will be distributed.”

  The words struck fear into William: Our solution will be distributed. “The pandemic…”

  “Was a means to an end.”

  “The cure. It’s your true end game. That’s why you started the outbreak in Africa.”

  Yuri smiled, impressed.

  “Yes. To show the world what the pathogen was capable of—on a small scale, in a place where people would take notice but not alter their patterns. Not cancel flights. Or their shopping trips.” Yuri paused. “And when that horrific pathogen reached their shores, they would do anything for the cure.”

  “Including giving up their freedom.”

  “Don’t pretend like you don’t know the true nature of freedom.”

  “Who knew? About the cure?”

  “Only Andrew and myself.”

  Yuri had turned his son into a monster.

  “It’s over, William. Whether we release the cure or the government does makes no difference.”

  “What’s in the cure?”

  Yuri was silent.

  “It’s one of the Looking Glass components, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  Chapter 123

  Peyton watched her brother walk closer. She knew instantly that he had changed. The Andrew Shaw she had known was a kindhearted person, dedicated to helping people. Now his face was hard, almost possessed. What’s happened to him?

  Her heart broke at seeing her brother—her hero—in such a state, involved in this.

  He looked her in the eyes and spoke without emotion. “She’s right, Peyton. There is more going on here than you realize. I’ll explain everything to you—”

  “You’ll never explain this to me.”

  “Don’t judge the method until you know the reason. This is a pandemic to end all others. The final pandemic. The world will be safe soon. It’s a small price to pay.”

  At that moment, Andrew saw Charlotte. The sight of her took him aback. His voice changed, softened.

  “What are you doing here?”

  Charlotte swallowed. “Peyton and Desmond came to my relief camp in Australia looking for answers.”

  Andrew looked concerned now. “You shouldn’t be here.”

  “What have you done, Andrew?”

  “What had to be done.”

  “You sent me the supplies, didn’t you?”

  He nodded.

  “It was you I was writing to. You were writing back all those years.” Charlotte’s voice cracked. “I never forgot about you. Or stopped caring.”

  Andrew stood still for a moment. Peyton could see a struggle within him.

  “I knew your work was important to you,” he said. “I wanted to see you happy.”

  Charlotte stepped closer to him. “If you still do, you’ll stop whatever’s happening here.”

  “The Looking Glass—”

  “Can’t be worth what you’ve done.”

  Andrew took a step back, as if withdrawing from the pull the woman was exerting on him. “None of you understand.” He stared at Peyton. “The Looking Glass is the only hope. For all of us.”

  Chapter 124

  The smoke from the server room drifted through the hole in the wall, through the corridor, and snaked into the office, its wisps wrapping around Desmond, Conner, and Avery like a preternatural demon trying to wrench their souls from their bodies. The wind pulled the smoke through the room, around Desmond and Avery and past them, out the broken windows.

  Conner held his arms out to block the soldiers stepping forward on each side of him. His eyes locked on his older brother, the man who had rescued him from an impoverished, drug-addled life and given him purpose—and hope. Now Desmond threatened to take it all away, as if it had been a prize dangled before him only to be ripped away.

  “Please, Des. Don’t do this. Just give me the tablet Avery’s holding—I promise I won’t harm her.”

  When Desmond said nothing, Conner’s voice hardened. “You promised me, brother. You swore we’d finish this together.”

  Desmond exhaled. The smoke was slowly filling the room, clouding his vision, the wind losing the battle to suck it away completely. On the way to the island, he had thought he saw things so clearly. He hesitated now.

  In Dadaab, he had seen the evil the Citium had unleashed upon the world: hordes of helpless people dying, bodies being tossed upon bonfires, orphans who would grow up never knowing love—just like him. Even if the Looking Glass offered a panacea for humanity’s problems, Desmond would never ask the world’s people to pay that price, much less force it on them against their will.

  He looked Conner in the eye. “I’m going to help you, brother. I mean that. Do you believe me?”

