A quick motion of her hand brushed back a hazardous warning sign whose frayed edges and dull coloring spoke of its age. Behind the sign was a keyhole. Valery removed the long necklace from beneath her pristine lab coat. A small, unassuming key hung at the end, so contrary to the secrets it held.
Valery inserted the key with a quick twist. A hidden door camouflaged in the wall opened on command.
***
“I—I did as you asked, he’s not responding. He’s strapped down and I gave him the serum but nothing’s happening.”
Valery closed the door to the top-secret room behind her, striding over to her new specimen. That morning while the infected carried out their assault on the grounds, a window of opportunity had opened for Dr. Spear.
“You can, you can save him right?” Melissa asked, looking to Valery with tear-rimmed eyes.
Valery checked the vital signs on her test subject. He was young, strong, with a chiseled jaw and a physique to match. It was clear why Melissa had fallen in love with the man. “He’s still alive, yes. How much of the serum did you administer?”
“Only what you told me. One dose,” Melissa said, resting a shaking hand on the arm of her boyfriend. “He’s going to come back, right? Just like Taylor did? He had the same kind of wound, a bite on his shoulder.”
“I can’t be sure of anything. I will do my best to bring him back,” Valery said. She scanned the machines monitoring the man’s vital signs and pulled back his eyelids to shine a light in his pupils. “How did you end up sneaking him in by the way?”
“Before you went into the meeting Pete was still able to walk. He was fading fast but I was able to get him down here and administer the serum as you instructed.”
“And nothing since?”
“No.”
Valery began moving around the raised bed upon which her subject lay. Melissa had not followed her instructions completely. Pete’s wrists and ankles weren’t fastened to the steel bed frame as they should have been.
“You won’t need to do that,” Melissa said from her spot beside Pete. “He’s not going to turn into one of them. Look at his chest, it’s rising and falling like it should. He’s going to be fine.”
“Yes, well we certainly hope so, however, all precautions must be taken.” Valery strapped on the restraints to his ankles and wrists, after which she placed a heart rate monitor on Pete’s chest.
Melissa was right. Pete was breathing strong and steady. A look at the wound that had infected him revealed a nasty bite mark on the left side of his neck. It wasn’t bleeding now only raw flesh showed through Pete’s pink skin. Black veins like tendrils moved outward from the wound.
“I tried to clean it as best I could,” Melissa said. Taking a deep breath, she prepared to ask the question she dreaded the most. “When will we be able to tell? When will we get some kind of sign that he’s going to be okay?”
For the first time since Valery had entered the room, she gave Melissa her full attention. “We won’t know anything until he wakes up. That could be hours or days. Taylor was in and out of consciousness as she made the change but it’s too soon to tell if she’s the standard or the exception.”
Neither woman witnessed Pete’s eyes flicker open the slightest bit before closing again, his pure black orbs taking in the room with sinister intent.
***
Captain Martin’s quarters were right next to the armory. The room wasn’t made for living at all. However, the captain insisted on being close to the compound’s entrance and closer to the weapons that were under lock and key.
His room was sparsely decorated. Besides the necessary pieces of furniture such as a cot and a plain dresser, the only other thing was an American flag pinned on his wall.
The lack of seating gave Taylor no other option other than to stand. The captain closed the door then held up a single finger in the universal sign to wait. He pressed his ear against the metal door. The seconds ticked by slowly, making Taylor wonder exactly what the captain was going to tell her to warrant such a mysterious meeting.
A moment later the captain turned to her, satisfied they were not being followed or listened to.
“I’m sorry for all the dramatics,” the captain said. Clasping his hands behind him at the small of his back, he began to pace back and forth across his small room. “But I’ve never done anything like this. This is an extreme situation and in these extreme times certain allowances must be made for actions outside the chain of command.”
The words were coming out of his mouth like they were fighting one another to be spoken. Taylor had never seen the captain this strained or unsure of himself. Then it struck her why. “You’re going to help me get outside the wall aren’t you?”
The effect the question had on the captain was instantaneous. He stopped his pacing and stared at Taylor for a full minute. “Yes, Wade is a good man who’s doing what he feels is best but it’s clear what we have to do. There is no future here. Remaining here is a short-term goal. We need a place better fortified, with food, and what I wouldn’t give for more ammunition. Our stores are nearly depleted. We have enough rounds to hold off maybe one more large assault, then its knives and hand to hand combat like we had out there today. Most of these people aren’t soldiers. They aren’t trained like you and I.”
“I agree with everything you’re saying. Except for the ‘we’ part,” Taylor said. “You have to stay.”
Before Captain Martin could protest Taylor continued, “There’s something going on out there. The Dread are changing. They used weapons today, and on top of that there’s another thing I didn’t tell Wade at the meeting. I saw…something out there in the woods. Someone maybe human, most definitely evil.”
“I’m still getting used to you calling them the Dread,” Captain Martin said.
“Well that’s what this darkness is. I would have told everyone what I know but if Wade found out I can sense them at times, he’d have me chained up for sure.”
“No argument there, Taylor. Still, I can’t let you go out there alone.”