  Conner nodded. “Yes. Good.”

  Desmond turned his head quickly and whispered to Avery. “Go. Do it now.”

  She didn’t need to be told twice. She spun on her heel, crouched to make herself a smaller target, and dove out the window as the room erupted in gunfire.

  Chapter 125

  The thick brush below the building broke Avery’s fall, but the landing from the fifteen-foot drop was still agonizing. She groaned, rolled, and fought to catch her breath. Bullets ripped through the tree canopy and raked across the ground just inches from her.

  She pushed up and ran. Her left leg screamed in pain, but she didn’t stop. She activated her mic.

  “Overwatch, Medusa, our cover is blown. Request immediate backup, air support, and exfil. Bravo, Zulu, Medusa. Any hell you could unleash would be greatly appreciated.”

  Seconds later, explosions rocked the island. A fire rose from the harbor.

  In a thick clump of trees, Avery slumped to the ground, got the satphone out, connected it to the tablet, and began the upload. After only a moment, the screen flashed:

  Upload Complete

  She activated the North Star app, which initialized a voice-over-IP phone connection. David Ward’s voice came on the line.

  “We just saw the upload.”

  Avery was still breathing hard. “What happens now?”

  “Leave that to us. Just get out of there in one piece.”

  Bullets ripped into the tree trunk at her back and across the dense ferns around her. She rolled, pulled the handgun from her holster, and emptied the magazine. She saw three soldiers fall. There were at least ten more behind them. She slid her last magazine in and began limping away. They were gaining on her, moving slower now, taking their time, hiding behind the palm trees that swayed in the wind. The smoke issuing from the window descended into the jungle and streaked across the glowing moon above. The darkness aided her retreat, but it wasn’t enough. Her time was short.

  Explosions lit up the night sky above her—missiles from the expeditionary strike group, being intercepted by a missile defense system on the island. It was breathtaking, some of the world’s most advanced weapons of war fighting a duel over this placid island in the South Pacific. The strike group was winning. Their missiles began reaching the ground, which shook with every impact.

  Avery hoped the soldiers would desist in the face of the air power, but they kept coming, closing in. She slid behind a tree and caught her breath. She was cornered. There was only one thing left to do.

  “Overwatch, Medusa. Request tactical strike against hostiles near my location.”

  The CIC responded immediately. “Medusa, Overwatch. Negative. Hostiles are too close—”

  “Do it or I’m dead, Overwatch.”

  A barrage of bullets ripped into the tree trunk beside her. Splinters sprayed across her left side as she dove to the
ground. In the air, she saw a flash—a missile launch from a drone. A second later it landed at the feet of the soldiers, annihilating them. The ground below Avery erupted. She could feel the heat. For a split second, it felt as if she were in the grasp of a hurricane. The blast tossed her through the forest. A tree trunk broke her fall. But she didn’t get up this time. Her limp body lay there as burned debris fell on her, burying her.

  Chapter 126

  In the office above, Desmond rushed the troops who had fired at Avery. He leaped, colliding with Conner and one of the men. A fist connected with his face. He nearly blacked out from the impact. They pulled him to the ground and kicked him in his already injured ribs. He gasped for breath, but a knee landed on his chest, crushed him, suffocated him. The last thing he saw was the butt of a rifle coming down and connecting with his forehead.

  Yuri eyed William. “Who did you bring with you, William?”

  William stood silently, his hands still bound.

  “Surely you didn’t bring your daughter here. That would be very dangerous.” Yuri studied him. “Then again, you were never afraid to push all-in, especially when the stakes were high.” He paused. “You did, didn’t you? Where is she?”

  William didn’t answer.

  “She’s not in the building,” Yuri said. “We would have seen her on the cameras.” Realization dawned on him. “But we don’t have cameras in the labs. The risk of espionage is too great. She’s there, isn’t she?”