“You have to,” Taylor said searching her mind for an argument that would make the captain realize this was the only way. “Someone needs to stay here and take care of the defenses. There’s no point of me going out beyond the wall and returning with help if there is nothing to return to. We each have our part to play in this.”
The captain’s jaw clenched and unclenched. He interlaced his fingers behind his head and stretched his shoulders as he swallowed her words and accepted them. “You’ll need a distraction when you leave. They’ll notice you’re gone eventually but it’s not like we’re sending anyone after you.”
“I’ll leave tonight. I’ll find help if any help exists outside these walls,” Taylor said. Despite the danger she was about to put herself in she forced a smile.
“The fewer people that know, the better,” Captain Martin said, already moving to his dresser and rummaging through the contents. “Outside of Frank and Jason, I wouldn’t tell anyone else.”
“Cidney has to know,” Taylor said, thinking of her small friend and the blow it would cause her to be left behind. “I can’t do that to her. I have to say goodbye.”
The captain turned around with a map and a flashlight in his hand. “It’s your call on who you tell and who you don’t, just be cautious. I can’t give you much in way of supplies without drawing attention but I can give you these.”
The captain handed over a detailed map of Alaska and the surrounding areas along with a high-powered flashlight. “We should plan out your course once you get on the other side of the wall. I have some ideas on where you can go and the best places to find any other survivors, if there’re any out there at all.”
***
“No, nope, absolutely not, not in a million years. I’m going with you.”
Cidney’s voice was so firm, so passionate in her desire, Taylor almost gave in there and then. It was only her love for the girl that made Taylor keep her resolve.
&
nbsp; “You can’t come, Cid. You know how dangerous it will be out there. I’ll have to move fast, at times I may even need to levitate to get out of harm’s way.”
Cidney crossed her arms over her chest. “I can keep up with you and if you do have to levitate then you can take me with you. You can move whatever you want with your mind. I’ll be eleven soon, I should be able to make my own decisions.”
Her argument made sense. In what kind of world did it make sense for a ten year old to make their own decisions on risking their life? Had things really become this bad?
“Cid, no matter what you say I’m not taking you with—”
“I’m going to follow you anyway.”
Taylor heaved a gigantic sigh of exasperation.
“That’s right,” Cidney continued. “Maybe you won’t take me but you can’t stop me from following you.”
There were tears in the young girl’s eyes now. Raw determination, not sadness, pooled in her eyes. Cidney had lost everything, Taylor was all she had left in this world and she was fighting tooth and nail to hold on.
Taylor sighed. “Have I ever told you that you argue like someone twice your age?” Sensing the change in Taylor’s tone Cidney broke out into a massive smile. “You tell me that all the time. Does that mean I can come with you?”
“I guess you’re not leaving me much of a choice are you?”
The next few hours were spent in preparation for their journey. Taylor helped Cidney pack although she had the distinct feeling she was only slowing down the excited girl. Cidney would wear her warmest clothes; boots, a thick pair of jeans with thermals underneath, and a black jacket. Her backpack would be filled with water, food, a blanket, a hunting knife, and a single change of clothing.
Taylor’s own bag mirrored Cidney’s with the exception of her flashlight, map, and her personal firearm she had hidden when ammo was running low. It was a Kimber 1911 with a single clip of ammunition. With her own powers to use she wouldn’t need the pistol but it seemed a waste to leave it behind.
“You remember the plan?” Taylor asked Cidney as the two sat waiting for the designated hour of their departure.
“We wait until 2 am. Captain Martin will do a surprise inspection on the wall, calling whoever is on guard to him. You’ll lift us up and over the east side of the wall. Once we touch ground you’ll take the lead and I’m to follow you close and quiet.”
“Perfect,” Taylor said. “Now get some rest. There’s no telling how long it will be before we get to sleep in beds again.”
Exhausted, Cidney was asleep soon thereafter. Taylor was left alone with her thoughts, staring down at the light rise and fall of Cidney’s sleeping shoulders.
Was she doing the right thing? Should she be taking a ten-year-old girl into the unknown? Maybe she should sneak out now before Cidney woke up. No, true to her word, Cidney would try and follow after her. She was safer with Taylor than on her own.
Misgivings of the plans laid also shook Taylor’s resolve. What if there was no one left? The last message from anyone on the outside was a brief dialogue with an unknown facility in Washington State over a year ago. Taylor remembered the conversation like it was yesterday. It was brief, one sided. A call for assistance followed by a warning before static consumed the airwaves. It was what sounded like an older man with an African accent, his voice full of determination and strength.
“If anyone can hear me, if anyone is left alive out there, I’m calling from Olympia, Washington. I’m in a secure place called the Vault. We have food, water, and safety. Be careful on your journey here, it is only a matter of time before they find us. When they do they will cut us off. Remember we can only survive together.”
Any attempt at further communication with the Vault was met with crackling static. Wade must have had Jason try a hundred times to reconnect but it was pointless.
Taylor knew all signs pointed to the fall of the Vault. Still, it was their best shot of finding any other humans still living in this nightmare. Even if they were all dead, the possibility that the Vault still had supplies was one Taylor and the captain had agreed was worth checking out.