  When William still said nothing, Yuri snatched the handheld radio off the desk. “Major Reeves, Pachenko. Send a unit to the labs—right now. Secure Rapture access control. You’re also to apprehend Pey—”

  William jumped up and rushed forward. His sprained ankle protested, but he closed the distance between him and Yuri. His hands were still bound behind his back, but he threw his head forward, connecting with his captor’s. He had to stop the man—to give Peyton and Charlotte a chance of escape.

  Yuri slammed into the wall, William the floor. Yuri was out cold. William got to his feet just as the office door flew open and two guards rushed in, assault rifles raised. They fired as William desperately tried to lunge behind the desk.

  In the situation room at the White House, the recently sworn-in president of the United States watched Chinook helicopters lifting off from air bases across the country. Drone footage showed BioShield reserve troops raiding the locations Rubicon had provided. Every single one of them had held doses of the cure so far. Those doses would be distributed within minutes.

  The UK, Germany, Australia, China, Russia, and Canada had also confirmed dozens of Citium sites. They had done it. The United States would survive, but the president couldn’t help wondering what the nation he loved so much would look like in the aftermath of the pandemic.

  The lab complex shook when the first blasts went off. Ceiling tiles dropped to the floor. Glass cabinets rattled. Vials fell and broke.

  “We need to get out of here,” Lin said.

  Peyton shook her head. “No. I’m not leaving until I get some answers.”

  Charlotte matched her tone. “Neither am I.”

  Peyton faced her brother. “Tell me what the cure is.”

  He studied her but said nothing.

  “Are you willing to risk our lives to keep your secrets?” She paused. “Explain it, and then we’ll leave.” It was a bluff, but she needed to know what the cure was.

  Andrew swallowed, then spoke quietly. “It’s something new. A nanotech device.”

  Peyton knew very little about nanomedicine. It was a growing field with incredible potential. Doctors were experimenting with nanorobots to do a number of things: treating cancer, delivering drugs to hard-to-reach parts of the body, and identifying pathogens. It was conceivable that it could be used to neutralize a virus or bacteria.

  Her brother confirmed her theory with his next words. “The nanorobots find and inactivate the virus. They’re also programmed to do limited tissue repair in critical areas, reducing mortality.” His tone changed, grew bitter. “If more of the world’s governments had complied, the death rate would be a fraction of what it is.”

  Peyton studied him. “What else does it do?”

  Andrew said nothing.

  “That’s what this is about, isn’t it? The pandemic was for this moment. The nanorobots you’re distributing within the cure—that’s the Looking Glass.”

  He shook his head. “No. Only a part.”

  “One of three,” Peyton whispered, almost to herself.

  “Yes. The cure is Rapture.”

  “How does it work?”

  Another explosion rocked the building, this one stronger.

  Those were missiles from the sea. They’re firing on the island.

  Lin grabbed her daughter by the arm. “Peyton, it’s time.”

  She pulled away. She wouldn’t leave. She couldn’t. Everything she’d gone through in the past two weeks had been for this exact moment. It all led here, to this turning point.

  Peyton had finally realized the entire truth. Desmond had discovered what Rapture was. He had called her to warn her. And though he didn’t know then why he was warning her, it was clear to her now: he had known that Yuri and Conner would try to capture her—to use her as leverage. She alone connected all the critical players who could stop the pandemic: Lin, Desmond, William, and Andrew. She alone could be used to control all of them.

  “They’re going to use Rapture for some sort of alteration, aren’t they? They’re going to change human biology.”

  Andrew and Lin both stared at Peyton in disbelief—or perhaps with admiration that she had put it together so quickly.

  Andrew gazed down at the manufacturing floor as he spoke. “The nanorobots are designed to take additional instructions after they neutralize the virus. Their size limits their memory capacity.”