She revisited these memories along with the plan to cross the Alaskan frontier, through Canada, and down to the Vault in Washington. True, it would be dangerous. Nevertheless, anything was better than sitting and rotting away inside the Ark.
“It’s time,” Cidney’s voice cut through the dark room, shaking Taylor from her thoughts.
Taylor rose from her spot on the floor and stretched. “How long have you been awake?”
Cidney jumped out of bed and shrugged on her backpack. She twisted her left wrist toward Taylor so she could see the time on her pink watch. It was four minutes until two. “I’ve been up for a while. I thought I’d give you some time to yourself, you looked troubled.”
“You’re worrying about me?” Taylor asked. As soon as the words left her mouth, she wondered why she was so surprised. Cidney had a strength and compassion in her that had set her apart from the first day the two had crossed paths. “Of course you’re worrying about me. I’ll be fine, kiddo. Let’s go.”
They headed for the door. “Remember, no noise,” Taylor reminded her. “Stay low and in the shadows. I’ll lift us up and over the wall once the captain has the attention of the guards on patrol.”
“Roger,” Cidney whispered.
The two entered the dimly lit hall of the women’s barracks. Taylor quickly and quietly moved to the rear exit, down a long hall peppered with doors leading into other women’s rooms. If some innocent soul had the urge for a nighttime bathroom break in the shared lavatory they’d be met with a fist or a boot. It wasn’t her plan to knock anyone unconscious but if it meant their clean escape, Taylor would do what needed to be done.
Luckily, their brief run down the hall was encountered with only silence. Taylor reached the exit door, peeking over her shoulder to make sure Cidney was ready.
The young girl had the same look of determination on her face as the first time they met when they were running to the safety of armored vehicles from her home.
Taylor gave Cidney a wink and opened the door.
Chapter 3
As soon as they exited the building Taylor knew something was wrong, although it wasn’t until the door closed behind them that she knew what it was. It was quiet, but that wasn’t out of the ordinary. She ran through her options as she led Cidney over the hard packed dirt ground. Her breath came in steamy puffs. Violence was not an option, not with Cidney so close.
When the lights lit up the dark night and the weapons were trained on her, Taylor wasn’t surprised. She had seen the boot marks in the ground, heard the muffled chatter over the walkie-talkies. Few of the defenders were soldiers, they were lab techs, aides, even cooks employed by Lazarus Pharmaceuticals when the darkness began to spread and the building in Los Angeles was evacuated.
“This doesn’t have to end badly.” Wade walked up between two men, each holding an unsteady pistol toward Taylor. “You’ve proven yourself untrustworthy. I should have locked you up when you first started showing signs of being…different, but now outright defiance? This is too far.”
“You’re right,” Taylor said, pushing Cidney behind her and addressing the crowd of men and women. “This won’t end badly for anyone. The enemy is out there, beyond our walls. All I’m trying to do is find out exactly what we are up against, maybe find some help. I’m leaving for the good of us all and that’s my choice to make.”
“Your choice to make?” Wade narrowed his eyes. “Was it your choice alone?”
Wade motioned behind him, and Captain Martin was brought forward in handcuffs.
“I’m sorry, Taylor,” the captain said through a split lip and swollen left eye. “They had my room bugged. They heard it all.”
Unsurprised, Taylor searched the group of armed men and women around her. Her first instinct was to fight her way out. There was no doubt in her mind she could, except at what cost and to whom? Casualties
would be inevitable, and Cidney’s life couldn’t be put in jeopardy, no matter what the cost.
Taylor counted twenty members of the Ark Wade had rounded up, a few soldiers but mostly civilians. They were armed with what remained of the ammunition. Her eyes landed on two familiar faces. Jason and Frank both stood with AR-15s in their hands. Each of them gave her pointed looks, and Taylor knew they would side with her through whatever came.
Taylor gave her head the slightest of shakes.
“So what will it be?” Wade prompted, the patience in his voice wearing thin. “Will you turn yourself in, or are you intent on rebelling against authority?”
Taylor gritted her teeth. This was much harder than she thought. Her whole life, fighting had been the easy choice. Now with so much power she was having to rethink her decisions, curb her temper.
“I’m not going to fight any of you.”
“Of course you aren’t.” Wade’s face went from one of anger and anxiety to smugness. “You’ll be escorted to—”
A scream erupted, so terrifying the collective breaths of everyone in the confrontation was caught at once. It tore through the night like lightning. Everyone searched the compound for the source then turned to one another for answers when they could find none.
Taylor’s skin crawled when the unearthly shriek came again. She looked up into the night sky where a millions stars twinkled above, then to the compound grounds where the buildings set apart for Dr. Valery Spear to perform her research sat.
The doors to one of the research buildings exploded outward. Taylor recognized a young woman named Melissa stumble forward. Covered in blood, she was babbling something incoherent. More and more screams came from deep within the building.
Taylor was the first to move. “Shoot me if you want!” she said, and ran toward Melissa.
All The Broken People (The Dread Series Book 2) Page 2