  Peyton marveled at the plan. Research was already ongoing that used nanorobots to insert genes into a host, altering its genome. The nanoparticles could cross the blood-brain barrier, allowing them to alter pathways in the brain and the biochemical balance. That must be what happened to Desmond. He used Rapture Therapeutics’ core Rapture device—the nanorobots—to block his memories. Rapture—the nanorobots—would give the Citium an unimaginable control over the human race, the power to alter every person at a cellular level. All the Citium had to do was send additional instructions to their nanorobots after the virus was eliminated.

  Which meant that was the key to stopping them: preventing the Rapture nanorobots from getting further instructions. That would take away the Citium’s power.

  She looked at her brother a long moment. They had radicalized him. Peyton wasn’t sure if she could make him see the truth, but she had to try.

  “Andrew, think about what they’ve done—how many people the Citium has killed. If they control Rapture, imagine what they’ll do.”

  He shook his head. “You don’t understand—”

  “I do. I’ve seen it. The stacks of dead bodies. Andrew, Dad’s alive.”

  The words shocked him. “Impossible.”

  To Peyton’s surprise, her mother spoke up. “It’s true, Andrew. Yuri tried to kill him, but he survived.”

  He stepped back, away from them, wincing as he tried to come to grips with the information.

  Peyton sensed that this was the moment to make her move. “Andrew, can you disable the remote access? Prevent the Rapture nanorobots from taking additional instructions?”

  Andrew said nothing, but Peyton still knew him well enough to read him. She could see that she was right: he could stop this.

  “Do it. Please. It’s the only way to stop them. I’m not leaving until you do.”

  His eyes flashed to her. “I’ll have you dragged out of here.”

  Another explosion rocked the building. All four of them crouched as more ceiling tiles rained down.

  “You’ll have to drag me out too,” Charlotte said.

  Lin walked over and stood next to Peyton and C
harlotte, silently showing her willingness to stay as well.

  “Listen to what we’re saying,” Peyton said. “They’ve brainwashed you, Andrew. We’re telling you the truth. Please, do it. Even if you drag me out of here, I’ll never forgive you if you don’t stop them right now.”

  Andrew stared at Peyton, then Charlotte, then his mother, and finally out at the factory floor.

  “Trust us,” Peyton said. “Nobody cares about you more than the three of us. Believe what we’re telling you.” She waited a moment. “I’m willing to die to try to stop the Citium. They’ve killed people I cared about. Tried to kill Dad. They took you from me, Andrew. This isn’t who you are.”

  “I don’t care what the Looking Glass is,” Charlotte added. “This world isn’t perfect, and that makes it worth having. Just like you.”

  Another explosion shook the building, much closer this time, with far greater force. The glass walls overlooking the massive manufacturing machines exploded outward, raining glass down. A tall cabinet overturned, barely missing Charlotte.

  Andrew was at her side in an instant, pulling her away.

  “You okay?”

  She nodded.

  Charlotte gripped Andrew’s shoulders. “Please.” She pulled him closer to her. “Please, Andrew.”

  Like a wall crumbling, his hard expression dissolved. He smiled a remorseful, yet kind smile. Peyton saw then the older brother she had grown up with, the brother who had helped take care of her in the years after their father was gone.

  Slowly, he nodded. “Okay.” He moved to a raised table with a computer terminal. “I can disable the remote access to the Rapture nanorobots from here and remove the backup program from the Rook servers.”

  He twisted the hand portion of his prosthetic and removed it. He stuck it in a pocket, then took out another attachment that was affixed to his belt. It resembled a hand, but with yellow-white plastic fingers that barely hid the wires below. He twisted it onto the end of his prosthetic forearm. Peyton watched in wonder as the fingers twitched. The stump must have given tiny impulses to the prosthetic, which electronically controlled the hand and fingers. For the first time in her life, Peyton saw her brother use a real left hand. She wondered if the Citium had leveraged this gift to gain control over him. She couldn’t imagine what he had been through, or what his road back would be like. He was a classic victim of Stockholm Syndrome—when captives come to trust and, in some cases, join their captors.